Lamb´s quarters (Chenopodium album)

Lamb´s quarters (Chenopodium album)

There has been a reported case in Sweden where a lady poisoned her horses with the herb Lamb´s quarters (fat hen). She was trying to cure their laminitis, it all went wrong. Why? How did the lady think?

Well it is not the easiest thing to find the right herb out there and I am in this case sure her intentions were good, she just missed out on some essential information which only goes to prove that herbs are very potent and if used right they can do a lot of good, but if used wrong it can have devastating effects.

Lamb´s quarters is a kitchen herb, it is widely used in cooking all over the world (especially in Indian and Mexican cooking, related to quinoa) and is grown commercially. Famously the seeds of this herb was found in the stomach of the Iron age Tollund man (Silkeborg Museum, Denmark). It is used similarly to Spinach and has a similar chemical composition. It can be eaten both raw in sallads and cooked in stews or as spinach. The value as a kitchen herb is great as it is high in both fat (mainly the seeds) and protein. The herb is also rich in vitamin A, C and vit B complex (thiamine, riboflavin and niacin), it also contains iron, phosphorus and calcium. As Lambs quarters is a very easy to grow herb, sometimes too easy, it is and has been a good part of a nutricious and helthy diet.

Medicinal use

Medicinally Fat Hen or Lamb´s quarters have been used as a nutritive, its high vit C content helped against scurvy and its high nutritive value was a savior in times of famine. The plant has also been used for different gastro intestinal complaints as well as an anti spasmodic (a smooth muscle relaxant), colic. It has also been used for rheumatic complaints, gout and eczema. Other uses are as an anthelmintic and externally as a poultice to treat burns and swellings.

Handy tip: The sap has been used to bleach freckles and as a treatment for sunburn. It is definitely worth trying to bruise a leaf and put on a sunburnt area.

Chemical composition

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This plant is an expert on storing nitrate, which also gives it its fattening properties for hens, which in turn gives it its name Fat Hen. High Nitrate levels can give rise to Nitrate poisoning. Nitrate in the blood will act as an intermediate which will oxidize the iron atoms in haemoglobin. Methemoglobin is formed which cannot carry oxygen. This leads to suffocation (shortness of breath, fatigue which in bad cases can lead to seizures, coma and death.

Oxalates can have an effect on the kidney function, this is mainly by oxalates reacting with calcium giving rise to oxalate chrystals that may bloch the urinary pathway which in turn may lead to urine blood poisoning.

Oxalates also binds dietary Calcium and Magnesium which in turn leads to low serum (blood) levels of Calcium and Magnesium. So why are these elements so important to life??? Calcium plays an important role as an electrolyte helping nerve and muscletissue to communicate correctly. Calcium is of course also an important building block of our skeleton. Low levels of Calcium in the blood may lead to numbness, muscle spasms, seizures and death. Likewise low levels of Magnesium may lead to neuromuscular, cardiovascular deterioration.

Cyanogenic Glycosides. A compound that can turn into cyanide which is poisonous. Cyanogenic glycosides are available in very small quantities but may constitute a problem if large amounts of Chenopodium album is consumed. Symptoms of this type of cyanide poisoning may include tightness in the chest and muscle weakness.

Humans more often than not eat a fairly varied diet and the positives of this plant far outweighs the negatives and should only be avoided if you are especially sensitive to oxalates and or have kidney problems. In cattle or horses we are talking about a lot bigger quantities where the above substances may well reach poisonous levels.

Conclusion

Lambs quarters has been used to “clean the blood”, improve the blood, against rheumatism and gout. It has also a reputation of putting gastro intestinal problems right. This together with the fact that the herb is used in cooking may have led this lady to believe she was doing the right thing. Next she possibly thought the more the merrier. It is easy to think that you do better is you give more. Here the Swedish word “lagom” springs to mind, a word that depicts just the right amount, not to little and not too much.