Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Indian Medicinal Herbs

There is a sudden emphasis on the holistic approach to healthcare – newspapers, television and journals are flashed with advertisements about the popularity of the ancient Indian herbs which are extremely effective in dealing with any kind of ailment in the most natural and safest way.

Herbs play a very important role in the modern times when the damaging effects of food processing and over-medication have assumed alarming proportions. Not

only as alternative medicines, herbs, are also used in cosmetics, various food items and most popularly teas. People are slowly starting to believe that herbs have a vast potential for their use as a curative medicine.

What are herbs?
In the language of Botany, a herb can be defined as a plant that does not have a wooden stem and withers and dies after flowering. However, we now use this term commonly for all plants (with woody/non woody stems) which can be used for medicinal or culinary purposes (any part of the plant like leaves, stems, roots, flowers, fruits or seeds).

Uses of Herbs
Using herbs to treat different diseases have in used in the Indian and Chinese traditions for more than thousands of years. You will be surprised to know that most of the medicines that we use today are originally derived from botanicals herbs of yester-years. For example aspirin is derived from the white willow tree; quinine from the bark of the cinchona tree and digitalis from foxglove.

Herbs have been very effective in preventing illnesses; their widespread popularity can also be attributed to the gentle nature of medications that do not have any side effects.

As I have mentioned earlier, herbs are used in many ways. The ultimate objective of their use is that they should interact directly with our body chemistry. Though they are used in food, cosmetics, drugs or even fragrances, it must be remembered that that their key ingredients must be absorbed in our body for showing the benefits. Once these herbs enter the blood stream, they distribute themselves and influence the whole body system. In this article I will discuss about a few Indian herbs that are very effective for medicinal purposes.

Medicinal herbs
Atharva Veda has mentioned various herbs that can be used for medicinal purposes. Some of these are very common and used in everyday lives:

Neem – this herb is very powerful for handling all sorts of skin related issues like scabies, eczema, warts, psoriasis and dandruff. Neem contains Nimbidol and Gedunin that have very good fungicidal properties.

Basil – more commonly known as Tulsi, basil is considered to be one of the purest and most sublime plants. It is also used for dealing with skin disorders as it is a blood purifier and kills bacteria. For cough or cold or any inflammation of the throat, tea made with basil leaves can be used for instant relief.

Turmeric – turmeric or haldi is a common and popular medication for treating any kind of injuries and infections.

Sandalwood – also called chandan, this plant has an extraordinary fragrance. The bark of a sandalwood tree is very smooth and can be made into a fine paste. Sandalwood paste can be applied on any parts of the body to give a smooth, unblemished and lustrous look. Its unique fragrance is also used in various oils and soaps

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