Disease and Herbs

For many of us much of our time on Earth is focused on maintaining good health or more specifically, avoiding illness and disease. On every supermarket and shop shelf are numerous products either helping us avoid disease or helping us deal with it when we are ‘struck down’. Traditionally healing herbs were used to keep the body strong or to aid the body after illness and while many of these herbs still linger within our current ‘medicines’ they are also overwhelmed with synthetic additives which are more of a hindrance to health then they are a help. Coming back to using the original healing herbs is one of the ways to ensure we maintain good health and rid the body of any disease.


In dealing with general diseases a good diet, including healing herbs, is essential along with the use of restorative tonic herbs to help build the body back up if we do become unwell. This is because many of the cases of general disease occur due to poor nutrition and not providing the body with the optimal conditions it requires to maintain itself healthily. In our modern culture we have tendency to overload our systems with foods which lack essential nutrients or to overwhelm our bodies with foods it is unable to deal with. Disease then occurs as the body clogs up or as the body tries to rid itself of the onslaught of ‘toxins’. The body is effectively in dis-ease and out of balance in some way.

While it was once thought that tonics had nothing more than a placebo effect on people they do work when made and taken correctly. Tonics assist us to return to good health and work primarily within the digestive system to stimulation nutrition; they also positively impact on all other organs. Tonic herbs invigorate, refresh and permanently strengthen every body organ to give increased vigour, energy and restored function while stimulating assimilation of nutrients. They will increase appetite, promote better elimination of waste, aid in digestion, soothe the stomach and build up strength, energy and health. While many of the tonic herbs are bitter tasting their bitterness should not be completely disguised with sweetness. This is because it is the bitter taste which stimulates particular taste buds and causes the body to release hormonal agents which affect the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Within the tonic herbs there are those that are good for general health such as Oats which are a valuable tonic agent for people recovering from stress and anxiety, and those that will also benefit specific areas of the body such as hormonal tonics. Bladderwrack, liquorice and flax are all good hormonal tonics which strengthen the thyroid, adrenal and ovary respectively. There are also those which act as a harmoniser to the body, helping it to come back into a state of balance these include Ginseng, Helonias Root and Agnus castus. Amongst the numerous tonic herbs that are available many can be found in back gardens , either growing naturally (yarrow, stinging nettle and cleavers), sown as part of a flower garden (hydrangea, marigold and Solomon’s seal) or as part of a vegetable selection (parsley, carrot, rhubarb or garlic).

Stinging Nettle is a good example of a tonic herb found in the garden; which for the most part is considered a weed. However it is a fantastic nutrient dense plant which is rich in vitamins K, A and C along with being a good source of iron, potassium, manganese and calcium. Being iron rich, necessary for immunity, and containing Vitamin C, which greatly increases the absorption of iron, means that this ‘undesirable weed’ is actually a powerful healing herb for conditions such as anaemia, asthma and flu. Other conditions including abscesses, diarrhoea, fever, headaches, hives, jaundice, rheumatism, kidney problems and arthritis can all benefit from the use of stinging nettle as a tonic herb. It can improve circulation, lower blood pressure, and act as a diuretic as well as a pectoral (herbs that assist in complaints of the broncho-pulmonary area).

Another backyard plant which contains abundant amounts of vitamins and minerals especially Vitamins A, C and K along with calcium, potassium, iron and manganese is Dandelion. This common plant, found in many countries around the world, is good in salads (leaves and roots), cooked like spinach (young leaves) made into a slightly resinous wine (flowers) and also as a coffee substitute (roots). Aside from being an excellent tonic herb for the body with anti inflammatory properties it can also assist the liver through its actions as a diuretic, alterative, Cholagogues (promotes flow and discharge of bile), Hemetic (blood builder), nutritive (nourishes and builds body tissues) and stimulant (increases functional activity and energy in the body).

This is significant as the Liver is an important organ and a healthy one is necessary for survival due to the fact that there is no way to compensate for its absence. The liver produces bile needed for healthy digestion, has a detoxification function, produces hormones, synthesises plasma proteins for healthy blood and has a major role in metabolism. When the Liver is not working well the body can easily fall into a state of dis-ease due to it not creating a ‘barrier’ to deal with toxins. It is one of the key organs for carrying off impurities and waste matter. Conditions such as jaundice, due to improper diet resulting in derangement of the liver as the bile does not excrete properly, is probably the most well known but along with this are problems like colic, hives, scrofula and constipation which can occur. Other good tonic herbs which assist the liver are Balmony (Chelone glabra) which was a favourite remedy of the American Indians and one of the finest tonics for liver malfunction, Barberry (Berberis vulgais) and Gentian ( Gentiana lutea) which while extremely bitter is easily received by the stomach wherein it tones the liver without influencing the secretion of bile.

While constipation is not readily thought of as a disease, it is an indicator that the body is not functioning properly and therefore in a state of dis-ease. As mentioned above constipation can occur through the liver not functioning properly and causing a toxic condition called cholemia, however essentially constipation is due to poor diet, rapid living and lack of exercise. The peristaltic action the bowel then malfunctions whereby fecal matter becomes condensed and compressed with evacuations being infrequent and difficult. Left to stagnate in the bowl this ‘toxic waste’ pollutes and irritates surrounding organs with poisonous gases. All too often people reach for a quick fix solution to this problem without realizing that the body is in crisis and needs to be built up and cleansed. It is important that while temporary relief can be sought from prune juice and fruits, which help start the peristaltic action again, a longer term solution such as using a tonic herb is needed. Tonic herbs such as cayenne, dandelion root; elecampane, liquorice, mandrake root, rhubarb, senna leaves and turkey rhubarb are all useful to provide nourishment and healing for the body.

Elecampane, cayenne and liquorice are also good tonic herbs for people suffering from Catarrh. This is when chronic inflammation of the mucus membranes of the air passages occurs with an excessive discharge of mucus for the nose, throat, larynx, bronchi, stomach etc. Once again this comes back to poor nutrition and can affect the entire body. Poor elimination means that the system becomes congested and mucus is forced into various glands or membranes. Having catarrh can then lead to diseases such as arthritis, asthma, biliousness, bronchitis, cystitis, diphtheria, jaundice, laryngitis, pleurisy and rheumatism. Copious amounts of vinegar and honey will help along with improving diet, increasing outdoor exercise and good elimination.

So many of the problems we face today are caused by poor nutrition along with lack of attention to the way we live and how it affects our physical bodies. Our lives are faster paced, our food is more processed and it requires more effort to source good food, including healing herbs. Traditionally people had knowledge of healing herbs which meant they could assist people quickly, nowadays that knowledge is not so easily at hand and not often used as the only time we think about how plants can assist us is when we have disease and want quick fixes. The healing properties of plants remain, even if our knowledge of them has dwindled, and it is up to us to learn and remember them in order to achieve and maintain good health; that is a life free of dis-ease.