About marshmallow root
We’re all familiar with pink, fluffy, exceptionally moreish marshmallow sweets, aren’t we? But there’s little connection between those popular campfire staples and the wonderfully adaptable herb marshmallow root. Today’s marshmallow sweets may have evolved from an ancient Egyptian confection which did contain the root of the marshmallow plant, but that’s where the connection ends. Today, the marshmallow root has been replaced by gelatin in marshmallow sweets. And marshmallow root is purely a supplement. And yes, marshmallow root for dogs is a supplement too!
The thing that made those early sweets so appealing to early Egyptians was a key element of marshmallow root. It’s called mucilage. It’s that very thing that makes marshmallow root for dogs such a useful tool for healing any dog with a troubled gut.
Mucilage is indigestible fibre. It’s a sticky, gelatinous material that, as it travels through your dog’s gut, coats it with a protective layer. That protective layer soothes and heals the lining of the entire digestive tract.
Marshmallow root contains up to 35% mucilage. And, along with slippery elm and deglycyrrhised liquorice root, marshmallow root is one of a number of such mucilage herbs.
It’s also useful for dealing with urinary tract inflammation. In fact it’s beneficial for anywhere that involves surface inflammation or irritation of internal mucous membranes (mucosa).
Properties of marshmallow root
Marshmallow root’s many beneficial properties include:
- Removes water from the body – its a diuretic
- Lowers blood sugar – it has hypoglycemic properties
- Stops growth of viruses, bacteria and fungi – it has antimicrobial properties
- Reduces itchiness, redness and swelling caused by inflammation – it has anti-inflammatory properties
- Helps expel mucus from the respiratory tract – it is an expectorant
- Boosts the immune system’s ability to fight disease – it is an immunostimulant
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Benefits of marshmallow root
When your dog suffers from inflammation in the digestive tract, it causes the lining of the gut to become more permeable than it was designed to be. The lining of your dog’s gut is the only thing stopping harmful bacteria, toxins and microscopic particles of undigested food entering the bloodstream and causing havoc throughout your dog’s body.
This is leaky gut syndrome, and it can make your best friend prone to all manner of chronic (long-term) inflammatory health conditions as a result of it. These conditions include allergies, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Marshmallow root can help treat:
- IBD
- Urinary Tract Infections
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Respiratory problems
Cautionary
As wonderfully benficial for dogs as marshmallow root is, it is also known to lower blood sugar. Avoid this herb if your dog suffers with diabetes. If your dog is diabetic, consult with your vet before giving marshmallow root for dogs.
Marshmallow root can also interfere with the absorption of some drugs. If your dog is on any medication of any kind, check with your vet before giving marshmallow root.
And if you need advice on any of these health problems mentioned here, do please contact me to see if I can help.
My dog has re-occurring calcium oxalate bladder stones. He has has meningomyelitis and is own 5 mg of prednisone, 50 mg of cyclosporine daily and 8 cc’s of cytosar monthly. I’ve tried to do research on drug interactions. I want to try and give him herbal supplements for the bladder stones but am wondering if the marshmallow root can cause any problems with his regular medications? His internal medicine specialist and neurologist are not very educated about the herbal supplements and I cannot get an appointment with a holistic vet and pet nutritionist for a month.
Thank you,
Danette