0.7mg/100g or B12 in Comfrey - possible liver damage

[Korn]

First, some general info on comfrey:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/arc/1598/
"Comfrey is rich in vitamin B12, which is important to vegetarians, as very few plants have B12. It is also rich in vitamins B1, B2, C, E, A, and pantothenic acid plus calcium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.
Dr. H.E. Kirschner, M.D., author of Nature's Healing Grasses (H.C. White Publications, 1975), describes one of his most interesting cases involving comfrey: "A middle-aged woman came to me with a large malignant ulcer below the eye and close to the nose. I prescribed a comfrey poultice and a "green drink" containing comfrey leaves. Soon after the application of the comfrey leaf poultice, the painful swelling subsided and rapid improvement was noted. Only a few months after the initial treatment there was complete healing over of the infected area and the malignant ulcer had disappeared."
Dr. Kirschner devoted four chapters in his book to comfrey. He says it's great for lung and bronchial problems, skin and stomach ulcers, arthritis, skin cancer, tuberculosis, asthma, and even works as a beauty aid.
Comfrey is very rich in chlorophyll ("green magic"), one reason why Dr. Kirschner used it in his green drink. After all, the only difference between chlorophyll and our blood is that our blood molecule is built around an iron atom and the chlorophyll molecule is built around a magnesium atom.
Personally, I think it is one of our greatest herbs. I've seen it work miracles. Too bad we don't use it more often. Why not grow some?"


http://www.cyberwitch.com/Wychwood/B...en/comfrey.htm :
"The list of beneficial substances in this plant is impressive. It has more protein in its leaves than any other plant, and it brings up minerals from great depths through its long taproot, sometimes as long as 10ft. The leaf and root contain allantoin, a cell proliferant, which is exceptional in its ability to help heal both flesh and bones. It is a good vegetable source of vitamin B12, a useful supplement for a vegan diet.
Leaves can be picked and dried in midsummer for use as a tea, to be used either on its own or mixed with other herbs, or conventional tea. It can also be added as a herb to soups and burgers. Fresh leaves can be cooked as spinach, but as with spinach, don't overdo it!"

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/comfrey.htm :
"In addition to some comfrey plants containing 0.7mg/100g or B12, comfrey leaves contain:

B1, Thiamine 0.5mg/100g
B2, Riboflavin 1mg/100g
Niacin 5mg
Pantothenic Acid 4.2mg
Vitamin C 100mg
Iron, Calcium, Pro Vitamin A"
(This site also contains comfrey recipes, BUT read on....)

http://www.healthyeatingclub.com/inf...ta/data4e.html
"Animals ultimately acquire vitamin B-12 from microorganisms, people eating animal products are unlikely to suffer any deficiency. People in traditional vegetarian cultures probably obtained most of their vitamin B-12 through microbial contamination of food. Small amounts may also be obtained from water through its association with soil micro-organisms, and from bacteria normally living in the mouth. With newer, more hygienic practices, vitamin B-12 deficiency sometimes now occurs in people on a vegetarian diet, especially the infants of vegetarian mothers. It has been suggested that a few plants, like comfrey, might be sources of vitamin B-12, But, in the case of comfrey to eat enough of it to obtain the recommended amount of vitamin B-12 would be to risk toxicity and liver damage."

If you have read that comfrey is a good B12 source and consider trying the recipes, you definitely need to check out this first:

http://www.drugs.com/MTM/comfrey.html

[phillip888]

Comfrey has two 'edible' parts, the leaf system and the root system. The root system contains alkaloids that your liver can not easily metabolize in 'large' amounts. The leaf system contains significantly lower densities of this alkaloid. That's why it's suggested that you use the leaves. Also the 'comfrey is poison' legislation and scare comes from our good pals in the animal slavery industry, at least here in the US it does. It's illegal here to sell as a B12 source, for the same reason hemp is. It competes with established industry...

I personally would grow it in abundance (it's a very tough plant and is regularly treated as a weed), then harvest it as mushroom base. Fruiting fungi have the ability to absorb B12 without using it. Well, and they taste soo good.

[Korn]

For those of you that read Scandinavian languages, here is an article (not written from a vegan perspective) discussing the use of comfrey as an alternative to the more or less un-natural 'food' animals in factory farms are given to get enough nutrients. According to this source, comfrey contains 0,07 mg B12 pr. 100 g (note that mg = milligrams, not micrograms, which usually is used when referring to B12 levels in plants).

[tails4wagging]

Comfrey grows wild here like a weed. I would like to make comfrey tea, but dont know how to and how much leaves needed.

[veganblue]

Internally, the leaves are taken in the form of an infusion, 1 OZ. of the leaves to 1 pint of boiling water.

Taken from http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/comfre92.html

I have eaten the battered leaves before, but not only are they prickly, my batter leaves a lot to be desired.

The cleaned and peeled root when mashed with aloevera flesh is good for the skin seemingly, though there are probably better ways of preparing it for comforts sake - it is rather slimey.

[Korn]

From http://www.selfsufficientish.com/comfrey.htm

In addition to some comfrey plants containing 0.7mg/100g or B12, comfrey leaves contain:
B1, Thiamine 0.5mg/100g
B2, Riboflavin 1mg/100g
Niacin 5mg
Pantothenic Acid 4.2mg
Vitamin C 100mg

There's also some info about comfrey here:

http://www.purplesage.org.uk/profiles/comfrey.htm

[fishbird]

I personally would grow it in abundance (it's a very tough plant and is regularly treated as a weed), then harvest it as mushroom base. Fruiting fungi have the ability to absorb B12 without using it. Well, and they taste soo good.

Hello philip & all.. I'm new around here.
Great forums! Glad I found ém!

I'm also a vegan, and wish to know:
How do you grow mushrooms with comfrey?
I actually don't know how to grow mushrooms at all,
But I realise it might be a big question...
I'm also a vegeterian, and I'm really curious to know!

thanks
fishbird