Origins Of Western Herbal Medicine

Ayurveda

Ayur means life and veda means knowledge.  Ayurvedic philosophy is based on the belief that one's health is dependent on one's ability to live in harmony with yourself.

Ether  è  all around = sound

Fire  è  hot, and gives color = sight

Air  è  is light = touch

Water  è  is lowing and wet = taste.

Earth  è  is heavy and moist = smell.

Ayurveda also stresses the need to strengthen the chakras, also known as the energy centers of the body. Certain herbs can stimulate the energy points either by taking the herbs internally or by applying it externally.

Brow Chakra  è  Pituitary Gland è Herbs that help are Elecampane and Sandalwood..

Crown Chakra  è  Pineal Gland è Herbs that help are Gotu, Kola, and Nutmeg.

Heart Chakra  è  Thymus Gland/Heart è Herbs that help are Rose and Saffron.

Root Chakra   è  Uterus and Prostate è Herbs that help are Ashwgandha and Harilaki.

Solar Plexus Chakra  è  Liver and Adrenal Gland è Herbs that help are Lemon Balm and Golden Seal.

Spleen Chakra  è  Testes and Ovaries è Herbs that help are Coriander and Fennel.

Throat Chakra  è  Thyroid Gland è Herbs that help are Cloves and Vervain.

Ajurvedic medicine is older than any other healing art in existence today, even Chinese medicine.  At the time of King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba traded herbs and spices of India to the Israelites.  Knowledge of the plants and the Ayurveda system were passed on to the Greeks and Romans.  By the first century AD when Charaka was writing Ayurveda’s first written records, Pliny was already describing the plants of India to the Roman Empires.

Thanks to Ayurvedic tradition many of the herbal combinations from centuries gone by are still available to modern herbalists’ and practitioners.  Ayurvedic formulas are a combinations of many different herbs that work synergistically.  Single herbs are rarely used.  A few of the more popular herbs in Ayurvedic medicine are Basil, Ginger, Licorice, and Sarsaparilla..

Chinese Medicine

Chinese Medicine is an ancient healing art dating back to at least 2500 BC.  In Chinese Medicine illness is seen as a sign of disharmony within the whole person.  The task of the Chinese Practicioner is to restore harmony and balance, thus allowing natural healing mechanisms to work more efficiently.  Chinese Medicine is based on the theory of elements used to explain every interaction between people and their environment.  These elements are “Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.”  Each element is tied to a  number of associations from emotions and parts of the body to human sounds, taste, seasons, and colors.  For Chinese Practitioners to diagnose and treat an illness or disease, they look for the cause of in one of the related element.  For example, weakness in the liver (wood) may be due to deficiency in the kidneys (water).

Yin Yang Qi

An integral part of the basic model of five elements is the Chinese Theory of opposites - Yin and Yang.  It is believed that everything in the cosmos contains and is balanced by its own polar opposite.  Yin is female and is dark and cold; whereas Yang is male and is light and hot.   To maintain optimal health Yin and Yang need to be in balance. Many illnesses and diseases can be attributed to a deficiency or excess of either Yin or Yang.   Yin and Yang are seen as flowing in a network of meridians through the body that can be stimulated using acupuncture. 

Practice of Chinese Medicine

Chinese medicine also identifies five tastes that can be characterized as hot or cold.  Pungent and sweet tastes are both heating, while sour, bitter and salty tastes are cooling.  Some herbs combine several flavors.  These characteristics influence which part of the body the herb effects.  Hot things rise or float so pungent and sweet herbs tend to effect the upper and exterior parts of the body.  Cold things sink so they are more effective for the lower half or interior of the body.  The Chinese usually prescribe herbs in standard formulas, which are sometimes adjusted depending on the specific condition.

Examples of Five Tastes

Bitter   è Hops, Lettuce, Radish Leaf.

Pungent  è  Green Onions, Chive, Cloves, Parsley.

Salty  è  Salt, Kelp, Seaweed.

Sweet  è  Sugar, Cherry, Chestnut, Banana.

Sour  è  Lemon, Pear, Plum, Mango.

Actions

Bitter  è Reduces body heat, dries body fluids, induces diarrhea.

Pungent  è Promotes energy, circulation and induces perspiration.

Salty è Useful in treating disorders of the lymph nodes and other symptoms involving the hardening of muscles or glands.

Sour è Useful in stopping diarrhea and excessive perspiration.

Sweet è Slows down acute symptoms, neutralizes toxic effects of other foods.

The Five Energies of Herbs

Energies of herbs refers to their ability to generate specific sensations, either hot or cold, within the body.  The five energies are cold, hot, warm, cool, and neutral.  These do not refer to the present state of the herb but it's effective on the body.  For example, hot tea shortly after entering the body has a cooling effect.  Different energies act upon the human body in different ways, having an important effect on good health.  It is interesting that the Chinese not only classify their foods as hot or cold, but also the human body is classified as hot or cold which also plays an important role in choices.  A hot physical constitution should take more cold  herbs to obtain balance, whereas a cold physical constitution should take more hot herbs to obtain balance.

Cold  è  Apple, Button Mushrooms, Egg Whites, Mandarin Orange, Mango, Pear, Peppermint, Radish, Strawberry.

Cool  è  Bannana, Bamboo shoots, Clam, Crab, Lettuce, Seaweed, Sugar Can, Watermelon

Neutral  è Apricot, Black Sesame Seed, Cabbage, Carrot, Celery.

Warm  è  Brown Sugar, Caraway, Dills, Green Onion, Ham, Raspberry, Shrimp, Spearmint, Sunflower Seed, Sweet Basil.

Hot  è  Black Pepper, Cayenne, Cinnamon Bark, Green Pepper.

Greek Herbalism

Aesculapius, the Greek God of medicine represents the mystic side of healing found in medical traditions all over the world.  His staff with the snake head coiled around it is still the symbol used in modern medicine and pharmacology.  The worship of Aesculapius shows medicine is more than just a science.

Hippocrates (460 - 377 BC) is the founder of medicine.  Doctors today still take the Hippocrates oath.  Hippocrates had a detailed information of 236 effective herbs, including the precise growing requirements and uses.

Today, Hippocrates is refered to as the father of medicine.  However, Galen, a 2nd century physician, was the first to classify herbs by their essential qualities as hot, cold, dry or damp.  In actual fact, by the time of Hippocrates, European herbal tradition had already been absorbed from other cultures.  Hippocrates’ contribution was to categorize all foods and herbs by their qualities - hot, cold, dry, or damp.  He believed keeping healthy meant maintaining a balance.  Early Greeks saw the world composed of four elements - Earth, Air, Fire, Water - which are related to the seasons and the four fundamental qualities and humors.

COLD

Season: Winter                                                              Season: Fall

Fluid: Phlegm                                                                Fluid: Black Bile

Temperament: Phlegmatic                                             Temperament: Melancholic

Dominated by cold and damp.  Typical                            The melancholic nature is cold and

illnesses include cold and chest                                     dry so typical illnesses are constipa-

problems.  Use warm dry herbs such                              tion and depression.  Use hot herbs such as

Thyme to restore balance.                                              Senna to purge the system.

DAMP                                                                                 DRY

Season: Spring                                                              Season:  Fall

Fluid:  Blood                                                                  Fluid:  Yellow Bile

Temperament: Sanguine                                                Temperament: Choleric

The Sanguine person is good humored                           The Choleric temperament is hot,

and most likely an over indulger.                                    dry, and associated with a bad temper.

Gout or diarrhea could be a problem.                              Illness is usually related to the liver.  Use cooling

Use cool dry herbs such as Burdock                              herbs such as Rhubarb to clear yellow bile.

to cleanse the system.                                     

                                                                         HOT

It was believed in order to achieve good health these systems must be kept in balance and that when infact they are in balance the body is capable of curing itself.

Roman Herbalism

Most Roman herbology is based on Greek Herbology, which arrived in Rome around 100 BC.

Around 70 AD Dioscorides, physician to Anthony and Cleopatra, wrote his five volume treatise “De Materia Medica.”  Dioscorides’ work influenced medicine for over 150 years, with all of European Herbology traceable back to Dioscorides.  His writings describe over 600 medicinal plants that are all grouped as aromatic or pungent.  For all 600 herbs, he gave instructions on how to gather, when to collect, and how to prepare them.  More than 90 of these herbs are still used.

Over time Rome theories towards medicine grew more mechanical, becoming a very lucrative business with complex diagnosis and expensive treatments.

Galen (131 - 199 AD) opposed these practices, so he spent a great deal of time reworking many of Hippocrates theories, formalizing the principle of humor.  His writings became the physician's standard.   His theories were practiced for more than a century by Roman, Arabian, and European physicians.  In fact, they survive today in Galenic Pharmacy and East Indian Unani.

Galen wrote extensively about the relationship between the four elements - Earth, Air, Fire, Water - and the four humors - phlegm, blood, black bile, yellow bile.  These systems had been touched on by Hippocrates but Galen made them more extensive and accessible.

Islamic Herbalism

When Rome fell in the 5th Century, Arabian countries absorbed the massive body of Roman knowledge.  Galenic medicine was enthusiastically adopted and merged with Folk Medicine.  The most famous Arab physician was Sina,  from 980 - 1037 AD.

North American Herbalism

The first European settlers who arrived in North America brought with them the familiar healing plants from home.  They also incorporated some Native American healing traditions into their healing practices.

Native American Herbalism was Shamanistic and centered around the Medicine Person or Shaman.  It was believed that it was possible to strengthen the body’s “Vital Force” by keeping both tissues and nervous states in balance.  Suitable herbs, classified as either stimulating or sedating, relaxing or astringent, were used to achieve this balance.

The Eclectic movement followed which combined herbal remedies with orthodox medicine.  In 1864 the various groups merged to form the National Association of Medical Herbalist’s.  Today it continues to thrive as the oldest formalized body of specialists herbal practitioners in Europe.

Prior to World War II herbal medicines were listed right next to chemical drugs in the US Pharmacopoeia, which is the official listing of accepted medicines.  Even today, as many as 50% of all drugs prescribed are either derived from a plant source or contain chemical imitations of a plant compound.   Here are just a few. 

             Aspirin  è  Chemical imitation of Salicin from the bark of the white willow tree.

             Digitalis  è  A potent cardio tonic is derived from the foxglove plant.

             Ephedrine  è  Found in many over the counter cold remedies - derived from the Ephedra plant which has been used to treat colds in China for over 5000 years.

             Penicillin   è  Is actually a mold - an organism produced by a fungus, a primitive plant.

             Quinine  è  A famous malaria treatment is made from the bark of the cinchona tree.

             Reserpine  è - A blood pressure medicine - an ancient Indian remedy derived from an Asian shrub

             Vincritisine  è  Two of the most successful cancer treatment, especially in childhood leukemia - derived from the Rosy Periwinkle tree.

The main reason in the decline of herbal medicine was not based on effectiveness.  It was simply a matter of economics.  You cannot patent a plant, therefore herbs are not profitable.  When a pharmaceutical company creates a new drug they are given a 17 year exclusive right to market that drug.  An herb does not receive any market protection so there is no incentive to spend time and money researching the medicinal effects of herbs. 

In England, Germany, France, China, and Japan, herbs are recognized as valid medicinal remedies and often incorporated into conventional medicine.  This trend is also beginning to grow in the United States and Canada.

Herbalists seek to aid people in building a healthy body and lifestyle.  Herbs are a part of this goal and considered food rather than medicine because they are completely balancing, natural, and pure just as like mother earth.  Unlike chemical drugs with never ending side effects, herbs cleanse the body providing it with nutrients to allow it to begin to heal itself.  The most important thing to remember is to be patient.  Herbs are not wonder drugs with instant fixes.  Their effectiveness is based on a gradual action of restoring the body to its natural balance. 

Today we are seeing a renewed interest in herbal medicine from all walks of life.  People are beginning to realize that although chemical based drugs have cured many and saved many lives, they have a wide range of side effects that are sometimes worse than the disease or illness itself.  The side effects from herbal remedies are few and those that do occur are usually minor.  Many people are also recognizing the limitations to drug treatments that often mask problems and do not actually assist in curing the actual problem.  In addition to this there is a renewed interest in preventative medicine a place where herbal remedies play a very important role.  Natural remedies are growing in popularity and acceptance, making a full coming back from days gone bye.

Herbal Medicine can help all of us whether it is for a specific ailment or a tonic that promotes overall health and well being. We live in a world were we are bombarded with pollutants of all sorts. Our bodies can only do so much before they become run down and cannot function properly. Think of your body like your car. If you do not keep it tuned up it does not perform optimally. Your body needs your help in staying tuned and running properly. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you never had to worry about another cold or how about constantly feeling tired. These dreams are within your reach. “Healing Herb’s for the Mind Body and Soul” will become the number one reference book in your home.   

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