Safe and inexpensive, medicinal herbs really work
In a recent blog, I talked about an old-school way to promote health and healing – medicinal herbs. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of different herbs have been used for a wide variety of illnesses, ailments and injuries for something like 60,000 years, and they may be more accepted and more popular today than ever before.
Following are seven benefits of medicinal herbs:
They’re safe. On rare occasions, an herb will produce a negative side effect for a particular person, usually involving an allergic reaction. But overall, side effects are much less common than they are with pharmaceutical drugs.
They’re inexpensive. Pharmaceutical drugs almost always cost a lot more than herbal supplements. Savings become much greater when you grow and harvest your own herbs and then create your own infusions, decoctions, salves and tinctures.
They’re tasty. Many of the medicinal herb teas that can be made from plants are so delicious that people drink them just for their taste. The fact that these teas have healing properties is an added benefit to them.
They’re easy to grow. It’s not necessary to earn a degree in botany or horticulture to successfully grow and harvest plants that provide health benefits when blended into teas or used in salves or tinctures. Anyone with an interest and space for a garden can do it.
They promote self-reliance. Rather than wait until we get sick and then visit a doctor, herbs give us the chance to practice preventive medicine and then treat minor ailments and injuries without visiting physicians.
They help you help others. The more you learn about herbal remedies and experience first-hand how they’re helping you, the more information you’ll be able to provide to family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
They work. Herbal remedies have proven to be effective for as long as humans have existed. The fact that many of today’s pharmaceutical drugs have their roots in plants shows that people who have been using them for their healing properties have been on the right path all along.
If you use medicinal herbs for either preventative purposes or to treat illnesses and injuries, have they worked for you? Which ones have you used? Have you ever grown any of them in your garden? Hope to hear from you about this.
common yarrow can be used to stop bleeding , dry leafs & flowers ,run them into blender to turn into a powder. When u get a cut make sure to bleed out most of dirt from wound, to stop blood flow mix powder & blood at wound bleeding will stop quickly leave on over nite wash clean next morn should be healed ?
My mother told me that my grandpa had hemorrhoids and when an old medicine man came through the country, he stopped at my grandpa’s farm. He offered to cure the hemorrhoids but first went out and collected some herbs, then everyone had to leave the house except my grandpa. Mom said his hemorrhoids were cured. Unfortunately, mom does not know what the medicine man used or how he used it. I wish I knew but they both are gone now.
I had bladder cancer 3 times in 4 years. My GP told me to try drinking green tea. When I finally paid attention and started drinking it as assiduously as I had smokes, I stopped having it. I have not had a recurrence in 16 years. And when I started treating my severe arthritis and fibro with supplements, I can get up from a chair, walk, and have much less pain. Allopathic medicine never did anything to help.
I grow peppermint and spearmint, use them for tea and tinctures. Work quickly to settle an upset tummy.
I grow and use comfrey for external medicinal uses. Poultices on any skin wound or irritations, sprains, and broken bones, etc. I mix other things with it according to injury. i.e.: aloe for burns, slippery elm for binding, tea tree oil for infection prevention, etc This plant is hard to find as it is considered a carcinogenic if taken internally ( like in tea form). It has been used for hundreds of years medicinally and has the nickname ” knitbone ” Self explanatory
There are two books-which I own that are about native American herbs and healing. One is “a handbook of native American herbs” by alma r. Hutchens. It lists practically every herb, what parts are used and how to use it. The other one is “American Indian healing arts” by e. Barrie kavasch and karen baar. This one is pretty much the same, but it gove some indian lore as well. It also goes through the cycle of life.
I hope you find this helpful, I have.
I grew up on a high mountain valley ranch. The Indians called that valley – “The valley of the herbs.” – My great-Grandpa, who settled there in the mid- 1800’s, recorded that those natives came there every fall, camped in what is now known as “Indian Hollow”, and spent several weeks harvesting and preparing the local flora & fauna for the winter. They would then move to lower, warmer valleys where survival was easier. G-G Pa recorded that some of the fruits and herbs they harvested were: Mullien leaves, Wild garlic, Willow bark, Camas lily bulbs, Elderberries and it’s bark, Chokecherries, Aspen bark, and Sagebrush leaves. These are the ones he recorded. i’m certain there were many more that weren’t. I am a firm believer in “natural medicines.” Wouldn’t it be grand if the Native Americans had been able to record their uses for and preparation of these things for our use today?
Thank you for sharing Reuben. You are so right, if only Native Americans had recorded much of what they harvested and used for medicinal purposes for all of us to learn from. Natural medicine has been used successfully for thousands of years, whereas conventional chemical medicine has only been around for just over a century, and causes over 100,000 deaths every year from the effects of properly prescribed prescription drugs. So interesting about your Grandpa’s experiences with Native Americans’ use of all these wonderful and effective natural plant-based medicines in the 1800’s. Thanks for sharing this with us!