St John's wort

“The kroedwis of 15 August. In Limburg the blessed bundle is the kroedwis or kroedwusj, "a bouquet of seven hand-picked herbs and flowers", blessed around Maria Hemelvaart at the start of a thirty-day Marian season. The seven of South Limburg: two grains (haver and tarwe), two yellow herbs (sint-janskruid and boerenwormkruid), two white herbs (duizendblad and kamille or koninginnenkruid) and a walnut twig. It hung in the house against misfortune, above all thunderstorms, a piece thrown in the kachel when the storm came.”

“Never in pregnancy or breastfeeding: wormwood, sage by mouth, pennyroyal, rue, juniper berries, large amounts of parsley seed, St John's wort, comfrey, aloe latex, senna long term. A late period with a pregnancy possible: no herb at all until that is answered.”

“St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum). Kantarion, kantarioni. Kosovo: "weak blood", wounds, nerves, acid stomach. The red oil, kantarionovo ulje, went on burns and wounds. The story: in 2023 the EU herbal committee revised its monograph and "did not support the traditional oral use" because of "the high risk of clinically relevant herb-drug interactions that are hardly preventable" and because "there is no clearly established safe dose range". It speeds up the liver enzymes and pumps (CYP3A4, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, P-glycoprotein) that clear many medicines, so those medicines can stop working.”

“The shelf. Gol gav zaban is never a daily tea. Esfand is never swallowed. St John's wort meets most medicines. Saffron in food is a joy, and saffron pills are not for pregnancy.”