The World Health Organization estimates that 80 percent of the earth’s population today depends on plants to treat common ailments. Herbalism is an essential part of Ayurvedic (Indian), traditional Asian, Native American, and naturopathic medicines. Many homeopathic remedies are derived from plants as well.

Oriental herbs are a recent addition to the American herb scene, with the influx of several popular Chinese herbs. The Chinese are today’s foremost herbalists, drawing on thousands of years of experience in compounding and processing roots and herbs. In the Asian tradition, herbs are used to bring the whole body into balance and harmony. They are taken daily as a preventive measure, rather than as a treatment once illness has occurred. In the Orient, medicinal herbs often find their way into foods as seasoning and ingredients. Indeed, according to the late Chinese writer and scholar Lin Yutang, the Chinese view medicine and food as the same thing, believing that what is good for the body is medicine and at the same time is also food. Some of the Chinese herbs most readily found in U.S. herb and natural food stores include astragalus, Chinese ginseng, ginkgo biloba, gotu kola, licorice root, dong quai, ginger, and schizandra.

Every Native American nation has its own herbal medicine tradition based on the plants growing in the geographic area where it lives. Common among all Native American cultures is the spirituality attached to the gathering and use of herbs, and many people use the same herbs both medicinally and ceremonially. For the Navajos, for example, herbalism is a complex and specialized religion, in which the Navajo healer serves as both doctor and priest. Before plants are collected, prayers and offerings are made to the earth and the plant spirit. Herbs used in healing ceremonies are not thrown away, but are reverently placed back into the earth. Much like the Asian approach, Native American herbalism aims to achieve balance within the total person. Medicinal and ceremonial herbs commonly used by Native American cultures include American ginseng, yarrow, black cohosh, boneset, echinacea, goldenseal, nettles, juniper, wild buckwheat, and dogwood.

As they have for centuries, indigenous rainforest tribes around the world rely on the forests for virtually all their medicines. They too have incorporated herbs into their religions and everyday lives. Researchers estimate that the world’s rainforests contain literally thousands of potentially useful medicinal plants. Rainforests exist on every continent, though most research attention is currently directed at the rainforests of South America, particularly in the Amazon, and of the South Pacific Islands. Out of this rich storehouse of natural remedies, only a handful are now commonly found in health food stores, among them pau d’arco, boldo, cat’s claw, kava, yerba mate, suma, yohimbe, guarana, and passionflower. More and more rainforest remedies are becoming available.

Commercial herbal preparations are available in several different forms, including bulk herbs, medicinal herb blends, teas, oils, tinctures, fluid extracts, and tablets or capsules. Following are some of the ways in which herbal remedies can be used.

Essential Oils

Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts typically obtained either by steam distillation or cold pressing from the flowers, leaves, roots, berries, stems, seeds, gums, needles, bark, or resins of numerous plants. They contain natural hormones, vitamins, antibiotics, and antiseptics. Known also as volatile oils because they evaporate easily in air, essential oils are soluble in vegetable oil, partially soluble in alcohol, and not soluble in water. Because they are so concentrated, they are likely to irritate mucous membranes and the stomach lining if taken internally. It is therefore best to use essential oils externally only, such as in poultices, inhalants, bath water, or on the skin (a few drops). The therapeutic properties of essential oils can help to remedy ailments ranging from insomnia to respiratory disorders to impotence to arthritis.

Extracts

An extract is a concentrate that results when crude herb is mixed with a suitable solvent, such as alcohol and/or water. Of the different herbal forms, extracts are generally the most effective because their active ingredients are more highly concentrated, and they can be standardized to a guaranteed potency. Extracts also have longer shelf lives than other herbal preparations. Fresh herbal extracts retain almost all of the original plant’s benefits.

Alcohol-free extracts are available. When administered sublingually (drops are placed under the tongue), herbal extracts can be absorbed by the body quickly. This is an especially effective way for older adults and people with absorption problems to use herbs.

Author Bio: Georgiy Kharchenko with American Weight Loss Group LLC selling: Female and Male Personal Trainer locally, ECA STACK, Stimerex With Ephedra, lipodrene with ephedra

Category: Medicines and Remedies
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