Benefits of Fennel

Fennel is a popular ingredient in Mediterranean cooking. The bulbous vegetable, also known as anise, is eaten raw or roasted, like a celery. Its seeds are dried and used as a flavoring in soups, seasoning in recipes or to flavor Italian and Greek desserts. Its leaves, which resemble dill weed, are used to flavor salads. The seeds can also be fermented to produce liqueurs like Italian sambucca, French anisette and Greek ouzo, according to food and beverage site The Epicentre. Consuming the licorice-flavored vegetable offers a number of health benefits.

Pain Related to Menstruation and Pre-Menstrual Syndrome

Many woman experience pain related to menstruation. Abdominal pain, largely from cramps, may accompany a woman's period or the days leading up to it. Researchers at Kerman University in Iran performed a trial where high school girls were given fennel to treat menstrual-related pain, also called dysmenorrhoea. Pain was relieved in 73 percent of participants, while related fatigue was allayed in 80 percent of the trial.

Constipation Relief

BioMed Central Complementary and Alternative Medicine published the results of a 2010 study seeking the safety and efficacy of anise tea as a treatment for constipation. The results showed that individuals drinking the tea produced results by day two. The number of bowel movements in the test group increased, with near immediate results. The study's researchers conclude that anise tea has "laxative efficacy and is a safe alternative" to medication.

Treating Colic in Babies

In her book "What to Expect In The First Year" and on her website What To Expect, Heidi Murkoff explains colic as possibly being caused by infant acid reflex or difficulty digesting. Russian doctors at the St. Petersburg Medical Academy of Postdoctoral Education studied the effectiveness of fennel seed oil on colic. Their trial of 125 babies suffered from colic showed a reduction in its symptoms without side effects.

Alzheimer's Treatment

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. This brain destroying illness has no cure, but multiple treatments exist to slow the disease's impact. Indian researchers studied the use of fennel as a treatment for cognitive impairments in laboratory mice. The mice, which had Alzheimer's-related compounds introduced to their brains, showed improvement in memory deficits when treated with fennel extract.