Artichoke (Cynara scolymus) has been cultivated since the time of the Romans, and people of Mediterranean origin still often still grow this old-fashioned vegetable in their gardens in Melbourne, knowing its health benefits. In fact, the French herbalist Maurice Messegue says that it is ‘the best preventative medicine for people in their fifties.’¹ Only the tender parts of the unopened flower are usually eaten once the heads have been steamed, and they are garnished with olive oil and lemon juice.

Artichoke is a very bitter plant, the strong taste hinting at its virtues. The leaves are used to stimulate digestion, encouraging secretions of saliva, acid, enzymes and mucus just like dandelion leaves. By eating such bitter ‘greens’ we improve our appetite, and the absorption of nutrients, which makes artichoke a useful herb for nourishing the blood and constitution, as well as treating specific conditions such as anaemia or diabetes. With this general strategy we can also treat constipation, bloating and flatulence.

Bitterness is unfortunately out of fashion in a time where cane sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are added to all kinds of food. Sweetness is therefore anticipated as a default sensation by the modern urban palate and patients are often appalled to discover that their constitution actually favours the regular consumption of bitter foods. The evidence that their health has been damaged by sugar is therefore strenuously resisted and diabetics, in particular, have a reputation as being the most difficult patients.

Adopting a sound strategy of regularly stimulating the digestion is one thing, but necessary nutrients must also be present in the food we eat. One of the pioneers of vitamin research Dr. Robert McCarrison pointed out this basic principle of nutrition almost a century ago, and his message is ever more pressing today. McCarrison complained that ‘the food of young children is commonly low in vitamin-content and suitable protein, while it is frequently disproportionately rich in starch and sugar—a circumstance which enhances the danger of vitamin deficiency…But the ranks of the deficiently-fed do not only include infants and young children; they include also those whose food is composed mainly of white bread, margarine, tea, sugar, and jam, with a  minimum of meat, milk, eggs, and fresh vegetables. Even amongst those whose diet is more perfectly balanced, the commoner articles of food, as they are prepared for the table, are so low in vitamin value that, unless they are enriched with a sufficiency of foods in the raw state, they are prone to cause ill-health, and especially gastro-intestinal ill-health.’²

Artichoke acts on the liver, encouraging the flow of bile which is needed to help with the digestion of fats, and can be used for the treatment of jaundice and gall stones. Jaundice is a yellowish discolouration of the skin, most obvious in the whites of the eyes, and is caused by a high level of bilirubin in the blood. This may be caused by an increased breakdown of red blood cells due to malaria or thalassemia; liver disorders such as cirrhosis, hepatitis and Gilbert’s syndrome; or a blockage in the gall bladder duct due to stones caused by a poor diet and lifestyle.

Furthermore, artichoke stimulates the metabolism and is therefore useful for treating the kind of sick headaches and skin conditions that result from a build-up of wastes, or what naturopaths call encumbrance. These wastes, as well as residues from synthetic chemicals and drugs, are usually processed by the liver, secreted into the bile and excreted via the intestines. Artichoke will also help remove heavy metals such as lead, as indicated by laboratory experiments using lead-poisoned rats.³

Artichoke is further prescribed for problems with the circulatory system resulting from blood-lipid disorders, particularly problems with cholesterol and plaque.⁴ Arterial plaque arises from an accumulation of cholesterol at the site of damaged blood vessels and is not the simple consequence of elevated cholesterol in the blood caused by diet, as was thought in the 1950s. The formation of plaque actually involves a loss of integrity in the vessel wall, chronic inflammation as well as the oxidation of cholesterol, followed by a defensive effort on the part of white blood cells to sequester this toxic substance. The white blood cells then become engorged with oxidised cholesterol without being able to dispose of it and a fatty streak develops. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant herbs are therefore indicated as an addition to a general sugar-free diet in order to help prevent such processes developing insidiously.

Artichoke leaves are rich in antioxidant compounds such as cynarin, chlorogenic acid, luteolin and apigenin. These phenolic compounds can actually inhibit cholesterol bio-synthesis in the liver much like statins, reduce lipid oxidation, mop up free radicals and even help to reduce the thickness of arterial walls as demonstrated by laboratory experiments using rats with induced vessel wall hardening.⁵ Artichoke compounds also raise protective HDL cholesterol and lower LDL cholesterol,⁶ and have a positive effect on the vasculature by increasing vasodilatory nitric oxide and inhibiting inflammation.⁷ When used regularly, herbs such as artichoke can even replace pharmaceutical medications, if other dietary and lifestyle changes are also made.

Phenolic compounds derived from artichoke can be used to prevent the formation of many pathological conditions with a chronic inflammatory or degenerative character. An example of this is the potential role for such compounds in the treatment of breast cancer, where they have been found to induce apoptosis and decrease the invasive potential of the cancer.⁸

While such findings are promising, refined extracts or single compounds are usually used in the trials, but they nevertheless give support to the formation of habits in which whole plants are consumed regularly as part of a protective diet. This is important because the whole plant contains an armoury of defensive compounds which act in synergy, and together form a buffer against modern urban life in a way individual extracts cannot. Furthermore, artichoke is accompanied by other wild medicinal herbs such as dandelion, radicchio and sow thistle in traditional diets, a superior approach to a long-term regime of pharmaceutical drugs.

Artichoke is also a diuretic, helping to cleanse the kidneys by increasing urine flow. This valuable combination of enhanced liver and kidney detoxification assists with the treatment of such specific conditions as gout and arthritis, or chronic metabolic imbalances of a general nature involving a build-up of acidic wastes.

You can add honey to a tea made of the leaves or roots in order to make them more palatable, or mix the fresh bitter juice with a little honey or sweet wine. The French herbalist Maurice Messegue says that you can use a hand or footbath containing a strong infusion made from the fresh leaves if you can’t stomach the bitter leaves, his preferred method of administering herbs.

This article appears in the eBook Wholefoods And Common Medicinal Herbs.

References:

1.         Messegue M. Health Secrets Of Plants And Herbs. Collins; 1976.

2.         McCarrison R. Studies in deficiency disease. London: Frowde, Hodder & Stoughton; 1921.

3.         Heidarian E, Rafieian-Kopaei M. Protective effect of artichoke (Cynara scolymus) leaf extract against lead toxicity in rat. Pharm Biol 2013;51:1104–9.

4.         Knox J, Gaster B. Dietary supplements for the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease. J Altern Complement Med N Y N 2007;13:83–95.

5.         Crevar-Sakac M, Vujić Z, Kotur-Stevuljević J, et al. Effects of atorvastatin and artichoke leaf tincture on oxidative stress in hypercholesterolemic rats. Vojnosanit Pregl 2016;73:178–87.

6.         Keller AC. Artichoke Leaf Extract Improves HDL Cholesterol Levels in Patients with Hypercholesterolemia. HerbalGram 2013;30–30.

7.         Xia N, Pautz A, Wollscheid U, Reifenberg G, Förstermann U, Li H. Artichoke, cynarin and cyanidin downregulate the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in human coronary smooth muscle cells. Mol Basel Switz 2014;19:3654–68.

8.         Mileo AM, Di Venere D, Abbruzzese C, Miccadei S. Long Term Exposure to Polyphenols of Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) Exerts Induction of Senescence Driven Growth Arrest in the MDA-MB231 Human Breast Cancer Cell Line. Oxid Med Cell Longev 2015;2015:363827.