Cleavers (Galium aperine)

Available either as a dried herb or herbal tincture.

Please note this is a nutritional, functional horse food supplement and not veterinary medicine. See Dr Kellon's Horse Sense - 'Nutrition is not 'Alternative' Therapy.

Tincture

Our human-grade, certified organic tinctures give you a ready-to-absorb potent source of phytonutrients at the highest-strength available, for immediate absorption straight into the bloodstream and to the body’s cells.

100% certified organic pure tincture: Galium aparine (Cleavers) Herb, Infused 1:3 35%, Organically grown

Feed Guide

• Horse - 30-40ml / Pony - 15-20ml, daily in feed.
• Always shake the bottle to disperse any sediment.
• 3-year shelf-life.

Dried Herb

Certified organic dried herb: Galium aparine (Cleavers) Herb, Wild harvested , Origin Hungary

Feed Guide

• 5g/100kg bodyweight per day, thus for an average 500kg horse add 25g daily to feed.
• 1-year shelf-life.

Functional Nutritional Value

Constituents: Volatile oils, coumarins, polyphenolic acids (citric, rubichloric, galitannic), anthraquinones, saponins, chlorophyll, tannins, trace minerals, glycosides (aperuloside), flavonoids, iridoid monoterpenes, alkaloids.

NB. Our range of botanicals are all grown, harvested and dried without the use of agri-chemicals, non-irradiated and GMO free - see our Quality page for Quality Management & Certification Documents. Laboratory tested for identification and compliance to the British and European Pharmacopoeia standards, and are human grade.

Please be aware that if you're purchasing our dried botanicals for human use, our dried range is cut to appropriate sizes for feeding to horses.

More ...

Cleavers = sticky! Even the learned 1 ^st -century Roman, Pliny the Elder, agreed with his Greek friends, who knew only too well how cleavers clung to clothing.

For me, seeing the cleavers coming through in early Spring is a major landmark, along with the new nettle shoots, the first daffs and the first blossom. I always get just a little excited when I see the new cleavers as it’s such a standout medicinal – and also rampantly generous as once it gets going it’s not long before it’s smothering everywhere with its velcro charm. As for my horses, they love cleavers, and will happily munchthe juicy stems for as long as they can.

Cleavers is classified as a sweet, moist tonic, safe enough for children. It’s a gentle, nourishing, building herb; in Ayurvedic medicine it’s one of the only lymphatics suitable for Vata people (Vata is the dosha in Ayurveda that describes the constitution of someone who is thin, dry, and perhaps tending towards nervousness).

Early records suggest cleaves infused in wine was used by the romans for snake bites and venomous spiders, with 16th century herbalists also referencing snake bites. This could be due to cleavers’ alterative blood-purifying actions, in that it helps rid the body of toxins.

It’s also on record again as far back as the romans that cleavers’ astringent herbal action as well as its bitter tannins, were used as a styptic - astringent herbs that can be applied to the skin directly to the wound to stop the bleeding and staunch wounds.

Overall, Cleavers is a tonic herb, soothing for inflammation in the lymph, nervous, kidney, and genitourinary system. Many respected herbalists consider cleavers the best available tonic for the lymphatic system, and in rural folk medicine cleavers was – and still is - a major ingredient in a spring tonic, combined with nettle.

These days it’s probably best known as a strong diuretic and a powerful lymphatic, so no surprise to know it’s a major player in addressing imbalances in the lymphatic system, particularly lymphatic congestion. Cleavers increases lymphatic flow in the body, which enhances immunity via the resulting circulation of T-cells and antibodies.

Cleavers should be considered for immediate use when a lymph node becomes newly enlarged, as it’s cooling nature will swiftly go to work on the inflammation. The skin and lungs also benefit from cleavers’ affinity with the lymphatic system, as they both rely on the lymphatics to drain congestion.

Cleavers is also well known as an excellent, non-irritating diuretic to help increase the flow of urine, with a valuable association to the kidneys and urethra. It’s especially useful in cases of irritation and inflammation of the bladder and urethra, which makes cleavers a valuable support for chronic UTIs.

The nervous system can benefit from cleavers as well. Matthew Wood’s specific indications for someone in need of cleavers are “ nervousness, sympathetic excess, skin tickles and itches easily, a feeling of fussiness, irritability, and “not myself ”.

Trivia-time

• Maude Grieve notes that both the Greeks and Swedes (as told by Dioscorides and Linnaeus respectively) used cleavers as a natural sieve to strain milk through.
• Native american tribes consider cleavers to be deer medicine; amongst deers’ many preferences for cleavers, does will also purposely root out cleavers to make up their fawns’ beds, not only because its billowy growth makes a great mattress, but also for its scent which disguises theirs as they hide their babies from predators.

Finally, fresh is best! This may explain why our horses blissfully gorge on fresh cleavers. It’s popularly used for us humans as a fresh juice, and also why our cleavers tincture in infused from fresh organic plants.

We use cleavers for its diuretic actions and especially for its lymphatic affinity, as it’s such an effective herb for cleansing the internal environment. You’ll find cleavers in our MetaTonic and many of our Immunity C.A.R.E blends.

Safety

• Cleavers is very safe to use, considered a mild and non-toxic herb.