Grow Healing Herbs

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy. The scope of herbal medicine is sometimes extended to include fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal partsAcharya, Deepak and Shrivastava Anshu (2008): Indigenous Herbal Medicines: Tribal Formulations and Traditional Herbal Practices, Aavishkar Publishers Distributor, Jaipur- India. ISBN 9788179102527. pp 440..

Many plants synthesize substances that are useful to the maintenance of health in humans and other animals. These include aromatic substances, most of which are phenols or their oxygen-substituted derivatives such as tannins. Many are secondary metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated — a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total. In many cases, these substances (particularly the alkaloids) serve as plant defense mechanisms against predation by microorganisms, insects, and herbivores. Many of the herbs and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.

Despite the increased popularity of herbal treatments, the safety and effectiveness of alternative medicines have not been scientifically provenTalalay P. and Talalay P., "The Importance of Using Scientific Principles in the Development of Medicinal Agents from Plants", Academic Medicine, 2001, 76, 3, p238. and remain largely unknown.Eisenberg DM, Annals of Internal Medicine 127 (1991) Number 1 p61. A number of herbs are thought to be likely to cause adverse effects. Furthermore, "adulteration, inappropriate formulation, or lack of understanding of plant and drug interactions have led to adverse reactions that are sometimes life threatening or lethalElvin-Lewis M., "Should we be concerned about herbal remedies,"Journal of Ethnopharmacology 75 (2001) 141-164.."

Category: File - :Dioscorides_De_Materia_Medica_Byzantium_15th_century.jpg|thumb|375px|right|Dioscorides', De Materia Medica, Byzantium, 15th century.

A(n)The use of a or an depends on whether or not herbal is pronounced with a silent h (e.g. an 'erbal). herbal is a book containing the names and descriptions of plants, usually with information on their virtues (properties)Arber, p. 14. ? and in particular their medicinal, tonic, culinary, toxic, hallucinatory, aromatic, or magical powers, and the legends associated with them. A herbal may also classify the plants by various criteria,Leyel, in Grieve. p. xiii., may give recipes for herbal extracts, tinctures, or potions, and sometimes include mineral and animal medicaments in addition to those obtained from plants. Herbals were often illustrated to assist plant identification.Anderson, p. 2. The word herbal is derived from the mediaeval Latin liber herbalis ("book of herbs"); the word is sometimes used in contrast to the word florilegium which is a treatise on flowersJackson, p. 102. with emphasis on their beauty and enjoyment rather than their utility.Blunt & Raphael, p. 10.

Herbals were among the first literature produced in Ancient Egypt, China, India, and Europe.Stuart, pp. 1?26. Their useful content and accessible format made them attractive to general readers, as well as to herbalists, apothecaries and physicians.Stuart, p. 7?8, 13. In the Western European Age of Discovery herbals were produced, either by Europeans or indigenous people, for the Americas, Africa, and other lands newly discovered by Europeans. Herbals were among the first books to be printed in both China and Europe. In Western Europe herbals flourished during the two centuries after the invention of moveable type (c. 1470?1670).See Arber, 1984

Starting in the late 17th century, the rise of modern chemistry, toxicology and pharmacology largely made the classical herbals obsolete as a medical resource. As reference manuals for botanical study and indentification of plants, herbals were supplanted by the Floras ? systematic surveys of the plants found growing in a particular region, with scientifically accurate botanical descriptions, classification, and illustrations.Morton, pp. 115-164. Herbals have seen a modest revival in the western world since the last decades of the 20th century, as herbalism and related disciplines (such as homeopathy and aromatherapy) became popular as forms of complementary and alternative medicine.See Andrews, 1982.