Lavender

Introduction

This fact sheet provides basic information about the herb lavender—common names, uses, potential side effects, and resources for more information. Lavender is native to the Mediterranean region. It was used in ancient Egypt as part of the process for mummifying bodies. Lavender's use as a bath additive originated in Persia, Greece, and Rome. The herb's name comes from the Latin lavare, which means "to wash."

Common Names--lavender, English lavender, garden lavender

Latin Names--Lavandula angustifolia

What It Is Used For

• Historically, lavender was used as an antiseptic and for mental health purposes.
• Today, the herb is used for conditions such as anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, and depression.
• Lavender is also used for headache, upset stomach, and hair loss.

How It Is Used

• Lavender is most commonly used in aromatherapy, in which the scent of the essential oil from the flowers is inhaled.
• The essential oil can also be diluted with another oil and applied to the skin.
• Dried lavender flowers can be used to make teas or liquid extracts that can be taken by mouth.

What the Science Says

• There is little scientific evidence of lavender's effectiveness for most health uses.
• Small studies on lavender for anxiety show mixed results.
• Some preliminary results indicate that lavender oil, combined with oils from other herbs, may help with hair loss from a condition called alopecia areata.

Side Effects and Cautions

• Topical use of diluted lavender oil or use of lavender as aromatherapy is generally considered safe for most adults. However, applying lavender oil to the skin can cause irritation.
• Lavender oil may be poisonous if taken by mouth.
• When lavender teas and extracts are taken by mouth, they may cause headache, changes in appetite, and constipation.
• Using lavender with sedative medications may increase drowsiness.
• Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.

Sources

• Lavender. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Web site. Accessed on December 28, 2006.
• Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Miller). Natural Standard Database Web site. Accessed on December 28, 2006.
• Lavender flower. In: Blumenthal M, Goldberg A, Brinckman J, eds. Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs. Newton, MA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2000:226–229.

Peppermint Oil

Introduction

This fact sheet provides basic information about peppermint oil—uses, potential side effects, and resources for more information. The herb peppermint, a cross between two types of mint (water mint and spearmint), grows throughout Europe and North America. Peppermint is often used to flavor foods, and the leaves can be used fresh or dried in teas.

Common Names—peppermint oil

Latin Names—Mentha x piperita

What It Is Used For

• Peppermint oil has been used for a variety of health conditions, including nausea, indigestion, and cold symptoms.
• Peppermint oil is also used for headaches, muscle and nerve pain, and stomach and bowel conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome.

How It Is Used

Essential oil of peppermint can be taken in very small doses in capsule or liquid forms. The essential oil can also be diluted with another oil and applied to the skin.

What the Science Says

• Results from several studies suggest that peppermint oil may improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
• A few studies have found that peppermint oil, in combination with caraway oil, may help relieve indigestion, but this evidence is preliminary.
• Although there are some promising results, there is no clear-cut evidence to support the use of peppermint oil for other health conditions.

Side Effects and Cautions

• Peppermint oil appears to be safe for most adults when used in small doses. Possible side effects include allergic reactions and heartburn.
• Capsules containing peppermint oil are often coated to reduce the likelihood of heartburn. If they are taken at the same time as medicines such as antacids, this coating can break down more quickly and increase the risk of heartburn and nausea.
• Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.

Sources

• Peppermint. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Web site. Accessed on December 28, 2006.
• Peppermint oil (Mentha x piperita L.). Natural Standard Database Web site. Accessed on December 28, 2006.
• Peppermint. In: Blumenthal M, Goldberg A, Brinckman J, eds. Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs. Newton, MA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2000:297–303.

Tamarind-Its importance and medicinal use

Tamarind is a very well known herb and plant used by the Egyptians from a long time ago. It has for many centuries been used in many things, such as culinary, medicinal, ornamental uses and as an economic dye. Its botanical name is Tamarindus indica while its common name isTamarind, Tamarindo, Tamarin or simply Indian date as a translation from the Arabic name Tamr hindi It is named as such as before it was thought to be a type of date found only in India despite that it does not come from palm trees. The tamarind is native to tropical Africa and grows wild throughout the Sudan. It was introduced into India from a long ago, thus it has often been reported as indigenous there also. It is extensively cultivated in tropical areas of the world. Sometime during the sixteenth century, it was introduced into America and today is widely grown in Mexico. The tamarind is the fruit of a tall shade tree native to Asia and northern Africa and widely grown in India. The large pods contain small seeds and a sour-pulp that, when dried, becomes extremely sour. The tamarind is well adapted to semiarid tropical conditions, although it does well in many humid tropical areas of the world with seasonally high rainfall. . Dry weather is important during the period of fruit development. The tree is too large to be grown in a container for any length of time. This plant is one of the multi-purpose plants. The parts used are many, sometimes the whole tree is used in a number of different things. Primarily, fruits and seeds are most commonly used in cuisines and in medicine. However, leaves, flowers, wood and bark are also used.
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Before it ripens, the pod is green and can be eaten raw. Once ripened the pod is brown and brittle on the outside, with a soft juicy pulp inside. The pulp is compressed and then used to add a tart flavor to many dishes. It is usually used in the form of tamarind juice. The taste of tamarind is of sour and tart.

The constituents of Tamarind are citric, tartaric and malic acids, potassium, bitartrate, gum, pectin, some grape sugar, and parenchymatous fibre. The fruit acids comprise 20% while sugars are 35%. Furthermore, small amounts of terpenes (limonene, geraniol), phenylpropanoids (safrole, cinnamic acid, ethyl cinnamate), methyl salicylate, pyrazine and alkylthiazoles are reported.

Uses

Medicinal uses

Tamarind is cathartic, astringent, febrifuge, antiseptic, refrigerant.

In India Tamarind is popular as a gentle laxative. The pulp, which comes from the pods of the tamarind tree, is a gentle laxative that improves general sluggishness of the bowels. The folk receipe is to take one to two tablespoons of the pulp in the evening. There are no known constituents in Tamarinds to account for their laxative properties; they are refrigerant from the acids they contain, an infusion of the Tamarind pulp making a useful drink in febrile conditions, and the pulp a good diet in convalescence to maintain a slightly laxative action of the bowels; also used in India as an astringent in bowel complaints.

Tamarind is useful in correcting bilious disorders. Tamarind is acidic and excites the bile and other juices in the body. Tamarind is also a blood purifier. Folk medicine uses Tamarind leaves for sprains and swelling.

The leaves are some times used in subacid infusions, and a decoction is said to destroy worms in children, and is also useful for jaundice, and externally as a wash for sore eyes and ulcers.

The pulp, leaves, and the bark also have medical applications. For example, in the Philippines, the leaves have been traditionally used in herbal tea for reducing malaria fever.

Tamarind Whey, made by boiling 1 OZ. of the pulp in 1 pint of milk and then strained, makes a cooling laxative drink. In some forms of sore throat the fruit has been used.

Tamarind is acidic and excites the bile and other juices in the body. Tamarind is also a blood purifier. Folk medicine uses Tamarind leaves for sprains and swelling

In Mauritius the Creoles mix salt with the pulp and use it as a liniment for rheumatism and make a decoction of the bark for asthma

Culinary uses

The taste of tamarind is very sour especially its pulp. The ripe fruit is a little less bitter, thus when sweetened can be used in a very well known sweet drink , drank by the Egyptians from a long time ago.

The pulp of the fruit is used as a spice both in Asian as well as in Latin American cuisine, and is also an important ingredient to Worcestershire sauce and HP sauce. The pulp of a young fruit is very sour, and hence suitable for main dishes. Tamarind pulp concentrate is popular as a flavoring in east Indian and middle eastern cuisine. It's used to season full flavored foods such as chutney, curry dishes and pickled fish.

Whereas in a ripened fruit, Tamarind is also used to make a sweet syrup flavoring for soft drinks and can be used in desserts, or as a snack.
Tamarinds in Indian cookery is an important ingredient in curries and chutneys, and makes a delicious sauce for duck, geese and water fowl, and in Western India is used for pickling fish, Tamarind fish being considered a great delicacy.

Other uses

Tamarind timber consists of hard, dark red heartwood and softer, yellowish sapwood. Due to its denseness and durability, tamarind heartwood can be used in making furniture and wood flooring. Tamarind trees are very common in South India particularly in Andhra Pradesh. They are used to provide shade on the country roads and highways like oak trees.

The wood is very hard and durable, valuable for building purposes and furnishes excellent charcoal for gunpowder; the leaves in infusion give a yellow dye.

Monkeys love the ripened tamarind fruit.

Medicinal Plants

 Hibiscus ( Hibiscus rosa-sinensis , Family:  Malvaceae) acts as an antiseptic, aphrodisiac, astringent, cholagogue, demulcent, digestive, diuretic, emollient, purgative, refrigerant, resolvent, sedative, stomachic and tonic.  All the parts of Hibiscus plant are useful medicinally.  Hibiscus leaves are emollient, diuretic, refrigerant and sedative.  Leaves, seeds, and mature calyces exhibit diuretic and antiscorbutic properties.  Succulent calyx, boiled in water, is used as a drink in bilious problems.   Fruits act as  antiscorbutic.   Bitter roots are used as aperitive and tonic.  Mucilaginous leaves can be used as an emollient and as a soothing cough remedy.  Hibiscus leaves make excellent shampoo.  Flower extract has been used in many folk remedies for liver disorders, high blood pressure and as aphrodisiac. Hibiscus relieves stomach problems, sweetens breath and soothes nerves. An extract of the hibiscus flowers lower cholesterol content in blood serum and helps to prevent oxidation of LDL (bad cholesterol).  Daily uptake of Hibiscus tea  is useful for reducing high blood pressure.
         

Aloe Vera

Keywords: burn plant, lily of the desert, elephant's gall, laxative, aloin, aloe-emodin, barbaloin, abrasions

Introduction
What It Is Used For
How It Is Used
What the Science Says
Side Effects and Cautions
Sources
For More Information

IntroductionThis fact sheet provides basic information about aloe vera—common names, uses, potential side effects, and resources for more information. Aloe vera's use can be traced back 6,000 years to early Egypt, where the plant was depicted on stone carvings. Known as the "plant of immortality," aloe was presented as a burial gift to deceased pharaohs.

Common Names—aloe vera, aloe, burn plant, lily of the desert, elephant's gall

Latin Names—Aloe vera, Aloe barbadensis
What It Is Used For
Traditionally, aloe was used topically to heal wounds and for various skin conditions, and orally as a laxative.

Today, in addition to traditional uses, people take aloe orally to treat a variety of conditions, including diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, and osteoarthritis. People use aloe topically for osteoarthritis, burns, and sunburns.

Aloe vera gel can be found in hundreds of skin products, including lotions and sunblocks.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved aloe vera as a natural food flavoring.


How It Is Used

Aloe leaves contain a clear gel that is often used as a topical ointment.
The green part of the leaf that surrounds the gel can be used to produce a juice or a dried substance (called latex) that is taken by mouth.


What the Science Says

Aloe latex contains strong laxative compounds. Products made with various components of aloe (aloin, aloe-emodin, and barbaloin) were at one time regulated by the FDA as oral over-the-counter (OTC) laxatives. In 2002, the FDA required that all OTC aloe laxative products be removed from the U.S. market or reformulated because the companies that manufactured them did not provide the necessary safety data.
Early studies show that topical aloe gel may help heal burns and abrasions. One study, however, showed that aloe gel inhibits healing of deep surgical wounds. Aloe gel does not prevent burns from radiation therapy.
There is not enough scientific evidence to support aloe vera for any of its other uses.


Side Effects and Cautions

Use of topical aloe vera is not associated with significant side effects.
Abdominal cramps and diarrhea have been reported with oral use of aloe vera.
Diarrhea, caused by the laxative effect of oral aloe vera, can decrease the absorption of many drugs.

People with diabetes who use glucose-lowering medication should be cautious if also taking aloe by mouth because preliminary studies suggest aloe may lower blood glucose levels.

Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.


Sources

Aloe. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Web site. June 5, 2007.
Aloe (Aloe vera). Natural Standard Database Web site. Accessed on June 3, 2007.