healthierliviing - Edenskitchen
SOME OF THE MOST COMMONLY GROWN HERBS
Dandelion
Dandelion is especially important in promoting the formation of bile and removing excess water from the body. The root affects all forms of secretion and excretion from the body. By removing poisons from the system, it acts as a tonic and stimulant as well. It cleanses the blood and liver. It is very effective as a blood cleanser for diabetes, dropsy and eczema. Because of dandelion's high mineral content it is also used to treat anemia. It reduces serum cholesterol and uric acid levels.
Tip: Lukewarm Dandelion tea is useful for dyspepsia, with constipation, fever and insomnia.
Raspberry
A cup of fresh raspberries contains about 1.5 g of protein, 8 g of dietary fiber, and 14.7 g of carbohydrates. Cholesterol-free, low in fat and sodium, and weighing in at a modest 64 calories per cup, raspberries are an excellent for dieters. The generous amount of fiber they provide -- with one cup supplying one-third of the daily recommended value for adults -- can help speed elimination and possibly promote weight loss. Their natural sweetness may satisfy cravings for less wholesome foods.
Peppermint
The peppermint herb is loaded with nutrients and provides numerous health benefits. You can buy its fresh leaves and mix them into salads or soups. Drinking peppermint tea is an easy way to incorporate this nutritious herb into your daily diet. Here are just a few of the ways that peppermint is beneficial to your health.
Peppermint aids in digestion, relief for irritable bowel syndrome, protection against cancer, skin remedy, cold and flu symptoms
Rose Hip
Rose tea or rose hip tea is known for its many medicinal properties. It is derived from the fruit of the wild rose hip plant. It is a popular herbal health tea which has a slight tart flavor but is refreshing and delicious to drink. The fruit offers so many health benefits because it contains many essential vitamins like C, D, K and E, as well as organic acids, citric and malic acids and pectin.
HolisticOnline.com and RoseMagazine.com also cite the many health benefits of rose tea, which include building a strong immune system, strengthening the digestive system and the detoxification of the urinary tracts and kidneys.
Echinacea
Echinacea tea is used as a traditional herbal treatment for relieving ailments from immune system problems. The herbal tea has a history of being used for hundreds of years by American Indians to fight colds, flus and infections.
The echinacea plant itself from which the tea is derived can grow up to two or three feet in height and the flowers that bloom from it can be anywhere from a whitish rose color to a soft purple hue. There are many benefits that can be found from the use of this herbal tea. It has shown many favorable medicinal results as well.
Wormwood
A herb with narcotic affects, Wormwood or ‘Artemisia Absinthium’, is also known as green ginger and is said to be used as a main ingredients in the preparation of several alcoholic drinks to add taste and intoxication. The plant has an aromatic odor and an exceedingly bitter taste, which serves as one of the reasons for their use in different alcoholic beverages.
Apart from adding flavor to liqueurs, wormwood also helps in relieving body from different infections and diseases. Click on Read more for and article that sheds light on the benefits of consuming wormwood and its essential extracts.
Jamaican Sorrel
Sorrel helps to enhance the immune system and is a useful deterrent for certain types of cancer. It is proven that ‘sorrel water’ will significantly decrease cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood and contributes to protection against heart disease. So as a preventative measure in heart disease it is a good habit to consume sorrel water daily to decrease the risk of heart disease. Add one cup of Jamaican Sorrel to 2L of alkaline water , and consume each day.
So lets make some real Jamaican Sorrel Water: get a big pot to hold about 14 cups of water. Set your element on high and bring the water to a boil. Prepare a container with about 6 cups of sorrel and add 1 cup of grated ginger to the mix. Pour the boiling water over the sorrel and ginger and cover it and let it simmer until the water gets cold
Sheep Sorrel
According to "http://www.bulk-essiac-tea.com/sheep-sorrel.html", Sheep Sorrel belongs to the buckwheat family, and grows wild throughout most of the world. It seeks open pastures, rocky areas, and the shoulders of country roads. It is considered to be a common weed throughout the U.S.
How to prepare it
Garlic
Garlic has a long history of medicinal use. Many in the past, promoted the use of garlic for treating respiratory problems, parasites, poor digestion, and fatigue. Regular use of garlic can decrease the frequency of colds in adults.
Lung Cancer Risk:
People who ate raw garlic at least twice a week had a 44% lower risk of developing lung cancer, according to a study carried out at the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China.
Cascara
Cascara is commonly used as a laxative by most medical missionaries, for constipation as well as a treatment for removing gallstones, liver ailments and cancer..YES Cancer.
Cascara is widely used in some bitter tonics, foods and beverages. It is sometimes used in the making of sunscreens.
Cascara contains natural chemicals that stimulate the bowel and has a laxative effect on your system.
How to prepare it.....
Catnip
It is taught that the chemicals in Catnip have a calming effect. It is recommended for those who have trouble sleeping, migraines, headaches, anxiety, cold and other upper respiratory infections, flu, swine flu, fever, hives, worms, and gastrointestinal (GI) upset, including indigestion, colic, cramping, and gas (flatulence). Catnip is also used as a tonic for increasing urination, and for starting menstrual periods in girls with delayed onset of menstruation.
How to prepare it.....
Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is truly an incredible plant with both internal and external uses.
Amount to use: Gel: Take 2 0z. each time, up to 1 pint daily. Tinctured: Take 10-40 drops 3 times daily. Fluid extract: Take 1/2-1 tsp. 3 times daily.
Purpose: The gel from the leaves of this desert plant is invaluable. It is best used freshly picked from a plant. Keep several plants growing; you cannot have enough!. Because of its nauseating taste, when used as a purgative it is generally taken in powder or pill form. It also relieves gripe and cause a constipative reaction, so that it should be combined with a carminative herb (such as peppermint for best results).
Comfrey
Comfrey leaf has been in use for centuries. It is known mainly for its external use. Comfrey is widely known as “one of nature’s greatest medicinal herbs”. Though comfrey has been in use for centuries some herbalists are quite wary of using it internally because of the toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid effects discovered in recent years. Pyrrolizidine alkaloid used in large amount or over a long period of time can cause potentially fatal damage to the liver.
Usage:
Because comfrey is high in calcium and vitamin C, and if when used externally, it is said to be anti-inflammatory and speeds wound healing because of its natural concentration of allantoin.
Flaxseed
Flax seed is a good source of Vitamin A which is good for the eyes.
Ginger
Accorrding to Wikipedia, "Ginger or ginger root is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family. Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal".
Information taken form "http://www.whfoods.com" states that:
Slippery Elm
Red Clover
Red clover has been used to treat coughs and respiratory system congestion, because it also contains resin. Resinous substances in plants have expectorating, warming, and antimicrobial action. Red clover also contains the blood-thinning substance coumarin. Coumarin is not unique to red clover; it is found in many other plants, including common grass. In fact, the pleasant sweet smell of freshly cut grass is due to the coumarin compounds. People on anticoagulant drugs such as Coumadin should be cautious of using red clover, as the blood may become too thin.
Chamomile
Humans have been drinking Chamomile tea for hundreds of years. Chamomile, especially German Chamomile, is a member of the sunflower family. The other kind of Chamomile is the Roman Chamomile. They are both very beneficial though the German Chamomile is considered to be the better of the two.
Hops
Hops contains an essential oil which is bitter to the taste. For individuals who have trouble getting to sleep, hops can provide some significant benefits. You can use hops in many different ways to treat insomnia. You can simply brew it as a tea and combine it with other herbs such as valerian or melatonin, which will give a stronger effect for more serious insomnia problems. Hops is also good for treating anxiety and nervousness….
How to prepare it.....