Are Medicinal Herbs Safe to Use?

An herb is a plant or plant part used for its scent, flavor, or therapeutic properties. Herbal medicines have existed for thousands of years and have its origins in ancient times. Medicinal herbs involve the use of a wide variety of plants to improve one’s health as well as to treat diseases. In today’s market, Medicinal herbs are sold in numerous forms such as tablets, capsules, powders, teas, extracts, and fresh or dried plants. But the question is, are medicinal herbs safe to use?

Many pharmaceutical medicines that are on the market today are based on lab created versions of herbal compounds that are naturally occurring in plants. Because of this, many herbal medicines should be taken with the same caution as you would with a pharmaceutical drug, simply because of the powerful ingredients that many herbal medicines contain.

Some herbs have potent ingredients and should be taken with the same level of caution as pharmaceutical medications. In fact, many pharmaceutical medications are based on man-made versions of naturally occurring compounds found in plants. For instance, the heart drug digitalis was derived from the foxglove plant. There are many examples of popular drugs that were made from herbs, one of which is aspirin. Salicylic acid is a main ingredient found in aspirin and naturally occurs in the meadowsweet plant. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of taking aspirin is that it may cause the lining of the stomach to bleed. However, the herb meadowsweet contains other compounds that help to counteract the irritation that is caused by the salicylic acid. This example is highlighted because although many herbs contain powerful ingredients, the effect of the entire plant is greater than that of its parts.

Overall, medicinal herbs contribute to far fewer side effects than prescribed medicines. Pharmaceutical drugs are typically very concentrated and have little taste. These two factors make it much easier to take an overdose of a pharmaceutical drug than an herbal medicine. In herbal medicines, the active ingredients are far less concentrated. Although most herbal medicines taste bitter, this characteristic helps to discourage overdoses. Most people prefer sweet over bitter.

There are a few safety tips that one must take into consideration when using herbal medicines:

 ⦁ Never serve medicinal herbs to children under the age of 2

 ⦁ People over 65 need to start with low strength preparations

 ⦁ Pregnant and nursing women should not use medicinal amounts of healing herbs

 ⦁ People with chronic disease should be cautious when using medicinal herbs

 ⦁ Pay attention to any side effects

There are many scientific journal articles that mostly focus on the dangers of herbal medicines, however, like pharmaceutical medicines, the correct dosage and schedule greatly impact results.  If you take too little of a medicinal herb, then may not see results. If you take the correct amount, then you will see the benefits, but if you take too much for a long period of time, negative results may occur.

With the current trends in technology and medicine, many people across the globe depend on pharmaceutical substances to treat different diseases and injuries. However, numerous amounts of these drugs have negative impacts and side effects to health.  Herbal medicine has long been used to treat innumerable ailments and has proven to be effective for thousands of years. The knowledge of herbal medicine has passed through generation to generation and more people are turning to them because of the following reasons:

Unlike pharmacological drugs that contain a vast number of chemicals, herbs are one hundred percent chemical free. The chemicals used in pharmacological drugs have several effects that could be detrimental to your health especially if a particular drug is used for long durations of time. If using herbs, there is no need to worry about any effects from chemicals. The natural components in the herbs work against diseases without any adverse reactions and effects.

Genetic modification is detrimental to your health. In pharmacological therapy, a lot of genetic modifications occur, and explains why many are choosing to embrace herbal medicine. In herbal medicine no modifications occur. After the medicinal components if then plants are derived, they are used in the most natural form possible.

Herbal medicine is more effective in managing chronic conditions. With herbal remedies, there is no fear of a buildup of chemicals in the body since they are free from chemicals and preservatives.

Most of the plants used to create herbal medicines are readily available. Additionally, you can choose to grow some of the plants used as medicine to make them easily available. Growing your own plants are also cost effective.

Since herbs are readily available, the cost of treating yourself with the herbal remedies can be less expensive. Most times you do not have to break the bank to buy herbal medicine. Most companies who deal in herbal medicine offer them at very cost-effective rates giving you great value for your money.

In using herbs as medicine, just one herb could be rich in several substances that treat a number of conditions in the body. This is important in helping people manage a number of health issues by taking tea or tincture from a plant. This helps in improving the quality of life and offers protection to a number of diseases.

Unlike pharmaceuticals, the preparation of herbal medicine is easier. The processes are simple and natural leaving the medicinal compounds whole.  The use of medicinal herbs is currently on an upward trend with more people turning to herbal medicine as remedies to treat diseases. If looking for the best herbs, search no further because we have what you have been looking for. Our herbs are naturally grown and absolutely no chemicals are used in the preparation.