Is It Illegal...

[arivaraci]

Not for nothing...

I know everyone has there own reasons to grow comfrey. And I love it. It is the only thing that relieves my severe allergy to mosquitos. And my great grandmother, who lived to 102, ate a little everyday. She said it was good for digestion.

[Deborah]

I want it for cuts and scrapes. I used to shred a bit of fresh leaf and put it inside a bandage.
I also ate tiny new leaves before the leaves got fuzzy, but with the FDA warnings now maybe I'd better not.

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Deborah

...I also ate tiny new leaves before the leaves got fuzzy, but with the FDA warnings now maybe I'd better not.

I'd heard that the pyrrolizidine alkaloids are more concentrated in new leaves than in older ones. However, before all the research came out, people in the U.S. and U.K. had been drinking comfrey tea and eating small amounts of comfrey leaf without major health problems from it. And the PAs are higher in the roots than in the leaves. This site looks reasonable
http://www.comfreycentral.com/conclusion.htm

On the third hand, borage is in the same plant family. I was astounded that a recent herbal advised avoiding borage flowers because they contained PAs!! I'd been eating them by the dozens every spring. But upon further research, different sources say the PAs in borage flowers are nontoxic (thesinine) or only mildly toxic (amabiline).