The Health Properties of Psyllium Seeds

Psyllium seed comes from a large plantain herb. The seed husks and whole seeds are widely available in bulk, and you can find them in many commercial bowel-cleansing and laxative formulas. Wild plantain seeds collected from a grassy meadow have similar effects.

Herbalists and doctors recommend the husk and seeds to help relieve constipation, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, and high cholesterol. Either the powder or the soaked seed will assist easy bowel movements during colitis, inflamed ulcers, and hemorrhoids by increasing water content in the colon. Take a teaspoon of the powder in warm water or juice 3 times a day, to clean the intestines and remove putrefactive toxins. Make the dose one-half teaspoon for children.

Externally, psyllium seed powder is very often added to poultices as a binder (to hold it all together). For this purpose, add a small amount while pouring water over the ingredients and stir until it becomes thick, similar to dough. Psyllium will draw pus from boils, sores and carbuncles.

Psyllium seed powder can also be added to unleavened bread as a binder.