7 Healing Herbs Available in Your Kitchen

From Alter­na­tive Med­i­cine Zone

1. Gar­lic

Whether you like Asian, Ital­ian, or Latin Amer­i­can cui­sine, your love of gar­lic likely has some­thing to do with it.

And per­haps your wise pal­let likes it for its ben­e­fi­cial effects on your cho­les­terol, among other things. It is high in phy­to­chem­i­cals, which have been known to lower blood pres­sure, and may also help to reduce the risk of stroke.

Eat­ing a lot of gar­lic can lower rates of some can­cers as well (ovar­ian, col­orec­tal, etc) and colon polyps, too.

2. Turmeric

Long held as a cure for pain, this com­mon heal­ing herb con­tains a chem­i­cal known as cur­cumin has pow­er­ful anti-inflammatory effects on the body, mak­ing it a great choice for those suf­fer­ing from arthri­tis, ten­donitis, and other auto-immune conditions.

Also con­nected as a poten­tial healer of ail­ments such as Alzheimer’s dis­ease and colon can­cer, turmeric is often pre­scribed by nat­ural health prac­ti­tion­ers in doses of 400 mg there time daily (as an extract).

It is rec­om­mended that you get sup­ple­ments with at least 95 per­cent cur­cum­i­noids in order to receive the most benefit.

3. Basil

This heal­ing herb is just now begin­ning to get the recog­ni­tion it deserves as ben­e­fi­cial for things like stress.

Holy basil in par­tic­u­lar (the kind you use in pesto) con­tains com­pounds that stim­u­late adren­a­line and nora­dren­a­line pro­duc­tion, while decreas­ing serotonin—all effec­tive ways to reduce feel­ings of stress.

Oth­ers have stud­ied basil for its pos­si­ble ben­e­fits in inhibit­ing breast can­cer. And some even rec­om­mend basil essen­tial oil (in a water mix­ture) as a for­mu­la­tion for ster­il­iz­ing pro­duce nat­u­rally. It can also be used to alle­vi­ate nausea.

4. Gin­ger

Used in all kinds of cook­ing for cen­turies, gin­ger comes in many forms—powdered, fresh, can­died, minced, and more.

A clas­sic home rem­edy for nau­sea (whether you’re preg­nant or expe­ri­enc­ing motion sick­ness), gin­ger has also been impli­cated as a pow­er­ful antiox­i­dant capa­ble of ban­ish­ing free radicals.

It may also be able to help lower blood pres­sure, reduce can­cer risks, reg­u­late blood flow, relieve pain, and even ease arthritis.

5. Cin­na­mon

One of the pow­er­ful heal­ing herbs, cin­na­mon has been used for hun­dreds of years in cook­ing and home remedies.

Today, sci­en­tists are explor­ing its role in help­ing reg­u­late blood sugar in dia­bet­ics and low­er­ing cho­les­terol in heart patients.

6. Fen­nel

Get rid of per­sis­tent gas with this heal­ing herb.

Fen­nel is a great rem­edy reduc­ing diges­tive air move­ment and can be taken in many forms (extracts, cap­sules, oils) of sup­ple­ments as well as cooked into tasty dishes.

7. Rose­mary

One of the poten­tial can­cer fight­ing herbs, rose­mary is a fra­grant, savory choice for all kinds of deli­cious dishes. Cook­ing red meats at high heat can cre­ate het­e­ro­cyclic amines (HCAs) which are carcinogenic.

But pair rose­mary which has two big-name antiox­i­dants, and you could help to fight off can­cer. Rose­mary has also be sus­pected as a breast cancer-fighter.