http://www.care2.com/greenliving/heart-friendly-herbs.html
5 Herbs for the Heart
By Stephanie Bernstein, Natural Solutions
You’ve seen the ads: “Tone your abs in just five minutes a day!” and “Tone your legs with this simple, everyday workout!” Well, as grating as they may be after repeated viewing, their message is important. When we “tone” our muscles, we nourish them and bolster their strength. Medicinally, when we speak of tonics, we mean herbs and foods that do the conditioning work for us–they nourish, support, or strengthen our energy, blood, and organ function from the inside.
So while physical workouts remain important, maybe it’s time to look a little deeper. The heart, for instance, continuously pumps our blood and regulates its circulation. It also affects (and reflects) our emotional state–its rhythm is often mandated by the condition of our nervous system. Daily stress, nervous tension, and heartbreak (among other emotional strains) can interfere with the heart and cause palpitations, lack of sleep, and a racing mind. The best way to prevent acute issues of the heart is to keep it healthy by supporting the physical apparatus of the circulatory system and balancing the emotions that beset us. You can keep the blood flowing clean and without obstruction and your heart at an even and steady rhythm by making regular use of the following heart-friendly herbs.
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16 comments
add your comment »Very interesting and informative article. I will be sure to try and test out some of these herbs suggested.
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Hawthorn is absolutely wonderful for the heart - BUT do not drink it. First of all, liquids in great amounts can be a burden on the heart; secondly, hawthorn "tea" does not taste so great, so people grow tired of it and discontinue the practice; and thirdly, the concentration of the active substances in the "tea" is relatively low for strong protection, sou you would have to drink quite a few cups a day.
This is one case where a H. supplement is actually a better idea.
And if you want extra protection (and not just for the heart), include regular high doses of Omega 3 in your diet.
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HIi Mel,
Thanks for this I will advice my uncle to treat his heart
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and no man made chemicle or other rubbish added
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Garlic's my favorite.
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The African hearberlist have never been given a chance by the mostly eurocentric based health systems all over our world. That is one of the main reason why we've had so much health related deaths and problems in Africa. It will be a revelation and already it has started being seen, that the natives had a workable way of treating many of the ailments that seem to have become a permanent source of revenue for the multinational phamacitical companies. It has also become a major source of gaining cheap raw material from Africa and a sustainable tool of dictating to the African and most of the third world countries.
The acceptance and promotion of native herbs and knowledge would be the first step towards a happy and healthy humanity.
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Thank you Stephanie - these are really all GREAT foods for the heart and body!
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I wonder if there is any experience with the statin CRESTOR and itchy hives, I believe that is the cause of my hives and it took me over 2 weeks after use to get to comfort.
Since it came and went it took me a while to know what's what, also, it appears that shellfish and stress exaggerated the hives which started out like mosquitobites, one more reason for confusion. Any thoughts and help are appreciated.
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I am a professional herbalist in Brooklyn, NY and I would advise anyone on Warfarin or similar drugs to only use herbs (and many foods for that matter) on the advice of a professional herbalist who has studied drug/herb interactions and who insists that your husband get PT and INR tests at least every other week. Herbs are quite safe, orders of magnitude safer than most drugs, but drugs like Warfarin have a very narrow therapeutic window and can cause serious harm if they are outside of their dosage range. That is why even vegetables are restricted. (Perhaps it is the Warfarin that should be restricted, but that is NOT something to do without medical advice.) Doctors don't know much about herbs and the online databases are woefully inaccurate. You can find a qualified herbalist in your area from the American Herbalists Guild website.
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Sorry to be a kill joy, but cayenne is not an Indian spice, unless you mean American Indian! Cayenne and all the other chilli peppers come from Central and South America, and were then introduced to the East by the Portuguese. Since Cayenne is the name of a town in French Guinea on the East Coast of South America, you should have realized it does not come from India. Before the Indians (from India) got to know chilli peppers, they only had black pepper to give heat to their dishes. As can still be seen in Sri Lanka where the use of black pepper is more common for curries than the use of chillis.
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