Learn about the health benefits of herbs, from healing the body to healthy eating.
Healthy Herb Recipes
Candied Ginger Recipe
Healthy Cocoa Milkshake Recipe
Hydrosols in Aromatherapy
The word hydrosol is a chemistry term meaning
“water solution.” For aromatherapy purposes, hydrosols are simply
the waters that are produced during the steam- or
hydro-distillation process of plant material for aromatherapy.
Aromatic hydrosols (also known as hydrolats) are effective as
toners and for skin care in general—they contain soothing,
anti-inflammatory carboxylic acids. According to aromatherapists
Mindy Green and Kathi Keville, hydrosols are astringent yet
nondrying, and are ideal for sensitive skin and for people
suffering from psoriasis.
Hydrosols can be hard to find, but they’re available through
mail order from several companies including Simplers Botanical
Company, www.simplers.com, and Nature’s Gift,
www.naturesgift.com. German chamomile, lavender,
rosemary, and yarrow are some of the most popular hydrosols.
Sources: Catty, Suzanne. Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy.
Rochester, Vermont: Healing Arts Press, 2001.
Keville, Kathi, and Mindy Green. Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide
to the Healing Art. Freedom, California: The Crossing Press,
1995.
The Basics of Ayurveda
Ayurveda, a 5,000-year-old East Indian healing
system, is thought to be the world’s oldest system of medicine. It
aims to create health by nurturing the body (shrira), the mind
(manas), and the self (atman). The word Ayurveda means “the science
of life.”
Those practicing Ayurveda believe that no single agent alone
creates health or causes disease. They also believe that there are
three primary life forces that are present in everyone and
everything, called doshas. The doshas are vata (air), pitta (fire),
and kapha (water). A state of balance between the doshas causes
health; imbalance causes disease.
Each dosha is associated with different aspects of the physical
body. Vata is associated with movement, including breathing and
blinking. Pitta governs the metabolic system—digestion, absorption,
and body temperature. Kapha forms bones, tendons, and muscles, the
body’s structure.
People are also classified into dosha categories. We each have a
dominant dosha, but everyone contains elements of all three doshas.
Herbal and dietary recommendations in Ayurveda aim to keep each
dosha in balance. Emphasis is also placed on eating the right foods
and spices for your dosha. There are six “tastes,” or flavors:
sweet, salty, bitter, pungent, sour, and astringent. Different
tastes are indicated for each dosha.
Antioxidant-Rich Cocoa
Learning to use cocoa, without added sugar and
fat, may be a key to pleasing both your taste buds and your body.
Pure cocoa is a powerhouse nutrient that increases a sense of
well-being, fights oxidation in body tissues, stimulates pleasure
centers and the immune system, and may even help you live
longer.
Two published studies have demonstrated that chocolate is high
in antioxidants called polyphenols—the same beneficial antioxidants
found in red wine. A 41-g piece of chocolate (roughly 1.5 ounces)
contains about the same amount of these beneficial compounds as a
glass of red wine. The major phenols purified from chocolate are
epicatechin and catechin, substances also found in green tea,
another touted source of antioxidants.
Sources: Hobbs, Christopher. Herbal Remedies for Dummies. Foster
City, California: IDG, 1998.
Khalsa, Karta Purkh Singh. “The Medicinal Benefits of Chocolate.”
Herbs for Health (November/December 1999).
All About Ginger
Common names: Ginger
Latin name: Zingiber officinale
Family: Zingiberaceae
Part used: Root
Medicinal uses: Ginger is useful for treating indigestion,
motion sickness, and nausea. According to Steven Foster’s 101
Medicinal Herbs (Interweave, 1998), ginger is believed to reduce
nausea by increasing digestive fluids and absorbing and
neutralizing toxins and stomach acid. A hot compress of ginger tea
can be helpful for arthritis, sore joints, sprains, and other
injuries.
Forms commonly used: Tea, fresh root, dried root, capsules,
candied, pickled, powder, and tincture.
Dosage: Take up to eight 500- to 600-mg capsules per day; use
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of powder daily; take 10 to 20 drops of tincture
three times daily. To make ginger tea, simmer several ginger slices
in 1 cup of water for about 10 minutes, and drink 1 cup two or
three times daily.
Side effects: Ginger should be avoided in large amounts during
pregnancy. According to Foster, the German therapeutic monograph on
ginger cautions against exceeding the recommended dosage and warns
those with gallbladder disease not to take the herb. Ginger has
blood-thinning properties, but British research indicates that the
herb is unlikely to cause problems before or after surgery.
Identifying Plant Medicines
The common names of many plants have a charm
and poetry of their own: pearly everlasting, angel’s trumpet,
belladonna, Cupid’s-dart, ladyslipper, Queen Anne’s lace. Common
names place plants in the everyday world because their names are
easy to remember and usually easy to pronounce. Some names are
descriptive—monkshood, bloodroot, bleeding-heart, goldenrod,
jewelweed. Others indicate a plant’s use. Boxwood was used to make
decorative boxes; woundsworts, to treat wounds; chaste tree, to
ensure chastity; crampbark to ease stomach cramps; fleabane to ward
off fleas; lungwort to treat lung ailments.
For all of their beauty and simplicity, however, common names
can be a source of extreme confusion. Some plants have more than
one common name. Artemisia abrotanum, for example, is known
variously as southernwood, old man, and lad’s love. You may know
Valeriana officinalis as valerian or as garden heliotrope.
Confusion is also rife when two or more dissimilar plants share a
common name. North America has several completely unrelated plants
called snakeroot, and the world has produced many disparate
ironwoods, shellflowers, honeysuckles, soapberries, and
Devil’s-tongues.