Astonishing Facts about Herbal Medication

What Is Herbal Medicine?

The use of herbs and medicinal plants found in nature to treat or prevent ailments and diseases is called herbal medication. This usage of herbs springs from time immemorial, dating back to hundreds of years ago.

Every society makes use of herbal medicines for the cure of diverse ailment. It seems to have been gaining more attention in recent times because of the high cost involved in producing modern medicines. Herbal medicines often come with no side effects if well administered. It is natural, making it compliant with the natural body system. Also, it is cheaper than modern medicine and often times more effective.

A number of herbal systems seem to be dominating the world today. The most popular of the lot are the Chinese herbs, African herbs, Ayurvedic medicine, Roman and Greek herbs and the Shamanic herbs. These have all stood the test of time and have been proven to be highly effective.

Is Herbal Medicine Safe?

This is the question that has plagued the minds of many including top organizations and even governments. In fact, the World Health Organization had this to say...“traditional medicine is the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illnesses.”

What this means is that there is no scientific backing when it comes to the efficacy of traditional or herbal medicine aka natural medicine.

In this healthy living category, we will critically examine a lot of natural and herbal plants that are used for medication and their medicinal values. We will also look at how we could keep in good health just by taking some of these herbal medicines.

Remember, Bites and Bowls is not all just about recipes, but healthy living as well. It’s only those that are healthy that can really enjoy a good meal.

Before we delve into the use of herb treatments, let’s have a look at some facts you should know about herbal natural medicines.

Facts On Natural Herbal Medicine

There are some things you should know and some questions that needs to be answered before deciding if to use herbal medications. Some of those questions are:

• Are there concerns?
• Is it safe?
• What’s the world’s reaction to herbal drugs?

We will have a look at the above questions; and even more. But first, here are some facts when it comes to herbal medications.

Facts one

There has not been any scientific evidence to back up the effectiveness of herbal medicines; though it is continually being used by close to 80 % of people in all parts of the globe like in Asia, Africa and the Arab nations.

Fact two

Herbal medicines are classified as dietary supplements and not as foods or drugs like in the United States. The fact is that laws that pertains to dietary complements are rather lax compared to those relating to foods and drugs.

Fact three

Herbs availability in some countries is a recurring problem; making it difficult to standardize.

Fact four

Cultural norms and values play a big role in determining whether to use herbal remedies or not

Fact five

Some countries have rules and regulations pertaining to herbal medicines and professionals who have been certified to practice such “scientific study of herbals”. Two cases of note are China and Nigeria. In china there are medical doctors who give prescriptions pertaining to herbal medicine whereas in Nigerians they are prescribed by trado-medical doctors; who are professionals in herbal traditional medicine.

Concluding facts

Reading all of the above facts, one might be in a fix concerning the safety and effectiveness of herbal natural medicine.

Well, from all we gathered above, it is up to the individual to decide whether to use herbal medicines or not. What we should all should bear in mind is that health is wealth; and since herbal remedies have been proven historically to be highly effective, even without scientific proof; I would say it is a perfect alternative to modern medicine as it is completely herbal and natural.

However, like all things in nature and in life, caution should be taken while medicating on natural medicine. There is always a risk involved in taking medicine; whether modern or herbal. Just as scientific medicine; which is artificial and taken into the body, so is herbal remedies provided by nature, hence herbal medicine must never be abused.