Spearmint - An Aromatic, Flavoursome, Multi-purpose Health Enhancing Natural Remedy

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is a very versatile plant originating from Europe. It’s common name comes from the shape of the leaves, having a likeness to a spear; seems logical don’t you think?

Spearmint is added into many products for its pleasant taste and aroma. Some of the most important health benefits of spearmint and spearmint tea include its ability to improve digestion, boost respiratory health, optimize hormonal levels, relieve stress, increase circulation, maximize heart health and protect the integrity and strength of the immune system.

The active compounds of Spearmint provide menthol and flavournoids that make it very useful and sought after for essential oils.

Spearmint has many similar uses to that of Peppermint such as for digestion, as a wind-dispeller (flatulence) and gastric problems.
Beyond its uses as mentioned, Spearmint has a wide range of other uses including to flavour sweets, cocktails, drinks, toothpastes and other hygiene products, essential oils and numerous other beauty products such as soaps, shampoos and body scrubs. Spearmint can also be useful gallbladder issues and symptoms of IBS, for toothaches, as a painkiller and for its anti-spasmodic properties.

To experience the many benefits that this multi-purpose herb can provide, visit our Secure Online Store at https://theherbshed.com.au/products/spearmint-organic


Botanical Name: Mentha spicata


Status: Organic


Actions: Spearmint aids digestion, boosts respiratory health, helps to relieve stress, increases circulation, improves heart health and immune system, a local pain killer and anti-spasmodic

All information on this site is for informational purposes only. We do stress that you should do your own research, or talk with your health professional if you suffer from an existing health condition, or if you are on other medication, prior to consumption of our products.

Comfrey – An All Natural Remedy For Healing Wounds and Inflammation

Comfrey is a native plant of Europe and Asia. The plant grows quickly and exhibits broad hairy leaves and generally rich purple coloured flowers. 

For many centuries, Comfrey has been used as a traditional herbal remedy applied externally as poultices, compresses or creams for both superficial and deep wounds.

More recently it has found favour as an essential oil for rubbing into the skin for scaring, inflammation, ulcers and muscle injuries.

Comfrey contains a chemical called allantoin, which speeds up cell division, so that anything from a graze to a bone fracture will heal more quickly. Comfrey can be combined with Calendula for its anti-infective actions giving an all-purpose first-aid treatment for any injury. Comfrey is also excellent for longer-term problems like leg ulcers.
When Comfrey is taken internally, it get to work on oesophagitis (inflammation of the oesophagus) and peptic ulcers, bowel inflammation and piles. Its cooling and soothing properties also help with chronic bronchitis and irritable coughs.

Culinary                                    

Comfrey leaves can be cooked and eaten, and are very useful for vegans as they contain significant amounts of vitamin B12, which otherwise is uncommon in foods not derived from animal sources.

Other Uses
Comfrey is sometimes grown as a green manure to be turned into the soil or added to compost, for both its mineral content also as it rots down readily helping other compost materials to decompose more quickly. It is also used in animal fodder for its mineral and vitamin content.

Add Comfrey to your herbal medicine cabinet for an effective remedy for wound healing, inflammation, for soothing the skin and for its essential minerals. 

Check out the Herb Shed for your Comfrey Leaf today.
 
Botanical Name: Symphytum Officinale

Status: Wild-crafted

Actions: wound healer, anti-inflammatory, cooling and soothing, high in vitamin B12

Contraindications: The root contains certain chemicals, which some studies on rats and mice suggest may that it may cause liver damage


All information on this site is for informational purposes only. We do stress that you should do your own research, or talk with your health professional if you suffer from an existing health condition, or if you are on other medication, prior to consumption of our products.

Devil's Claw - Effective for Pain and Inflammatory Problems

Devil's Claw gets its unusual name from the appearance of the fruit it grows, which resemble claws. Its other common names also include Grapple Plant and Wood Spider.

 
This special plant is native to the African Continent and uses its "claws or hooks" to attach itself to animals as they pass by, so it can transport and spread its seeds far across the wide open plains.

Devil’s Claw has been used traditionally by native African’s as a folk remedy for digestion problems, to help reduce fever, as a blood cleanser, and also as an analgesic for pain sufferers.
The first noted uses of Devil’s Claw within the Western World seems to have been around the early to mid 1900’s, where it was used to relieve conditions such as heartburn, loss of appetite, and to help alleviate pain and inflammation.
Devil's Claw is a good friend to us also in modern times and has many medicinal or remedial uses, helping us to effectively relieve arthritis, lower back, knee and hip pain. Devil’s Claw is also used to treat a number of ailments including gout, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis, bursitis, migraine headaches, loss of appetite and digestive disorders. It is also used if hardening of the arteries exists.
Devil's Claw is also used in difficulties of childbirth, menstrual problems, allergic reactions, and also kidney and bladder disease.
Devil's claw is approved as a non-prescription medicine in Germany by the German Commission E, who is an expert panel of pharmacists and physicians who provide advice to Germany's counterpart equivalent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Devils’ Claw comes in many forms from granulated to add to herbal teas, powders to add to healthy drinks such as smoothies, as an essential ingredient added into tinctures and to many other health supplements including tablet form.







Botanical Name: Harpagophytum Procumbens

Actions: Anti-inflammatory, pain reliever, digestive tonic, assists with fighting kidney and bladder disease

Status: Wild-crafted

If you are looking for an alternative, natural pain reliever and anti-inflammatory for your gout, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis, bursitis, etc then we have it right here at The Herb Shed. 

Click here to purchase today https://theherbshed.com.au/products/devils-claw-root
 
All information on this site is for informational purposes only. We do stress that you should do your own research, or talk with your health professional if you suffer from an existing health condition, or if you are on other medication, prior to consumption of our products.

The Spiritual Sacred Lotus Flower - Hypnotic, Calming and Relaxing

The Sacred Lotus, also referred to as Indian Lotus, Bean of India, or simply just Lotus, is one of two variants of aquatic plant in the Nelumbonaceae family group. 

This plant is an aquatic perennial. Under beneficial conditions the seeds can stay viable for quite some time, with the longest-existing documented lotus germination being from that of seeds 1300 years old retrieved from a dried up lake-bed in north eastern China.
The Sacred Lotus is indigenous to Tropical parts of Asia and also Queensland, Australia where it tends to be nurtured in water gardens. It is additionally the national flower of India and Vietnam.

Lotuses are typically presented in white as well as pink colours and develop in shallow, sometimes murky waters. Lotus blossoms relish warm sunlight and are intolerant to cold temperatures; for this reason the Lotus is not observed blossoming in the winter months. The floating leaves of Lotus blossoms possess lengthy stems, which contain air pockets designed to help them to sustain their buoyancy.

The Sacred Lotus possesses natural substances that offer it numerous healing properties, to both the body as well as the mind.
The blossoms of the lotus flower possess a variety of effects. For instance being hypnotic, and also calming, as well as to help relax the nerves and the muscles. Restlessness and nervousness, as well as depressive disorders have been addressed traditionally utilizing the seeds, blossoms and also leaves of the Sacred Lotus. There are many reported pharmacologic researches of sacred lotus, which include its antioxidant, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, anti-infective, hyperlipidemic, as well as psychopharmacologic actions. 

The Sacred Lotus continues to be placed in high esteem medicinally, in regions in which it has been extensively grown and utilized for numerous ailments. 

Apart from the consumption of the plant for foods and to support overall wellness, the lotus is also formulated as a flower essence, much like the Bach Flower Remedies.
Lotus essence continues to be well respected as an elixir for any ailment, acquiring a positive impact on the overall body. Lotus is believed to produce better assimilation of other natural herbs and herbal remedies, as well as an enhanced response to any kind of healing. The essence is utilized to assist in energising the heart, liver, spleen, kidneys as well as intestines, for tissues and skin cells rejuvenation, to curb the aging process, and is utilized as an over-all cleanser for the whole body system. 

Lotus is furthermore believed to help increase creative abilities and mind powers, as well as promote a sense of ease and peacefulness.

Below are extracts from other respected websites: 

http://www.lotussculpture.com/my_articles_lotus.html

The Lotus Flower, Hindu God's Favourite Flower

Both in worship and in portrayals of the divine, Hindus are infatuated with lotus flowers. The very name of the Hindu worship ritual, puja, can be translated as "flower act."

The lotus is the foremost symbol of beauty, prosperity and fertility. According to Hinduism, within each human is the spirit of the sacred lotus. It represents eternity, purity, divinity, and is widely used as a symbol of life, fertility, ever-renewing youth. The lotus is used to describe feminine beauty, especially female eyes.

One of the most common metaphysical analogies compares the lotus' perennial rise to faultless beauty from a miry environment to the evolution of consciousness, from instinctive impulses to spiritual liberation.

In the Bhagavad Gita, a human is adjured to be like the lotus; they should work without attachment, dedicating their actions to God, untouched by sin like water on a lotus leaf, like a beautiful flower standing high above the mud and water.

In the postures of hatha yoga, the lotus position, padmasana, is adopted by those striving to reach the highest level of consciousness, which itself is found in the thousand-petalled lotus chakra at the top of the head.

For Buddhists, the lotus flower symbolizes the most exalted state of human; head held high, pure and undefiled in the sun, feet rooted in the world of experience.

There is a story that the lotus arose from the navel of God Vishnu, and at the center of the flower sat Brahma. Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Protector) and Siva (the Merger) are associated with this plant. There are also accounts of the world born through a "Golden Lotus" and Padmakalpa, the Lotus Age in the Padmapurana (678 ce).

Extract from the website: http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflowers/exoticflowers/lotus

Some facts about Sacred Lotus:

• The Lotus is a sacred flower for Buddhists.
• The Lotus flower is quoted extensively in Puranic and Vedic literature.
• The Lotus is one of the eight auspicious signs of Buddhism - an eight petalled lotus used in Buddhist mandalas symbolizes cosmic harmony, a thousand petalled Lotus, spiritual illumination. A bud symbolizes potential. The well-known Buddhist mantra, "Om mane padme," refers to the jewel in the lotus, enlightenment.
• In Egyptian mythology, the Lotus is associated with the sun, because it bloomed by day and closed by night. The Lotus is even believed to have given birth to the sun.
• The roots of the Lotus are planted in the soil of the pond or river bottom, while the leaves float on top of the water surface. The Lotus flowers are usually found on thick stems rising several centimeters above the water.
• The Lotus flowers, seeds, young leaves and rhizomes are all edible. In Asia, the petals are sometimes used for garnish, while the large leaves are used as a wrap for food.
• Various parts of the sacred Lotus are also used in traditional Asian herbal medicine.
• The Lotus fruits are a conical pod with seeds contained in holes in the pod. Nucifera means having hard fruit. When the seeds are ripe, they become loose in the pod. The pod then tips down towards the water, releasing the seeds.
• When the Lotus flower's petals fall, they are replaced by a flat-topped seed pod divided into compartments, resembling a wasp's hive.
• The tender seeds are munched happily in north-east India.
• The Lotus stem is eaten almost in all parts of India, and pickled too.
• Nelumbium luteum is the American Lotus, with pale, small flowers.
• The Indian or Chinese Lotus, nelumbium nelumbo, usually has pink flowers although white, rose and double varieties are available. 

Sacred Lotus Flower in dried form can be obtained from The Herb Shed

Botanical Name: Nelumbo nucifera

Status: Wild-crafted

Contraindications: Avoid use if hypersensitivity exists to any constituents of sacred lotus.

Adverse Reactions: Due to potential drug interactions, sacred lotus should be used cautiously by patients being treated for diabetes, high cholesterol, psychiatric or cardiac conditions, or erectile dysfunction.

All information on this site is for informational purposes only. We do stress that you should do your own research, or talk with your health professional if you suffer from an existing health condition, or if you are on other medication, prior to consumption of our products.