Widespread emphasis on well being and a more holistic approach to healthcare have risen the popularity for herbs. More and more people are using herbs for their natural, effective treatment and prevention towards a variety of ailments.
Herbs play a significant role, specially in modern times, when the damaging effects of food processing and over-medication have assumed alarming proportions. They are now being increasingly used in cosmetics, foods and teas, as well as alternative medicines.
The growing interest in herbs is a part of the movement towards change in lifestyle. This movement is based on the belief that the plants have a vast potential for their use as a curative medicine.
What is Herbs?
Botanically, a herb is a plant with a non-woody stem which withers and dies down after flowering. In common usage, however, the term applies to all plants whose leaves, stems, roots, flowers, fruits, or seeds have culinary or medicinal usage.This criterion forms the basis of the herbs included in this site.
Significant Uses of Herbs
The uses of herbs in as medicine dates back thousands of years. In fact, most of today's medicines are originally derived from botanicals herbs of yester-years. For example, aspirin once came from the white willow tree, quinine from the bark of the cinchona tree and digitalis from foxglove.
Herbs are still the basis for Chinese and Indian school of medicines and are important constituents of many European natural remedies. As Hippocrates said, "Let thy food be thy medicine, thy medicine be thy food."
Medicinal herbs have been used effectively to prevent illness and nurse people back to health since centuries. They are popular in these modern times because often they are very gentle and without the side effects of pharmaceutical medications.
Herbs are used in many different ways. However the ultimate objective of their use is that they should interact directly with our body chemistry. They may be used in various forms like food, medicines, cosmetics, or fragrance, but in all cases, their active constituents must be absorbed into the body for deriving the required benefits. Traditional herbal remedies have led scientists to the development of numerous modern medicines, establishing beyond doubt the efficiency of herbal medicine.
Once they are absorbed in the blood stream, they circulate to influence our whole system. The skill of the herbalist is to use this effect to balance and strengthen the body's own healing mechanism instead of suppressing or disturbing it, as many modern drugs tend to do.
Are Herbs safe?
Most common herbs are as safe as food. However, many contain potent chemical constituents that can harm if used carelessly, and some of the most virulent of poisons come from plants. There is also the fact that for every substance in the world, there is someone who is allergic to it. So all herbs should be used with caution and respect.
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