Fennel is also known as sweet fennel and wild fennel. It is now chiefly known as a vegetable and culinary herb but the seeds, leaves and roots were also used in herbal medicine.
In ancient Greece, fennel was thought to increase the flow of milk in nursing mothers. In old folklore, fennel was thought to increase the libido and cure impotence and frigidy. For this reason it was used in love potions.
Later, fennel was used as a cure for flatulence, colic and indigestion. It had a various other uses, including being a cure for obesity.
It was used as a diuretic and was thought to be helpful in the cure of jaundice and disorders of the gall bladder. However, children suffering from bed-wetting were also thought to be helped by the herb.
Toothache and earache were meant to be cured by fennel, and it was used as an expectorant in bronchitis.
Fennel had to be used with caution as an overdose could affect the nervous system and fresh fennel leaves could be an irritant.
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