Aloe vera

Aloe Vera Benefits

The gel from the inside of the aloe plant’s leaves is used in the United States and worldwide in cosmetics and skin treatments. Europeans use aloe as a laxative and digestion aid. The plant is a green spiny shrub that produces close to 25 leaves, forming an attractive rosette appearance.

Aloe contains a component that acts against viruses such as the flu, chickenpox, and herpes and can also kill bacteria. Aloe also stops bowels from absorbing water. This speeds the passage and volume of the bowel’s contents, resulting in a laxative effect.

Aloe Vera possesses external healing properties and speeds the healing of skin injuries such as poison ivy, ulcerations, hives, and burns. Internal healing properties result from its use as a laxative; however, use as a laxative can cause agonizing cramping. Other herbs including senna and sagrada are often used instead.

Conditions such as ulcers and diabetes have also been treated with aloe; there are no definitive clinical studies to prove aloe’s effectiveness in treating these conditions.

Ginger

Its invigorating scent, sharp flavor, and medicinal qualities have made ginger a bona fide aphrodisiac for a millennia. Ginger root is actually the underground, spreading stems of the ginger plant. It works its way through the earth, forming a large bundle of twists and turns. Small portions of these twists and turns are called “hands,” and that’s what we buy today in the grocery as fresh ginger.

Eaten straight, it tastes zippy and hot on the tongue. Cooked, it transforms into a more subtle, spicy-sweet flavor. Mixed with sugar in a ginger chew, it becomes a sticky, intense nectar. Cold ginger ale bubbles down, soothing the stomach. Hot-from-the-oven gingerbread, historically eaten by European maidens in the hopes that their gingerbread man would turn into a real husband, fills any kitchen with warmth.

Beyond the senses, ginger helps with a myriad of medical issues, calming motion sickness, alleviating migraines, and thinning the blood. The last of these issues plays the strongest role in ginger’s aphrodisiac qualities by allowing circulation to flow easily throughout all parts of our system, engorging the body’s most sensitive areas with oxygen-rich blood. And we all know what that means.

Ginger has been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine to treat problems such as vomiting, abdominal bloating, diarrhea, coughing, and rheumatism. Tibb and Ayurvedic medicine also uses ginger to treat inflammatory joint diseases including rheumatism and arthritis.

Proposed Medical Benefits of Ginger

Ginger root is used today to provide relief for symptoms of motion sickness including sweating, vomiting, dizziness, and nausea. No conclusive results were found when studies compared commercial medications with ginger. Signs of similar results between the two did seem apparent in the studies.

Ginger has other uses including relieving arthritis pain, ulcerative colitis, menstrual discomfort, headaches, fevers from flu and colds, and sore throats. Gastrointestinal problems including heartburn and gas can also be treated with ginger. The muscles of the gastrointestinal tract can be strengthened by the use of garlic. Ginger is also used to treat arthritis, both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. It is thought that garlic can also provide relief for toothaches, but no scientific evidence exists to support this.

Ginger Constituents

Volatile oils in ginger are what cause the taste, smell, and medical effectiveness. About 1-4% of ginger is oil. Ginger contains pungent constituents, shogaols and gingerols, which make it effective for relieving vomiting and nausea. Bisabolene and zingiberene are the aromatic constituents of garlic.

Dosage and Administration

For treating and preventing motion sickness, ingest 500 mg of ginger powder (dried) between 30 to 60 minutes prior to traveling. 500 mg should be taken as needed every 2 to 4 hours. Pregnant women should not use ginger for a prolonged amount of time, but can take as much as 1 gram daily to treat nausea.
source: http://www.naturalherbsguide.com/ginger.html

Garlic

Garlic is a strong natural antibiotic in chopped or chewed form. It helps reduce cholesterol and the risk of heart attacks as it prevents the forming of blood clots. Garlic also contains anti-viral properties. Use in food: season to taste. Tea: for six hours, steep six cloves in a cup of cool water.
Garlic is grown in many areas throughout the world and is considered by herbalists to be one of the most essential and useful herbs used for medicinal purposes. Various cultures have benefited from using garlic in medicines and foods for centuries.

The Miracle of Garlic

Garlic has been used for many years to prevent health problems including colds, flu, menstrual pain, high blood pressure, coughs, gastrointestinal problems, atherosclerosis, and bronchitis. Garlic has been proven to kill various fungal infections, viruses, bacteria, and intestinal parasites. Also labeled as an antioxidant, garlic may help prevent certain cancers such as colon cancer and can improve the effectiveness of the immune system.

Garlic is most popular for its effectiveness of cardiovascular wellness. Garlic is effective treating atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, respiratory infections, and triglyceride levels.

Alliin is the primary ingredient found in garlic. This chemical is similar chemically to cysteine, an amino acid containing sulfur, and possesses no odor. After garlic is crushed, alliin is to converted into allicin, the compound that gives garlic its strong smell and numerous health benefits.

Side Effects and Possible Interactions

Garlic supplements are said to have to side effects other than the strong odor.

The combination of using garlic and warfarin may result in a greater risk of bleeding. Large doses of garlic should not be ingested when using warfarin, indomethacin, dipyridamole, aspirin, or other medications that thin the blood.

Dosage and Administration

Garlic is most commonly taken daily in capsule form containing between 1000 and 3000 mg. 0.03 to 0.12 mL of garlic oil can be taken three times a day.
source: http://www.naturalherbsguide.com/garlic.html

Piper Crocatum (Sirih merah)

Piper Crocatum are climbers, and small trees from tropical regions worldwide. Ornamental Pepper plants are climbers, and they can reach 5 feet high with support . This is not an easy plant, but one which is always of great interest to plant collectors. Leaf fall is the sign that conditions are wrong. There are more than 1000 species of shrubs.

Traditionally people used decoctions of Piper crocatum (Piperaceae) in diabetic treatment. Current research results showed that Piper crocatum decoction extract contained flavonoids, tanins, and alkaloids. Ten days of daily treatment of various doses decoction extract of Piper crocatum led to reduce blood sugar level by 10-38% and prevent fall in body weight level by 5-52%. This result showed the same activity as Daonil treatment, which was the diabetic drug.