For centuries, peppermint has been used to provide relief for indigestion, headaches and colds.  Today, this powerful medicinal herb is used to soothe digestive complaints and ease indigestion and nausea.

Peppermint is cultivated world wide for use as a natural flavouring agent and also as an herbal medicine.  This hybrid of spearmint has oval, pointed leaves that are either dark green or purple and lilac-coloured flowers.  The leaves and stems are harvested for medicinal purposes just before the flowers bloom.  What gives this herb its healing qualities is its volatile oil, which are made up of several compounds namely menthol, menthone and menthyl acetate.  Peppermint oil is made into an herbal medicine by steam-distilling the parts of the plant that grow above the ground.

Some of the common uses of peppermint include relieving heartburn, nausea and indigestion, easing the symptoms of diverticular disorder and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), dissolving gallstones, soothing muscle aches, sweetening the breath and easing coughs.  Peppermint oil appears in more commercial products than any other herb.  It is included in antacids, mouthwashes and toothpastes.

The oil obtained from this herbal remedy relaxes the muscles of the digestive tract which helps to relieve intestinal cramping and also flatulence.  Peppermint has antispasmodic properties that are beneficial to people suffering from IBS, which is a disorder characterized by abdominal cramps, diarrhea alternating with constipation and indigestion.  In a study conducted at the Taichung Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, patients who used peppermint oil capsules reported significant relief from the symptoms of IBS. Abdominal pain disappeared completely or was greatly reduced and patients reported less bloating and flatulence.  

The menthol contained in peppermint herbal medicines stimulates the flow of digestive juices and bile, thereby aiding digestion.  This has made peppermint a well loved ingredient in over-the-counter antacids.  Several studies have also indicated that menthol aids in dissolving gallstones.  It is vital though to find out how serious your condition is before using peppermint as an herbal alternative to gallstone surgery.

Drinking peppermint tea will relieve nausea and motion sickness.  Peppermint tea is a safe, natural herbal remedy for pregnant women suffering from morning sickness. Flatulence and bloating is also eased when drinking this herbal tea.

Rubbing peppermint oil on the skin relieves pain by stimulating the nerves that perceive cold and dulling the nerves that sense pain.  This makes it a valuable herbal medicine for aching muscles.  

Commission E, which is a German health board that is an authority on the research of herbs, found that peppermint was an effective decongestant that also reduced inflammation of the nasal passages.  Inhaling peppermint oil when you have a cold will ease your breathing and drinking peppermint tea is effective to relieve bronchial spasms.

Research conducted at the University of Kiel in Germany showed that when applying a mixture of peppermint oil and eucalyptus oil to the forehead and temples, the pain of headaches and migraines were significantly reduced.

Please consult your medical practitioner prior to using any herbal medications should you be under their care.

Used in the recommended doses, peppermint generally has no side effects, even if used for prolonged periods.  One of the rare side effects is a skin rash when applying peppermint oil directly to the skin, simply discontinue use if this occurs.
Take enteric-coated capsules between meals.  Enteric-coated capsules are capsules that are coated with a material that permits transit through the stomach to the small intestine without the medicine contained being absorbed by the stomach.

Drink peppermint tea after or between meals.  To take a peppermint tincture, place 10 to 20 drops in a glass of water.

To treat IBS, nausea and gallstones, try enteric-coated capsules containing at least 0,2 ml peppermint oil per capsule.  These capsules will release the oil where it is needed most – in the small and large intestine instead of in the stomach.  Take 1 or 2 capsules three times a day between meals.

To freshen your breath, place a few drops of peppermint oil on your tongue.

To soothe indigestion and relieve flatulence, make peppermint tea by using one or two teaspoons of dried peppermint leaves in a cup of boiled water.  Allow to steep for 5-10 minutes.  Take care to cover the cup to make sure that volatile oils that make peppermint a beneficial herbal medicine do not evaporate.  

To ease congestion and coughs, drink up to four cups of peppermint tea brewed as above.

To relieve muscles aches and pain, add a few drops of peppermint oil to 15 ml of a neutral oil and apply to the affected areas up to four times daily.  You can also add a few drops of oil to aqueous cream.

Tags: peppermint oil, diverticular disorder, Menthyl acetate, bronchial spasms, medicinal purposes

White willow bark comes from the white willow tree, which can grow up to 23 meters tall.  This tree is native to Europe and Asia and the name “white willow” comes from the leaves, which are covered with fine white hairs.

Chinese herbalists used this natural pain killer for centuries and in the 18th century Western medicine recognized white willow as a pain reliever and fever reducer.  European settlers brought the white willow tree to North America, where they learned that the local people were already using some of the native willow species to alleviate pain and fight fevers.

German and French scientists isolated the plant”s active ingredient – salicin – in 1828.  A decade later, European chemists manufactured salicylic acid, a chemical related to aspirin, from salicin.  Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, was later made from another herb containing salicin.  At the end of the 19th century, the Bayer company had started to commercially produce aspirin.

Concentrations of salicin are highest in the bark of the white willow and Salix alba is the most well loved species used for medicinal purposes.

The salicin that comes from white willow bark is metabolized in your body to form salicylic acid, which reduces inflammation, pain and fever.  Even though this herb is slower acting than aspiring, the beneficial effects of white willow bark last longer and has fewer side effects than aspirin.  The most vital fact is that white willow bark does not cause stomach bleeding like commercially available aspirin.

White willow bark is most effective at relieving headaches and severe muscle pain.  The symptoms that are commonly associated with flu (fever, muscle aches, headache) are also greatly relieved when you use white willow bark.

White willow bark is also very effective in alleviating toothache.

Research conducted proved that people who suffer from osteoarthritis benefit from using low doses of white willow bark daily to relieve chronic pain associated with this debilitating condition.  White willow bark reduces the swelling and inflammation associated with rheumatic conditions and increases joint mobility.

Women will also benefit by taking white willow bark as it eases the pain of menstrual cramps.  Hormone-like chemicals called prostaglandins cause the pain associated with the menstrual cycle and the salicin in white willow bark helps to regulate these hormones.

Recently, white willow bark has become well loved as a weight loss herbal supplement.  On its own, white willow bark extract offers small benefits, but combined with other dietary supplements it is thought to increase the thermogenic activity of several other stout burning products by increasing energy expenditure and promoting stout metabolism.

Please consult your medical practitioner prior to using any herbal medications should you be under their care.

High doses of white willow bark can cause stomach upsets, ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and nausea.  If any of these side effects occur, lower the dosage or stop taking the herb.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not take willow bark.

White willow bark has an anti-coagulant effect and people using blood-thinning medication such as Warfarin should not take this herbal remedy.

People who are using beta-blockers for high blood pressure should not take white willow bark as it may make the drugs less effective.

Do not use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen with white willow bark as it might increase the risk of stomach bleeding.

Do not give white willow bark to children under the age of 16 as it can cause a potentially fatal brain and liver condition known as Reye”s syndrome.

Make sure that you buy white willow bark extract standardized to contain 15% salicin.  Do not buy white willow bark tea, as you would need to consume several liters to get an effective dose.

To reduce pain and inflammation and lower a fever take one or two pills three times a day, or as needed.  Follow the instructions given by your health care practitioner.

White willow bark is safe to use over the long term.  It has a very bitter taste, so the most convenient way to take it is in pill form.

Tags: beneficial effects, Salix alba, high blood pressure, willow bark, natural pain killer

Lemongrass is a perennial herb, which means once you plant it, the grass comes back year after year. I have a plant right in my front yard and from time to time scores of people will question for a piece of this plant.

It is used for medicinal purposes. It is supposed to help with relieving cough and nasal congestion. This herb is also used to make tea.

In 2006 a research team from the Ben Gurion University in Israel found that this grass (Cymbopogon citratus) caused apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells. Through in vitro studies, the researchers examined the effect of citral, a molecule found in this herb, on both normal and cancerous cells.

Using concentrations of citral equivalent to the quantity in a cup of tea (one gram of lemon grass in hot water), the researchers observed that citral induces programmed cell death in the cancerous cells, while the normal cells were left unharmed.

Depending on the area you live in the plant will go dormant in the winter. You can also freeze it for about 6 months without any flavor loss.

This plant is available in ethnic markets such as Asian and Mexican. The bulb can be bruised and minced for use in a variety of recipes. This substance is said to aid in digestion as well as relieve spasms, muscle cramps, rheumatism and headaches.

Select fresh looking stalks that don’t look dry or brittle. The light lemon flavor of this grass blends well with garlic, chilies, and cilantro. It is rich in a substance called citral, the active ingredient in lemon peel.

This medicinal herb is frequently used in curries as well as in seafood soups. For best results in recipes use the fresh lemongrass. The powdered variety is useful in teas and curries but it’s not a excellent substitute for the fresh product.

This is a very pungent herb and is normally used in small amounts. The grass blade can be sliced very fine and added to soups. Store it fresh in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed plastic bag for up to 3 weeks. The entire stalk of the grass can be used.

The dried product has to be soaked in hot water and reconstituted before use. In addition, it may be bought dried or powdered.

It is also used commercially as lemon scent in many products including soaps, perfumes and candles. A related plant, (Cymbopogon nardus) is the ingredient in citronella candles sold to ward off mosquitoes and other insects.

Research also shows that the lemongrass oil of this plant has anti-fungal properties.

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Tags: Ben Gurion University, fresh product, cancer cells, nasal congestion, lemon flavor

The common names for dandelion herb are lion’s tooth, swine snout, puff ball, wild endive, priest’s crown and white endive. The leaves and the root are used.

Traditionally, the leaves are eaten as a spring tonic, to gently cleanse the body with the change of seasons, but they are also edible in any season.

It is a source of minerals, vitamins, tannins, triterpenes, and sterols. It is extremely versatile, as the whole plant can be used for medicinal purposes as well as for culinary uses. All parts of the plant have a mild stimulating effect.

It is one of the oldest medicinal herbs. The young leaves can be used as a highly nutritious salad and is considered a blood cleanser due to its diuretic and digestive aid.

Dandelion is the best liver cleanser, so do your body a favor and detoxify with the tea. The bitter compounds in the leaves and root help to stimulate digestion and are mild laxatives. They also increase bile production in the gall bladder.

It contains 28 parts sodium and it helps to purify the blood. It is seen as a fantastic remedy for anemia. The root is used to increase the flow of urine.

It is a splendid remedy for jaundice and skin diseases, scurvy, scrofula, eczema. It has laxative effects and is used to treat liver and kidney disease.

The roasted dandelion root makes an brilliant substitute for coffee and is excellent for dyspepsia and rheumatism.

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Tags: Medicinal plants, Health Medical Pharma, Lawn weeds, Medicinal properties of dandelion, medicinal herbs

Red clover (trifolium pratense) is a species of clover, native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalized in many other regions.

The common names are wild clover, cleaver grass, purple clover, trefoil and cow grass.

The herb can be used as a tea to treat gastrointestinal problems. The tea has a pleasant taste and the parts used are the flowers.

The flowers were used in ancient times to treat respiratory problems, colds, flues and infections. Just make a strong tea and use it as salve for any skin condition.

It has been used for a variety of other medicinal purposes, such as bronchitis, burns, cancers, ulcers, sedation, asthma, lung congestion, and syphilis.

Drinking the tea helps stimulate immune function to help the body to remove toxic waste products. It is often useful for relieving skin problems and to boost estrogen levels in women with estrogen deficiencies.

It contains calcium and magnesium which can relax the nervous system and improve fertility.

Do not use this herb if you are pregnant.

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Tags: Hospitality Recreation, common names, Endocrine system, gastrointestinal problems, original article

Tea starts its debut in the medicinal sense in the ancient times of China and Japan. Tea was well loved – not only for the delightful taste it provided – but for offering health benefits as well.

It was commonly used for ailments such as headaches, depression-like symptoms, boosting energy for those who were fatigued, and even to aid in improving eyesight.
As the tale goes, an emperor was presented with a cup of hot water that had turned brown from a leaf that had dropped into a pot of boiling water.

He was pleased with the taste of it and from that point on, tea was born. It was also ground into a paste-like substance and was applied to reduce pain and inflammation as seen in rheumatoid arthritis.

It became well loved with Buddhists as a means to stay awake for long periods of meditation. As the centuries came and went, tea evolved, but kept its medicinal purposes. Instead of drinking the tea to rid themselves of their ailments, our ancestors started to ground up the leaves and boiled them with food such as rice, ginger and milk.

Tea is also reported to have been used for things like normal aches and pains, digestion problems and as a means of boosting a body’s immune system to defend against any foreign bodies that enter our bodies.

It was an historic belief that tea also held religious properties that enabled those who drank it to elongate their life expectancy. Tea traveled to many different countries and its medicinal benefits came along with it.

Tea was used for everything from skin problems to joint pain to mood enhancers. It became the choice of treatment for the weird diseases and ailments that plagued citizens around the world.

In many cases, the tea helped decrease one’s chances of contracting these diseases and lessened their suffering once the disease took hold of their lives. Tea became well loved and was used throughout medical history.

Its uses expanded to include spiritual healing. One would drink the tea for the purpose of obtaining peace and serenity for the mind to balance it with the body and achieve oneness with nature as they saw it.

Over the years, tea has found its way through many more countries and its uses became more apparent. It was used in the high societies as a sign of a distinguished person and people drank it for sheer enjoyment.

In recent years, the medicinal purposes have come more to light. Tea been linked to help decrease our chances for diseases and eliminate some problems like pain and terrible breath.

Tea has been around for many centuries and its medicinal purposes have withstood the test of time as they continue to be used today. This shows how insightful our ancestors were centuries ago by the fact that today’s researchers can use advanced science to test theories that have long prevailed.

Tags: mood enhancers, rheumatoid arthritis, Medicinal plants, japan tea, green tea

Green tea has been around a long time. It’s been used by the ancient Chinese for many medicinal purposes for about 4,000 years. It’s been used in their culture for just about everything – including depression!

Modern-day scientists have studied green tea and reported a possible linkage with the reduction of chances for people to contract some types of cancers, along with positive effects on our bodies like increasing our energy levels.

Green tea has been linked to helping eliminate our chances of contracting other diseases as well, such as cardiovascular disease and arthritis – and it can even help lower our cholesterol levels.

Using green tea can help with our minor aches and pains like headaches and joint pain. Green tea contains catechin polyphenols, which are believed to be the ingredients that give us all of these wondrous health benefits.

The polyphenols are found in the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant, which is then ground up and made into our green tea. These polyphenols are thought to inhibit the cancer cells from growing to form the many types of cancer we see today, without damaging any tissues in the process.

Polyphenols are considered to be very powerful ant-oxidants, which promote healthier body processes. It’s also known for helping some people lose weight, by increasing your energy levels and promoting a healthier rate of calorie burning within your body.

It’s an all-natural answer to your diet program without the side effects of controversial supplemental diet pills. Drinking green tea is a natural, safe way to provide these health benefits, but it’s not a replacement for regular health checkups with your doctor.

Continue to see your doctors, but give your body a small added benefit of a healthy lifestyle in addition to your checkups. It may be linked to providing natural treatments for some ailments and lessens the chance for others, but don’t forego your physicians’ prescribed treatment plot.

It may lessen your chances for diseases, but it’s not a miracle cure for everything. Use it to enhance your treatment plans. Green tea can also provide you with a healthier oral hygiene regimen.

It helps prevent plaque from forming, while keeping bacteria under control so it doesn’t get out of hand and cause halitosis problems. With all of the reports of harmful effects that some treatments cause, green tea is an attractive option.

The only harmful effect it can cause is from the caffeine you consume with it, but if you choose a decaffeinated version, the effects are minimized. If you want to keep your body truly healthy, give green tea a try. The ancient Chinese did – and they used it for nearly all of their medicinal needs.

Tags: joint pain, added benefit, healthy lifestyle, body processes, diet program

Of our earliest ancestors, the Chinese have made it a point to incorporate nature’s garden into the world of medicine more than any other culture, still adhering to the mindset of the importance of herbs to this day.

Although many cultures have traditionally used seeds and plant parts in their remedies, China has alleviated ailments using herbs since around 5,000 BC. Having amassed this knowledge for thousands of years, the Chinese have mastered the art of cultivating herbs for medicinal purposes and other cultures look to them for insight into how a diagnosis can be treated through the use of herbs.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is heavily relied on throughout the world by everyone from the common consumer to specialists in every field of medicine. The Chinese developed their system of medicine and herbal remedies to cater to the yin and yang principle, where the body should be in perfect balance and herbs deliver harmony to the person taking them.

Instead of treating one symptom, as is commonly done in the Western world of modern medicine Chinese herbal remedies seek to get the body back into a natural state of balance so that healing can occur and any imbalances are eliminated. In conjunction with herbs, the Chinese also incorporate acupuncture, massage, and a healthy diet into the concept of harmony for healing purposes.

One Chinese Emperor is credited with the launch of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Emperor Shen Nong (2697 BC) started personally tasting and testing various plants and their parts to see how it would affect his body and could help others with ailments such as circulation improvements and urinary infections.

Later on in history, Emperor Huang Ti developed what is now the world’s oldest medical textbook, called Nei Ching, which translates into Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Internal Medicine. Many doctors on a global scale still refer to this text today for herbal insight.

Although Western medicine has had an influence over Chinese medicine in the modern world, Traditional Chinese Medicine retains its strong influence as a powerful way to combine herbal treatment and technology.

The Chinese strongly believe that your mind and body must be in sync to avoid illness, which is why they have mental health tied into herbal remedies. Western medicine separates the two into different categories, treating the mind separate from the body. But, Chinese herbal remedies are now being used to treat mental disorders, such as depression in the Western World.

Tags: western medicine, medical textbook, chinese medicine, Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, Huang Ti