PARSLEY THE URINARY TRACT AID

TRADITION SAYS: Parsley root can be used for diseases of the urinary tract, wrote botanist and apothecary John Parkinson in a treatment recommendation he prepared for the Queen of England in 1629. Centuries later, Boericke's Homeopathic Materia Medica recommended parsley for urinary tract ailments, as did The Electric Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, a manual of the Eclectics, a group of US physicians who practiced from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s and were famous for their use of North American botanicals.
Of course, after you've eaten all those onions, you'll also need this breath freshener of yore. "The strong smell of onions is quite taken away by the eating of parsley leaves," counseled Parkinson.
RESEARCH PROVES: According to Yarnell's 2002 World Journal of Urology review of several animal studies, parsley roots do increase urine output. The German Commission E, a regulatory body, has approved the plant for cystitis and other urinary tract disorders.
GET THE BENEFIT: If you have a urinary tract infection or a similar discomfort, try drinking three daily cups of tea, each made with 2 g of common parsley (you don't need just the roots), or taking 2 to 4 ml of tincture 3 times each day for the duration of the condition.
To benefit the urinary tract long-term, eat parsley leaves regularly, advises Yarnell. Munch on the sprig decorating your restaurant meal; at home, add chopped leaves to omelets, salads, and hot dishes. One more benefit of eating it: Parkinson's breath-freshening advice will work as well for you as it did for the Queen of England, thanks to parsley's odor-zapping chlorophyll.