Medicinal Herbs

When you think of “medicine” what do you think of – Pills or herbs?

Medicinal Herbs (that are still used today) were reportedly found in the personal effects of Ötzi the Iceman, who lived in the 31st Century (5,300 years ago).

In 1500 BC the Ancient Egyptians wrote The Ebers Papyrus, which contains information on over 850 plant medicines, including garlic, juniper, cannabis, castor bean, aloe, and mandrake.

Early Sanskrit writings such as the Rig Veda, and Atharva Veda are some of the earliest available documents detailing the medical knowledge that formed the basis of one of the oldest medicine in the world – Ayurveda.

So where is the future of herbalism and what role does it play in modern medicine?

As a herbalist today in our modern fast-paced world, I find the healing and restorative powers of herbal tinctures, infused creams and teas to be indicated now more than ever. The pressures of our daily living and our SAD diets have produced many new ailments and diseases that have never been witnessed in the past. It seems that weekly we are being told of a new illness or diagnosed condition. As a population, we are getting sicker, earlier in life. People are living longer but in a state of ill health and dependent on man made drugs.

Drawing on the wisdom and anecdotal evidence from our herbalist ancestors and combining this with the research and evidence based trials that we now have access to, enables targeted and quick acting recovery from most afflictions, particularly acute coughs, colds and flu’s.

But that’s not all that medicinal herbs can do!

Healing deep seated illness without the nasty side effects is the real beauty here. Using the plants that were put on our earth by our creator for us to heal ourselves and teach others to do the same.

Western allopathic medicine has taken these therapeutic plants into a laboratory and isolated the active constituents. The theory is that the “best bit” has been extracted and concentrated, therefore it must be more effective. This may be the case where emergency surgery is required, or a life threatening condition needs stabilising. However long term these drugs are not effective in that they mask the symptom, they do not cure. They stop and suppress what the body is innately trying to do – heal itself!

Herbs work synergistically with the body to nourish, heal and protect. They are in a form that the body can recognise, in effect they are a food. The constituents all together form the healing power.

If you would like to know more about my unique herbal tinctures, creams and teas – contact me here Say Hi!