Argemone mexicana (Mexican poppy or Swarna Ksheeri) usage for home made remedies and health benefits in Ayurveda.
Cures Skin Disease, Stomach Hardness, Difficulty in Passing Urine, Piles, Asthma and Breathing problems, Fibroids and Ulcers in Stomach, Diabetes, Scorpion Bite, nose problems.
It is also known by names such as : Mexican prickly poppy, flowering thistle, cardo or cardosanto, Bengali: Siyal-Kanta • Hindi: सत्यानाशी Satyanashi, Bharband • Kannada: Datturigidda • Konkani: Phirangi dhutro • Malayalam: Ponnummattu • Manipuri: খোমথোঙপী Khomthongpee • Marathi: Firangi dhotra • Sanskrit: Kshirini, Swarna ksheeri • Tamil: குடியோட்டி Kudiyotti • Telugu: బ్రహ్మదండి (పిచ్చి కుసుమ / pichi kusuma).
Mexican prickly poppy or to give it its scientific name Argemone Mexicana is a plant native to Mexico, now grown widespread through out the world. It is a drought resistant plant and secrets a pale yellow liquid when cut. The seeds contain a pale yellow oil called argemone oil which is toxic. Some unscrupulous people adulter it with mustard seeds which it resembles.
People in Mali boil the plant whole and drink the decoction to cure malaria. Bio-diesel can also be produced from it by mixing it with manganese carbonate.
Mexican prickly poppy plant, has a wide variety of medicinal uses.
- For Skin Disease
Uproot a Mexican prickly poppy plant in total, crush and grind it with a mortar and pestle. Extract its juice and filter the same. Now add an equal quantity of sesame oil to this juice and boil the mix on a flame. Boil till only oil remains, let it cool and filter it. Apply this oil on the skin infected by disease and gently massage. Doing this frequently will cure itching, ring worm, sores and infections. - For Stomach Hardness
For people suffering from this disease, it is very difficult to digest food and also it causes lot of pain. As a remedy take Mexican poppy leaves, and the stem of the plant. Crush and grind together and extract the juice. Filter this juice using a cloth. Use 10 grams of this juice and add 10 grams of honey to it. Consume this medicine twice a day to obtain relief from hardness of stomach. - Difficulty in Passing Urine
Only people suffering from this know how painful it is. Ayurved has a simple remedy for this. Take the root of the Mexican prickly poppy and crush it. Add this to water and boil it. Drink 5 grams of this decoction everyday to obtain relief. - For Piles
Take the root of the Mexican prickly poppy and grind it. Apply this paste on the piles protruding through the anus at night and bind tightly with a cloth. Doing this regularly for two weeks will get rid of piles and give immense relief. - Asthma and Breathing problems
Obtain the root of the Mexican prickly poppy and wash it. Take 6 grams of this and crush it. Add this to water and boil it. Drink this decoction every day to obtain relief from asthma and breathlessness. Also the flum accumulated in the lungs will dissolve leaving a vibrant health behind. - Fibroids and Ulcers in Stomach
Obtain the root of the Mexican prickly poppy and remove the bark from it. Take this bark and wash it thoroughly. Take 6 grams of this and grind it to a fine paste. Add this to half a cup of buttermilk and drink it early in the morning on empty stomach. Repeating this for 40 days will cure fibroids and ulcers in the stomach. You can now eat whatever you want without worrying about stomach pain. - For Diabetes
Take 3 leaves of Mexican prickly poppy, and 5 pepper cloves. Grind these together with water and filter the decoction with a fine cloth. Drink this decoction early in the morning everyday, to control diabetes. Use this remedy for a week and get a blood glucose test done. Depending on the result, if there is significant improvement, you can reduce the dosage of the medicine. Patients with weak constitution and heart disease should not use this medicine. - Scorpion Bite
Obtain the root of the Mexican prickly poppy and wash it. Extract the milk out of this by squeezing it. Apply this milk on the scorpion bite. Also burn a cloth and direct the smoke on to this bite. This works like a antidote and relief will be obtained. - For Nose – To regain power of smell
Some people complain that they cannot smell the fragrance through their nose. Take a Mexican prickly poppy stem and break it in half and collect the pale yellow juice secreted by it. To this add 3 grams of rice flour and mix well. Next dry this in strong sunlight, and grind it to a fine powder. Store this powder and everyday take a pinch of it, and use like a snuff in the nose.Also in 250 ml cow milk, add two drops of the pale yellow juice secreted by taking a Mexican prickly poppy stem and break it in half. Drink this milk everyday only in the morning. Gradually the nose will regain it power of smell.