Herbs From A-Z For Better Health

Since time began, humans have been using herbs to cure illness and maintain good health. They have been gathered from the wild and cultivated domestically, and their benefits cannot be disputed.

Everybody knows about the benefits of the better known herbs and flowers such as peppermint and St. John’s Wort or Ginseng and oil of evening primrose. But how about those lesser known herbs with wonderful and strange names? What of them? Let’s have a look at some of the traditional old remedies and the truth behind their use.

Agrimony is a herb once used for treating cataracts, and also to treat bites, wounds and warts. It is still used for sprains and as a tea, gargle and poultice. Also known as cocklebur and stickwort, there is a scientific basis for these applications in that it contains a number of tannins, and also triterpenes that are antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial agents.

That is only one of many old herbs that have been shown to have a scientific basis for their use. Willow bark, for example, has traditionally been used as an anti-inflammatory and for reducing pain. Willow contains salicylic acid, the basic ingredient of aspirin.

Burdock root can be used as a remedy for digestive disorders, and is also a diuretic. Burdock is a type of thistle, and the leaves are used for the treatment of skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. Active ingredients in the leaves are sesquiterpenes. The inulin in the roots promote friendly bacteria in the gut and is good for the digestive system.

Viburnum has another name that indicates exactly what it was, and still is, use for: Cramp Bark. It is also called the Snowball Bush and is used to alleviate menstrual cramps, stomach cramps and muscle cramps. There is a scientific reason for this use of the plant, since it contains viopudial, a chemical that is used as a smooth muscle antispasmodic that relaxes muscles by blocking an enzyme that cause muscle spasms. Our forebears did not know this of course, only that it worked!

The more investigation that is carried out into these old remedies, the more they are being understood, and the scientific reasons for their use are being revealed. Some have very strange names, such as dog grass root. The dog grass rhizome is used as a tea for the treatment of urinary infections such as cystitis and urethritis. The active ingredient discovered in that is agropyrene, an oil that has strong antibiotic properties. You might be more familiar with dog grass under its alternative name of couch grass.

Figwort was used by the Romans for various skin problems such as eczema, pruritis and psoriasis, and is also a diuretic and laxative. Its alternative name is the scrofula plant, and has several active ingredients. Saponin is a diuretic and hesperitin is an antiflammatory. It also contains glycosides that have recently been found to be essential to the human immune system, and also aucubine that is a laxative. Every use that the Romans put it to, therefore, has a scientific basis for its efficacy.

The anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of the iridoid glycoside content of Devil’s Claw that is used to alleviate the pain of arthritis, is not so medically proven. However, those that use it swear by it, and proven or not, the iridoids are thought to have analgesic anti-rheumatoid properties. There are a large number of herbal remedies that are used by people who claim them you be effective, and that are known to contain chemicals that could feasibly produce the pharmacology claimed. However, for these to be proven, the test carried out must provide irrefutable results.

That is not to say that they are not effective: only that there is no unequivocal proof for the claims. One herb for which no such proof is required is valerian. Valerian has been used since time immemorial as a sedative and analgesic, and is commonly used for insomnia. Although the mechanism by which it works is not yet fully understood, there is no doubt that it is effective. Its alternative name is heal-all, although that name is perhaps just a little bit optimistic.

The aptly named lungwort is used for chest infections and as an expectorant. It was for a long time believed that there was no basis for use in the treatment of pulmonary diseases, even though its name suggests that it has been found effective in the past. Its alternative names are lungmoss and oak lungs, so the connection with the lungs is pretty obvious. However, recent studies have revealed all. New technology has shown that lungwort lichen contains antibiotics that are effective against forms of bacteria that cause chest infections, including tuberculosis.

As with lungwort, as science progresses it is continually proving the use of many of these old folk remedies. It is possible that the scientific basis for the uses of many herbs and flowers could be used in the future for the development of new drugs and medicines. The medical knowledge of our ancestors should not be underestimated, and considering the conditions under which people lived at times in our history it should not surprise us that the medical knowledge was at least equal to what we know now, relative to the crude science of these times.

Let us have one final look at another herb used by the ancient medics. This is an A to Z, and we started with A so should correctly finish with Z, and yes, there is a Z. The curiously named zedoary. This was used for digestive problems, and is a member of the same family as turmeric. It was once used as a spice, but no longer.

Does zedoary have any medical basis in fact? It has yet to be proved, but it appears to stimulate the production of digestive juices and the production of bile by the liver. Extracts of zedoary are used to this day in the treatment of conditions of the gastrointestinal tract and to stimulate the digestive system. A knowledge of herbs from A-Z for better health can help you to determine the degree of supplementation you require.

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