Family Traditional medicines & recipes - Traditional medicines and herbs have been around since the dawn of civilization. However, much of this wisdom and knowledge of herbal remedies and herbal cures are being lost to the next generation.
In the Gulf, where I lived for 20 years, you can still find amazing traditional herb and spice markets and stallholders with a wealth of knowledge of spices and healing remedies. For the most part, the traditional wisdom of herbal healing was passed from one generation to the next by word of mouth — mothers taught their daughters this valuable information. It is so important for the generations to share knowledge so that all this wisdom is handed down through the generations and is not lost.
In many areas, traditional medicines are still used by the older generation where natural medicines are extracted from leaves herbs and fruits. It was in Assyria — now Iraq — that edible and medicinal plants were first brought into cultivation.
For thousands of years, people relied on Mother Nature to provide the cure. Herbs were the only medicines readily available, and most homes kept a herb garden. The village herbalist was asked for advice. In the West, all this amazing knowledge is being lost as we quickly turned our backs on traditional herbal cures when wonder drugs such as Penicillin, antibiotics and cortisone were discovered.
Many remedies came to the Middle East from the trade routes and came from recipes handed down from one generation to the next. Many valuable herbs still grow in the gardens of the Middle East, but are largely taken for granted. For example, Aloe Vera native to the Arabian Peninsula and well known traditionally for its healing properties, is now mainly cultivated as an ornamental garden plant.
Marigolds, a pretty orange flower, also grow well in the Middle East and were traditionally used in cookery and medicine.
The Neem tree, familiar in gardens and scrubland across the Middle East and India, was traditionally used for its medicinal properties. It is a strong tree that can live for 150 to 200 years. The Neem tree has always been a source of traditional medicine, but it has only recently been researched in the West for its medicinal properties. In the past, twigs of the Neem tree were also used as toothbrushes for healthy white teeth. Nowadays, toothpastes with Neem extracts are also available and are becoming popular.
Bedouins used olive oil, ginger, cardamom and fennel heated and rubbed on their chest as an ointment for chest complaints.
Henna has always had many traditional uses as it not only colors the hair and skin but also is very soothing for skin problems. The ancient Egyptians used various forms of henna, which even an aged Ramses II had used regularly to color his white hair.
When Hippocrates said, “Let Food be your Medicine,” he might well have been speaking about ginger. Ginger, or Zanjabil in Arabic, is a knotty root dating back over 3,000 years and was widely used in ancient civilizations. It was valued as a medicinal herb and as a spice. Now, modern research into the active ingredients confirms the benefits of our ancestors’ traditional remedies made with ginger.
Ginger and Health
We are so used to ginger in biscuits, cakes and spicing up our herb teas that it is rather strange to think of it as a medicine. This knotty root is, however, full of healthy potential, both as a food and as a herbal remedy.
Medical research has shown that ginger root is an excellent natural remedy for nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness and general stomach upset due to its calming effect, which helps break up and expel intestinal gas. Ginger tea is also recommended to alleviate nausea in chemotherapy patients primarily because its natural properties do not interact in a negative way with other medications.
One of ginger’s most common uses is probably to ward off nausea and is appropriate whether the nausea is morning sickness, travel sickness or post-operative nausea. My son suffers from travel sickness and I find giving him a ginger biscuit during a car journey really helps ward of carsickness. I remember my mother giving me ginger biscuits to prevent seasickness when crossing the often rough Irish Sea.
Another traditional use is to “sweeten the voice.” Singers have been known to take it before a performance to help clear their vocal chords and to enable a “purer” tone to be produced. If you have a family herbal remedy, I would love to hear about it. Please email me at remedyan@ardenhealth.com
Note of caution: Always discuss using herbs as part of your treatment with your doctor first. ( naturalhealthlines.com )
In the Gulf, where I lived for 20 years, you can still find amazing traditional herb and spice markets and stallholders with a wealth of knowledge of spices and healing remedies. For the most part, the traditional wisdom of herbal healing was passed from one generation to the next by word of mouth — mothers taught their daughters this valuable information. It is so important for the generations to share knowledge so that all this wisdom is handed down through the generations and is not lost.
In many areas, traditional medicines are still used by the older generation where natural medicines are extracted from leaves herbs and fruits. It was in Assyria — now Iraq — that edible and medicinal plants were first brought into cultivation.
For thousands of years, people relied on Mother Nature to provide the cure. Herbs were the only medicines readily available, and most homes kept a herb garden. The village herbalist was asked for advice. In the West, all this amazing knowledge is being lost as we quickly turned our backs on traditional herbal cures when wonder drugs such as Penicillin, antibiotics and cortisone were discovered.
Many remedies came to the Middle East from the trade routes and came from recipes handed down from one generation to the next. Many valuable herbs still grow in the gardens of the Middle East, but are largely taken for granted. For example, Aloe Vera native to the Arabian Peninsula and well known traditionally for its healing properties, is now mainly cultivated as an ornamental garden plant.
Marigolds, a pretty orange flower, also grow well in the Middle East and were traditionally used in cookery and medicine.
The Neem tree, familiar in gardens and scrubland across the Middle East and India, was traditionally used for its medicinal properties. It is a strong tree that can live for 150 to 200 years. The Neem tree has always been a source of traditional medicine, but it has only recently been researched in the West for its medicinal properties. In the past, twigs of the Neem tree were also used as toothbrushes for healthy white teeth. Nowadays, toothpastes with Neem extracts are also available and are becoming popular.
Bedouins used olive oil, ginger, cardamom and fennel heated and rubbed on their chest as an ointment for chest complaints.
Henna has always had many traditional uses as it not only colors the hair and skin but also is very soothing for skin problems. The ancient Egyptians used various forms of henna, which even an aged Ramses II had used regularly to color his white hair.
When Hippocrates said, “Let Food be your Medicine,” he might well have been speaking about ginger. Ginger, or Zanjabil in Arabic, is a knotty root dating back over 3,000 years and was widely used in ancient civilizations. It was valued as a medicinal herb and as a spice. Now, modern research into the active ingredients confirms the benefits of our ancestors’ traditional remedies made with ginger.
Ginger and Health
We are so used to ginger in biscuits, cakes and spicing up our herb teas that it is rather strange to think of it as a medicine. This knotty root is, however, full of healthy potential, both as a food and as a herbal remedy.
Medical research has shown that ginger root is an excellent natural remedy for nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness and general stomach upset due to its calming effect, which helps break up and expel intestinal gas. Ginger tea is also recommended to alleviate nausea in chemotherapy patients primarily because its natural properties do not interact in a negative way with other medications.
One of ginger’s most common uses is probably to ward off nausea and is appropriate whether the nausea is morning sickness, travel sickness or post-operative nausea. My son suffers from travel sickness and I find giving him a ginger biscuit during a car journey really helps ward of carsickness. I remember my mother giving me ginger biscuits to prevent seasickness when crossing the often rough Irish Sea.
Another traditional use is to “sweeten the voice.” Singers have been known to take it before a performance to help clear their vocal chords and to enable a “purer” tone to be produced. If you have a family herbal remedy, I would love to hear about it. Please email me at remedyan@ardenhealth.com
Note of caution: Always discuss using herbs as part of your treatment with your doctor first. ( naturalhealthlines.com )
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