NitaNaturale promises its readers to continue describing the medicinal properties of AYUSH recommended plants for the herbal home garden. This is the second part of this theme. Five easy-to-grow herbal plants are discussed in this blog. I am sure those who have an interest in gardening will add at least one of these to their home garden.
Ginger (Adrak)
Adding the rhizome of the herbaceous ginger plant in various cuisines is act as a flavoring agent. Apart from adding flavor and enhance the taste of the foods, we used to make different ginger home remedies to relieve common health problems like nausea, vomiting, sore throat, and certain pain symptoms.
The vomiting preventing (antiemetic) benefits of ginger against motion sickness, pregnancy, and post-anesthesia had examined through several human trials. These trials result explored biological activities like antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-neuroinflammation effects of ginger. Recently, Herbal researchers have extended their research to explore the benefits of ginger in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and improvement in the quality of life of cancer patients by reducing their chronic fatigue condition. [1] The two of the human trials are registered under ClinicalTrials.gov to check the antiemetic effect of ginger for cancer patients who had received chemotherapy. [2, 3]
NitaNaturale has the aim to provide sufficient scientific evidence to readers to use ginger as a home remedy for treating following health issues. For this, I have evaluated different researches conducted from 1995 to 2019.
The anti-emetic benefit of ginger is effective to improve mild nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.
Ginger promotes recovery of muscle strength after intense exercise. You can drink a cup of ginger tea after exercise for relaxing your muscles.
Migraine patients can also drink ginger tea along with a painkiller. A human trial result showed that ginger had an additive benefit with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in treating migraine attacks.
[4]
The ginger supplement claims that it is an effective remedy to reduce body fat. A clinical trial was registered under ClinicalTrials.gov, but the efficacy of ginger in weight management is still under discovery. [5]
Experts suggested that the anti-inflammatory property of ginger may help to reduce osteoarthritis pain. Six different human trials also showed that ginger is effective to reduce pain associated with osteoarthritis, dysmenorrhea, and acute muscle ache. [6]
Oxidative stress often worsens ulcerative colitis. Ginger has antioxidant properties. It may improve the quality of life of individuals with ulcerative colitis by reducing oxidative stress. [7]
Holy basil (Tulsi)
Holy basil or Tulsi is one of the most common plants in the Indian home garden. Although religious reason may play a role in the abundance availability of this plant, use this plant as a home remedy for treating multiple diseases cannot be ignored. Apart from Indian folk medicine, many ancient medicinal literatures had mentioned the application of holy basil to treat a wide range of blood, liver, digestive, metabolic, heart, kidney, mouth, throat, lungs, metabolic, reproductive, and nervous systems related disorders. [8]
You may aware of the vast medicinal properties of Tulsi. But NitaNaturale gives new information that Tulsi has antiplaque and antigingivitis efficacy also. [9] Many of us suffering from inflammation and bleeding gums (gingivitis), dental plaques. You can use Tulsi for dental and gum problems. A comparative study reported that Tulsi mouthwash formulation is equally effective as Chlorhexidine (a standard ingredient of commercial mouthwash formulations). [8, 10] Not only for adults, but you can also use Tulsi to take care of your child’s dental problems. [11]
Regular sufficient amount of Tulsi leaves or Tulsi supplement intake can reduce fasting blood sugar. This remedy also reduces LDL, VLDL, and cholesterol. [12]
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756464618301166
Every day all of us lead a stressful life. We accept it as modernity. Stress has some symptoms like tenseness, apathy, fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbance, emotional instability, difficulty to concentrate, etc. Altogether, stress accumulation affects our overall health. In such a situation, Tulsi can act as a stress-buster. A human trial result reported that intake of Tulsi supplement could alleviate stress-related symptoms without any side effects. [13]
A Phase-2 clinical trial was also registered under ClinicalTrials.gov to check the benefit of Tulsi in weight management for obese individuals. [14] In this phase-2 study, the recommended suggestion was twice a day intake of Tulsi formulation on an empty stomach for 60 days. However, this study needs to continue for determining the exact dosing and duration of Tulsi in weight management. [14]
Heart-leaved moonseed (Giloy/ Guduchi)
Different scientific research studies reported that Giloy has different medicinal properties like anti-diabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-allergic, immuno-modulatory, hepato-protective, antispasmodic, anti-stress, antipyretic, antimalarial, anti-leprotic, and anti-neoplastic activities [15, 16].
The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Ayush ministry together have launched a clinical trial to test four ayurvedic formulations as a preventive or add-on to standard care to Covid-19 patients. Giloy is one of the four ayurvedic formulations included in this clinical research. [17, 18] This trial is not yet completed. But another human trial was conducted to check the efficacy and safety of Ayurvedic Guduchi formulation for Covid-19 asymptomatic patients.
The trial result reported that Guduchi formulation could provide treatment benefit to asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. This study result found that Guduchi formulation effective in the clearing viral nasopharyngeal carriage of COVID-19 patients. Thus, this could limit the transmission of the virus to other people and reduce the spread of COVID-19 from asymptomatic patients to others. Also, patients with asymptomatic Covid-19 confirmed cases had shorter conventional treatment duration who received this herbal remedy. [19]
Many diabetic patients cannot afford modern medicines due to the financial crunch. Several diabetic patients also discontinued conventional prescribed medicine to avoid side effects burden. The presence of the Giloy plant in their home garden is a savior for such diabetic patients. Shade dried stem powder of this plant can control their blood glucose level after two weeks treatment period. [20]
Dyslipidemia is a common complication of diabetic patients. Dried Giloy stem powder is also effective to control dyslipidemia by reducing total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL, and triglycerides levels. [20]
If you are worried about your child’s health and no effective result found after trying different conventional health tonics to improve his/her growth. Then, Giloy juice could be a solution to this problem. You can prepare fresh Giloy juice at your home. Take fresh stems of this plant from your home garden and cut them into small pieces. Then crush them and soak them in water. Then, mix the soaked pulp with water and filter the juice. Mix 20 ml juice with an equal amount of honey. Give your child to drink this juice every morning on an empty stomach for three months period. A trial result confirmed that this Giloy preparation is an effective and safe herbal remedy for child growth. [21]
Research had proven more therapeutic benefits of this herb. Giloy could treat certain bacterial infections by enhancing the phagocytic and intracellular bactericidal activities of the immune system mediators. [22] Tuberculosis patients can get benefit from this herbal treatment. [22] Giloy has anti-tumor activity and can prevent tumor formation. [22]
Henna tree (Mehndi)
Henna body art is made by applying the henna paste to the skin is a common Indian tradition. Moreover, the leaves of the Henna tree are globally well known because of their application as a hair dye for hair. But you may not know that this henna paste is effective to prevent and treat skin infections due to its antimicrobial activity. [23, 24]
Henna is a flowering plant with 2-6m in height and can easily fit in your herbal home garden. [23] The medicinal properties of Henna leaves are also included astringent, cooling agent, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial agent for the skin and hair. [23, 24] A clinical trial result also showed that the cooling and protecting effects of Henna leaves could prevent bedsores in patients admitted to critical care units. [25, 26]
We know this skin condition is not life-threatening, but it causes discomfort. Have you experienced contact dermatitis because of an allergic reaction due to direct contact with certain substances? Red, itchy rash caused by direct contact with a substance or an allergic reaction are common symptoms of contact dermatitis. Henna leaves paste is an effective measure to alleviate these symptoms. A clinical trial showed that topical application of henna preparation in patients with contact dermatitis every night could improve skin edema, sweating, skin burning, itching, pain, and skin thinning. [27]
Phytochemicals present in Henna have cytotoxicity and chemopreventive activities. Researchers are expected that Henna may offer great hope for discovering new cancer chemotherapeutic and/or chemopreventive agents. [28]
Hibiscus (Gudhal)
Different herbal commercial preparations of calyces and leaves of Hibiscus are available in herbal medicinal shops. You can take the benefits of this herbal plant inexpensively by introducing this annual herbaceous plant in your home garden. The vivid red color flowers of this plant also beautify your herbal home garden.
Different human researches have already been conducted to check the safety and efficacy of this herbal remedy. Researchers have found promising results in a reduction of oxidative stress, blood glucose level, and high blood pressure, improvement of lipid profile, and minimizing the risk of atherosclerosis. All the research studies reported that calyces of the Hibiscus contain the most medicinal properties. [29, 30]
Herbalists are recommended hibiscus preparations for antihypertensive and lipid-lowering therapies. [29] You can prepare a Hibiscus tea bag by taking fresh Hibiscus flowers from your herbal home garden. For this, you need to separate the calyces. Then shade dries them and grounds them properly. Prepare tea bags by filling 1.25 g of ground, dried calyces of Hibiscus. Enjoy herbal Hibiscus tea by adding one tea bag in 240 mL boiled water, wait for 6 min, and then remove the bag. [31] Hypertensive patients can get very effective result to control their blood pressure level within a normal range by taking this herbal beverage thrice a day for eight weeks. But along with this, some healthy lifestyle measures like quitting smoking habits, regular exercise are also essential. [31]
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7019938/
- https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00040742
- https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01887314
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29768938/
- https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03260751
- https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article/12/12/1808/1846834
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965229918310008
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263296977_A_randomized_controlled_clinical_trial_of_Ocimum_sanctum_and_chlorhexidine_mouthwash_on_dental_plaque_and_gingival_in_ammation
- https://www.contempclindent.org/article.asp?issn=0976-237X;year=2020;volume=11;issue=1;spage=67;epage=75;aulast=Nadar
- https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03474146
- https://www.contempclindent.org/article.asp?issn=0976-237X;year=2020;volume=11;issue=1;spage=67;epage=75;aulast=Nadar
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756464618301166
- https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/894509/
- https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02681939
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2924974/
- https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jir/2017/1787803/
- http://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/showallp.php?mid1=42899%2C43374%2C43487%2C43522%2C43539%2C43553%2C43555%2C43557%2C43590%2C43665%2C43698%2C43727%2C43803%2C43892%2C43900%2C43917%2C43953%2C44013%2C44033%2C44043%2C44052%2C44055%2C44058%2C44060%2C44064&EncHid&userName=COVID-19
- https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/covid-research-green-signal-to-clinical-trial-on-4-ayurvedic-medicines-1676017-2020-05-08
- https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.23.20160424v1.full.pdf https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04542876
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292502342_A_CLINICAL_TRIAL_TO_ASSESS_THE_ANTIDIABETIC_ANTIDYSLIPIDEMIC_AND_ANTIOXIDANT_ACTIVITIES_OF_TINOSPORA_CORDIFOLIA_IN_MANAGEMENT_OF_TYPE_-_2_DIABETES_MELLITUS
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288821419_An_open_lable_clinical_study_to_evaluate_effect_of_juice_of_Tinospora_cordifolia_Linn_On_growth_of_children
- https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jir/2017/1787803/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273913/
- https://ann-clinmicrob.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-0711-12-36
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29756474/
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2515690X18772807
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32147071/
- http://www.bmrat.org/index.php/BMRAT/article/view/29/407
- https://www.elsevier.es/en-revista-endocrinologia-nutricion-english-edition–412-articulo-therapeutic-potential-hibiscus-sabdariffa-a-S2173509314000968
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ptr.6541
- https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/140/2/298/4600320