With an entire branch of science dedicated to the art of understanding and evaluating the effects of natural herbs used for medication, it is no wonder why the World Health Organization estimates that 80% of the populations in some Asian and African countries use herbal medicine as some form of primary health care.
However, living in a more scientifically developed country, there is the question that lingers in most of our trained-to-be-skeptical minds: is there a true, backed-by-hard-facts evidence suggesting that there are real benefits to the use of all natural herbs?
Considering the use of plants as a medicine goes so far back in time that it predates all written records of human history, there must be a way to determine the truth behind their supposed aid. While evaluating the honesty behind these ageless claims, it is best to start in familiar territory related to products that may just be sitting in your medicine cabinet at home.
Modern Equivalents
Beginning with the basics, it is very probable that you have recently, or sometime in the past, ingested an ingredient that is readily available inside the soft bark of a willow tree. Aspirin, created in the 1800s, was developed by deriving the chemical salicin from white willow bark. It is actually possible to strip the bark from the trunk of the tree and use it in order to brew a tea, which is then used to cure very similar symptoms to what Aspirin does.
The use of plants as a cure to certain illnesses, aches, and pains goes beyond something as rudimentary as a little Aspirin. The recent antimalarial drugs that are in development are derived from the isolation of the artemisinin from Artemisia annua L., which is a plant native to China that has been in use for almost 2,000 years.
These are small examples to pave the way for an understanding on the origins of the medicinal components that naturally occur inside of the herbal remedies we see in use today. It is no small feat that 25% of the modern pharmaceuticals used in the United States are derived from natural plants. When ¼ of the multi-billion dollar industry is supported by what has grown in nature for the last thousands upon thousands of years, it is no coincidence that there must be some type of truth behind the beneficial uses of natural herbs.
During the journey of our many scientific advances, we are discovering new advances every single year that revolutionize the way we recognize and look at the herbs that our ancestors have used to cure themselves since the dawn of time. With a basic understanding that has debunked the notion that herbal medication offers no benefits, it is now important to discover the best possible way to get the most out of the herbs that you choose to medicate yourself with.
Engineering the Best Benefits
The way you ingest the plant really depends on what you’re looking to get out of it. For instance, there are practically a limitless amount of teas that can be brewed out of the different leaves naturally grown and available, each associated with their own benefits. With these, there is one primary way to get them into your system—boiling them in hot water. However, when it comes to natural herbs that you have to inhale to benefit from their effects, use of a vaporizer allows you to get the most out of your use, for a variety of reasons.
Aside from the fact that it is well regarded that vaporizing herbs makes the taste less harsh than otherwise, it is being discovered that the use of a vaporizer provides a much healthier alternative to burning herbs.
A vaporizer essentially allows you to avoid the unnecessary consumption of toxic and carcinogenic by-products of the herbs that you may be inhaling, whether it be a natural form of tobacco or another legal herb. There is little to no smoke that is extracted—the active ingredients are turned into a vapor, which you then inhale.
What kind of vaporizer should you use? Well, depends on how and where you want to use it. For example, the Pax Vaporizer by Ploom is a great portable device. Pax Vaporizers fit in your pocket and can be taken anywhere. But if you’re looking for something more for home use, the Volcano Vaporizer may be more your speed.
Question No More
Considering an industrially developed society like the United States is beginning to open up the pathways to a deep understanding of herbal medicine, there will soon be a time where questioning the benefits from natural remedies will be a thing of the past. Through the rapidly developing knowledge that there are true, scientific advantages to these natural chemicals and herbs readily at our disposal, we are opening doors to an entirely new world that has been in our back yard all this time.
