All Grandmother’s Remedies Are Herbal Remedies

April 23, 2009 by  
Filed under Herbal Remedies

Herbal remedies had definitely been in use long before recorded history. Long before he had learned to fight battles or create alphabets, man had learned to treat himself with herbs and had learned the importance of herbal nutrition.

Honey is something that might be right there on your dining table, or in your cupboard. It might have been there all along, though you might never have considered that it is a powerful herbal remedy and an important item of herbal nutrition. Honey does not have to be kept in the fridge like dairy products. But we never associated this unique property of it as a part of its importance as a natural herb or as an herbal medicine.

Honey has anti-bacterial properties because of its high sugar content and low moisture content. Another equally powerful item of herbal nutrition as well as herbal remedy is cranberries. These tiny fruits are exceptionally effective in protecting urinary tract from infection. Cranberry juice safeguards the urinary tract by preventing the bacteria from remaining on the walls of the urinary bladder. It is a very effective herbal medicine as it pre-empts infection.

The sweet smelling plant lavender, that blooms all through spring to fall, is another powerful natural herb. Though lavender is well known for the beauty it brings to a garden, and also its scent, its properties as an herbal medicine is less known. Just adding lavender leaves or lavender oil to bath water is a good herbal remedy for reducing stress.

Our good old everyday garlic, the culinary herb, continuously provides us with herbal nutrition, whether we are aware of it or not. Garlic is an herbal medicine that can clean skin pores through sweating. The sulfoxide alliin, which is a natural ingredient of garlic, has antibiotic and antioxidant properties. This makes garlic a very effective agent of herbal therapy.

When garlic is crushed, chopped, or ground to be used a food spice, the sulfoxide alliin is converted into the enzyme allicin. It is this enzyme that makes garlic a powerful herbal medicine. Taking raw garlic with salt or sugar, based upon individual preference, is good herbal therapy. However, like some other natural herbs, the effectiveness of garlic as an herbal remedy is substantially reduced once it is cooked.