PARSLEY: USING AND DESCRIPTION
Posted by adminPetroselinum crispum UMBELLIFERAE Petroselinum sativum
Parsley well deserves its place as the most widely used of all herbs. And it is true that there is often more goodness and nutrition in those sprigs of garnish left on the plate than there is in the dish itself. So eat up every little bit, and bless Mother Nature for her bounty.
Parsley contains vitamins A, B and C in the leaves and larger quantities of C in the roots, approximately three times as much as oranges. Its vitamin A content is more than that found in cod liver oil. It contains the fatty acids necessary to utilize in the body the fat-soluble vitamins, and is rich in minerals of which iron is the most important, but calcium, sodium and magnesium are also present. Apiol, the oily non-volatile liquid found in root and leaves is a powerful digestive aid in the quantities found in the parsley plant, and another substance, apiin, a form of pectin, also helps in this process. Parsley stimulates the whole digestive system, and also the kidneys, to promote healthy action in this most important organ. If your kidneys are unhappy, then so are you; so keep them healthy and functioning well with the addition of parsley every day in your diet.
The herb is as valuable to most animals as it is to humans, although never give it to birds of any type or to pet rabbits. It does not suit their digestive processes at all, and has even been fatal to cage birds.
Parsley is a highly valued addition to a dog’s diet, and natural rearing methods for dogs make great use of it. As a general tonic, to keep liver and kidneys functioning well, parsley should be sprinkled over the dog’s meal every few days. My own little long-haired Corgi is a walking advertisement for parsley and kelp. Born with her head on one side, and unable to be bred or shown, she was to be destroyed until we took her as a household pet. Now three years old, she has the constitu¬tion and endurance (and appetite!) of a Great Dane, and she was reared on fresh meat with parsley and kelp as dietary supplements, and horseradish leaves and garlic to keep her worm-free and healthy.
To the ancient Greeks, “to be in need of parsley” was to be gravely ill. To them, only parsley was powerful enough to be of use in extremis.
Pliny, that wise old Roman, was one of the first to extol the virtues of parsley. He sprinkled it on his fish-ponds, observing the increase in the health and vitality as well as the number of the inhabitants. So as far back as the first century A.D., parsley gained a reputation it has never lost, that of increasing virility in males and fertility in females. The giving by one woman to another of a parsley root still today brings forth the remark, “Well,, you should be pregnant within the year.” I like to think it is due not to an “old wives’ tale” but to the increased vitality and enjoyment of life that a parsley plant in the garden will give you if you eat some every day.
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