Sorbaria for your feet

I got a small box of dried roots in my snailmail.

With that box came a letter that said: "Russian research points to the root decoction of Sorbaria sorbifolia for foot problems."

Tkachenko, K. G.: "New Data about using Sorbaria sorbifolia (L.) A. Br.". World Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Hungary 2001. Poster IV PIV/26.

Tkachenko used the root for 1) candida and 2) for sweaty smelly feet.
I expect that the "candida" is in fact one or the other tinea that hits feet ... the English of that paper is difficult to understand in places.

Anyway, a recipe is given: boil 20-30 g dried root in 3-5 dl water for 15 minutes, strain, pour decoction into foot bath, put roots back, boil'em up in 1.5-2 dl water and let that boil for 15 minutes, strain, pour that decoction into the first, and repeat with another 1.5 - 2 dl water.
Let the feet sit in the hot liquid for 15-20 minutes morning or night, every day for a few days.

After three such foot baths the feet don't sweat anymore, and the smell disappears for 5-7 days. And after 10-15 foot baths the foot fungus is gone.

Sounds interesting. And I can get more of the root if I so wish.

A local school for foot therapists tried it out, and some of the smelly feet folks were disappointed: their feet stopped sweating while they were doing the baths (3 days on, 5 off, etc.), but started sweating well before the next set of foot baths.
The foot fungus folks got better feet, but that particular paper doesn't say if they got completely rid of their fungus or not. However, a few toenail fungi showed some improvement, so this would be worthwhile for that at least ... but should be used much more long-term than the original paper suggests.

Now to find somebody local who works with the elderly ... preferably one or the other of my ex-students. Why the elderly, you ask? Most if not all inhabitants of homes for the aged have atrocious feet. Something to do with poor digestion leading to nutrient deficiency - B6, among other things.

Because most fungal infections are due to too little B6, and I'm told that sweaty feet are one sign of zinc deficiency ... do both for 6 months and these problems go away.

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Related entry: Foot fungi