2. Medicinal plants, herbs, spices and herbal remedies are known
to Ayurveda in India since long times. The value of medicinal
plants, herbs and spices as herbal remedies is being lost due to
lack of awareness, and deforestation. The result is many
valuable medicinal herbs are becoming rare and precious
information is lost. Less pollution we make, more ecological
balance we maintain, will add to happiness of humankind.
Preserve the knowledge of medicinal plants, herbs, spices and
herbal remedies, which humankind has received from the past
generations, for posterity.
History of herbal remedies is very old. Since old times before modern
medicine, people became ill and suffered from various ailments. In
absent of modern medicinal remedies people relied on herbal remedies
derived from herbs and spices. There are many medicinal herbs and
spices, which find place in day-to-day uses, many of these, are used as
herbal remedies. Many cooked foods contain spices.
3. Some minor ailments like common cold, cough, etc. may be cured
by herbal remedies with use of medicinal properties of spices.
Herbal remedies can be taken in many forms. Infusions are
steeping herbs or spices, with parts like leaves and flowers with
boiling water for some time. Filtered or unfiltered use this water
extracts of spices as herbal remedies. Decoction is boiling roots,
bark and hard parts of herbs and spices with water for along time.
Infusion and decoction both are known as herbal teas. Some times
essential oil of herbs and spices are also used as herbal remedies.
Action of herbal remedies may vary from human to human and
care should be observed in using it. Always inform your healthcare
professional while taking any of the herbal remedies or consuming
large quantity of medicinal herbs or spices as medicinal product.
4. What is Aloe Vera?
Aloe Vera is a species of Aloe, native to northern Africa. It is a stem less or
very short-stemmed succulent plant growing to 80-100 cm tall, spreading by
offsets and root sprouts. The leaves are lancelet, thick and fleshy, green to
grey-green, with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced on a spike up
to 90 cm tall, each flower pendulous, with a yellow tubular corolla 2 to 3 cm
long.
Aloe Vera has long been a popular houseplant. Often called the 'miracle
plant' or the 'natural healer', Aloe Vera is a plant of many surprises. It
flourishes in warm and dry climates, and to many people it looks like a
cactus with fleshy thorny leaves. In fact it is a member of the Lily family,
staying moist where other plants wither and die by closing its pores to
prevent moisture loss.
There are around 400 species of Aloe, but it is the Aloe Barbadensis Miller
(Aloe Vera or "true aloe") plant which has been of most use to mankind
because of the medicinal properties it displays.
5. The Aloe leaf structure is made up
of four layers:
Rind - the outer protective layer;
Sap - a layer of bitter fluid which helps protect the plant from animals;
Mucilage Gel - the inner part of the leaf that is filleted out to make Aloe
Vera gel.
Aloe Vera (inner gel) contains the 8 essential Amino Acids that the
human body needs but cannot manufacture.
6. Uses and Home Remedies using Aloe
Vera
Aloe gel has been used for topical treatment for minor wounds and
burns and skin irritations for centuries. Aloe Vera used to be known
as the "burn plant'. It is no longer necessary to keep an Aloe Vera
plant handy for when you catch your hand on the oven door, these
days Aloe Vera Gel comes in handy tubes.
One of the home remedies for asthma was to boil some Aloe Vera
leaves in a pan of water and breathe in the vapor.
Others have reported benefits of Aloe Vera in treating Eczema and
Psoriasis, and a product called Aloe Propolis Crème is favored by
many for these conditions.
For pharmaceutical use as a laxative, the aloe juice is taken from the
tubules just beneath the outer skin of the leaves. It's a bitter yellow
and dried to become aloe granules that are dark brown in color.
7. • It has been determined that it can also help with treating minor vaginal irritations.
• Aloe Vera is best used when used fresh from the plant. It doesn't store well but can be
bought as a preserved product. Aloe Vera can be used topically as well as taken
internally. It has been used for mouth sores, what we call stomach sores, or cold
sores.
• Aloe Vera has been especially helpful of patients with severe and various skin
diseases. It acts as a rejuvenating action. It acts as a moisturizer and hydrates the
skin. After being absorbed into the skin, it stimulates the fibroblasts cells and causes
them to regenerate themselves faster. It's the cells that that produce the collagen and
elastin so the skin will get smoother and look younger.
• Because Aloe Vera is natural, it works gently within the intestinal tract to help break
down food residues that have become impacted and help clean out the bowel. When
the bowel is cleaned out, it greatly reduces bloating, discomfort, and helps ease stress,
which only leads to more attacks of irritable bowel syndrome.
8. How to Grow Aloe Vera Plants at Home?
1. Established Aloe Vera plants are available at almost any garden supplies shop or plant nursery.
2. Aloe plants are not very frost tolerant. If they are grown outdoors in warmer climates they should be
planted in full sunlight, or partial shade. Apply a balanced liquid feed during the growing season.
3. For growing Aloe Vera indoors its best to place it near a window that gets a lot of sun. During summer
you can move the pot(s) outside.
4. Watering should be kept to a minimum during the winter months but during summer the plant will
require a lot of water.
5. If planting from scratch or re-potting your Aloe plant the potting soil should be moderately fertile and fast
draining with a couple of inches of gravel in the bottom of the pot.
9. Papaya, Paw Paw, Papaw, Tree Melon (botanical name Carica Papaya), it
has oblong shape, normally greenish yellow, yellow or orange color. It is a
large tree plant fruit usually reaching 2.5kg. It has bitter sweet taste and
comes from tropical places with higher humidity, native to Mexico, countries
of Central America, Thailand, Africa and Asia and growing well in Australia.
10. Papaya Health Benefits
Paw Paw how we call it here in Australia is these days plentiful all year round in most of the
countries. The parts that are used medicinally are fruit, seeds, stems and leaves. I did look
around and found out you can buy paw paw in all forms, in a form of fermented papaya,
herbal teas even tablets and of course plenty of the fresh fruit, which can be eaten as it is or
in a form of juice. So you ask what are these awesome healing properties of paw paw? Well
where do I start? Papaya fruit is and excellent source of dietary fiber, folate, vitamin A, C and
E. It also contains small amount of calcium, iron, riboflavin, thiamine and niacin. It is also very
rich in antioxidant nutrients flavonoids and carotenes, very high in vitamin C plus A, and low
in calories and sodium.
Pawpaw tree. Paw paw is rich in enzymes called papain and chymopapain which
helps with the digestion, particularly it breaks down the proteins from the food we
eat into amino acids. The latest research shows that amino acids are responsible
for all what is happening in our organism, basically for what is happening in
every chemical reaction as well as our mental and physical health. As we age we
produce less of the digestive enzymes in our stomach and pancreas, which leads to
ineffective digestion of proteins. Due to this we end up with excess amount of
undigested protein, which leads to overgrowth of the bad bacteria in our
gastrointestinal system and not enough of amino acids to perform all important
chemical reactions. We can say that good quality protein is absolutely essential for
our healthy being. This is where the papaya enzymes can be very beneficial.
11. The papain enzymes are produced in the skinny peel of paw paw. The
combination of these enzymes repels insect during the ripening, without this
protection paw paw fruit would not survive. Eating paw paw after a meal makes
for better digestion, prevents bloating and chronic indigestion. It can also lower
the inflammation in the body, alleviates the pain and edema caused by sport
injuries. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties papaya can relieve the
severity of Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Because of its high antioxidant
content, papaya can prevent cholesterol oxidation and can be use in a
preventative treatments against atherosclerosis, strokes, heart attacks and diabetic
heart disease.
In a everyday health papaya works magic on strengthening the immune system
preventing the recurrent colds and flu. After treatment with antibiotics eating paw
paw or drinking its juice replenishes the good intestinal bacteria, which was
destroyed by the antibiotic treatment. The latest good news from eating paw paw
comes down once again to papain the enzyme which I talked about, it was found
to destroy intestinal parasites. Papain is protolithic enzyme, which means that it
digests inert (non-living) proteins. Intestinal parasites are largely protein, the
papain attacks it and causes parasite to die. Also, home applications of leaf and
bark papaya extract is used to deal with mouth gums and toothaches which is
being effectively practiced in many cultures around the world.
12. • Increases quality of proteins in whole organism.
• Revitalize the human body and maintain energy and vitality.
• Encourages the renewal of muscle tissue.
• Supports cardiovascular system.
• Boosts up the immune system.
• Helps with the digestive system, by breaking down the proteins and supporting
production of digestive enzymes.
• Papaya can be use also externally as a treatment for skin wounds that don’t
heal quickly, for this you can use papaya peel or ointments made out of
papaya.
• Prevents the cataract formation.
• Due to high vitamin A, it lowers the risk of emphysema in smokers and passive
smokers.
• Alleviates inflammation.
• Helps with the nausea and constipation.
• Can benefit people suffering colon cancer and other forms of cancers and
aliments of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems.
