How Herbs Are Administered

As I said the other day in the article Herbs as Medicine, herbal medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicine on the planet.

Because the art of herbal medicine is a lost art in many countries, most people don’t know how to prepare and administer herbs. The only way most people take herbs these days is by taking them in pill or capsule form, courtesy of a supplement they bought at a health food or drug store.

But the potency of an herb in pill or capsule form is not strong. To get the true healing benefits of an herb, it’s best to start with the herb in whole form and make a preparation from that.

There are many forms in which herbs can be administered. Here is a list of some of the most common ways:

Tinctures – Alcoholic extracts of herbs such as echinacea extract. Usually obtained by combining 100% pure ethanol (or a mixture of 100% ethanol with water) with the herb. A completed tincture has a ethanol percentage of at least 40-60% (sometimes up to 90%).

Herbal wine and elixirs – These are alcoholic extract of herbs; usually with an ethanol percentage of 12-38%. Herbal wine is a maceration of herbs in wine, while an elixir is a maceration of herbs in spirits (e.g., vodka, grappa, etc.)

Tisanes – Hot water extracts of herb, such as chamomile.

Decoctions – Long-term boiled extract of usually roots or bark.

Macerates – Cold infusion of plants with high mucilage-content as sage, thyme, etc. Plants are chopped and added to cold water. They are then left to stand for 7 to 12 hours (depending on herb used). For most macerates 10 hours is used.

Vinegars – Prepared at the same way as tinctures, except using a solution of acetic acid as the solvent.

Topicals:

1) Essential oils – Application of essential oil extracts, usually diluted
in a carrier oil (many essential oils can burn the skin or are simply
too high dose used straight – diluting in olive oil or another food
grade oil can allow these to be used safely as a topical).

2) Salves, oils, balms, creams and lotions – Most topical applications are oil extractions of herbs.       Taking a food grade oil and soaking herbs in it for anywhere from weeks to months allows certain phytochemicals to be extracted into the oil. This oil can then be
made into salves, creams, lotions, or simply used as an oil for
topical application. Any massage oils, antibacterial salves and
wound healing compounds are made this way.

3) Poultices and compresses – One can also make a poultice or compress using whole herb (or the appropriate part of the plant) usually crushed or dried and re-hydrated with a small amount of
water and then applied directly in a bandage, cloth or just as is.

Whole herb consumption – This can occur in either dried form (herbal powder), or fresh juice, (fresh leaves and other plant parts). Just as Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine”, it has become clear that eating vegetables also easily fits within this category of getting health through consumables (besides medicinal herbs). All of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are phytochemicals that we are accessing through our diet.

There are clearly some whole herbs consumed that are more powerful than others. Shiitake mushrooms boost the immune system and are also tasty so they are enjoyed in soups or other food preparations for the cold and flu season. Alfalfa is also considered a health food. Garlic lowers cholesterol, improves blood flow, fights bacteria, viruses and yeast.

Syrups – Extracts of herbs made with syrup or honey. Sixty five parts of sugar are mixed with 35 parts of

water and herb. The whole is then boiled and macerated for three weeks.

Extracts – Include liquid extracts, dry extracts and nebulisates. Liquid extracts are liquids with a lower ethanol percentage than tinctures. They can (and are usually) made by vacuum distilling tinctures. Dry extracts are extracts of plant material which are evaporated into a dry mass. They can then be further refined to a capsule or tablet. A nebulisate is a dry extract created by freeze-drying.

Inhalation as in aromatherapy can be used as a mood changing treatment to fight a sinus infection or cough, or to cleanse the skin on a deeper level (steam rather than direct inhalation here).

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How Do Plants Protect Us From Disease?

I discussed in yesterday’s article the use of herbs as medicine, and how herbs can be a vital part of enjoying real health and wellness and healthy living.

And, of course, a Low Density Lifestyle.

Today I want to get a little technical and discuss the scientific reasons plants can protect us from disease.

The reason plants/herbs can help us fight off ailments and inflammation is that they contain certain compounds. The phytochemicals in plants can reduce the risk of diseases associated with chronic inflammation, including cancer and diabetes.

At the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, Calif., research molecular biologist Daniel H. Hwang conducts studies to help scientists understand how phytochemicals fight inflammation.

His investigations have uncovered modes of action used by phytochemicals in many herbs.

Hwang’s team has found, for example, that phytochemicals can interfere with the normal flow of certain chemical signals or messages sent to and from cells involved in chronic inflammation. The messages these cells send are in the form of proteins.

In particular, his group is closely examining proteins known as TLRs (short for “Toll-Like Receptors”) and NODs (an abbreviation for the tongue-twisting “nucleotide binding oligomerization domain containing proteins”).

Their experiments show that certain phytochemicals can interfere with messages that, if unimpeded, could travel from TLRs and NODs, reaching and activating genes that can trigger an inflammatory response.

The studies suggest that different phytochemicals have different ways of interfering with these messages. For example, curcumin can undermine certain TLRs when a specific part of curcumin’s chemical structure reacts with what are known as “sulfhydryl groups” in TLRs.

But resveratrol, found in red grapes, has a different set of targets. Hwang’s experiments suggest that resveratrol interferes with molecules called “TBK1″ and “RIP1.” If unimpeded, these molecules would help convey signals to and from TLRs.

No matter how you perceive the healing nature of plants, whether you feel it is based on the healing spirit within the plant, or you feel it is predicated on the phytochemical reactions that plant substances have with cells that cause inflammation, the bottom line is: plants heal.

And the more we subscribe to that and the more we look to the plant world and less to the pharmaceutical

world for our healing assistance, the easier will we be capable of living a Low Density Lifestyle.

The reason for that is that the more natural we live, the easier is it to experience healthy living.

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Herbs as Medicine

Having good health and wellness practices in your life are so basic to living a vital life full of energy, zest, purpose and fulfillment.

And good health and wellness practices are basic to living a Low Density Lifestyle - the better you feel, the more you feel less dense and in the flow.

And achieving good health and healthy living are not that complicated to do, although it seems to be something out of the reach of most people.

A whole foods-oriented diet, movement, attitude, stress management, energy practices – such as acupuncture, reiki, yoga and tai chi – and feeling a sense of fulfillment are key ingredients to healthy living and living a Low Density Lifestyle.

Yet when people don’t feel well, what do they do? Instead of going to a holistic-oriented health provider, most people rely on drugs.

Drug therapy has only been around in recent times. One of the oldest forms of medicine is Herbal Medicine, which is nature’s medicine cabinet.

In fact, many drugs are made from herbs. For instance, inulin comes from the roots of dahlias, quinine from the cinchona, morphine and codeine from the poppy, digoxin from the foxglove, and aspirin from meadowsweet (aspirin also owes a big thanks to willow bark, which contains salicin, which is converted in the body into salicylic acid).

The word aspirin comes from an abbreviation of meadowsweet’s Latin genus Spiraea, with an additional “A” at the beginning to acknowledge acetylation, and “in” was added at the end for easier pronunciation.

The word drug itself comes from the Dutch word “druug” (via the French word Drogue), which means ‘dried plant.’

The use of herbs as medicine has been around as long as humans have walked the earth, but for many people, they have lost track of their roots (no pun intended).

Herbal Medicine has been used by most cultures in every continent on earth as part of their traditional healing practices.

From the Sumerians and Traditional Egyptian Medicine, to Ayurvedic and Chinese Medicine, to the ancient Greeks and Romans, to Hippocrates and European Medicine, and to indigenous people all over the world, herbs have always been seen as an essential aid in helping a person heal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the world’s population presently uses herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care.

To this day, herbal remedies are very common in Europe. In Germany, herbal medications are dispensed by apothecaries. Prescription drugs are sold alongside essential oils, herbal extracts, or herbal teas.

In the United Kingdom, the training of medical herbalists is done by state funded Universities. For example, Bachelor of Science degrees in herbal medicine are offered at Universities such as University of East London, Middlesex University, University of Central Lancashire, University of Westminster, University of Lincoln and Napier University in Edinburgh.

So what has happened? Why are herbs the forgotten orphan of medicine and healing?

Because we have come to deify the modern medical approach of drugs and surgery for all health issues.

Modern medicine is at its best in emergency situations.

That’s when the use of a drug makes more sense than the use of an herb.

But for chronic health problems, a different approach is needed. One that stresses natural remedies.

And when natural remedies are used, herbal medicine must always be part of the approach.

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