FMS Online

These dif­fer­ent herbal com­bi­na­tions brought to you by FMS Prod­ucts SL are the result of many years of hard work and inves­ti­ga­tion plus clin­i­cal appli­ca­tion by Mr. Don­ald Marsden-Ryle, a natur­opath with many years expe­ri­ence and by Dr. Mary Staggs PhD ND, whose suc­cess sto­ries reach the four cor­ners of the world, treat­ing the most wealthy and the poor­est peo­ple on earth. In 2006 she received the hon­oured Golden Excel­lence Award for her ded­i­ca­tion to improv­ing
mankind’s health.

The nutri­tional value of herbal tinc­tures, oils and creams has been rec­og­nized through­out his­tory and their effect on the human body has been well reg­is­tered. We encour­age you to fol­low the instruc­tions of your health pro­fes­sional, we do not advo­cate self-medication.

Listed below each herbal com­bi­na­tion are the high ener­getic herbal tinc­tures used and their indi­vid­ual prop­er­ties as out­lined and doc­u­mented in inter­na­tional reg­is­ters & pub­li­ca­tions avail­able to the gen­eral public.

We have pub­lished it to assist you in your search for knowl­edge and is not designed to replace the wis­dom and advice of your qual­i­fied health specialist.

If you are a pro­fes­sional in this sec­tor or a dis­trib­u­tor inter­ested in acquir­ing our prod­ucts, be it with our trade mark or your own please feel free to con­tact us with­out oblig­a­tion and we will be only too pleased to assist you in what­ever way we can.

Please click on the ingre­di­ent you wish to read about:

Agri­mony Herb — Amer­i­can Cranes­bill Root — Astra­galus Root — Bar­berry Bark - Beaumont’s Root — Bear­berry Leaf - Bhui-neem - Blue Flag — Buchu Leaf — Bugle­weed Herb — Cas­cara Sagrada Bark — Cayenne fruits - Chap­ar­ral — Chaste Tree Berry — Cin­na­mon Essen­tial Oil - Clove Bud — Com­phrey Leaf — Cramp Bark — Culver’s Root — Dami­ana Leaf — Dan­de­lion Leaf — Ele­cam­pane Root - Euca­lyp­tus Essen­tial Oil — False Uni­corn Leaf — Fen­nel — Fringe­tree Rt Bark — Gen­tian Root — Gin­ger Root — Ginkgo Biloba — Gold­enseal Root — Hawthorn — Horse­tail Herb - Ice­land Moss — Kola Nut - Lady’s Man­tle — Marigold — Marsh Mal­low Leaf — Mead­owsweet Herb — Mis­tel­toe — Mug­wort — Myrrh — Neem Tree — Oat Straw — Olive Leaf — Pas­sion Flower — Pen­ny­royal Herb — Rose­mary Leaf — Sage — Siber­ian Gin­seng — Skull­cap Herb - Sting­ing Net­tle — Sweet Vio­let — Sweet Worm­wood — Tansey Herb — Valer­ian Rhi­zome (Euro­pean) — Wahoo Bark — White Hore­hound — Wild Car­rot Herb — Worm­wood — Yarrow Flow­ers

Agri­mony Herb

Agri­mony is used to treat bruises and sprains. It is also used as a mild astrin­gent and tonic. It is used to treat coughs, diar­rhea and relaxed bow­els. It can help to stop irri­ta­tion of the uri­nary tract that increase a child’s urge to uri­nate and hence bed wet­ting. It has been used to stop bleed­ing, bruis­ing and it encour­ages clot for­ma­tion by tan­ning the skin cells which means it helps to make them imper­me­able to bleed­ing and this also pre­vents bac­te­ria from enter­ing the wound. It can help to lower blood sug­ars and it also coun­ters exces­sive thirst in peo­ple with type 2 diabetes.

Agri­mony is effec­tive against diar­rhea espe­cially in small chil­dren. It can give tone to the diges­tive sys­tem and it pro­motes the assim­i­la­tion of food so it is effec­tive in treat­ing jaun­dice and other com­plaints of the liver because agrimony’s astrin­gents exhibit diuretic and tonic properties.

It also con­tains a chem­i­cal com­pound called Agri­mophol which expels par­a­sites because it causes them to lose their hold on the lin­ing of the blad­der or intes­tine so that they are removed through the urine and stool. There is a trop­i­cal dis­ease that causes river blind­ness which is caused by a par­a­site that infest the eye and the chem­i­cal com­pound Agri­mophol in Agri­mony kills this organ­ism as well. It also kills bac­te­ria that causes dysen­tery and typhoid and it kills E.coli and staph too. It can also affect the immune sys­tem as well as the diges­tive sys­tem. It stim­u­lates the body to pro­duce immune bod­ies that are known as B cells. These B cells pro­duce com­plex chem­i­cals known as anti­gens that attack invad­ing microbes. Cer­tain kinds of con­di­tions such as chronic leukemia, mul­ti­ple myeloma and ovar­ian can­cer deplete the body’s sup­ply B cells.

This herb may pro­vide a ben­e­fi­cial immune-stimulant side effect and in addi­tion Agri­mony pre­vents some kinds of breast can­cer. Included in the major uses of the agri­mony are some claims that the herb is a very use­ful agent for con­di­tion­ing the blood, espe­cially to those who have ane­mia, and it is also used for car­dio­vas­cu­lar con­di­tions such as enlarge­ment of the heart, stom­ach and the lungs. It is as well inter­est­ing to know that agri­mony is also very use­ful for gas­troin­testi­nal con­di­tions such as diar­rhea, diges­tive trou­ble, indi­ges­tion, mucous col­i­tis, over­ac­tive irri­ta­ble bowel, relaxed bowel, slug­gish stom­ach con­di­tions, ulcers, and it pro­motes assim­i­la­tion of food. Aside from those men­tioned con­di­tions, agri­mony is used gen­er­ally for gen­i­touri­nary con­di­tions, inflam­ma­tory con­di­tions, liver con­di­tions, res­pi­ra­tory tract con­di­tions, gar­gles, skin con­di­tions, and other con­di­tions such as appen­dici­tis, fevers, and much more.

Amer­i­can Cranes­bill Root

It is anti­sep­tic, highly astrin­gent, diuretic, styp­tic and tonic. An infu­sion of the whole plant, or of the roots alone, is used in the treat­ment of diar­rhea (espe­cially in chil­dren and the elderly), dysen­tery, irri­ta­ble bowel syn­drome, cholera, kid­ney com­plaints, bleed­ing and a wide range of other ail­ments. Exter­nally, it is applied to puru­lent wounds, hem­or­rhoids, thrush, vagi­nal dis­charges and inflam­ma­tions of the mouth. The plants are rich in tan­nin, the root con­tain­ing 10 –20%.

Astra­galus Root

Astra­galus mem­branaceus has been used in Chi­nese med­i­cine for over 2,000 years to strengthen the immune and res­pi­ra­tory sys­tems and to fight the flu. Astra­galus belongs to a class of herbs called adap­to­gens, and helps the body han­dle stress. Astra­galus also fights pathogens like bac­te­ria, viruses. In con­tem­po­rary Chi­nese med­i­cine, it is also a chief com­po­nent of zheng fu ther­apy, a com­bi­na­tion herbal treat­ment designed to restore immune func­tion in can­cer patients under­go­ing chemother­apy and radi­a­tion ther­apy. Astra­galus is a com­plex com­bi­na­tion of poly­sac­cha­rides, triter­pene gly­co­sides, flavonoids, amino acids, and trace min­er­als Astra­galus poly­sac­cha­rides have been shown to stim­u­late pitu­itary adrenal cor­ti­cal activ­ity and restore depleted red blood cell for­ma­tion in bone mar­row. Again, con­firm­ing tra­di­tional Chi­nese med­i­cine, Astra­galus has been shown to stim­u­late the body’s nat­ural pro­duc­tion of interferon.

Astra­galus is now pre­scribed, in both the East and the West, for immuno com­pro­mised peo­ple, or peo­ple who eas­ily ‘catch’ ill­nesses. Research in China has demon­strated increased sur­vival in patients receiv­ing both herbal and West­ern ther­a­pies, as well as pro­tec­tion from the immuno­sup­pres­sive effects of the lat­ter. Stud­ies in the West con­firm that astra­galus enhances immune func­tion by increas­ing activ­ity of sev­eral kinds of white blood cells and boost­ing pro­duc­tion of anti­bod­ies and inter­feron, the body’s own antivi­ral agent.

Since the 1950s, sci­en­tists have dis­cov­ered the poten­tial use of Astra­galus for treat­ment of can­cer The Jour­nal of Urol­ogy 1991146486 490. Inves­ti­ga­tions con­ducted by insti­tu­tions for can­cer research indi­cated that in areas where sele­nium con­tent in foods is high, rate of stom­ach can­cer, liver can­cer, lung can­cer, blad­der can­cer, colon can­cer, etc, is low. Sele­nium con­tent pre­vents cell dam­age caused by hydro­gen per­ox­ide and oxida­tive lipids. Extreme fatigue, espe­cially due to chemother­apy: stud­ies have shown that Astra­galus is help­ful in rein­vig­o­rat­ing the strength of can­cer patients and pos­si­bly even help in their recov­ery. Instru­men­tal to this func­tion is its involve­ment in pro­tect­ing white blood cells from destruc­tion radiation.

Bar­berry Bark

Among the most rec­om­mended usages of bar­berry are those against diar­rhoea (and in its more seri­ous forms –cholera), against fever, ane­mia and also against hang­overs. It’s also effi­cient against a con­sid­er­able num­ber of infec­tions –malaria or the lung infec­tions, while con­trol­ling the secre­tions of the mucous mem­brane. It has a strong seda­tive effect, decreases the blood pres­sure and is also a uter­ine stim­u­lant. Bar­berry can be admin­is­trated to help cor­rect the growth of the spleen. Bar­berry has been widely used to treat liver and gall­blad­der ail­ments and earned the name “jaun­dice berry”.

The berber­ine in bar­berry has a remark­able infec­tion fight­ing prop­er­ties. Stud­ies around the world show it kills microor­gan­isms that cause wound infec­tions, diar­rhoea, dysen­tery, cholera, gia­r­dia­sis, and uri­nary tract infec­tions. It has also been used for chronic can­didi­a­sis, Indi­ges­tion, Infec­tion, Par­a­sites, Pso­ri­a­sis, Vagini­tis. Bar­berry con­tains a chem­i­cal berber­ine which can also be found in cop­tis, gold­enseal and Ore­gon grape root.

Berber­ine stim­u­lates cer­tain immune sys­tem cells to func­tion bet­ter and it inhibits bac­te­ria from attach­ing itself to human cells which helps to pre­vent infec­tion. It also con­tains another alka­loid, Berbamine, that helps to reduce inflam­ma­tion and it has been found to be use­ful in treat­ing ame­bic hepati­tis and rheuma­toid arthri­tis. Bar­berry has some spe­cific ben­e­fits for treat­ing health con­di­tions that include the fol­low­ing: Abra­sions, cuts and scrapes; infec­tions of the blad­der, eyes, nails, repro­duc­tive tract, sinuses, skin, throat and par­a­site prob­lems berber­ine kills a very wide vari­ety of bac­te­ria and germs and it also kill the par­a­sites Leish­ma­nia and Plas­mod­ium, the organ­ism that cause malaria, Pseudomonas, Sal­mo­nella, Shigella, Staphy­lo­coc­cus, Strep­to­coc­cus and Vib­rio bac­te­ria not to men­tion it also kill var­i­ous kinds of fungi.

Bear­berry Leaf

Bear­berry is one of the best nat­ural uri­nary anti­sep­tics. The leaves con­tain hydro­quinone and are strongly antibac­te­r­ial, espe­cially against cer­tain organ­isms asso­ci­ated with uri­nary infec­tions. The plant should be used with cau­tion, how­ever, because hydro­quinone is also toxic. The leaves are anti­sep­tic, astrin­gent, diuretic, lithon­tripic, hyp­notic and tonic.

A tea made from the dried leaves is much used for kid­ney and blad­der com­plaints and inflam­ma­tions of the uri­nary tract such as acute and chronic cys­ti­tis and ure­thri­tis, but it should be used with cau­tion and prefer­ably only under the super­vi­sion of a qual­i­fied prac­ti­tioner. The tea is more effec­tive if the urine is alka­line, thus it is best used in com­bi­na­tion with a vegetable-based diet. Exter­nally, a poul­tice of the infused leaves with oil has been used as a salve to treat rashes, skin sores etc, and as a wash for a baby’s head. An infu­sion of the leaves has been used as eye­wash, a mouth­wash for cankers and sore gums and as a poul­tice for back pains, rheuma­tism, burns etc. The herb should not be pre­scribed to chil­dren, preg­nant women or patients with kid­ney disease.

Bhui-neem

Since ancient times, A. pan­ic­u­lata is used in tra­di­tional Sid­dha and Ayurvedic sys­tems of med­i­cine as well as in tribal med­i­cine in India and some other coun­tries for mul­ti­ple clin­i­cal appli­ca­tions. The plant extract exhibits anti­ty­phoid and anti­fun­gal activ­i­ties. Kalmegh is also reported to pos­sess anti­hep­a­to­toxic, antibi­otic, anti­malar­ial, anti­hep­atitic, antithrom­bo­genic, anti­in­flam­ma­tory, anti-snake venom, and antipyretic prop­er­ties to men­tion a few, besides its gen­eral use as an immunos­tim­u­lant agent. A recent study con­ducted at Bastyr Uni­ver­sity, con­firms anti-HIV activ­ity of andrographolide.

A study has been con­ducted on the cel­lu­lar processes and tar­gets mod­u­lated by andro­grapholide treat­ment in human can­cer and immune cells. Andro­grapholide treat­ment inhib­ited the in vitro pro­lif­er­a­tion of dif­fer­ent tumor cell lines, rep­re­sent­ing var­i­ous types of can­cers. In one Chilean study, the herb had a sig­nif­i­cant dry­ing effect on the nasal secre­tions of cold suf­fer­ers who took 1,200 mil­ligrams of andro­graphis extract daily for five days.

Blue Flag

Blue flag was one of the most pop­u­lar med­i­c­i­nal plants amongst var­i­ous native North Amer­i­can Indian tribes. In mod­ern herbal­ism it is mainly employed to detox­ify the body –it increases uri­na­tion and bile pro­duc­tion and has a mild lax­a­tive effect. This rem­edy should not be pre­scribed for preg­nant women. The root is alter­ative, anti-inflammatory, cathar­tic, chol­a­gogue, diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic and sial­a­gogue. Taken inter­nally as a tea, the root has been used as a strong lax­a­tive or emetic that also acts strongly on the liver and pro­motes the excre­tion of excess body flu­ids. It is also stim­u­lant for the cir­cu­la­tory and lym­phatic sys­tem. Its detox­i­fy­ing effect makes it use­ful in the treat­ment of pso­ri­a­sis, acne, her­pes, arthri­tis, swollen glands, pelvic inflam­ma­tory dis­ease etc. Exter­nally, it is applied to skin dis­eases, wounds and rheumatic joints.

Buchu Leaf

Buchu is aro­matic, anti­sep­tic, carmi­na­tive and diaphoretic, of use espe­cially for uri­nary tract dis­or­ders. It is espe­cially use­ful for inflam­ma­tion and catarrh of the blad­der. Buchu is an aro­matic stim­u­lant and tonic. It pro­motes the appetite, relieves nau­sea and flat­u­lence, and acts as a diuretic and diaphoretic. In favour­ing the uri­nary secre­tion it aug­ments both the solid and watery con­stituents. It is prin­ci­pally used in chronic dis­eases of the urine gen­i­tal organs, as in cases of chronic inflam­ma­tion of the mucous mem­brane of the blad­der, irri­ta­ble con­di­tions of the ure­thra, in uri­nary dis­charges with increased deposit of uric acid, and in incon­ti­nence con­nected with dis­eased prostate. Pro­fuse mucus, or mucus puru­lent dis­charges, with vesico renal irri­ta­tion, point to its use.

Bugle­weed Herb

Bugle­weed has seda­tive prop­er­ties and is used in mod­ern herbal­ism prin­ci­pally to treat an over­ac­tive thy­roid gland and the rac­ing heart­beat that often accom­pa­nies this con­di­tion. The whole plant is used as an astrin­gent, hypo­glycemic, mild nar­cotic and mild seda­tive. It also slows and strength­ens heart con­trac­tions. The plant has been shown to be of value in the treat­ment of hyper­thy­roidism, it is also used in the treat­ment of coughs, bleed­ing from the lungs and con­sump­tion, exces­sive men­stru­a­tion etc. It should not be pre­scribed for preg­nant women or patients with hypothyroidism.

Cas­cara Sagrada Bark

Cas­cara Sagrada is a mild lax­a­tive, act­ing prin­ci­pally on the large intes­tine. It is con­sid­ered suit­able for del­i­cate and elderly per­sons, and may with advan­tage be given in chronic con­sti­pa­tion, being gen­er­ally admin­is­tered in the form of the fluid extract. It acts also as a stom­achic tonic and bit­ter, in small doses, pro­mot­ing gas­tric diges­tion and appetite. Loss of tone in the rec­tum, with con­sti­pa­tion, giv­ing rise to haem­or­rhoids, is ben­e­fited by it.

Cayenne Fruits

The dried fruit is a pow­er­ful local stim­u­lant with no nar­cotic effect, it is most use­ful in atony of the intestines and stom­ach. It has proved effi­ca­cious in dilat­ing blood ves­sels and thus reliev­ing chronic con­ges­tion of peo­ple addicted to drink. It is some­times used as a tonic and is said to be unequalled in ward­ing off dis­ease (prob­a­bly due to the high vit­a­min C con­tent). Used exter­nally, the fruit is a strong rube­fa­cient stim­u­lat­ing the cir­cu­la­tion, aid­ing the removal of waste prod­ucts and increas­ing the flow of nutri­ents to the tis­sues. It is applied as a cat­a­plasm or lin­i­ment. It has also been pow­dered and placed inside socks as a tra­di­tional rem­edy for those prone to cold feet. A weak infu­sion can be used as a gar­gle to treat throat complaints.

The fruit is also anti­haem­or­rhoidal, antirheumatic, anti­sep­tic, carmi­na­tive, diaphoretic, diges­tive, sial­a­gogue and stom­achic. These pun­gent fruited pep­pers are impor­tant in the trop­ics as gas­troin­testi­nal detox­i­fiers and food preser­v­a­tives. The fruits con­tain 0.1 –1.5% cap­saicin. This sub­stance stim­u­lates the cir­cu­la­tion and alters tem­per­a­ture reg­u­la­tion. Applied to the skin it desen­si­tizes nerve end­ings and so has been used as a local anes­thetic. The seed con­tains cap­si­cidins. These are thought to have antibi­otic properties.

Chap­ar­ral

Chap­ar­ral is rec­om­mended for con­di­tions such as arthri­tis, colds, rheuma­tism, skin sores and wounds, uri­nary infec­tions, tuber­cu­lo­sis, etc. It is said to have anal­gesic, expec­to­rant, as well as strong anti-inflammatory prop­er­ties. It is also claimed to have high antiox­i­dant con­tent, which can pro­tect one against the cell dam­age which leads to can­cer. Phar­ma­col­ogy man­u­als state that chap­ar­ral con­tains Nordi­hy­drogua­iaretic acid. This chem­i­cal is listed as an anti-oxidant, and its ther­a­peu­tic cat­e­gory is an “anti-neoplastic”. Anti-neoplastic is defined as “an agent that pre­vents the devel­op­ment, growth and pro­lif­er­a­tion of malig­nant cells”. It is also a good body and blood purifier.

Chaste Tree Berry

Agnus cas­tus has been used for thou­sands of years for its ben­e­fi­cial effect on the female hor­monal sys­tem. Mod­ern research has con­firmed this use, the seeds being used to restore bal­anced func­tion­ing to the female repro­duc­tive sys­tem. The seeds and fruits are anaphro­disiac, aphro­disiac, galac­to­gogue, oph­thalmic, seda­tive, stom­achic, women’s com­plaints. Pro­longed usage restores cor­pus luteum function.

The berries of this plant have a range of med­i­c­i­nal actions but pos­si­bly the most impor­tant is its abil­ity to rec­tify hor­monal imbal­ances caused by an excess of oestro­gen and an insuf­fi­ciency of prog­es­terone. It acts upon the pitu­itary gland, reduc­ing the pro­duc­tion of cer­tain hor­mones and increas­ing the pro­duc­tion of oth­ers, shift­ing the bal­ance in favor of the gesta­gens. Thus it has a wide appli­ca­tion of uses in mal­func­tions of the fem­i­nine repro­duc­tive sys­tem and has been used with great effect in restor­ing absent men­stru­a­tion, reg­u­lat­ing heavy peri­ods, restor­ing fer­til­ity when this is caused by hor­monal imbal­ance, reliev­ing pre-menstrual ten­sion and eas­ing the change of the menopause.

Some cau­tion is advised since exces­sive doses can cause a ner­vous dis­or­der known as formi­ca­tion, which man­i­fests as a sen­sa­tion of insects crawl­ing over the skin. The berries are con­sid­ered to be an aphro­disiac, though other reports say that they are anaphro­disiac. The rea­son for this appar­ent dis­agree­ment is that the berries have a reg­u­lat­ing effect on the body and so are likely to increase sex­ual activ­ity in those who are not very active in this area whilst reduc­ing it in those who are very active. The fresh berries are pounded to a pulp and used in the form of a tinc­ture for the relief of paral­y­sis, pains in the limbs, weak­ness etc.

Cin­na­mon Essen­tial Oil

Cin­na­mon is anti­fun­gal, antibac­te­r­ial, antivi­ral and has anti­sep­tic prop­er­ties; it is effec­tive on exter­nal as well as inter­nal infec­tions. Tra­di­tion­ally cin­na­mon has been used for treat­ing a vari­ety of health dis­or­ders includ­ing diar­rhea, arthri­tis, men­strual cramps, heavy men­stru­a­tion, yeast infec­tions, colds, flu, and diges­tive prob­lems. It is used for treat­ing a vari­ety of health dis­or­ders includ­ing res­pi­ra­tory prob­lems, skin infec­tions, blood impu­rity, men­stru­a­tion prob­lems, heart dis­or­ders, etc. It can help destroy germs in the gall blad­der and bac­te­ria in staph infec­tions. It is also an anti-inflammatory. Dia­bet­ics find it very use­ful as it aids them in using less insulin.

Research has shown that it is par­tic­u­larly very help­ful for patients suf­fer­ing from type2 dia­betes. It helps in remov­ing the stiff­ness of mus­cles. The cal­cium and fiber present in cin­na­mon can pro­vide some pro­tec­tion against heart dis­eases. It also improves colon health and thereby acts towards reduc­ing the risk of colon can­cer. Cin­na­mon is very effec­tive for indi­ges­tion, nau­sea, vom­it­ing, upset stom­ach, diar­rhea and flat­u­lence. Due to its carmi­na­tive prop­er­ties, it is very help­ful in remov­ing gas from the stom­ach and intestines. It also removes acid­ity, diar­rhea and morn­ing sick­ness. It is use­ful in cases of insect bites. Cin­na­mon can boost brain activ­ity and hence acts as a good brain tonic. It also helps in remov­ing blood impu­ri­ties plus it aids blood cir­cu­la­tion due to the pres­ence of a blood thin­ning com­pound. It helps in remov­ing ner­vous ten­sion and mem­ory loss.

Clove Bud

Clove bud herb is believed to have strong anti­sep­tic and anal­gesic qual­i­ties, and it is treated as an herbal ano­dyne for all man­ner of ill­nesses in many cul­tures around the world. The clove oil espe­cially has been used in alle­vi­at­ing the symp­toms asso­ci­ated with toothache and den­tal decay. Clove herbal tea is seen as a cure for prob­lems such as nau­sea and as an aid to elim­i­nat­ing excess gas in the stom­ach and the intestines. Dis­or­ders such as diar­rhoea and a her­nia are treated in the Chi­nese sys­tem of med­i­cine by giv­ing the patient clove oil. All path­o­genic fungi and other trou­ble­some fun­gal infec­tions such as athlete’s foot can be treated using the tinc­ture of clove oil, which is strongly fungi­ci­dal. Some types of viral infec­tions can be treated by the potent and effec­tive anti­sep­tic abil­ity pos­sessed by the cloves; the plant is also strongly bactericidal.

The cloves are often used in the treat­ment of all sorts of dis­eases caused by infec­tions –thus in trop­i­cal areas of Asia the clove is used exten­sively as a rem­edy for treat­ing a water borne dis­ease such as cholera and insect borne dis­eases such as malaria, it is used in the treat­ment of tuber­cu­lo­sis, as well as in rid­ding the body of exter­nal dis­ease caused by par­a­sites such as sca­bies. Cloves can also be used to alle­vi­ate very uncom­fort­able symp­toms in the diges­tive sys­tem, includ­ing excess abdom­i­nal gas, prob­lems such as colic, and bloat­ing in the abdom­i­nal region. Mus­cle spasms can be relieved if the cloves are applied as a top­i­cal oint­ment, at the same time, the anti-spasmodic action of the clove also aids in the alle­vi­a­tion of coughs and other prob­lems of the res­pi­ra­tory sys­tem. The stim­u­lat­ing prop­erty of the cloves has made it famous as an aphro­disiac in the west as well as in India.

The clove is believed to aid in stim­u­lat­ing the body as well as the mind by boost­ing a flag­ging mem­ory. In some Asian cul­tures, women about to go into labour are some­times given the cloves to pre­pare them for the rig­ors and phys­i­cal demands of a child birth, it is believed that the uter­ine mus­cle con­trac­tions dur­ing labour are strength­ened and stim­u­lated by the cloves. The rem­edy made from cloves is also used in the treat­ment of acne, in treat­ing the symp­toms of bell’s palsy, in the treat­ment of skin ulcers, var­i­ous types of sores, and sties affect­ing the eyes. Cloves have a potent odour and is a very good insec­ti­cide, repelling both mos­qui­toes and other insects such as moths. A nat­ural insect repel­lent is tra­di­tion­ally made by stud­ding the skin of oranges with cloves; this is kept in dif­fer­ent areas of the house to ward off insects.

Com­phrey Leaf

Com­frey leaf has a long his­tory of use to pro­mote the heal­ing of bones and wounds, as well as inter­nal use to treat a wide vari­ety of ail­ments from arthri­tis to ulcers. Com­frey root is used to relieve pain from blunt injuries, pro­mote heal­ing of bro­ken bones, sprains and bruises, reduce swelling and edema, and encour­age the rapid and healthy regrowth of skin and tis­sue cells.

Cramp Bark

Cramp bark is Spas­molytic restores sym­pa­thetic and parasym­pa­thetic bal­ance in vol­un­tary and invol­un­tary mus­cle spasms, seda­tive nervine, astrin­gent, anti-asthmatic, tonic, diuretic, alter­ative, hypoten­sive, carmi­na­tive, anti-inflammatory. It is a pow­er­ful anti­spas­modic being very effec­tive in relax­ing cramps and spasms of all kinds such as hys­te­ria, cramps of the limbs or other parts in females, espe­cially dur­ing preg­nancy, and it is said to be highly ben­e­fi­cial to those who are sub­ject to con­vul­sions dur­ing preg­nancy, or at the time of par­tu­ri­tion, pre­vent­ing the attacks entirely , if used daily for the last 2 months of gestation.

Like V. pruni­folium, it is a rem­edy for the pre­ven­tion of abor­tion and to pre­pare the way for the process of par­tu­ri­tion. It allays uter­ine irri­ta­tion with a ten­dency to ter­mi­nate in hys­te­ria, while in the neu­ral­gic and spas­modic forms of dys­men­or­rhea; it is a favorite rem­edy with many physi­cians. It has been used in spas­modic con­trac­tion of the blad­der and in spas­modic stricture.

It is use­ful to ally the spasm asso­ci­ated with asthma. Dr. King has found a poul­tice to be very effi­cient in indo­lent and malig­nant ulcers; and, applied around the throat in the inflam­ma­tion and swelling attend­ing scar­latina maligna, and other dis­eases, it gives prompt and marked relief. Spe­cific indi­ca­tions include uter­ine irri­tabil­ity, and hyper­aes­the­sia; threat­ened abor­tion; uter­ine colic; dys­men­or­rhea with defi­cient menses; severe lum­bar and bearing-down pains; cramp-like, expul­sive men­strual pain; inter­mit­tent, painful con­trac­tions of the pelvic tis­sues; after-pains and false pains of preg­nancy; obsti­nate hic­cough. Heart pal­pi­ta­tions have been reported to be relieved by it. Such cases are sym­pa­thetic dis­tur­bances, gen­er­ally near the men­strual period. As a uter­ine tonic, it is unques­tion­ably of great util­ity. It restores nor­mal inner­va­tion, improves the cir­cu­la­tion and cor­rects impaired nutri­tion of these organs. It is called for in weak­ened con­di­tions of the body, with fee­ble per­for­mance of the uter­ine func­tions. It is con­sid­ered almost spe­cific for cramp in the legs, not depen­dent on preg­nancy, espe­cially when occur­ring at night.

Culver’s Root (Beaumont’s Root)

Culver’s root or Beaumont’s root was employed med­i­c­i­nally by sev­eral native North Amer­i­can Indian tribes who used it to treat a vari­ety of com­plaints. It is still occa­sion­ally used in mod­ern herbal­ism, mainly for its effect upon the liver and bile pro­duc­tion. Some cau­tion is advised, the plant is poten­tially toxic. The root is ano­dyne, cathar­tic, emetic, hepatic, lax­a­tive and tonic. The fresh root is a vio­lent cathar­tic and pos­si­bly emetic, the dried root is milder in its action, but less cer­tain. The root also gen­tly excites the liver and increases the flow of bile. An infu­sion has been used in the treat­ment of diar­rhea, coughs, chills and fevers, and also to ease the pain of back­aches. A tea made from the roots is strongly laxative.

Dami­ana Leaf

Dami­ana exerts a tonic influ­ence, and is use­ful in some cases of chronic cys­tic and renal catarrh. It relieves irri­ta­tion of the uri­nary mucous mem­branes, improves diges­tion, and over­comes con­sti­pa­tion in some instances. In res­pi­ra­tory dis­or­ders, it may be employed to relieve irri­ta­tion and cough, and, by its tonic prop­er­ties, to cheek hyper­secre­tion from the bron­cho pul­monic membranes.

Dami­ana extracts have been shown, in the test tube, to bind to prog­es­terone recep­tors, which may explain its rep­u­ta­tion as a nerve tonic, mood ele­va­tor and aphro­disiac for both men and women. It acts ener­get­i­cally upon the gen­i­touri­nary organs of both sexes, remov­ing impo­tence in the one, and frigid­ity in the other, whether due to abuses or age.

Dan­de­lion Leaf

Dan­de­lion leaves are high in vit­a­mins A, D, C, B vit­a­mins, iron, sil­i­con, zinc, man­ganese, mag­ne­sium, and potas­sium. In tra­di­tional med­i­cine, dan­de­lion roots and leaves were used to treat liver prob­lems. Native Amer­i­cans also used dan­de­lion decoc­tions (liq­uid made by boil­ing down the herb in water) to treat kid­ney dis­ease, swelling, skin prob­lems, heart­burn, and stom­ach upset. Chi­nese med­i­c­i­nal prac­ti­tion­ers tra­di­tion­ally used dan­de­lion to treat diges­tive dis­or­ders, appen­dici­tis, and breast prob­lems (such as inflam­ma­tion or lack of milk flow). In Europe, herbal­ists incor­po­rated it into reme­dies for fever, boils, eye prob­lems, dia­betes, and diarrhea.

Today, dan­de­lion roots are mainly used as an appetite stim­u­lant, diges­tive aid, and for liver and gall­blad­der func­tion. Dan­de­lion leaves are used as a diuretic to stim­u­late the excre­tion of urine. Dan­de­lions are con­sid­ered very safe and effec­tive as a gen­eral tonic that helps strengthen the liver, gall­blad­der, pan­creas, spleen, stom­ach, and intestines, improv­ing bile flow and reduc­ing inflam­ma­tion in cases of hepati­tis and cir­rho­sis. Dan­de­lions also help to dis­si­pate gall­stones and are believed to improve kid­ney func­tion, thereby improv­ing over­all health and clear­ing skin problems.

Ele­cam­pane Root

Ele­cam­pane has a long his­tory of use as a med­i­c­i­nal herb. A gen­tly warm­ing and tonic herb, it is espe­cially effec­tive in treat­ing coughs, con­sump­tion, bron­chi­tis and many other com­plaints of the chest as well as dis­or­ders of the diges­tive sys­tem. A very safe herb to use, it is suit­able for the old and the young and espe­cially use­ful when the patient is debilitated.

It cleanses tox­ins from the body, stim­u­lat­ing the immune and diges­tive sys­tems and treat­ing bac­te­r­ial and fun­gal infec­tions. The root is alter­ative, anthelmintic, anti­sep­tic, astrin­gent, bit­ter, chol­a­gogue, demul­cent, diaphoretic, diuretic, mildly expec­to­rant, gen­tly stim­u­lant, stom­achic and tonic. This rem­edy should not be pre­scribed for preg­nant women. An extract of the plant is a pow­er­ful anti­sep­tic and bac­te­ri­cide, par­tic­u­larly effec­tive against the organ­ism that causes TB. The root con­tains alan­to­lac­tone, which is strongly anthelmintic. In a 1:1000 dilu­tion it kills the par­a­sitic worm Ascaris in 16 hours. Alan­to­lac­tone has an anti-inflammatory action; it also reduces mucous secre­tions and stim­u­lates the immune sys­tem. The plant is some­times rec­om­mended as an exter­nal wash for skin inflam­ma­tions and vari­cose ulcers, but has been known to cause aller­gic reactions.

Euca­lyp­tus Essen­tial Oil

Euca­lyp­tus oil is anti-inflammatory, anti­spas­modic, decon­ges­tant, deodor­ant, anti­sep­tic, antibac­te­r­ial, stim­u­lat­ing, and other med­i­c­i­nal prop­er­ties. It is effec­tive for treat­ing a num­ber of res­pi­ra­tory prob­lems includ­ing colds, coughs, run­ning nose, sore throat, asthma, nasal con­ges­tion, bron­chi­tis and sinusi­tis. Gar­gles of euca­lyp­tus oil mixed with warm water are effec­tive on treat­ing sore throat. It is used for heal­ing wounds, ulcers, burns, cuts, abra­sions and sores.

It is also effec­tive on insect bites and stings. It is often rec­om­mended to patients suf­fer­ing from rheuma­tism, lum­bago, sprained lig­a­ments and ten­dons, stiff mus­cles, aches, fibro­sis and even nerve pain. It can help remove men­tal exhaus­tion and slug­gish­ness and reju­ve­nates the spir­its of the sick. It is also effec­tive in treat­ing stress and men­tal dis­or­ders. It is very effec­tive against cav­i­ties, den­tal plaques, gin­givi­tis and other den­tal infec­tions due to its ger­mi­ci­dal prop­er­ties. It can also be used for treat­ing fever and reduc­ing the body tem­per­a­ture. It helps remove germs in the intestine.

False Uni­corn Leaf

False Uni­corn was used by the North Amer­i­can Indi­ans for a vari­ety of female health prob­lems includ­ing the pre­ven­tion of mis­car­riage, infer­til­ity, eas­ing of morn­ing sick­ness, and menopause symp­toms. In dis­eases of the repro­duc­tive organs of females, and espe­cially of the uterus, False Uni­corn is one of our most valu­able agents, act­ing as a uter­ine tonic, and grad­u­ally remov­ing abnor­mal con­di­tions, while at the same time it imparts tone and vigor to the repro­duc­tive organs. It has been use­ful in treat­ing uter­ine prob­lems in non-pregnant women to help nor­mal­ize delayed or absent men­stru­a­tion (amen­or­rhea). It can be espe­cially help­ful in painful men­stru­a­tion where there is a “heavy drag­ging feel­ing in the lower abdomen or a feel­ing of heav­i­ness and con­ges­tive pres­sure in the pelvis with the sen­sa­tion that the pelvic organs are falling out.” This herb stim­u­lates ovar­ian hor­mones and can be help­ful for early menopause, after a hys­terec­tomy or to help the sys­tem become nor­mal­ized after years of con­tra­cep­tive use.

Fen­nel

Fen­nel has a long his­tory of herbal use and is a com­monly used house­hold rem­edy, being use­ful in the treat­ment of a vari­ety of com­plaints, espe­cially those of the diges­tive sys­tem. The seeds, leaves and roots can be used, but the seeds are most active med­i­c­i­nally and are the part nor­mally used. An essen­tial oil is often extracted from the fully ripened and dried seed for med­i­c­i­nal use, though it should not be given to preg­nant women.

The plant is anal­gesic, anti­in­flam­ma­tory, anti­spas­modic, aro­matic, carmi­na­tive, diuretic, emme­na­gogue, expec­to­rant, galac­to­gogue, hal­lu­cino­genic, lax­a­tive, stim­u­lant and stom­achic. An infu­sion is used in the treat­ment of indi­ges­tion, abdom­i­nal dis­ten­sion, stom­ach pains etc. It helps in the treat­ment of kid­ney stones and, when com­bined with a uri­nary dis­in­fec­tant like Arc­tostaphy­los uva-ursi, makes an effec­tive treat­ment for cys­ti­tis. It can also be used as a gar­gle for sore throats and as an eye­wash for sore eyes and con­junc­tivi­tis. Fen­nel is often added to purga­tives in order to allay their ten­dency to cause gripe, and also to improve the flavour. An infu­sion of the seeds is a safe and effec­tive cure for wind in babies. An infu­sion of the root is used to treat uri­nary dis­or­ders. An essen­tial oil obtained from the seed is used in aro­mather­apy. The essen­tial oil is bac­te­ri­ci­dal, carmi­na­tive and stimulant.

Fringe­tree Rt Bark

Tra­di­tion­ally rec­om­mend for liver prob­lems, espe­cially when they have devel­oped into jaun­dice. Also used as a spe­cific for gall blad­der inflam­ma­tion. It is con­sid­ered a liver tonic. Through its action of releas­ing bile it acts as a gen­tle and effec­tive lax­a­tive. It is an excel­lent tonic in ”con­va­les­cence from exhaus­tive dis­eases,” and that it also proves a good local appli­ca­tion in exter­nal inflam­ma­tions, ulcers and wounds. Chio­nan­thus improves the appetite, aids diges­tion, pro­motes assim­i­la­tion, and is a tonic to the whole sys­tem. Besides its pro­nounced cat­alytic prop­er­ties, it is diuretic.

Gen­tian Root

Gen­tian root has a long his­tory of use as an herbal bit­ter in the treat­ment of diges­tive dis­or­ders and is an ingre­di­ent of many pro­pri­etary med­i­cines. It is espe­cially use­ful in states of exhaus­tion from chronic dis­ease and in all cases of debil­ity, weak­ness of the diges­tive sys­tem and lack of appetite. It is one of the best strength­en­ers of the human sys­tem, stim­u­lat­ing the liver, gall blad­der and diges­tive sys­tem, and is an excel­lent tonic to com­bine with a purga­tive in order to pre­vent its debil­i­tat­ing effects. The root is anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, anti­sep­tic, bit­ter tonic, chol­a­gogue, emme­na­gogue, febrifuge, refrig­er­ant and stom­achic. It is taken inter­nally in the treat­ment of liver com­plaints, indi­ges­tion, gas­tric infec­tions and anorexia. It should not be pre­scribed for patients with gas­tric or duo­de­nal ulcers. Gin­ger root

The seed is aro­matic, carmi­na­tive and stom­achic. The root is antirheumatic, exci­tant and tonic. The ground rhi­zome is used as a febrifuge. An essen­tial oil from the roots is carmi­na­tive and has anthelmintic indi­ca­tions. The plant has been used as a rem­edy for foetid nostril.

Gin­ger Root

The seed is aro­matic, carmi­na­tive and stom­achic. The root is antirheumatic, exci­tant and tonic. The ground rhi­zome is used as a febrifuge. An essen­tial oil from the roots is carmi­na­tive and has anthelmintic indi­ca­tions. The plant has been used as a rem­edy for foetid nostril.

Ginkgo Biloba

Among it med­i­c­i­nal uses ginkgo biloba shows most promise as a cir­cu­la­tory aid, help­ing to increase blood flow to the brain which may be use­ful for mem­ory loss, ver­tigo, tin­ni­tus, dis­ori­en­ta­tion, headaches, and depres­sion, espe­cially in the elderly and the elderly not respond­ing to anti­de­pres­sant drugs. Ginkgo offers antiox­i­dant effects as well, which may pro­tect both the cen­tral ner­vous sys­tem and the car­dio­vas­cu­lar sys­tem from the neg­a­tive effects of aging, specif­i­cally age-related men­tal dete­ri­o­ra­tion. Some study results offer addi­tional evi­dence that the antiox­i­dants in ginkgo may also help to inhibit high blood pressure.

Gold­enseal Root

Gold­enseal is a tra­di­tional med­i­cine of the North Amer­i­can Indi­ans and is still widely used in West­ern herbal med­i­cine. It is espe­cially val­ued in treat­ing dis­or­ders of the diges­tive sys­tem and mucous mem­branes and is also extremely use­ful in the treat­ment of habit­ual con­sti­pa­tion. It is said to be antiperi­odic, anti­sep­tic, astrin­gent, chol­a­gogue, diuretic, lax­a­tive, stom­achic, tonic. It is used mainly in the treat­ment of dis­or­ders affect­ing the ears, eyes, throat, nose, stom­ach, intestines and vagina. The root con­tains the alka­loids hydras­tine, berber­ine and cana­dine. Berber­ine is antibac­te­r­ial (effec­tive against broad-spectrum bac­te­ria and pro­to­zoa), it increases bile secre­tions, acts as an anti­con­vul­sant, a mild seda­tive and low­ers blood pres­sure. Use of this plant destroys ben­e­fi­cial intesti­nal organ­isms as well as pathogens, so it should only be pre­scribed for lim­ited peri­ods (a max­i­mum of three months). The plant should be used with cau­tion, and not at all dur­ing preg­nancy or by peo­ple with high blood pres­sure. An infu­sion of the root is used exter­nally as a wash for skin dis­eases, vagi­nal infec­tions, gum dis­eases etc.

Hawthorn

Hawthorn has a long his­tory in both folk med­i­cine and clin­i­cal med­i­cine as a heart tonic. The herb is typ­i­cally used to improve car­dio­vas­cu­lar func­tion, as it increases the sup­ply of blood to the heart mus­cle, result­ing in enhanced cir­cu­la­tion through­out the body. It has been shown to help sta­bi­lize angina pec­toris, as well as aid­ing recov­ery from heart attacks. Hawthorn reduces resis­tance in arter­ies and improves extrem­ity cir­cu­la­tion. The bioflavonoids in hawthorn are potent antiox­i­dants. A use­ful diuretic in dropsy and kid­ney trou­bles. Hawthorn has been used for heart car­diac insuf­fi­ciency, brady­cardic rhythm dis­or­ders and angina pec­toris. Hawthorn increases the blood flow to the heart and restores nor­mal heart beat. Hawthorn is also used after heart attack to help recovery.

Horse­tail Herb

Diuretic and astrin­gent. Has been found ben­e­fi­cial in dropsy, sup­pres­sion of urine, hema­turia, gravel, and nephritic affec­tions; and has also been used with advan­tage in gon­or­rhea and gleet. This drug has a spe­cific action in irri­ta­tion the blad­der, and in dysuria with tenesmic urg­ing, in the noc­tur­nal uri­nal incon­ti­nence of chil­dren, and in uri­nal incon­ti­nence, the effect of cys­tic irri­ta­tion, it is a very ser­vice­able rem­edy. Horse­tail is rec­om­mended for ‘Inter­nal Post trau­matic and sta­tic edema. Irri­ga­tion ther­apy for bac­te­r­ial and inflam­ma­tory dis­eases of the lower uri­nary tract and renal gravel. It is of effi­cacy for hem­or­rhage, cys­tic ulcer­a­tion and ulcers in the uri­nary passages.

Ice­land Moss

Ice­land moss has been used since ancient times as a cough rem­edy and has also been used in Euro­pean folk med­i­cine as a can­cer treat­ment. In present day herbal­ism it is highly prized for its strongly antibi­otic and demul­cent actions, being used espe­cially to soothe the mucous mem­branes of the chest, to counter catarrh and calm dry and parox­ys­mal coughs –it is par­tic­u­larly help­ful as a treat­ment for elderly peo­ple. Ice­land moss has both a demul­cent and a bit­ter tonic effect within the gut –a com­bi­na­tion almost unique amongst med­i­c­i­nal herbs. The whole plant is strongly antibi­otic, antiemetic, strongly demul­cent, galac­to­gogue, nutri­tive and tonic. It is excel­lent when used inter­nally in the treat­ment of chronic pul­monary prob­lems, catarrh, dysen­tery, chronic diges­tive dis­tur­bances (includ­ing irri­ta­ble bowel syn­drome and food poi­son­ing) and advanced tuber­cu­lo­sis. Exter­nally, it is used in the treat­ment of boils, vagi­nal dis­charges and impetigo.

Kola Nut

Kola nuts are used mainly for their stim­u­lant and eupho­ri­ant qual­i­ties. They have stim­u­lant effects on the cen­tral ner­vous sys­tem and heart. Stud­ies show kola nuts have pos­i­tive chronotropic and weak diuretic effects. In humans it enhances alert­ness and phys­i­cal energy, ele­vates mood, increases tac­tile sen­si­tiv­ity and sup­presses the appetite. Auto­nomic changes include increased body tem­per­a­ture, increased blood pres­sure and increased res­pi­ra­tory rate. Effects may last up to 6 hours after inges­tion. Kola effects the Cen­tral ner­vous stim­u­lant, CNS Tonic, Astrin­gent, Diuretic and is Anti-depressiv.

Lady’s Man­tle

Lady’s man­tle has a long his­tory of herbal use, mainly as an exter­nal treat­ment for cuts and wounds, and inter­nally in the treat­ment of diar­rhoea and a num­ber of women’s ail­ments, espe­cially men­strual prob­lems. The herb is alter­ative, antirheumatic, astrin­gent, and diuretic, emme­na­gogue, febrifuge, seda­tive, styp­tic, tonic and vul­ner­ary. The plant is rich in tan­nin and so is an effec­tive astrin­gent and styp­tic, com­monly used both inter­nally and exter­nally in the treat­ment of wounds. It helps stop vagi­nal dis­charge and is also used as a treat­ment for exces­sive men­stru­a­tion and to heal lesions after preg­nancy. Pro­longed use can ease the dis­com­fort of the menopause and exces­sive men­stru­a­tion. The freshly pressed juice is used to help heal skin trou­bles such as acne and a weak decoc­tion of the plant has been used in the treat­ment of conjunctivitis.

Marigold

Cal­en­dula is anti-inflammatory, astrin­gent, anti­sep­tic antibac­te­r­ial and antivi­ral. It pro­motes wound heal­ing. It is rec­og­nized for its anti­sep­tic and anti inflam­ma­tory prop­er­ties. It is con­sid­ered one of the most effec­tive herbal reme­dies for skin prob­lems, such as wounds, rashes, chapped hands, and infec­tions. Use­ful for inflam­ma­tion of the mouth and throat, wounds, burns, leg ulcers, dry, chapped skin and skin rashes. It is use­ful for arthritic prob­lems. Some stud­ies indi­cate an immune stim­u­lat­ing action as well. The ben­e­fits of cal­en­dula in heal­ing burns and wounds have also been demon­strated in research studies.

Cal­en­dula is also tra­di­tion­ally used to treat spasms, fever, sup­pressed men­stru­a­tion, and other health con­di­tions. It is an emme­na­gogue, there­fore should not be used by preg­nant women. It has been asserted that a Marigold flower, rubbed on the affected part, is an admirable rem­edy for the pain and swelling caused by the sting of a wasp or bee. A lotion made from the flow­ers is most use­ful for sprains and wounds, and water dis­tilled from them is good for inflamed and sore eyes.

Marsh Mal­low Leaf

Marsh mal­low is a very use­ful house­hold med­i­c­i­nal herb. It’s sooth­ing demul­cent prop­er­ties make it very effec­tive in treat­ing inflam­ma­tions and irri­ta­tions of the mucous mem­branes such as the ali­men­tary canal, the uri­nary and the res­pi­ra­tory organs. The root coun­ters excess stom­ach acid, pep­tic ulcer­a­tion and gas­tri­tis. It is also applied exter­nally to bruises, sprains, aching mus­cles, insect bites, skin inflam­ma­tions, splin­ters etc. The whole plant, but espe­cially the root, is anti­tus­sive, demul­cent, diuretic, highly emol­lient, slightly lax­a­tive and odon­tal­gic. An infu­sion of the leaves is used to treat cys­ti­tis and fre­quent uri­na­tion. The root can be used in an oint­ment for treat­ing boils and abscesses.

Mead­owsweet Herb

Mead­owsweet has a very long his­tory of herbal use, it was one of the three most sacred herbs of the Druids. The leaves and flow­er­ing stems are alter­ative, anti-inflammatory, anti­sep­tic, aro­matic, astrin­gent, diaphoretic, diuretic, stom­achic and tonic. The flower head con­tains sal­i­cylic acid, from which the drug aspirin can be syn­the­sised. Unlike the extracted aspirin, which can cause gas­tric ulcer­a­tion at high doses, the com­bi­na­tion of con­stituents in mead­owsweet act to pro­tect the inner lin­ing of the stom­ach and intestines whilst still pro­vid­ing the anti-inflammatory ben­e­fits of aspirin. The herb is a valu­able med­i­cine in the treat­ment of diar­rhea, indeed it is con­sid­ered almost spe­cific in the treat­ment of children’s diar­rhea. It is also con­sid­ered to be a use­ful stom­achic, being used to treat hyper­acid­ity, heart­burn, gas­tri­tis and pep­tic ulcers, for which it is one of the most effec­tive plant reme­dies. It is also fre­quently used in the treat­ment of afflic­tions of the blood. Mead­owsweet is also effec­tive against the organ­isms caus­ing diph­the­ria, dysen­tery and pneu­mo­nia. This rem­edy should not be given to peo­ple who are hyper­sen­si­tive to aspirin.

Mis­tel­toe

Mistle­toe is chiefly used to lower blood pres­sure and heart rate, ease anx­i­ety and pro­mote sleep. In low doses it can also relieve panic attacks and headaches, and also improves the abil­ity to con­cen­trate. The plant’s effi­cacy as an anti­cancer treat­ment has been sub­ject to a sig­nif­i­cant amount of research –there is no doubt that cer­tain con­stituents of the plant , espe­cially the vis­co­tox­ins, exhibit an anti­cancer activ­ity but the value of the whole plant in can­cer treat­ment is not fully accepted. It is anti­spas­modic, car­diac, cyto­sta­tic, diuretic, hypoten­sive, nar­cotic, nervine, stim­u­lant, tonic and vasodila­tor. Mistle­toe has a rep­u­ta­tion for cur­ing epilepsy and other con­vul­sive ner­vous dis­or­ders. The effect of the cor­rect dosage is to lessen and tem­porar­ily benumb the ner­vous activ­ity that causes the spasms, but larger doses can pro­duce the prob­lem. Mistle­toe has also been employed in check­ing inter­nal hem­or­rhages, in treat­ing high blood pres­sure and in treat­ing can­cer of the stom­ach, lungs and ovaries. Exter­nally, the plant has been used to treat arthri­tis, rheuma­tism, chilblains, leg ulcers and vari­cose veins.

Mug­wort

Mug­wort is most widely known for its affin­ity for the female repro­duc­tive sys­tem, and has been
called the “Mother of Herbs” (mean­ing that it is effec­tive for moth­ers, not that all herbs
prop­a­gate from it). used as a uter­ine stim­u­lant that can bring on delayed men­stru­a­tion and help restore a woman’s nat­ural monthly cycle. Vary­ing doses are used for exces­sive men­strual bleed­ing, calm­ing an over-active fetus, arrest­ing threat­ened mis­car­riage, induc­ing labor and encour­ag­ing fer­til­ity. It is mildly seda­tive and use­ful in calm­ing frayed nerves and eas­ing stress. As all the bit­ter herbs, it is an excel­lent diges­tive stim­u­lant, and is quite effec­tive taken before or after heavy meals to alle­vi­ate gas and bloat­ing. Like its other Worm­wood rel­a­tives, Mug­wort is also effec­tive for a vari­ety of par­a­sitic infec­tions, includ­ing tape­worm, thread­worm and round­worm, plus par­a­sitic infec­tion on the skin such as ring­worm. Mug­wort is used to help calm ner­vous dis­or­ders and mus­cle spasms, helps aid blood cir­cu­la­tion, and is an effec­tive rem­edy for abdom­i­nal pain brought on by cold conditions.

Myrrh

Most present day herbal med­i­cine prac­ti­tion­ers rec­om­mend the use of myrrh as an anti­sep­tic. Myrrh forms an impor­tant ingre­di­ent of an oint­ment that is applied exter­nally to cure hem­or­rhoids or swollen anus veins, bed sores as well as wounds. The tinc­ture is gen­er­ally used as a mouth­wash or for cur­ing painful throat and other sim­i­lar prob­lems. Myrrh is also used by physi­cians as an emme­na­gogue to invig­o­rate men­strual flow in cases of delayed men­strual cycles or insuf­fi­cient men­stru­a­tion. There are many peo­ple who advo­cate the use of myrrh for ther­a­peu­tic use in prob­lems such as can­cer, lep­rosy and syphilis.

Sig­nif­i­cantly, in Ger­many, the author­i­ties have per­mit­ted the use of myrrh pow­der and tinc­ture for rel­e­vant treat­ment of minor oral inflam­ma­tions and pha­ryn­geal mucosa. Since time immemo­r­ial, peo­ple have held myrrh in high esteem for its anti­sep­tic as well as detox­i­fy­ing prop­er­ties. Myrrh is sour, spicy and astrin­gent and the pri­mary prop­er­ties include warm­ing and stim­u­lat­ing the body. For peo­ple who expe­ri­ence exhaus­tion and tired­ness, myrrh may be used as a tonic to revi­tal­ize their sys­tem. In addi­tion, myrrh is also known to enhance the blood cir­cu­la­tion, drive out cold and any fee­ble­ness aris­ing out of it.

The herb is also effec­tual in push­ing out erup­tions as it draws the blood near the skin sur­face enabling to treat rashes as well as erup­tive infec­tions. More­over, myrrh is help­ful in low­er­ing the body tem­per­a­ture dur­ing fevers. There are numer­ous other aspects of the herb that include enhanc­ing the blood cir­cu­la­tion to the repro­duc­tive sys­tem, alle­vi­at­ing spasm or mus­cle con­trac­tions and also con­trol­ling the men­strual cycle. Many physi­cians use myrrh dur­ing child birth as the herb effec­tively encour­ages uterus con­trac­tion and also alle­vi­ates pain. It is effec­tive in treat­ing coughs and also removes the con­ges­tion or jam­ming of the res­pi­ra­tory system.

The herb is par­tic­u­larly ben­e­fi­cial for treat­ing bron­chi­tis, asthma, cold and catarrh or run­ning nose. The anti­sep­tic prop­erty of myrrh is an addi­tional bonus as this acts actively against all viral and bac­te­r­ial infec­tions, com­bat all other dis­eases as well as invig­o­rates the body’s immune (resis­tance) sys­tem. The astrin­gent prop­erty of the herb aids in appre­hend­ing releases or dis­charges from the body, phlegm and per­sis­tent run­ning nose. The warm­ing prop­erty of the herb in the diges­tive sys­tem invig­o­rates the desire for food, enhances the flow of diges­tive juices, perks up diges­tion and at the same time, improves absorption.

The herb has a unique qual­ity to calm down as well as stim­u­late the stom­ach, relieve colic or stom­ach pain and spasm, wind and indi­ges­tion. In addi­tion, the herb also relieves fatigue or exhaus­tion owing to poor diges­tion. The herb’s action to aug­ment diges­tion also helps in cleans­ing the diges­tive tract of all nox­ious sub­stances as well as func­tion as a rem­edy for com­mon detox­i­fi­ca­tion and anti-inflammation. This qual­ity of myrrh is espe­cially use­ful in treat­ing arthri­tis, rheuma­tism (stiff­ness in joints and mus­cles) as well as gout (a dis­ease that causes swollen joints). The herb’s action against bac­te­ria and fungi aids in con­tain­ing infec­tion and can­didi­a­sis (yeast infec­tion) in the diges­tive sys­tem and also gets the intestines rid of all parasites.

Neem Tree

Var­i­ous parts of the neem tree have been used as tra­di­tional Ayurvedic med­i­cine in India. Neem oil and the bark and leaf extracts have been ther­a­peu­ti­cally used as folk med­i­cine to con­trol lep­rosy, intesti­nal helminthi­a­sis, res­pi­ra­tory dis­or­ders, con­sti­pa­tion and also as a gen­eral health pro­moter. Its use for the treat­ment of rheuma­tism, chronic syphilitic sores and indo­lent ulcer has also been evi­dent. Neem oil finds use to con­trol var­i­ous skin infec­tions. Bark, leaf, root, flower and fruit together cure blood mor­bid­ity, bil­iary afflic­tions, itch­ing, skin ulcers, burn­ing sen­sa­tions and pth­ysis. The aque­ous extract of neem bark and leaf also pos­sesses anti­com­ple­ment and immunos­tim­u­lant activ­ity. Neem oil has been shown to pos­sess activ­ity by selec­tively acti­vat­ing the cell-mediated immune mech­a­nisms to elicit an enhanced response to sub­se­quent mito­genic or anti­genic challenge.

Oat Straw

Oat straw is a nerve tonic, stim­u­lant, and anti­spas­modic. It ranks among the most impor­tant restora­tives for con­di­tions depend­ing upon ner­vous pros­tra­tion, and for the ner­vous exhaus­tion con­se­quent upon typhoid and other low fevers, and the acci­den­tal dis­or­ders aris­ing from these com­plaints, as weak heart, sper­ma­t­or­rhoea, insom­nia, etc. Because of its selec­tive action upon the ner­vous struc­ture which sup­plies the repro­duc­tive organs, it will be found to allay ner­vous excite­ment, ner­vous pal­pi­ta­tion of the heart, insom­nia and men­tal weak­ness, or fail­ure and gen­eral debil­ity caused by mas­tur­ba­tion, over sex­ual indul­gence, or onanism.

It is a sov­er­eign rem­edy in impo­tency. ‘In uter­ine or ovar­ian dis­or­ders with hys­ter­i­cal man­i­fes­ta­tions it is of much ser­vice. The ner­vous headaches of the men­strual epoch, espe­cially those accom­pa­nied with burn­ing on the top of the head, and sick headaches appar­ently from dis­or­dered stom­ach at this time, or in fact sick headache at any time if accom­pa­nied with ner­vous weak­ness, are all promptly ben­e­fited by Avena Sativa, pro­vided gas­tric acid­ity is neu­tral­ized. In atonic amen­or­rhea with great fee­ble­ness, it is valu­able. In neu­ral­gic and con­ges­tive dys­men­or­rhea, with slow and imper­fect cir­cu­la­tion and cold skin and extrem­i­ties, it is an excel­lent remedy.

Olive Leaf

Olive Leaf is a pow­er­ful antiox­i­dant qual­i­ties which help it to fight the free rad­i­cals which cause dis­ease and pre­ma­ture aging. It also has strong antibac­te­r­ial and antivi­ral prop­er­ties which will help you to avoid com­mon colds and the flu. Another of the advan­tages of tak­ing olive extract is that it can lower high blood pres­sure and lower the bad or LDL cho­les­terol lev­els. Research or clin­i­cal expe­ri­ence to date sug­gest that Olive Leaf Extract should be con­sid­ered as a heal­ing par­tic­i­pant in the treat­ment of con­di­tions caused by, or asso­ci­ated with, a virus, retro­virus, bac­terium, or pro­to­zoan. Among such con­di­tions may be influenza, the com­mon cold, menin­gi­tis, Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), encephali­tis, her­pes I and II, human her­pes virus 6 and 7, shin­gles, HIV/ARC/AIDS, chronic fatigue, hepati­tis B, pneu­mo­nia, tuber­cu­lo­sis, gon­or­rhea, malaria, dengue, bac­teremia, severe diar­rhea, blood poi­son­ing, and den­tal, ear, uri­nary tract and sur­gi­cal infections.

Pas­sion Flower

It is a valu­able seda­tive and tran­quil­iz­ing herb with a long his­tory of use in North Amer­ica. It is fre­quently used in the treat­ment of insom­nia, epilepsy, hys­te­ria etc. The leaves and stems are anti­spas­modic, astrin­gent, diaphoretic, hyp­notic, nar­cotic, seda­tive, vasodila­tor and are also used in the treat­ment of women’s complaints.

It is used in the treat­ment of insom­nia, ner­vous ten­sion, irri­tabil­ity, neu­ral­gia, irri­ta­ble bowel syn­drome, pre-menstrual ten­sion and vagi­nal dis­charges. An extract of the plant depresses the motor nerves of the spinal cord, it is also slightly seda­tive, slightly reduces blood pres­sure and increases res­pi­ra­tory rate.

The plant con­tains alka­loids and flavonoids that are an effec­tive non-addictive seda­tive that does not cause drowsi­ness. The plant is not rec­om­mended for use dur­ing preg­nancy. A poul­tice of the roots is applied to boils, cuts, ear­aches, inflam­ma­tion etc.

Pen­ny­royal Herb

Pen­ny­royal has been used for cen­turies in herbal med­i­cine. Its main value is as a diges­tive tonic where it increases the secre­tion of diges­tive juices and relieves flat­u­lence and colic. Pen­ny­royal also pow­er­fully stim­u­lates the uter­ine mus­cles and encour­ages men­stru­a­tion, thus it should not be pre­scribed for preg­nant women since it can pro­cure abor­tions, this is espe­cially the case if the essen­tial oil is used.

The herb is anti­sep­tic, anti­spas­modic, carmi­na­tive, diaphoretic, emme­na­gogue, seda­tive and stim­u­lant. A tea made from the leaves has tra­di­tion­ally been used in the treat­ment of fevers, headaches, minor res­pi­ra­tory infec­tions, diges­tive dis­or­ders, men­strual com­plaints and var­i­ous minor ail­ments. It is occa­sion­ally used as a treat­ment for intesti­nal worms.

Exter­nally, an infu­sion is used to treat itch­i­ness and formi­ca­tion, inflamed skin dis­or­ders such as eczema and rheumatic con­di­tions such as gout. The essen­tial oil in the leaves is anti­sep­tic, though it is toxic in large doses.

Rose­mary Leaf

Rose­mary is com­monly grown in the herb gar­den as a domes­tic rem­edy, used espe­cially as a tonic and pick-me-up when feel­ing depressed, men­tally tired, ner­vous etc. Research has shown that the plant is rich in volatile oils, fla­vanoids and phe­no­lic acids, which are strongly anti­sep­tic and anti-inflammatory. Ros­marinic acid has poten­tial in the treat­ment of toxic shock syn­drome, whilst the flavonoid dios­min is reput­edly more effec­tive than rutin in reduc­ing cap­il­lary fragility.

Ros­marol, an extract from the leaves, has shown remark­ably high antiox­i­dant activ­ity. The whole plant is anti­sep­tic, anti­spas­modic, aro­matic, astrin­gent, car­diac, carmi­na­tive, chol­a­gogue, diaphoretic, emme­na­gogue, nervine, stim­u­lant, stom­achic and tonic. An infu­sion of the flow­er­ing stems made in a closed con­tainer to pre­vent the steam from escap­ing is effec­tive in treat­ing headaches, colic, colds and ner­vous dis­eases. A dis­tilled water from the flow­ers is used as an eye­wash. This rem­edy should not be pre­scribed for preg­nant women since in excess it can cause an abortion.

An essen­tial oil dis­tilled from the stems and leaves is often used med­i­c­i­nally, that dis­tilled from the flow­er­ing tops is supe­rior but not often avail­able. The oil is applied exter­nally as a rube­fa­cient, added to lin­i­ments, rubbed into the tem­ples to treat headaches and used inter­nally as a stom­achic and nervine. Sage

Sage has a very long his­tory of effec­tive med­i­c­i­nal use and is an impor­tant domes­tic herbal rem­edy for dis­or­ders of the diges­tive sys­tem. Its anti­sep­tic qual­i­ties make it an effec­tive gar­gle for the mouth where it can heal sore throats, ulcers etc. The leaves applied to an aching tooth will often relieve the pain.

The whole herb is anti­hy­drotic, anti­sep­tic, anti­spas­modic, astrin­gent, carmi­na­tive, chol­a­gogue, galactofuge, stim­u­lant, tonic and vasodila­tor. Sage is also used inter­nally in the treat­ment of exces­sive lac­ta­tion, night sweats, exces­sive sali­va­tion (as in Parkinson’s dis­ease), pro­fuse per­spi­ra­tion (as in TB), anx­i­ety, depres­sion, female steril­ity and menopausal prob­lems. This rem­edy should not be pre­scribed to preg­nant women or to peo­ple who have epilep­tic fits. The plant is toxic in excess or when taken for extended peri­ods –though the toxic dose is very large. Exter­nally, it is used to treat insect bites, skin, throat, mouth and gum infec­tions and vagi­nal discharge.

The essen­tial oil from the plant is used in small doses to remove heavy col­lec­tions of mucous from the res­pi­ra­tory organs and mixed in embro­ca­tions for treat­ing rheuma­tism. In larger doses, how­ever, it can cause epilep­tic fits, gid­di­ness etc.

Sage

Sage has a very long his­tory of effec­tive med­i­c­i­nal use and is an impor­tant domes­tic herbal rem­edy for dis­or­ders of the diges­tive sys­tem. Its anti­sep­tic qual­i­ties make it an effec­tive gar­gle for the mouth where it can heal sore throats, ulcers etc. The leaves applied to an aching tooth will often relieve the pain. The whole herb is anti­hy­drotic, anti­sep­tic, anti­spas­modic, astrin­gent, carmi­na­tive, chol­a­gogue, galactofuge, stim­u­lant, tonic and vasodilator.

Sage is also used inter­nally in the treat­ment of exces­sive lac­ta­tion, night sweats, exces­sive sali­va­tion (as in Parkinson’s dis­ease), pro­fuse per­spi­ra­tion (as in TB), anx­i­ety, depres­sion, female steril­ity and menopausal prob­lems. This rem­edy should not be pre­scribed to preg­nant women or to peo­ple who have epilep­tic fits. The plant is toxic in excess or when taken for extended peri­ods –though the toxic dose is very large. Exter­nally, it is used to treat insect bites, skin, throat, mouth and gum infec­tions and vagi­nal dis­charge. The essen­tial oil from the plant is used in small doses to remove heavy col­lec­tions of mucous from the res­pi­ra­tory organs and mixed in embro­ca­tions for treat­ing rheuma­tism. In larger doses, how­ever, it can cause epilep­tic fits, gid­di­ness etc.

Siber­ian Ginseng

Siber­ian gin­seng is a pow­er­ful tonic herb with an impres­sive range of health ben­e­fits. Unlike many herbs with a med­i­c­i­nal use, it is more use­ful for main­tain­ing good health rather than treat­ing ill health. Research has shown that it stim­u­lates resis­tance to stress and so it is now widely used as a tonic in times of stress and pres­sure. Reg­u­lar use is said to restore vigor, improve the mem­ory and increase longevity.

The root and the root bark are adap­to­gen, anti­in­flam­ma­tory, hypo­glycemic, tonic and vasodila­tor. It is taken inter­nally dur­ing con­va­les­cence and in the treat­ment of menopausal prob­lems, geri­atric debil­ity, phys­i­cal and men­tal stress etc. It works by strength­en­ing the body’s nat­ural immune sys­tem. It has also been used to com­bat radi­a­tion sick­ness and expo­sure to toxic chem­i­cals. This herb is not pre­scribed for chil­dren, and should not be used for more than 3 weeks at one time. Caf­feine should not be taken when using this herb.

Skull­cap Herb

This plant is an effec­tive seda­tive and anti­spas­modic. Scutel­lar­ian, a major con­stituent, has been clin­i­cally shown to have mild seda­tive and anti­spas­modic actions. As an effec­tive seda­tive and anti­spas­modic, scull­cap, or scutel­lar­ian, is used in for­mu­las for hys­te­ria, seizures, asthma, men­strual cramp­ing, epilepsy, insom­nia, pain, ver­tigo and addic­tion recovery.

Skull­cap has strong tonic, nervine and anti­spas­modic action, and is slightly astrin­gent.’ ‘In hys­te­ria, con­vul­sions, hydropho­bia, St. Vitus’s dance and rick­ets, its action is invalu­able. In ner­vous headaches, neu­ral­gia and in headache aris­ing from inces­sant cough­ing and pain, it offers one of the most suit­able and reli­able reme­dies. It has proved espe­cially use­ful in chorea, con­vul­sions, tremors, inter­mit­tent fever, neu­ral­gia, and many ner­vous affec­tions.’ ‘In delir­ium tremens, an infu­sion drank freely will soon pro­duce a calm sleep. In inter­mit­tents it may be ben­e­fi­cially com­bined with lyco­pus. Where teething has impaired the health of chil­dren, an infu­sion maybe given with advantage.

In all cases of ner­vous excitabil­ity, rest­less­ness, or wake­ful­ness, attend­ing or fol­low­ing acute or chronic dis­eases, from phys­i­cal or men­tal over­work, or from other causes, it may be drank freely with every expec­ta­tion of ben­e­fi­cial results

Sting­ing Nettle

Net­tles have a long his­tory of use in the home as a herbal rem­edy and nutri­tious addi­tion to the diet. A tea made from the leaves has tra­di­tion­ally been used as a cleans­ing tonic and blood puri­fier so the plant is often used in the treat­ment of hay fever, arthri­tis, ane­mia etc. The whole plant is anti­asth­matic, anti­dan­druff, astrin­gent, depu­ra­tive, diuretic, galac­to­gogue, haemo­sta­tic, hypo­glycemic and a stim­u­lat­ing tonic. An infu­sion of the plant is very valu­able in stem­ming inter­nal bleed­ing; it is also used to treat ane­mia, exces­sive men­stru­a­tion, hem­or­rhoids, and arthri­tis, rheuma­tism and skin com­plaints, espe­cially eczema. Exter­nally, the plant is used to treat skin com­plaints, arthritic pain, gout, sci­at­ica, neu­ral­gia, hem­or­rhoids, hair prob­lems etc. This species mer­its fur­ther study for pos­si­ble uses against kid­ney and uri­nary sys­tem ail­ments. The juice of the net­tle can be used as an anti­dote to stings from the leaves and an infu­sion of the fresh leaves is heal­ing and sooth­ing as a lotion for burns. The root has been shown to have a ben­e­fi­cial effect upon enlarged prostate glands.

Sweet Vio­let

Sweet vio­let has a long and proven his­tory of folk use, espe­cially in the treat­ment of can­cer and whoop­ing cough. It also con­tains sal­i­cylic acid, which is used to make aspirin. It is there­fore effec­tive in the treat­ment of headaches, migraine and insom­nia. The whole plant is anti­in­flam­ma­tory, diaphoretic, diuretic, emol­lient, expec­to­rant, and lax­a­tive. It is taken inter­nally in the treat­ment of bron­chi­tis, res­pi­ra­tory catarrh, coughs, asthma, and can­cer of the breast, lungs or diges­tive tract. Exter­nally, it is used to treat mouth and throat infec­tions. The flow­ers are demul­cent and emol­lient. They are used in the treat­ment of bil­ious­ness and lung trou­bles. The petals are made into a syrup and used in the treat­ment of infan­tile dis­or­ders. The roots is a much stronger expec­to­rant than other parts of the plant but they also con­tain the alka­loid vio­line which at higher doses is strongly emetic and purga­tive. The seeds are diuretic and purga­tive. They have been used in the treat­ment of uri­nary com­plaints are con­sid­ered to be a good rem­edy for gravel.

Sweet Worm­wood

Sweet worm­wood is a worm­wood that orig­i­nates in tem­per­ate Asia and can be found around the world. Its sci­en­tific name is Artemisia annua, but it is also referred to as sweet Annie, sweet sage­wort or annual worm­wood. Sweet Worm­wood is an aro­matic anti-bacterial plant; recent research has shown that it destroys malar­ial par­a­sites, low­ers fevers and checks bleed­ing. It is often used in the Trop­ics as an afford­able and effec­tive anti-malarial. The leaves are antiperi­odic, anti­sep­tic, diges­tive, febrifuge. An infu­sion of the leaves is used inter­nally to treat fevers, colds, diar­rhoea, etc.

Sweet Worm­wood is selec­tively toxic to can­cer cells and is effec­tive orally,” accord­ing to Henry Lai, research pro­fes­sor in the Depart­ment of Bio­engi­neer­ing, who con­ducted the study with fel­low UW bio­engi­neer Naren­dra P. Singh, a research asso­ciate pro­fes­sor in the depart­ment. “With the results of this study, it’s an attrac­tive can­di­date for can­cer pre­ven­tion.” It has a num­ber of med­i­c­i­nal uses, includ­ing anti-malaria, anti-parasite and anti-cancer treat­ments, though it also can be incor­po­rated into food to pre­pare del­i­ca­cies. One of the old­est appli­ca­tions for sweet worm­wood is as a treat­ment for fever.

Chi­nese herbal­ists used the dried leaves of the plant to cre­ate a tea that reduced fever. Though this prac­tice was done in ancient times, its appli­ca­tion was redis­cov­ered in the 20th cen­tury. The active ingre­di­ent in sweet worm­wood, artemisinin, along with the other sub­stances that con­tribute to the plant’s makeup, are said to be extremely effec­tive against malaria. This effec­tive and rel­a­tively avail­able treat­ment makes it attrac­tive to those who deal with the threat of malaria, such as inhab­i­tants of the trop­ics. Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pa­nies have chal­lenged wormwood’s effec­tive­ness, but its suc­cess rate has caused in Ethiopia to change its offi­cial treat­ment choices for malaria to those that con­tain Artemisia annua.

Tansey Hherb

Tansy is a com­monly grown domes­tic rem­edy, use­ful in treat­ing a wide range of com­plaints, though it is lit­tle used in mod­ern herbal­ism. Its main value is as a ver­mifuge to expel intesti­nal worms and, to a lesser degree, to help stim­u­late men­strual bleed­ing. Tansy should be used with cau­tion, how­ever, it is pos­si­bly unsafe for inter­nal use, espe­cially if you are pregnant.

The essen­tial oil in the leaves is toxic and as lit­tle as •••oz can kill an adult. The leaves and flow­er­ing tops are anthelmintic, anti­spas­modic, bit­ter, carmi­na­tive, emme­na­gogue, stim­u­lant and tonic. An infu­sion of the leaves or whole plant is used to treat men­strual irreg­u­lar­i­ties and as an anthelmintic, espe­cially for chil­dren. It is also valu­able in treat­ing hys­te­ria, kid­ney weak­nesses, stom­ach prob­lems, fevers and also as an emme­na­gogue. Exter­nally, tansy is used as a poul­tice on swellings and some erup­tive skin dis­eases. It is also used exter­nally to kill lice, fleas and sca­bies, though even exter­nal use of the plant car­ries the risk of toxicity.

Valer­ian Rhi­zome (European)

Valer­ian is a well-known and fre­quently used med­i­c­i­nal herb that has a long and proven his­tory of effi­cacy. It is noted espe­cially for its effect as a tran­quil­liser and nervine, par­tic­u­larly for those peo­ple suf­fer­ing from ner­vous over­strain. Valer­ian has been shown to encour­age sleep, improve sleep qual­ity and reduce blood pres­sure. It is also used inter­nally in the treat­ment of painful men­stru­a­tion, cramps, hyper­ten­sion, irri­ta­ble bowel syn­drome etc.

It should not be pre­scribed for patients with liver prob­lems. Exter­nally, it is used to treat eczema, ulcers and minor injuries. The root is anti­spas­modic, carmi­na­tive, diuretic, hyp­notic, pow­er­fully nervine, seda­tive and stim­u­lant. The active ingre­di­ents are called vale­po­tri­ates, research has con­firmed that these have a calm­ing effect on agi­tated peo­ple, but are also a stim­u­lant in cases of fatigue.

Wahoo Bark

Wahoo Bark is a tonic, alter­ative, chol­a­gogue pro­mot­ing the dis­charge of bile from the sys­tem, lax­a­tive and hepatic stim­u­lant. In small doses, Euonymin stim­u­lates the appetite and the flow of the gas­tric juice. In larger doses, it is irri­tant to the intes­tine and is cathar­tic. It has slight diuretic and expec­to­rant effects, but its only use is as a purga­tive in cases of con­sti­pa­tion in which the liver is dis­or­dered, and for which it is par­tic­u­larly effi­ca­cious. It is spe­cially valu­able in liver dis­or­ders which fol­low or accom­pany fever. There are but few good stom­ach ton­ics, and this agent is one of them. It stim­u­lates the bil­iary flow, and has con­sid­er­able anti-malarial influ­ence, and may be used in inter­mit­tents after the chill has been bro­ken with qui­nine. It stim­u­lates the nutri­tive processes and improves the appetite. It may be used with advan­tage in atonic dys­pep­sia, and in indi­ges­tion due to hepatic topor or fol­low­ing malar­ial fevers.

White Hore­hound

White hore­hound is a well-known and pop­u­lar herbal med­i­cine that is often used as a domes­tic rem­edy for coughs, colds, wheezi­ness etc. The herb appar­ently causes the secre­tion of a more fluid mucous, read­ily cleared by cough­ing. The leaves and young flow­er­ing stems are anti­sep­tic, anti­spas­modic, chol­a­gogue, diaphoretic, diges­tive, diuretic, emme­na­gogue, strongly expec­to­rant, hepatic, stim­u­lant and tonic. Hore­hound is a very valu­able pec­toral, expec­to­rant and tonic that can be safely used by chil­dren as well as adults. It is often made into a syrup or candy in order to dis­guise its very bit­ter flavour, though it can also be taken as a tea. As a bit­ter tonic, it increases the appetite and sup­ports the func­tion of the stom­ach. It can also act to nor­mal­ize heart rhythm.

Wild Car­rot Herb

The wild car­rot is an aro­matic herb that acts as a diuretic, soothes the diges­tive tract and stim­u­lates the uterus. A won­der­fully cleans­ing med­i­cine, it sup­ports the liver, stim­u­lates the flow of urine and the removal of waste by the kid­neys. The whole plant is anthelmintic, carmi­na­tive, deob­stru­ent, diuretic, galac­to­gogue, oph­thalmic, stim­u­lant. An infu­sion is used in the treat­ment of var­i­ous com­plaints includ­ing diges­tive dis­or­ders, kid­ney and blad­der dis­eases and in the treat­ment of dropsy. An infu­sion of the leaves has been used to counter cys­ti­tis and kid­ney stone for­ma­tion, and to dimin­ish stones that have already formed.

Car­rot leaves con­tain sig­nif­i­cant amounts of por­phyrins, which stim­u­late the pitu­itary gland and lead to the release of increased lev­els of sex hor­mones. The plant is har­vested in July and dried for later use. A warm water infu­sion of the flow­ers has been used in the treat­ment of dia­betes. The grated raw root, espe­cially of the cul­ti­vated forms, is used as a rem­edy for thread­worms. The root is also used to encour­age delayed men­stru­a­tion. The root of the wild plant can induce uter­ine con­trac­tions and so should not be used by preg­nant women. A tea made from the roots is diuretic and has been used in the treat­ment of uri­nary stones. The seeds are diuretic, carmi­na­tive, emme­na­gogue and anthelmintic. An infu­sion is used in the treat­ment of oedema, flat­u­lent indi­ges­tion and men­strual prob­lems. The seed is a tra­di­tional ‘morn­ing after’ con­tra­cep­tive and there is some evi­dence to uphold this belief. It requires fur­ther inves­ti­ga­tion. Car­rot seeds can be abor­ti­fa­cient and so should not be used by preg­nant women.

Worm­wood

Worm­wood stim­u­lates and invig­o­rates the whole of the diges­tive process, pro­motes the pro­duc­tion of cho­les­terol and biliru­bin. Worm­wood has tra­di­tion­ally been used as an anthelmintic, anti­sep­tic, anti­spas­modic, carmi­na­tive, seda­tive, stim­u­lant, stom­achic, and tonic. Worm­wood is used pri­mar­ily for liver, gall blad­der and stom­ach ail­ments, as well as to expel intesti­nal worms. It stim­u­lates and invig­o­rates the whole of the diges­tive process. It pro­motes the pro­duc­tion of cho­les­terol and biliru­bin (a com­po­nent of bile). By stim­u­lat­ing the bit­ter recep­tors in the taste buds of the tongue, it trig­gers an increase in diges­tive enzymes and stom­ach acid.

Chem­i­cals con­tained in worm­wood may have also mild anti-infective prop­er­ties that may help keep skin injuries from becom­ing infected. Worm­wood coun­ter­acts poi­son­ing by hem­lock, mush­rooms and sea drag­ons. It has also been used to improve blood cir­cu­la­tion, as a car­diac stim­u­lant, as a pain reliever for women dur­ing labor, and as an agent against tumors and can­cers. It pro­motes men­stru­a­tion and will help with men­strual cramps. Worm­wood has also been used in com­presses to treat bruises and sprains.

Yarrow Flow­ers

It is used to reduce fevers, con­trol bleed­ing (includ­ing cycle bleed­ing), heal blad­der infec­tions, relieves colds and sore throats. Stop­ping bleed­ing has been one of the most rec­og­nized ben­e­fits of the herb. In the 1950’s it was dis­cov­ered that yarrow had an alka­loid that chem­istry has shown to make blood clot faster. In the 1960’s research showed that yarrow had anti­spas­modic effects because of the flavonoids it con­tains. The herb also has sal­i­cylic acid (key ingre­di­ent in aspirin) that can reduce fevers and pain. With its blood clot­ting prop­er­ties, yarrow is good for heal­ing cuts and bruises.

The herb can cure lac­er­a­tions, abra­sions and punc­ture wounds. Hence this herb is good for treat­ing bleed­ing from the bow­els, uri­nary bleed­ing, uter­ine hem­or­rhage, men­stru­a­tion prob­lems, and bleed­ing ulcers. In fact, it is believed that com­presses of yarrow can treat bleed­ing hem­or­rhoids. Known as a uter­ine tonic, yarrow is said to lessen uter­ine spasms dur­ing peri­ods, can improve the tone of the uterus and can increase the blood flow for those with scanty bleed­ing dur­ing men­stru­a­tion. The sal­i­cylic acid in yarrow is good for reliev­ing pain related to gyne­co­logic prob­lems and diges­tive prob­lems. Yarrow can act as an anti­sep­tic to fight bac­te­r­ial infec­tions and health issues. The fatty acids and bit­ter prop­er­ties in the herb increase the flow of bile to the gall blad­der, which enhances diges­tion and pre­vents the for­ma­tion of gall­stone. Yarrow is also good for clear­ing off con­gested sinuses and coughs. An anti-allergen, this herb can pro­tect you from pollen aller­gies, dust and dan­der allergies.