How To Use Herbs
Where to Get Herbs
Whenever possible it is best if you grow your own herbs. However, if you are unable to grow your own herbs you can purchase them from an herb store, either online, by mail, or in your community. Pre-packaged herbs should be avoided if at all possible. During processing, packaging, shipment and storage pre-packaged herbs lose most of their medicinal value. This is especially true of herbal teas.
In general herbs are better when they are fresh. This is because an herb will begin to lose potency after it is harvested. An important thing to be aware of here is that breaking down the herbs by grinding or crushing them reduces the particle size. This exposes more of the surface area of the herb material to air and light which accelerates the loss in potency.
Most often the herbs were stored intact and only crushed when they were needed. This allowed the herbs to retain more of their healing properties for a longer amount of time. Better yet, the herbs were collected when they were needed for freshness. Even today many people keep an herb garden so they will have fresh herbs when they need them. Naturally, this last option is dependant upon the season and climate.
Herbal Use And Preparation
Traditionally, folk medicine practitioners didn’t have much in the way of tools to use for preparing their herbal remedies. They hung their herbs to air dry and then crushed them with a wooden spoon or a special hardwood stick in a small bowl, often made of stone, this was their mortar and pestle. Once the herbs were dried and crushed they were stored in glass bottles or jars.
Herbs were boiled in water and then strained, usually with a material such as cheesecloth. When you boil herbs you should avoid tap water, instead use bottled water that you know has been purified. It may sound odd for me to recommend something like “store bought” water for use in natural folk remedies, but believe me, there are a lot of impurities in tap water these days. So, in this case, the store bought water is actually more natural than the water from your sink.
Learning To Use Herbal Remedies
Depending upon what you already know about herbs and herbal remedies it will take some time for you to learn about this fascinating subject. Always research carefully before you decide to use any particular herbal remedy. While there are a great deal of useful herbs with proven healing properties there are many others which are ineffective or even dangerous. When in doubt you should always consult a doctor.
When you begin to practice the use of herbal medicine approach it gradually. Do not mix herbs or give yourself more than one remedy at a time until you know how you react to them. Keep in mind that herbs, in their correct dosages, are very gentle. Do not expect instant results. It takes time for herbs to work into your system, often two to three weeks.
Herbal folk remedies is an art of both nature and of love. Read and learn, get some good books and get yourself closer to a natural state of better health, but do it with wisdom and patience.
Many currently used drugs were derived from very old folk remedies. Modern science attempts to replicate the active constituents of the herbs to produce pills and other medicines. These modern drugs are often expensive and have bad side effects.
The aim and intent of this article is to provide a reader/researcher with helpful information about herbs and their use in folk remedies. It is not intended and should not be used as medical advice. You should not discontinue or replace any currently prescribed medication with an herbal remedy without proper medical advice.