All through history, people have sought ways of staying healthy or recovering from illness. Our rich herbal tradition is testimony to centuries of experimentation, observation, and conclusions. As medical doctors and drug manufacturers began to dominate health care, this ancient wisdom was dismissed as 'folk lore'. However, continues use as well as scientific research continues to validate the benefits of botanical medicine.
Medicine is used to treat and prevent illness; botanical means derived from plants. In every society, indigenous fruits, berries, flowers, leaves, bark, and roots of plants have been used to strengthen, soothe, alleviate, and cure. Many pharmaceutical drugs doctors prescribe today are plant extracts. Most of us know some of them.
Other remedies are familiar. Limes and lemons were discovered to prevent and reverse scurvy, an illness that affected sailors on long sea voyages or explorers in arctic regions. Long before Vitamin C was isolated, citrus fruits were carried along to prevent bleeding gums, loosened teeth, muscular weakness, and eventual death from this deficiency disease. This disorder was unknown to people on shore who had access to fresh fruits and vegetable.
During war time, rose hips (red seed pods) were collected and used as a source of Vitamin C, the nutrient that prevents scurvy. Carrots were fed to fighter pilots to boost their night vision. These were local and renewable sources, as were dandelion greens and other wild foods. Ranchers in the American west used the bark of certain trees to worm their horses. Desert peoples found aloe soothing for the skin and healing for the stomach.
Herbal remedies have never lost favor with country people. Today the market is huge for natural remedies. Some popular western herbs are red raspberry leaves, ginger, chamomile, fenugreek, ginseng, passion flower, and milk thistle. Hundreds more are known and used in Chinese, Indian, Central and South American, and African home remedies.
Every continent and country has its own botanical wonder drugs. Pau d'arco is considered a panacea in South America. Tea tree oil from Australia is used world-wide as an antiseptic and a fungicide. Neem, considered a cure-all in India, is used to fight fungus infections, oral problems, and a multitude of other disorders. Researchers in France discovered the benefits of pine bark and grape seeds. Japan farms chlorella, a single cell algae with proven health-enhancing properties.
Plants are food as well as medicine. Herbs are essentially vitamin and mineral rich plants that have properties that can boost or restore well-being. There is an old saying: 'Food is the best medicine'. This is true, especially when people take the trouble to learn which foods are truly nutritious. In general, eating plants in their fresh, whole state or in carefully prepared dried or extract form is best. When foods are processed, maybe to make them more palatable or shelf-stable, they often lose their beneficial nature.
No one today should be ignorant about plants that can serve as food and medicine in emergencies. Learning about the benefits of plants make gardening more fun and a healthy life more possible. The world of growing things is just waiting to be explored and exploited. There are books on the subject, a lot of informative websites, and a long, long tradition of herbal lore to inspire you in this do-it-yourself health program.
Medicine is used to treat and prevent illness; botanical means derived from plants. In every society, indigenous fruits, berries, flowers, leaves, bark, and roots of plants have been used to strengthen, soothe, alleviate, and cure. Many pharmaceutical drugs doctors prescribe today are plant extracts. Most of us know some of them.
Other remedies are familiar. Limes and lemons were discovered to prevent and reverse scurvy, an illness that affected sailors on long sea voyages or explorers in arctic regions. Long before Vitamin C was isolated, citrus fruits were carried along to prevent bleeding gums, loosened teeth, muscular weakness, and eventual death from this deficiency disease. This disorder was unknown to people on shore who had access to fresh fruits and vegetable.
During war time, rose hips (red seed pods) were collected and used as a source of Vitamin C, the nutrient that prevents scurvy. Carrots were fed to fighter pilots to boost their night vision. These were local and renewable sources, as were dandelion greens and other wild foods. Ranchers in the American west used the bark of certain trees to worm their horses. Desert peoples found aloe soothing for the skin and healing for the stomach.
Herbal remedies have never lost favor with country people. Today the market is huge for natural remedies. Some popular western herbs are red raspberry leaves, ginger, chamomile, fenugreek, ginseng, passion flower, and milk thistle. Hundreds more are known and used in Chinese, Indian, Central and South American, and African home remedies.
Every continent and country has its own botanical wonder drugs. Pau d'arco is considered a panacea in South America. Tea tree oil from Australia is used world-wide as an antiseptic and a fungicide. Neem, considered a cure-all in India, is used to fight fungus infections, oral problems, and a multitude of other disorders. Researchers in France discovered the benefits of pine bark and grape seeds. Japan farms chlorella, a single cell algae with proven health-enhancing properties.
Plants are food as well as medicine. Herbs are essentially vitamin and mineral rich plants that have properties that can boost or restore well-being. There is an old saying: 'Food is the best medicine'. This is true, especially when people take the trouble to learn which foods are truly nutritious. In general, eating plants in their fresh, whole state or in carefully prepared dried or extract form is best. When foods are processed, maybe to make them more palatable or shelf-stable, they often lose their beneficial nature.
No one today should be ignorant about plants that can serve as food and medicine in emergencies. Learning about the benefits of plants make gardening more fun and a healthy life more possible. The world of growing things is just waiting to be explored and exploited. There are books on the subject, a lot of informative websites, and a long, long tradition of herbal lore to inspire you in this do-it-yourself health program.
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