Slightly warming thermal nature; pungent, bitter, and salty flavor; improves digestion; detoxifies meat or fish poisoning; ripens measles to hasten recovery. Parsley is a source of remarkable nutrition: it contains several times the vitamin C of citrus and is one of the higher sources of provitamin A, chlorophyll, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and iron. Promotes urination and dries watery mucoid conditions; good for the treatment of obesity, mucus in the bladder, swollen glands and breasts, and stones in the bladder, kidney, or gall bladder. Parsley is effective for nearly all kidney and urinary difficulties, although not for cases of severe kidney inflammations (since it is warming). Parsley strengthens the adrenal glands and benefits the optic and brain nerves; it is also useful in the treatment of ear infections, ear­ ache, and deafness. It is often taken as a cancer preventive. Parsley counteracts halitosis and poor digestion, and has a refreshing green color, thus making it an exceptional garnish.

TIPS 

• One excellent way to enjoy and benefit from parsley is to juice it with celery. The mineral salts in these related herbs work in tandem, with the parsley’s salts binding onto acids such as lactic acid in the body and driving them out while celery’s salts bind onto other sorts of toxins  while also feeding and   helping to form neurotransmitter chemicals (of which there are many varieties as yet undocumented  by medical  research).

• You can also make a tea from parsley, using the herb fresh or dried (though preferably fresh). The infusion process is a great way to extract the maximum amount of trace minerals and phytochemicals hidden deep within parsley, so that you can absorb these nutrients
• For maximum benefit, seek out flat-leaf (Curly-leaf parsley still has great value, so don’t skip it if flat-leaf isn’t available.)
• Get into the habit of adding parsley to everything, whether you like the herb or At a certain point, habit will take over, and in the end, you’ll at least be using parsley in one meal a day. If you’re averse to parsley, experiment with it in various preparations (juiced, chopped and sprinkled on salad, blended into a smoothie, made into tea, and so on) until you find one you can tolerate. Then you can reap parsley’s nutritional benefits while it also pushes out what shouldn’t be in your system.

The Recommended Dietary Amount (RDA) is based upon recommendations for a 40 year old very active man that I have adapted from USDA’s Dietary Intake Recommendations: http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/fnic/interactiveDRI/. Using this link you can make your own calculationsNotes:

Adapted from:

Murray, M. (2005). Encyclopedia of Healing Food. New York, N.Y.: Atria Books

Paul Pitchford (2002). Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, North Atlantic Books

USDA food database: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/

Other information sources:

Online database of the World’s Healthiest Foods: http://www.whfoods.com/index.php

Online nutrient breakdown of foods: http://nutritiondata.self.com/