Description

Organic Wild Lettuce is a naturally bitter herbal tea known as “nature’s morphine”. It’s been used for centuries for its potential to reduce inflammation, ease pain, and support relaxation. With a distinct earthy and vegetal flavor, this caffeine-free tea is often used for stress relief and overall wellness.

Before using wild lettuce medicinally, speak with a healthcare professional to make sure it is safe for you to consume. It has strong medicinal properties which include analgesic (pain-relieving) and sedating effects.

Caffeine Content None

Flavor: Organic Wild Lettuce tea can be bitter with a slight vegetal aftertaste.

Ingredients: Organic Wild Lettuce

Instructions to Steep

Add 1-2 teaspoons of tea to 8 oz of boiling temperature water

Let the tea steep for 5-7 minutes. Lemon can be added to temper to bitterness.

For best results, use filtered water (water can really affect the taste of the tea if it is not filtered)

Wild Lettuce: Wild lettuce is a plant that has been used for pain relief and to induce sleep. It’s used by people interested in alternatives to conventional medications.

For centuries, people have used natural remedies, such as medicinal plants, to treat a variety of symptoms, including pain. One such remedy is wild lettuce.

Wild lettuce has bright green leaves, which sprout from a green stem that’s occasionally spotted purple. When scratched, the plant secretes a milky white substance known as lactucarium.

When dried, this compound resembles opium, a pain-relieving agent extracted from unripe seedpods of the opium poppy. Opium was commonly used as a pain reliever and sedative from ancient times into the 19th century. Lactucarium may deliver similar effects as opium — but with fewer side effects. In fact, wild lettuce is often referred to as “opium lettuce” due to its purported pain-relieving qualities.

Historically, doctors used wild lettuce as a pain reliever and to treat conditions such as whooping cough, with research studies on its use dating back to 1814.

Today, you can find many wild lettuce products that contain extracts of the plant’s seeds, leaves, and milky sap. These teas, tinctures, powders, oils, and pills are marketed to treat a range of conditions, including:

• anxiety
• breathing issues
• poor sleep
• joint pain

Foragers, or people who collect and eat wild plants, sometimes consume raw wild lettuce. In addition, wild lettuce has psychoactive properties. People who want a natural buzz sometimes use it recreationally in higher doses.

Wild lettuce extract, or lactucarium, has long been used to relieve pain.

Lactucarium contains lactucin and lactucopicrin. They are bitter substances that act on the central nervous system to produce pain-relieving and sedative effects. These compounds are considered sesquiterpene lactones, a group of beneficial substances most concentrated in plants belonging to the Asteraceae family, such as lettuce, calendula, and chicory. Sesquiterpene lactones make up a large part of the lactucarium secreted by wild lettuce.

Wild lettuce is promoted as a natural treatment for a variety of conditions aside from pain, such as:

• anxiety
• respiratory conditions
• menstrual cramps
• arthritis
• cancer
• insomnia
• poor circulation
• restlessness
• urinary infections

It’s also thought to have antibacterial properties when applied to the skin.

Ingesting wild lettuce, especially in high doses, may cause side effects similar to opioids, such as:

• hallucinations
• dizziness
• nausea
• vomiting
• severe anxiety
• decreased level of consciousness
• agitation
• dry mucus membranes
• dilated pupils
• headache
• blurred vision
• severe sweating
• flushing
• euphoria
• abdominal cramps
• urinary retention

Before using wild lettuce medicinally, speak with a healthcare professional to make sure it is safe for you to consume.

Along with Wild lettuce it is also good to use a combination of holistic treatments, such as: CBD oil, also known as cannabidiol, a nonpsychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant that may have potential health benefits.

Studies suggest that CBD oil may help reduce inflammation, relieve chronic pain, decrease anxiety, and improve sleep quality.

Turmeric and omega-3 fish oil supplements can help reduce pain and inflammation with few side effects as well.

Other evidence-based, natural ways to help relieve pain include yoga, exercise, meditation, acupuncture, and heat therapy.

What if a plant often dismissed as a weed could quietly hold centuries of herbal wisdom?

Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa), isn’t about intoxication — it’s about calm. It has been used in traditional wellness practices for centuries to encourage relaxation, comfort, and rest.

Its natural compounds, lactucin and lactucopicrin, are said to gently support a sense of ease and calm, without the addictive risks tied to synthetic painkillers or sedatives.