Herbs have always been the basic
source of medication in all the cultures across the world. We find mention of
herbs and their uses in history, literature, the Bible as well as several other
religious texts. What is more significant is the fact that the Bible lets us
know that ‘God has provided man with all herb bearing seeds that is upon the
surface of the earth and all the trees, wherein is the fruit of a tree
producing seed, it should be considered as meat by us'.
For thousands of years, man has been using the herbs to cure his ailments. Most
importantly, compared to other types of medications, herbs are safe for use and
very consistent having little or no side effect whatsoever.
First and foremost, it needs to be
mentioned that term ‘herb' denotes plants that of non-woody nature. In contemporary
times, the term ‘herbs' means any plant or part of a plant that is used to
flavour foods or in the form of medications. Herbs are almost present
everywhere. For instance, they are present even in your kitchen - the mustard
on your table as well as several other spices that line your kitchen shelf
originate from herbs. Actually, there are numerous instances of herbs in our
daily life. Herbs are often described as wonders of Mother Nature.
Since the prehistoric days, people
have always been seeking help via the herbs, as they are natural resources. In
fact, herbs are dissimilar to contemporary medications that result in numerous
side effects and they possess the aptitude to restore the defenses of the body,
thereby, assisting the body to heal itself without any side effects.
All herbs are natural medications
and they have been the natural medicines for the humans all the times. While
writing about herbs, it is essential to mention the different types of herbal
medicine systems that are in use even to this day - for instance, European,
Chinese, American, Ayurvedic, Western and Native are the most
established systems. All these systems help to cure the body as a whole and
each of them make use of the force of the herbs to function as required in
collaboration with the natural energy in every individual. Therefore, it is
advisable that you should use herbs to possess natural, vital energy to
undertaking things that you take please in, to possess the capability to
sustain the normal immune system of your body to protect yourself
from different ailments.
Precisely speaking, the herbs
provide us with numerous health benefits. Here we shall discuss about a few of
them. Herbs are effective in cleansing as well as sanitizing the body with no
side effects whatsoever. In addition, herbs help to control and nature the
glands so that they function as usual. Herbs also enclose high levels of
different vitamins, minerals as well as other nutrients
that nurture as well as build the body. Herbs also enable the body to possess
additional vigour/ energy so that it is able to heal itself. Last, but not the
least important, herbs encourage the good bacteria
present in our body naturally.
Herbs actually absorb various
substances from the soil and subsequently transform them into
minerals, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and fats that are used by our
body for nourishment as well as healing itself. By making use of the herbs or
whole plants, we soak in all the essential ingredients they enclose. Almost all
herbs enclose numerous active substances, one among which normally dominate and
help us to decide on its choice as a medication. Different other curative
factors of the herbs ought not to be ignored since they also assist the body to
absorb its benefits and safeguard against side effects.
It may be noted that the herbs
always function in synergy and, hence, combining them improves the properties
of each herb, facilitating to obtain better curing to the body. For instance, a
good combination of herbs like hops, valerian and passiflora works wonderfully to induce sleep.
All the three herbs mentioned here possess relaxant attributes, while
passiflora focuses on facilitating sleep. At the same time, valerian helps to unwind the tense muscles,
while hops have a distinctive impact on calming the
nervous system.
In the study of herbs (herbology),
herbs are supposed to possess changing combinations of properties and extent of
each property also. Herbs have the ability to heat as well as dry or heat and
moisturize. In addition, herbs may be cooling and drying or cooling and
moistening. For instance, one herb may possess highly warming qualities, while
another one may simply be somewhat warming. But, both these herbs would be
regarded as heating herbs.
The manner in which these attributes
are allocated to the plants is quite simple. The herbs that possess heating
properties are thought to generate warmth inside the body. Plainly speaking,
all the aromatic herbs, for instance, caraway
and anise, are deemed to be warming. Interestingly
enough, even several bitter herbs, for example Oregon grape, are also categorized as herbs
possessing heating properties.
Conversely, cooling herbs are
basically those herbs, which medical practitioners consider, that take away the
heat from the body or some body part. Generally, herbs that enclose extremely volatile natural oils, for instance spearmint or wintergreen, are classified as cooling herbs. Borage
is another example of a cooling herb and, like other cooling herbs, is also
referred to as refrigerants. In order to obtain some notion or awareness
regarding what a refrigerant actually is, you may imagine of a scorching summer
day and subsequently envisage a slice of cucumber
or watermelon. In fact, cucumber and watermelon
are among the two best refrigerant foods.
It may be noted that the
categorization of an herb as drying or moistening also largely depends on the
individual properties of a particular herb. Any herb which is effective in
augmenting urine passage, for instance bearberry, is considered to be a drying herb.
Similarly, all herbs possessing astringent properties, for instance sage
or oak bark, too are also known as drying herbs.
Generally, aromatic herbs, such as caraway or anise, are also believed to be
drying herbs. However, there are exceptions to this general rule too. For instance,
fennel is considered to be a moistening herb -
it is known to augment milk secretion in lactating women. If an herb is
demulcent (soothing) or mucilaginous, it is also considered to be a moistening
herb. Other herbs that are also classified as moistening herbs include marshmallow, flax seed,
slippery elm and licorice.
The European herbalists had
developed a novel way of understanding the properties of different herbs. What they
actually did was to imagine that each herb had a specific activity on the
different parts of our body. Precisely speaking, they started defining specific
activity hubs within the body for every herb. For instance, cayenne
pepper, which was categorized as a heating herb, was identified as
having an affect on the circulatory system since it was found to
enhance the blood flow, particularly to the capillaries
close to the skin's surface. Possibly this clarifies the reason why people who
inhabit extremely hot climatic conditions generally use hot peppers in their
culinary. In effect, ingestion of hot peppers assists them to disperse the body
heat by flowing it to the surface of the skin, where it results in cooling in
the form of perspiration and evaporates, while the heat is spread out into the
nearby atmosphere.
Another good example of heating herb
is ginger which is said to possess the same properties as those of cayenne
pepper. Nevertheless, the center of activity of ginger
is described as basically lying in the internal organs. According to the
conventional European medicine system, ginger is believed to generate a type of
heat that remains within the body. Hence, ginger is often used by people during
the winter months and in more proportions in the cool northern climatic
conditions. People inhabiting these regions use ginger as a medication to treat
colds as well as to reinforce the bladder and
the kidneys. The basic dissimilarities between cayenne pepper and ginger are
owing to the different activity centers of each herb within the body.
Making issues further complicated,
it may be noted that herbs are not confined to merely one activity center.
There are several herbs that people use for treating numerous dissimilar
problems at the same time and instantly, for instance headaches, acne,
weariness, constipation and indigestion. The main activity center for such
herbs may possibly be the gall bladder and liver, where they would be
considered to result in augmenting bile
secretion. In fact, the hypothesis goes something like this: enhanced secretion
of bile augments digestion of fats and oils, which, in turn, enhances the
complexion. Increase bile secretion will also facilitate in easing chronic constipation. Rinsing out the colon is also a
vital function.
Build up of toxic
substances in the bowels owing to poor decomposition of ingested
foods and their elimination from the body also adds to the common toxic
condition that may lead to several of the symptoms mentioned earlier in this
article. The toxic substances present in the colon are taken up by the blood
and, hence, the cleaner the colon will be, the purer will be the blood. It may
be noted that the liver being the natural filter of the body,
facilitates in straining toxic substances from the blood. If the pace of the
liver's activity is enhanced, it will result in the blood containing lesser
impurities or toxic substances. Like Oregon grape, there are a number of herbs
that have their activity center in the liver and gall bladder and they
influence the body in several ways - most are discussed above.
Hypothesis like these are
unsophisticated in contemporary medical terms and mostly unproven by medical
research. However, traditional medicine or the study of herbs need not deal
with curing from the viewpoint of analysis done in the laboratories. In fact, traditional
medicine has always been founded on experimental observation of people as
individuals.
It may be noted that the earliest
nations or cultures, for instance, the Egyptians, were extremely proficient in
using herbs appropriately. An antique text written in 1500 B.C. mentions about
over 700 herbal medications, counting herbs like aloevera, caraway seeds, garlic
and poppy. Nevertheless, people in China have been
practising herbal medication for more than 5000 years. In fact, the Chinese are
renowned for their understanding as well as use of ginseng.
Hence, there is no reason to be apprehensive to use herbs in your kitchen. On
the contrary, you should discuss about herbs and their significance in our
life. There are infinite other subjects that endorse the gainful consequences
of using herbs, inclusive of the quality of herbs, different herbal
formulations, procedures to prepare herbal medication, the nutritional content
of herbs as well as the dosage of herbal medicines. At the same time, it is
important to always bear in mind that using herbs or any product containing
herbs, denotes a more vigorous life. Therefore, take pleasure in the herbs,
vitamins, aromatherapy and your life!
