In spite of recent advancements in Western medicine, particularly ones involving chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs, there has been a resurgence in the medical field for the endorsement of herbal remedies as an alternative medicine for the treatment of various ailments. There has been a rise in the use of herbs such as garlic, coneflower and ginger as home remedies, in addition to an ever growing repertoire of over the counter herbal medicines and supplements that are now a common sight in supermarkets and pharmacies alike.
A growing list of hundreds of herbal supplements can be found in pharmacies and health food stores, ranging from arnica montana to withania somnifera, with additional thousands that can be bought online. At no other point in history is there such a detailed compendium of information available on herbal remedies, as well as their cultivation, availability and accessibility. Regardless of what they are used for, whether it’s for the prevention of disease, the maintenance of good health or the treatment of an existing ailment, will be effective in improving the health and verve of those who take them correctly and consistently.
Even though having a wide array of products to choose from, it can get disparaging to have to figure out which ones are right for you, as well as which combinations are safe. The problem with this abundance of different products still does not adequately inform the consumer as to their function – how would you know whether the elderflower is for period pains or for sinus congestion? In this case the elderflower or sambucus nigra is meant for periods, and the white peony or paeonia lactiflora is meant for sinus congestion.
Despite having this knowledge in terms of what herb is used to treat what bodily calamity, there are still pieces of the puzzle missing in order to get a proper picture to make an informed choice.
Questions such as: How can you ascertain that the herbal remedy will be effective? What preparation method should be used for the remedy – tablet, tea or tincture? Has it been studied and tested enough to be proven safe? What categories of people should be excluded from this medicine? How about pricing? How can we differentiate between an overpriced product and a regular priced product? Does more expensive actually mean better quality? How do we know? Is only one herb sufficient to carry out the task or do we need multiple in synchrony to be fully effective? Does it pose a risk if you combine it with other medications that you are on?
Even though it is impossible to go through all the factors in just a few hundred pages of information, these series of articles will attempt to compartmentalize and summarize the most fundamental knowledge that is needed to both know what is safe as well as what is effective for our purpose.
Where synthetic medication tends to be synthesized inside a laboratory, herbal medication is foraged from forests and fields worldwide. Their therapeutic abilities is the gorgeously divine connection between animals and plants on our planet. We will see sketches and photographs of various plants presented in this book, and their aesthetic beauty and gentle nature coupled with their otherworldly healing abilities will encourage environmental awareness and preservation efforts.
If in doubt, pharmacists and health food store workers can sometimes provide valuable information to consumers on choosing the right product for their needs, and one should never underestimate the knowledge they hold about herbal remedies.