Indoor Herb Garden Kits and Herbal Remedies

The world of today is a world of progress. We have now managed to do in two centuries of ongoing industrial revolution, what we couldn’t do in thousands and thousands of our tumultuous historical past. And yet, with all these scientific breakthroughs and synthetic materials, synthetic foodstuff plus the reign of King Plastic, many people still find the need as well as having the perception to ask themselves how individuals previously remained healthy and fit without nutritional supplements, medicines or antibiotics. Their secret was that that these people employed what Mother Nature gave them: the plants to treat themselves. Thankfully, this knowledge has not been forgotten; even though they’re not so widely used these days, plants have claimed their own place in our civilization.

The herb story starts many thousands of years back, long before the recorded historical past, when man did not know how to write or read, but knew how to follow their instincts. These people discovered by observation that specific herbal products could alleviate their discomfort, others could make a wound fade away and others could kill them by ingestion. Throughout time, societies developed herbal lore and with time discovered methods to transfer their know-how other than just orally.

5000 years ago, in Ancient China, people used rhubarb (Rheune palmatum) as a purgative without knowing anything concerning the actual active substances they contained. They also used Ephedra to treat asthma, even though the substance known as ephedrine was supposedly “discovered” much later in 1887 AD. Just about all oriental ancient civilizations acquired their skills into the fascinating arena of botany, as plants were among the few elements to which they could turn to heal themselves. The famous king Hammurabi of Babylon (18th century BC) recommended mint to cure constipation and other digestive disorders. Mesopotamian doctors considered that the best time to take a herbal medicine was at night or early in the morning, a principle which is confirmed nowadays by modern studies. The Indians had an entire system of rules, prescriptions, remedies and practices, called Ayurveda, many of which involved the use of plants. They also had strict rules about when, by whom and from where the plants should be collected

People in Ancient Egypt knew and used the castor-oil plant, wormwood, saffron and oregano to heal and disinfect wounds; they also put coriander in their tombs so that the spirit will remain healthy in the afterlife. There are written records of their use of garlic (for the workmen who built the pyramids), indigo, mint and opium. The Greek and Roman civilizations have made a major contribution to medical science. Although much of their studies stemmed from other cultures (Mesopotamian, Egyptian), they added precious information and, in time, they became more and more concerned about the diseases and cures as natural and realistic processes, rather than spiritual or magical. Physicians like Hippocrates, Dioscoride and others have recorded their discoveries; their works would enlighten the pre-medieval civilizations for many centuries after their death. Dioscorides wrote De Materia Medica (1st century AD), which contained a list of hundreds of medicinal plants, along with their description and curative qualities.

The Dark Ages met with a lack of any further recorded herbal studies; the knowledge was probably transmitted from generation to generation – parents taught children, monks, even herbalist taught apprentices. However, there lived a great Persian physician by the name of Avicenna (Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah Ibn Sina) who wrote one of the most famous books in the history of medical science: The Canon, which also contained information about how plants should be used and their properties.

In 1527, the Swiss scholar Paracelsus demonstrated that only a small part of the plant has an effect upon the human body (1g per 20 kg of plant), which is what we now call active substance. Later scientists developed methods to isolate these substances. However, the first complete categorization of all known medicinal plants was printed in a book called Theatrum Botanicum by John Parkinson in 1640 AD. In 1649 Nicholas Culpeper pulished A Physical Directory, which is considered one of the best herbal pharmacopoeia manuals and is still widely quoted today.

Whilst chemistry developed as a scienctific discipline, physicians began using morewidely synthetic medicines, such as aspirin, which proved to have side effects. Yet all pharmacists and drug producers confirm the fact that, unlike artificially synthesized substances, medicines extracted from plants are more accessible to the metabolism and friendlier to the human body. This is probably why herbs are still viewed with benevolence and even awe, as they are apparently so suited to the human condition through their gentle actions.