Motherwort and Hawthorn for Atrial Fibrillation
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Gerald
Posted on: September 10, 2004

You generously replied to my email regarding atrial fibrillation in May of this year. I now have my diet, weight, etc. under control. I am exercising, doing yoga, etc. I have added to my raw vegan diet, flaxseed, fish oil, a boiled organic egg, some goats milk yogurt, and a B12 supplement.

I am now ready to begin exploring the herbs you recommended. I have contacted the American Herbalist Guild as you suggested. Their office is less than an hour from me. I am waiting to hear from them. In the meantime, I have a bag of hawthorn berries that I bought last year. In your recommendation you suggested hawthorn berries or flowers. How do you recommend one take the hawthorn berries?

A naturopath friend of mine suggested the following formula:

"Herbal Formula: hawthorn berry and motherwort. Boil 2 heaping tablespoons cracked or ground hawthorn berries in 1 quart of water gently for 1/2 hour. Then pour over 2 tablespoons of motherwort and steep for 30 minutes. Drink the entire quart in divided doses throughout the day. Make the tea fresh daily. It may safely be taken on a daily basis to prevent attacks."

It taste awful. Plus cracking or grinding the hawthorn berries is almost impossible. Do you have other suggestions for a formula and how one can crack or grind the berries?

Dried hawthorn berries can be prepared by simmering until soft. As well as drinking the resulting decoction, the cooked berries can be eaten, discarding the seeds. The decoction and the berry have a pleasant, fruity taste. Because motherwort is very bitter, I usually use it as a tincture rather than a tea. The tincture dose is one to two teaspoons, three times daily.

If you would like to try making your hawthorn-motherwort tea more palatable, try adding one tablespoon each of linden flowers and lemon balm leaves when you add the motherwort.

Back to Medicinal Herbs and Their Uses | Q & A Index

Copyright © 1997-2024 Otto Richter and Sons Limited. All rights reserved.