What Is Butchers Broom?
The stiff spines of butcher broom, an evergreen bush (Ruscus aculeatus) native to the Mediterranean region, were once popular for making brooms (hence the herb name). For centuries, people also consumed this herb, which is closely related to asparagus, as a vegetable. Long famed as a folk medicine, butcher broom was also used for years in Europe for treating constipation, kidney stones, urinary tract infections, and various gastrointestinal problems. Typically, the fleshy root of the plant was boiled and drunk as a tea. During the twentieth century the plant use as a folk remedy began to fade until reports from France in the 1950s changed the thinking about this ancient herb. Investigators there found that dogs and hamsters treated with an extract of the plant underground stem experienced a narrowing of their blood vessels. Because this kind of action in the body has important implications for treating vessel diseases, butcher broom is today used to treat such conditions as varicose ve
