Natural Herbal Beauty

This medicinal herb of India, known as Brahmi in the Ayurvedic tradition, stimulates the central nervous system, rebuilds energy reserves, relieves high blood pressure, and helps the body defend against various toxins. Gotu kola is used to treat rheumatism, blood diseases, congestive heart failure, urinary tract infections, venereal diseases, hepatitis, and high blood pressure. It is a mild diuretic that can help shrink swollen membranes and aid in the elimination of excess fluids. It is particularly useful for hastening the healing of wounds.

In addition, gotu kola is considered “food for the brain.” As such, it is said to combat stress and depression, energize flagging mental powers, fight senility, ward off t nervous breakdown, and improve reflexes. (more…)

Goldenseal enjoys a reputation as a cure-all, probably because it boosts immune function, and has anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and antibacterial properties. This bitter herb is a good all-body purifier that aids the heart, lymphatic system, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system, genitourinary tract, liver, spleen, pancreas, and colon. Goldenseal improves the action of sluggish glands and promotes hormonal harmony.

It is particularly useful as a healer of irritated mucous membranes throughout the body, which explains why goldenseal has a long tradition of use against colds, flu, glandular swelling, gum disease, and yeast infections. (more…)

Worldwide, more people take tea than any other beverage, except water. Green tea is one of the sipping teas, so ancient its use as a refreshing drink dates back 5,000 years. If your primary interest is in the simple drinking of green tea for the pleasure it offers, please refer to Traditional Sipping Teas. It’s true that green tea is traditionally taken as a beverage, not as a medicinal tea, but times are changing.

Today, green tea is heralded as highly beneficial. The latest research shows that drinking green tea not only wards off heart disease, lowers the incidence of stroke, reduces the risk of cancer, brings down high blood pressure, and combats cold and flu symptoms, it even fights dental decay and bad breath. (more…)

Horehound is the herb you want to have on hand when you have asthma, a cough, a sore throat, or a cold. This noteworthy expectorant helps liquify mucus in the bronchial tubes and lungs, eases a cough, and soothes and coats a sore throat. It also helps relieve the dragged-out feeling that so often accompanies a bad cold. It even fights intestinal gas, helps against jaundice, and is a traditional remedy for intestinal worms.

DESCRIPTION AND PARTS USED

Horehound is a perennial that flourishes in the wild, prefers a warm, sunny location, isn’t fussy about climate, and doesn’t mind poor soil of low fertility. This herb is bushy and produces branching stems from one to two feet in height. It has white flowers and wrinkled “hairy” leaves that give the plant a wooly appearance. The leaves and tiny top flowers contain the medicinal properties. (more…)

A diuretic and stiptic, horehound is used in the treatment of bleeding wounds—inside and out—kidney stones, urinary tract infections, cystitis, intestinal disorders, rheumatism, and gout. It increases circulation and helps the body use calcium more efficiently, thereby helping heal broken bones and strengthening connective tissues. Horsetail has been used for centuries as an aid to healthy hair, nails, bones, teeth, and skin.

DESCRIPTION AND PARTS USED

Horsetail has no leaves, no branches, and looks more like a little pine tree than anything else. It seldom attains a height greater than three feet and even finds a home in hard clay. These clumps of wild horsetail are said to be particularly valuable medicinally as the plant draws nutrients from the clay itself. Horsetail likes wet feet and is often found growing wild in fields and wet meadows. An old wive’s tail says the presence of horsetail is a dead giveaway pointing to underground water. Wells have been dug on the strength of that belief. (more…)