Herbs are utilized by all cultures for both food and medicine and have played a part in organized religion and spirituality. The medicinal use of herbs is the targeted application of specific plants that produce desired reactions. Because the body digests herbs as it does food, herbs are absorbed easily and work effectively to build, cleanse and activate.
Herbal medicine attempts to find the underlying cause of an illness rather than focusing on treating individual symptoms. Herbalists believe that herbs can help the body to heal itself by restoring harmony and balance and activating the body’s natural healing abilities. By stimulating the immune system, a cascading healing effect occurs in the body, positively affecting mental health.
Most of us use herbs throughout our day, from the plant extracts in a cup of tea to the garlic in our favorite recipe. The food and beverages we consume contain a variety of herbal compounds, all of which come from plants. It’s easy to forget how important herbs are, and overlook their medicinal qualities. Long practiced outside of conventional medicine, herbalism is becoming more mainstream as up-to-date analysis and research show their value in the treatment and prevention of disease.
Herbal Synergy
Herbalists try to find the underlying cause of an illness rather than treat the individual symptoms. The herbalist believes that the use of tinctures and herbal tonics can help the body to heal itself by restoring harmony and balance and activating the body’s natural healing abilities.
Herbal synergy is key principle of herbal medicine. Herbal remedies are extracted from leaves, petals and roots of plants and are a complex mixture of lots of different compounds. While a conventional pharmaceutical drug will usually be a single active ingredient, the idea behind herbal synergy is that hundreds if not thousands of constituents of a plant extract all work together to treat an illness. Another concept behind synergy is that by using a combination of different herbs in a preparation, a powerful effect will be created.
Detoxification and Cleansing
Detoxification, the process of eliminating excesses from the body, can not only help improve mental and physical functioning – it prepares the body for herbal remedies. By eliminating harmful contaminants, herbs, nutritional supplements, food, and even pharmaceuticals have a more profound effect.
Detoxification can be done in a variety of ways, such as fasting, or it can be done using cleansing herbs. There are many different approaches to herbal medicine, including European/folk, Oriental, Ayurvedic, Hebrew, Christian, Pythagorean, American Indian, United States, Scientific, Biochemical, Intuitive, Clinical, and Medical. Traditional Chinese medicine herbal practitioners believe that using tonifying herbs before cleansing in some manner can actually cause damage, forcing toxins deeper into the organs.