It’s Entirely Natural - Articles

Since time immemorial, people have been using lavender. Lavender is actually a shrub and its branches grow up to sixty centimeters. Widely alluded to as a natural cure for various ailments and used in herbal medicines, the lavender’s name is derived from the Latin word “lavarre” which means, “to wash”. It is also indigenous to the mountain zones of the Mediterranean and thrives in stony environment where there is lots of sunlight. In Europe, this herb may be found aplenty in the wild throughout the southern part. The lavender’s narrow, grayish green leaves are covered in a silver blanket-like substance and its leaves are usually oblong and attach directly at the base in spiral-like patterns.

The lavender has a reputation of being a useful wound herb and as an effective expectorant. In European folk medicine, it is known for the former. The most common types of healing lavenders include L. angustifolia and L. spica. While the most commonly used variety is the French lavender, L. stoechas. Even the lavender’s flowers have also been found useful and can be used to create an array of herbal medicines.

Known to contain tannins, volative oils, coumarins, triterpernoids and flavonoids, the lavender’s flowers are usually described as cooling and mainly dry and are well regarded for its ability to promote good bile flow. Moreover, they are also well known as a relaxant, antispasmodic, circulatory stimulant, and antiseptic, a tonic for the nervous system, an analgesic and a carminative. Because it supposedly causes calmness, soothe and anti-convulsive effects, the lavender herb may also be used to treat insomnia, abdominal complaints, rheumatism, anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, and mood disturbances.

Lavender is also popular for its essential oils. These oils are especially popular aromatic essential oils and a lot of aromatherapy aficionados use these. In fact, the mere act of inhaling lavender induces healing! Recommended by herbalists, lavender essential oil can be used to treat a large array of illnesses and ailments and thus is highly suggested as an integral addition to any household first aid kit.

Lavender essential oil can be used to make healing creams. Simply put a few drops of the said oil to a cream that is chamomile-based. The produced cream can be used to treat skin problems like eczema. A few drops of the lavender essential oil mixed with a few drops of water, when mixed, can be used to remedy scalds, burns, and sunburn. This is a handy must-have for beach lovers or people who want to bask in the sun.

The lavender essential oil can also be used as chest rub. All you have to do is add a millimeter of the said oil to 5 drops of chamomile oil, mix them, and rub onto the chest. Lavender essential oil is known to cure bronchitis spasms and even symptoms of asthma.

The lavender essential oil can also be used for massages. The oil can help ease the pain from the muscles and when rubbing it on to the temples and nape of the neck, tension from headache and migraine can also be avoided.

Yet another use for the lavender is hair rinse. When you dilute 5-10 drops of lavender essential oil in water, one can treat hair lice and nit problems.

Despite these favorable uses for lavender, however, people especially pregnant women should still be cautious as high doses of lavender in any form have been shown to be a strong uterine stimulant.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Herbal Remedies.

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Tags: anxiety, Depression, flavonoids, headache, Herbal Remedies, lavender

The yarrow plant is one of the most highly valued plants for treating the common cold and influenza.

The plant’s Latin name is Achillea millefolium, which is derived from the famous Greek hero Achilles. It is believed that the plant was used during the Trojan wars, where it was used to treat war wounds. Yarrow also has a curious folk name: “nosebleed.” This folk nickname is a testimony to its traditional use as a first aid herb. Yarrow has been used in the past as an emergency styptic to stop bleeding. These days, yarrow is mostly used to treat colds and flu’s, but it is also used to treat problems with the circulatory, digestive and urinary system. You can usually find yarrow growing in meadows.

Most traditional herbalists describe yarrow as alternately dry, sweet, astringent and sometimes slightly bitter in taste. The constituents of the yarrow plant included salicylic acid, volatile oils (including proazulenes), isovalerianic acid, flavonoids, sterols, tannins, bitters, asparagin, and coumarins. The action of the plant is described astringent, relaxing, a promoter of sweat, a blood vessel relaxant, febrifuge, and restorative for the menstrual system. The essential oil of yarrow is described as anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and antiallergenic.

Several parts of the yarrow plant are used to create herbal remedies. These include the plant’s stems parts, its leaves, its essential oil, and its flowers. The leaves of the plant are believed to contain properties that encourage clotting. The leaves are also used fresh as an herbal remedy to combat nose bleeding. However, if yarrow leaves are used to treat nosebleeds, they must not be inserted into the nostril directly as this can make a nosebleed worse. The leaves of the yarrow plant can be harvested throughout the growing season.

The essential oils of the yarrow plant are also used to make herbal remedies. The oils are extracted from the yarrow plant by steam distillation of the flowers. The essential oils of the plant are generally used as an anti-inflammatory or in chest rubs that can be applied when a person is suffering from a cold or influenza. Extracts from the yarrow plant have been used to make an effective mosquito repellent.

The flowers of the yarrow plant can also be used to make herbal remedies. For instance, the flowers have been shown to be rich in chemicals that can be converted by steam into antiallergenic compounds. These chemicals can be used to treat various allergic problems, including mucus problems and hay fever. Traditional herbalists harvest the flower during the summer and fall.

There are many applications for the yarrow plant. Its flowers can be used to infuse and drink as a hot tea that helps treat common ailments of the upper respiratory system, including excessive phlegm. The aerial parts of the yarrow plant can also be used to reduce fevers when it is prepared in a hot tea. You can also use yarrow in a chest rub to treat chest colds, influenza, or to relieve severe congestion.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Herbal Remedies.

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Tags: cold, flavonoids, Herbal Remedies, influenza, yarrow plant

St. John’s Wort has slowly become one of the most popular herbs for treating mild symptoms of anxiety and depression. It is said that the St. John’s Wort plant got its name from the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. It is said that the knights would use the plant to the terrible wounds that they came across on the Crusade battlefields. St. John’s Wort also had a supernatural aura attached to it. In those medieval days, many believed that St. John’s Wort had the ability to dispel evil spirits.

People who suffered from mental disorders were often given the plant in order to calm the so-called evil spirits. St. John’s Wort was often also associated with choleric disturbances and humors. Some believe this is because of the plant’s yellow color. The yellow color of St. John’s Wort has caused some people to associate the plant with hysteria and jaundice.

The taste and character of St. John’s Wort has alternately been described as cool, drying, bitter yet with a hint of sweetness. The main constituents of St. John’s Wort are glycosides, volatile oils, flavonoids, tannins and resins. The primary actions of St. John’s Wort can be described as analgesic, astringent, antidepressant sedative, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and restorative toward the nervous system. There are many ways to prepare St. John’s Wort to take full advantage of its properties. One of the most popular ways to take St. John’s Wort is through a capsule or tablet. These have become so popular that they are now available at most local drugstores and pharmacies.

However, taking St. John Wort as a fresh herbal remedy is always recommended as it ensures that you are receiving the best quality and potency available. Here are a few ways you can take St. John’s Wort naturally. You can take St. John’s Wort as an infusion to treat symptoms of depression, anxiety or emotional upsets. St. John’s Wort is also recommended to treat the symptoms associated with menopause or premenstrual syndrome. Some herbalists also use St. John’s Wort to treat colds and infections. St. John’s Wort is often combined with elderflower to treat colds.

St. John’s Wort is often also prepared as a wash or cream. As a wash, use an infusion of St. John’s Wort to bathe wounds, bruises, skin sores, or other skin problems. As a cream, you can use St. John’s Wort to treat areas of localized nerve pains. In the past, St. John’s Wort has been used to treat the painful symptoms of conditions such as sprains, sciatica, cramps, and it has even been used to treat help relieve breast engorgement during lactation. Cream made with St. John’s Wort has also been used as an antiseptic and styptic. As an antiseptic, St. John’s Wort cream can be used on sores, skin ulcers and scrapes.

St. John’s Wort can also be prepared as an infused oil or tincture. As infused oil, you can use St. John’s Wort on burns and muscle joint or inflammations. As a tincture, take several drops a day for a minimum of two months to treat nervous tension or depression.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Herbal Remedies.

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Tags: anxiety, Depression, flavonoids, Herbal Remedies, st john wort

Chocolate is not just a tasty treat. Chocolate is actually healthy for you in small quantities. Researchers have spent many years studying this delicious food (what a fun thing to research!) These researchers have found that dark chocolate, which is bitterer in taste than milk chocolate or other forms of chocolate, has a number of benefits to health. Dark chocolate, red wine and green tea have all been shown to share many of the same health benefits.

Antioxidants are to be found in dark chocolate, and one of the benefits of antioxidants is their cancer-fighting properties. Other health benefits that have been connected to dark chocolate include

• a tremendous improvement in the work of the arteries and blood vessels; the lowering if high blood pressure,
  a lower incidence of deaths related to heart disease;
• improved efficiency of the endothelial cells;
• better digestive process and increased stimulation of the kidneys.

Flavonoids found in chocolate have been found to help people who suffer from anemia, a poor appetite and kidney stones. Dark chocolate is instrumental in fighting bad cholesterol in the blood vessels and it lowers blood pressure and greatly improves the circulation of blood from the heart to the brain and then back again.

Dark chocolate is believed to set off a biochemical effect in the brain that helps to clot the blood much in the same way as aspirin does if a person suspects that they are suffering a heart attack.

Dark chocolate contains the minerals copper and magnesium. These minerals are necessary for a normal functioning heartbeat and for stable blood pressure.

There are potential downsides: be aware that chocolate is fattening, and it contains caffeine so never overdo a good thing!

Not just any dark chocolate will do. In order to get the dark chocolate, experts say that the very best source is the dried extract of roasted cocoa beans. If you cannot consume chocolate this way or if it is not for you then the second best option is to eat a small chocolate bar that is approximately 1.6 ounces. This is just enough chocolate to keep the heart as healthy as possible and to keep the blood vessels opened wide, allowing blood to freely circulate.

There are many dark chocolate bars on the market but one of the best in terms of high cocoa content is the Dove Dark chocolate bar. Even eating a few tiny pieces, such as three or four squares broken off from a chocolate bar can be of tremendous benefit to the heart.

Keep in mind that eating any type of chocolate is not enough to keep the heart “heart healthy.” What you need to eat specifically is dark chocolate as dark chocolate has the most cocoa in it and the most flavonoids.

Before it was discovered that cocoa contained healthy substances called flavonoids, chocolate manufacturers used to destroy this entire important ingredient in the processing. Now that the health benefits are known, they work hard to maintain an estimated 95 percent of it after processing.

Why just dark chocolate? Because milk chocolate, white chocolate, and other forms of chocolate do not have the same level of flavonoids. If you find dark chocolate too bitter then consider buying a dark chocolate bar that contains almonds or raisins or both to add a little more variety to the flavor.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Food Cures.

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Tags: almonds, antioxidants, caffeine, cholesterol, cocoa beans, dark chocolate, flavonoids, Food Cures, green tea, magnesium, red wine

Plants are just as prone to viruses, bacteria and diseases as people are. We have an immune system to fight diseases while plants have developed their own form of immune system which consists of a protective substances called phytochemicals.

Studies are showing that the same phytochemicals that protect plants can also help to protect people from a variety of cancers as well as other diseases. Some of the foods containing this chemical include whole grains, dark and leafy green colored fruits and vegetables, legumes, orange, yellow, and red colored fruits and vegetables, cruciferous vegetables and anti-bacterial vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables that are dark in color something known as flavonoids. Flavonoids are found in a variety of different fruits and vegetables which include blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, bilberries, cranberries, red grapes, red grapes, apples, onions, broccoli, peppers and eggplant. There are estimated to be well over 4,000 flavonoids in existence and they are then broken down into a variety of subcategories which include anthocyanidins, polyphenolic acid, proanthocyanidins, ellagic acid, tannins and quercetic.

Research studies into dark colored fruits and vegetables have shown that they are all very powerful when it comes to anti-oxidant properties and some are believed to have 50 times the anti-oxidant capability of both vitamin E as well as vitamin C. Other studies have shown that flavonoids found in both fruits and vegetables are helpful in decreasing the risk of a variety of cancers as well as diabetes, arthritis and atherosclerosis. Flavonoids are beneficial when it comes to protecting the collagen protein found in blood vessels and joints from the damage that can be done by free radicals in the body. By protecting the collagen protein this is a way to reduce the incidence of hemorrhoids, edema and varicose veins.

A study done at Cornell University yielded the result that the flavonoids found in apples known as quercetin, was effective at protecting the brain against the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease which are both classified as being neuro-generative diseases. This study was a follow-up to another study that was conducted at the same university by Professor Lee. Professor Lee discovered that the phytochemical found in both a variety of berries as well as apples had a greater “antioxidant protective effect” than did vitamin C when it came to fighting liver cancer cells and colon cancer cells. While blueberries and strawberries both have excellent anti-oxidant properties, blueberries have an estimated 40 percent more power to fight off diseases and t o heal. In a study done by neuroscientist James Joseph from Tufts University it was found that blueberries are excellent when it comes to fighting cancer and a multitude of diseases but they are also helpful in preventing or slowing short-term memory loss which can affect individuals as they age.

So, the next time you make a trip to the grocery store, be sure to stock up on healing fruits and vegetables. Fresh produce is the best to buy, with frozen being the second best. Canned fruits and vegetables tend to have a great deal of salt in them so opt for fresh if possible. For a change of pace whip up a salad with a variety of vegetables (and some fruits thrown in to add some tang) or whip up a delectable fruit salad for yourself and your family to enjoy.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Food Cures.

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Tags: antioxidants, blueberries, broccoli, cranberries, flavonoids, Food Cures, free radicals, fruits and vegetables, grapes, immune system, strawberries, vitamin C, vitamin E, whole grains