3 Super Herbs for Super Health
Introduction
Herbs have been used for hundreds of years to help with health and wellness and treat various illnesses. While our changing modern world depends significantly on medicine, we shouldn’t forget that nature has the most powerful ones.
One of the most critical differences between medications and herbs is the number of things they do in the body. There are only a few hundred different herbs, but they can do thousands of good things for our bodies! Most medications have only one or two effects, which is why many exist.
3 Super Herbs for Super Health
If you follow a healthy diet and eat clean, you most likely already consume herbs (basil, thyme, rosemary, garlic, turmeric, and so on). Not only do they make your food taste better, but they also have many health benefits.
You may have wondered what role herbs play in your life, if they are essential, and how they contribute to your healthy lifestyle and clean eating. Let’s look at the health benefits of just three of them that are considered super herbs.
Aloe Vera
Aloe vera is a great way to increase the nutrients you take in. Vincent et al. and Yun et al. did studies that showed aloe vera gel helps cells take in more vitamins. Aloe vera may affect how many vitamins are absorbed, but there aren’t enough studies to prove this yet.
Other well-known benefits of aloe vera include:
- It’s for skin health, treating burns, and canker sores, wound healing, antibacterial, hydration, and UV protection.
- It’s good for your teeth and gums because it helps keep the bacteria in your mouth balanced and soothes sore gums
- It helps with constipation and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
That’s just a short list. Do an online search, and you’ll find that the list is much longer.
Garlic
Did you know that garlic is considered an herb? It’s not just any herb; it’s a powerful cooking herb that’s been used for centuries. Including it in our diets is easy because it goes well with many of the foods we eat.
But one important thing to remember is that heating garlic has been shown to reduce the number of protective compounds in it.
Many of the benefits of garlic come from its allicin and other sulfurous compounds. These are some of them:
- Immune protection, from reducing the number of colds to healing ear infections and preventing cancer
- Heart health, lowers high cholesterol and high blood pressure and protects the heart
- Anti-inflammatory properties, including protection against hip osteoarthritis and cancer prevention (MedicalNewsToday.com)
Turmeric
It’s a miraculous herb with many actions in our bodies, both preventative and healing. For a vibrant herb, turmeric has a vivid yellow-orange color.
What makes turmeric a super herb? It’s curcumin. Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric, and it has the power to do the following:
• Powerful anti-inflammatory agent
• Powerful antioxidant that helps prevent oxidative stress neutralizes free radicals, and even stimulates the body’s antioxidant enzymes
• Boosts brain-derived neurotrophic factor for healthy brain function
• Lowers risks of heart disease
• May prevent and even treat cancer
• May prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease
• Treats arthritis symptoms
• Promising in treating depression
• A digestive aid that reduces symptoms of IBS and acid reflux
Unfortunately, simply using curcumin as a spice will never provide you with enough of its benefits. It is best to take it as a supplement because it has a suitable yield for the above effects.
Curcumin is also poorly absorbed into the bloodstream, so it helps to take it with black pepper, which has the natural element piperine, which boosts the absorption of curcumin by 2000%.
Conclusion
Herbs are all around us. They are used for culinary purposes, and they may be growing in your flowerpots (or your grandmother’s!) and gardens.
Many interesting herbs are often taken in tea, but we can also get herbs in tinctures, powders, supplements, essential oils, and fresh and dried forms.
Even though we only talked about three herbs in this article, we hope you can see how important they are. But these three super herbs contribute significantly to your healthy lifestyle and eating clean.
Please check our healthy living or eating clean articles for more health tips. Follow us on FB or Twitter for updates and the latest articles. Thanks for reading.