Phytotherapy: Not New & Most Effective

Phytotherapy: Not New & Most Effective

Medicine, rather “modern”medicine, has discovered phytotherapy.  Phytotherapy is the use of plants with their natural qualities to treat, alleviate & boost illnesses, mineral & vitamin deficiencies & certain chronic problems. Another name for phytotherapy is herbal medicine. In public health work one of the key indicators that is observed when health problems arise is the food & water of the people affected. Good diets, good water combined with exercise & clean air go a long way to assisting man to stay & be healthy.

Much of the foods we eat in these times is processed, over cooked, “enriched” with chemicals. Most of our foods are preserved with chemicals that are not buffered by natural inhibitors that neutralize the harmful qualities of certain chemicals that we ingest.

Let me digress here for a short aside. Chemicals are part of our diet. Whether they are produced in an industrial plant or produced by a plant or are produced by our bodies chemicals are a part of our diets and the digestive process. Chemicals are not evil nor are they the enemy. They are simply something that occurs naturally.

How can plants help us achieve a healthier physical being? Let us examine the artichoke. It is something that people with gall bladder problems need to avoid. Everyone4 else can use this remarkable plant to take advantage of its natural qualities to reduce fats in the blood such as triglycerides, lipids & cholesterol.  It can also help you to avoid gall stones as well as boost liver function a very necessary physiological process. Other ants can & do as much but by affecting other parts of our physiology. Dandelions for example are a natural as well as gentle diuretic. They also boost gall bladder function, detoxify the liver, provide iron to the blood & alleviate water retention.

Now that I have your attention may I suggest that you look deeper into this realm of phytotherapy. Antioxidants are the rage now in modern medicine. Most of us are aware that cruciform vegetables, the cabbage family, are high in antioxidants. Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. are all excellent sources of antioxidants as well as other essential vitamins & minerals. Licorice is an excellent example of a plant that can be very helpful to thosew with digestive tract problems. It induces digestive tract healing, promotes healing as an anti-inflammatory, helps reduce swelling & soreness in arthritics, boosts the immune system to help alleviate allergic reactions to allergens & is an all around beneficial addition to one’s diet.

Today we often hear about how more people are sick or have various health problems and that more are reporting symptoms that were not reported in earlier generations. A small part of this can be blamed on modern technology but the majority of the increases is due to the lack of a less than adequate diet of naturally therapeutic foods. White breads are pure poisons! Even if they are “enriched’ they are something to avoid. The more whole grains in a bread the better. Darker breads are better or so the rule of thumb applies to breads. Some white breads, those made with potato flour or rice flour are not harmful. White breads that are wheat flour based do nothing except raise your blood sugar levels, add starch to your diet & generally make you quality of life something less that it can be.

Sources:

Herbal Medicines: The Natural Path To health & felling Well
By: Richard Dodd, BS, ND
   
Rational Phytotherapy: A Physicians Guide To Herbal Medicine
By: Hansel, R. Schulz &Volker
ISBN #: 3540670963

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