Holistic Herbal Healing Medicine Mastery Series – Book 1

 

Introduction

 

For thousands of years herbs have been used to treat ailments and medical conditions. Our ancestors had a very good understanding of what herbs had what medicinal qualities and the best way to use those herbs to be able to get the medical benefits from them.

When Aloe was used to soothe burns they may not have known that the active ingredient that helped burns heal faster was allatoin, but they did know that when they cut open an aloe leaf and placed the gel on a burn or wound it healed faster and with less chance of infection. When our ancestors used licorice to treat the discomforts of arthritis, they did not know it contained sappiness that are similar to steroid hormones, but they did know that using it brought pain relief.

Since those early days, a great deal of research has taken place to help identify the healing properties of specific plants, and pharmaceuticals have become very good at cloning the active ingredients to create synthetic substances that have similar healing products to the herb itself. Hundreds of non-prescription drugs like laxatives or cough suppressants contain plant substances. About 25% of all prescription drugs contain active synthetic ingredients that’s origins are in herbs.

But even still, we often must rely on the knowledge of past generations to discover what herbs will help with what type of healing and what herbs are toxic or dangerous. There is no question that healing with herbs is alive and doing well – in fact, its popularity continues to grow.

The living cells of plants are like chemical factories. They take in water, sunlight, carbon dioxide, and produce nutrients. Many herbs have active pharmacological compounds that can be used to prevent disease, and treat injuries, disease and illness. The type of plant will determine what part of the plant will need to be used to access the active ingredients. Some herbs relieve pain, while others ease muscle spasms. Some herbs stimulate while others will relax. Some will detox your body while others will build your immune system. Some herbs can address a number of problems or areas of the body, while others focus on a specific issue.

It is important that you know what an herb does and how it works before you use it, but before you can do that, you need to understand how to grow herbs, choose herbs and use herbs. That’s the basis of this book to give you knowledge to use begin to understand herbs and their medicinal value and how you can use them. This book will focus on the basics, but still provide you with some basic recipes to make your own herbal concoctions. This book is designed to leave you feeling confident you have enough knowledge to make some solid decisions relating to using herbs.

For the most part, there are only a handful of medical problems that occur as a result of using herbs, but there is always a few. Allergic reactions are the most common problem. About 1% of plants are poisonous, so if you plan to grow or gather your own herbs, you need to be sure you are making a safe choice.

This book gives you cautions, but by no means is it designed to be your guide for avoiding plants that are poisonous. When using herbs you should never take more than the recommended dosage. Remember herbs are also medicine. More is not always better. We provide guidelines, but you should always see a Naturopath or an Herbal Practitioner if you are concerned are in need of doses.

The biggest problem you face is being able to obtain useful information for effective herbal cure. Physicians and Pharmacists are not trained in the use of herbs, labels are often uninformative and the Village Shaman is gone with our ancestors. This book is designed to help the average begin to use herbs in their life for their medicinal value. It is written for novices, but experienced users can also benefit from it.

Many of us find natural remedies safer and better for our body than chemical based drugs. While there are times when the right or only solution is pharmaceuticals, for many of our daily ailments herbs can plan an integral role in healing and helping us lead a healthier life.