Butchersbroom

• Butcher's broom is a small evergreen shrub that grows throughout Europe and North Africa. Historically, European butchers may have used the leaves and twigs of the Ruscus aculeatus plant to clean and scrub their chopping blocks, hence the name "butcher's broom." The rhizome shoots of butcher's broom may be eaten as food in many cultures. Both the root and the stem are used as part of herbal preparations.
• Butcher's broom may have been used for the past 2,000 years for its beneficial effects on the circulatory system. These beneficial effects may include promoting vein narrowing and improving the tone of blood vessel walls. The chemicals found in butcher's broom may attach to and strengthen certain parts of blood vessels, especially collagen, resulting in a tightening of blood vessels, which allows blood to circulate throughout the body and provides greater flexibility to blood vessel walls.
• Today, butcher's broom is most frequently used in combination with hesperidin methyl chalcone (150mg) and vitamin C (100mg) in a product known as Cyclo 3 Fort®, which is used to treat certain circulatory diseases, particularly chronic venous insufficiency (CVI).
• Butcher's broom has also been studied as a treatment for other diseases and conditions, including varicose veins, secondary lymphedema (swelling due to excess fluid) of the upper arm after breast cancer treatment, and premenstrual syndrome symptoms, and for healing sprains and contusions. However, most of these studies have evaluated butcher's broom herbal combinations, so the effect of butcher's broom alone is still unclear. Further research is required.
• Butcher's broom may have been used by the ancient Greeks as a diuretic (an agent that promotes urine) and laxative. Historically, throughout Europe, it may have been used to regulate menstrual periods, to get rid of jaundice and headaches, and to heal broken bones. Butcher's broom has also been used to increase sweating, to treat gout and kidney stones, and to promote improved blood flow.