Horsetail

A plant left over from prehistoric times, horsetail, or Equisetum arvense, is a bushy native perennial that is most often found in open fields, hence its name “arvense” derived from Latin “arvum,” meaning “filed, cultivated land, plowed land.” Instead of producing flowers, the field horsetail plant has spores like its cousin, the fern. It is believed to be a descendant of a huge fernlike plant that covered the planet some 200 million years ago.

To the Romans, the horsetail was nothing but the plant to use when cleaning their pots and pans and make them nonstick, courtesy of silica present in it. Medieval people used it as a finishing for cabinets and other wood crafts.

The Plant:

The horsetail plant is widely distributed throughout the temperate climate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, including Asia, North America, and Europe. The plant is unique in that it barely has leaves with thin, gangly stems.

One variety of horsetail resembles the asparagus save for its brown color and spore-containing cones on top and typically grows in the spring. In the summer, when the plant reaches its maturity peak, it branches out into think, green, sterile stems that look like a feathery tail.

Health Benefits:

Horsetail is best known for its wound-healing properties. Decades before the first Western man came to settle in American, the natives were using horsetail as a poultice to treat open wounds and speed up the healing process. The ashes of horsetail fern stems were used by the Thompson tribe in British Columbia to treat burns. Galen, the Roman physician famous in herbal lore, recommended the plants use as a kind of folk remedy for kidney and bladder troubles. This was later on adapted by several cultures.

The main constituent found in horsetail that makes it a potent wound-healing herb is silica. The plant is rich in silicic acid and silicates, providing approximately 2-3 percent elemental silicon. These substances are easily absorbed. Because of this, they can be utilized to facilitate calcium absorption. In this regard, the plant may therefore be used to promote bone growth and collagen formation, possibly giving it anti-arthritic properties.

Other useful elements contained in the herb include potassium, aluminum, manganese, calcium, and fifteen different types of bioflavonoids. The diuretic properties of the herb are attributed to the high concentration of bioflavonoids.

Subsequent studies on horsetail as a diuretic led to the plant’s chief use as a mild diuretic. It is used as a water pill to increase urination and lessen swelling. It is also used as an herbal remedy for various bladder and kidney problems, including kidney stones and bladder infections.

Various scientists examined the plant to try to identify the compound that is responsible for its diuretic action. They discovered several compounds that appeared to promote fluid loss. These are equisetonin and flavone glycosides. The property of horsetail to promote water loss led people to believe that it can be effective as a weight loss agent. However, this claim remains unfounded.

Horsetail could also have positive effects against bed-wetting and urinary incontinence. The plant provides silica which strengthens connective tissues and reduces urinary tract irritation. Silica may also promote tissue repair and healing for people with bursitis, emphysema, and hemorrhoids.

Buying Information

The herb is available in many forms, such as fluid extracts, tea, tincture, powder, or extracts. If you take horsetail for urinary problems, be sure to get the fluid form. Also, drink lots of water so as to increase urination and potentially cure water loss.

Huperzine A

There is such as thing as acetylcholinesterase in our body. This is one of the more unloved substances which our body produces to efficiently destroy other molecules. The thing about this enzyme is that it specifically targets the molecule, acetylcholine, which is actually a versatile neurostransmitter that acts as messenger for the central and peripheral nervous systems. Having said that, acetylcholine molecule therefore serves as mediator for a host of vital functions, including many related to cognition and memory.

So why then, did Mother Nature create such an enzyme that can cut down the number of sanity-preserving acetylcholine in half? Because, as we all say, too much of a good thing can’t be good. Think too much glucose can result in diabetes. And too much television can warp your brain. That sort of thing.

The human body, like our society, is comprised of all sorts of checks and balances to keep everything in order. So we have our “good” molecules here and “bad” molecules there. The “bad” molecules will destroy the “good” molecules while other “bad” molecules will destroy the “bad” molecules that destroyed the “good” molecules… And this just goes on and on. Like a good Chinese box puzzle.

Huperzine A is badder than bad

Now there is a molecule that keeps the “bad” molecule acetylcholinesterase at bay. This molecule is called Huperzine A.

Huperzine A is actually an alkaloid found in the Chinese herb Huperzia serrata. Huperzine A specifically targets molecules that destroy the memory-enhancing neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. Because of this function, Huperzine A is therefore effective in improving cognitive and memory abilities in humans, including those with Alzheimer’s disease (Most Alzheimer’s cases exhibit a shortage of acetylcholine and an abundance of acetylcholinesterase).

In China, Huperzine A is used to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease and myasthenia gravis. Scientists have studied the effects of this alkaloid substance on the mental functions of elderly Alzheimer’s patients with successful results.

In a strictly controlled experiment rigorously designed by experts, patients with ages ranging from 52 to 80 were used as subjects. All 60 patients have one or more impaired faculties as a result of the action of acetylcholinesterase. Two groups were treated using 200 mg of synthetic Huperzine A daily in either capsules or tablets while the other group was given placebo. The experiment lasted for 60 days and afterwards, during the evaluation using an array of both psychological and physiological tests, improvement rates in both groups ranged from 43% to 70%. No statistical evidence was found that significantly marked the difference between the capsule group and the tablet group. This led the scientists to conclude that Huperzine A may have very positive effects on the cognitive aspects of the human brain.

Huperzine A is good not just for the old, geriatric people, but for the young as well. In another study designed to examine the effects of Huperzine A on the mental functions of adolescents, Chinese researchers found that the compound can enhance memory and learning in young adults.

Buying Information

Based on the results of the study, Huperzine A is superior to the drugs tacrine and donepezil, which are both acetylcholinesterase inhibitors widely prescribed for Alzheimer’s disease. There is no doubt that these two drugs are effective, however, Huperzine A is a naturally occurring substance and as everyone is wont to agree, natural substances are far better compared to synthetic ones.

Horse Chestnut

The Horse Chestnut is known by two names. Aesculus hippocastanum – the term Aescalus is derived from the Greek “esca” or food. It is used originally to describe a species of oak, which according to Pliny, was highly prized for its acorns. It is also called Hippocastanum vulgare is a translation of its common name, which was given “from its curing horses brokenwinded and other cattle of coughs.”

A native of northern and central parts of Asia, the horse chestnut is entirely different from the Sweet Chestnut tree. The resemblance of the horse chestnut to its distant cousin, the Sweet Chestnut, led some to believe that the prefix “horse” is a corruption of the Welsh “gwres” which means hot, fierce, or pungent. Thus, horse chestnut really means bitter chestnut and opposite of the mild, sweet one.’’

The Plant

The horse chestnut has a trunk that is very erect and columnar, growing rapidly to great heights. Its widely spreading branches make the horse chestnut an ideal plant for ornamental purposes. In the spring, when the flowers are in full bloom, the tree presents a beautiful sight in towns, private gardens, and in parks.

The bark of the horse chestnut is smooth with a grayish-green color. It was used before as a yellow dye. The wood, which is soft and spongy, is used not as timber but for packing cases. Horse chestnut has leave that are large and divided into five or seven leaflets. These tiny leaflets spread like fingers from the palm of the hand with serrated margins that look resemble fine teeth. All over the small branches, the horse chestnut bears curious marks resembling miniature horseshoes. This is probably where the plant got its name.

Health Benefits

In the autumn, the horse chestnut tree produces prickly fruits that contain one to three large seeds or “nuts.” Extract from these nuts were used by European doctors as early as the 1800s to help treat varicose veins, hemorrhoids, and other disorders caused by fragile veins and sluggish circulation. Today, horse chestnut ranks among the most common prescription herbal remedies, next to ginkgo biloba and St. John’s wort. It is also widely popular in Germany where it is used for its positive effects on the circulatory system.

Medical research made on the horse chestnut led to the discovery of the substance aescin present in this herb. Aescin is described as a group of chemically related substances called “escin.” It is considered as the main ingredients that lends the horse chestnut its therapeutic properties.

Aescin can reduce inflammation. It can also tone up vein walls, thus allowing blood to flow back to the heart with ease. To accomplish this, aescin is said to plug up minute holes and microscopic leaks in the tiniest blood vessels, venules, and in the capillaries so the blood will remain unobstructed as it travels towards the heart. Because of the ability of aescin to reinforce the veins, horse chestnut is said to promote vein elasticity and prevent swelling and long-term damage to them.

Buying Information

Horse chestnut supplements are available in several forms, including powder, ointment, lotion, liquid, gel, cream, and capsule. As a special tip, the standardized formulation of horse chestnut seed products is 50 mg aescin per dose. Look for this formulation in labels and buy those products with this formula.

Horehound

Horehound, or sometimes Black Horehound, emits a disagreeable odor that certainly makes it distinguishable from all other plants. The horehound bears the scientific name of Marrabium vulgare (sometimes Ballota nigra) and belongs to the Labiatae order. The horehound is indigenous to the temperate regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

A perennial, the plant is common in the wayside with stout branches, brown stems, and wrinkled leaves that resemble an egg in their shapes. Horehound is not an attractive plant, neither is its odor particularly pleasing. In fact, the smell of the whole plant borders on the offensive so that it is for the most part rejected by cattle. This is probably the basis of its name Ballota which is derived from the Greek word “ballo”, meaning “to reject.” Because of its strong smell, it is often referred to as Black Stinking Horehound.

The horehound mostly found growing near towns and villages. It has a perennial root of a woody and fibrous nature. Horehound leaves are arranged in pairs on the stem. Each pair is connected to the stem at right angles to the pair next to it. The leaves of the horehound plant have distinguished stalks with margins that are coarsely serrated. They are dull green in color with surfaces covered in soft gray hairs and conspicuous veins.

Horehound flowers are arranged in whorls that are more or less dense. They are connected to the axils of the leaves. When in bloom, they are occasionally colored white.

Health Benefits

Since the ancient times, the horehound was believed to have properties that make it an antidote for the bite of a mad dog. The Greek Dioscorides, along with some notable characters in ancient history, shared this belief. Beaumont and Fletcher referred to this plant in their poem, Faithful Shepherdess. They wrote: “This is the clote bearing a yellow flower; And this black horehound: both very good; For sheep or shepherd bitten by a wood-Dog’s venom’d tooth.”

If the Greeks believed in the horehound’s anti-mad-dog bite properties, over time however, the plant became more popular as a traditional remedy for cough. Roman physician, Galen recommended a horehound concoction as a therapy for coughs and other respiratory ailments. Following Galen’s footsteps, Nicholas Culpepper, the 17th-century English pharmacist, believed that horehound is indeed helpful for a cough. He further added that the herb can also aid in removing stubborn phlegm from the lung. This spurred several eclectic physicians in America to use the plant’s apparent medicinal value against coughs, asthma, and menstrual complaints in the 19th century.

The herb’s soothing power makes it a good alternative to cough medicine as a tea or lozenge. A kind of cough syrup may also be created by concocting the wooly leaves and white flowering tops of the horehound plant. The syrup works by stimulating phlegm or mucus production to increase output and clear the airways. Colds, bronchitis, and other minor respiratory problems often respond to horehound treatment well.

Buying Information

The active constituents of this herb include alkaloids, flavonoids, diterpenes (marrubiin), and trace of volatile oils. When shopping for horehound supplements, be sure to look for all these vital substances in the label. The recommended dosage for adults is approximately ¾ teaspoon (4.5 g) of horehound per day or 2-6 tablespoons (30-90 ml) of the pressed juice.

Hawthorn

Known by several names, the Hawthorn tree first became popular when it was used as the badge of the Ogilvies. Yet, even before that, the tree was revered as sacred as it was traditionally believed to be the tree that furnished Christ’s Crown of Thorns. A tree that commonly blooms in May, it is also sometimes referred to as “Mayblossom” or simply “May.”

England’s Henry VII used the Hawthorn bush as his device because a small crown from the helmet of Richard III was discovered hanging on it after the battle of Bosworth. This became the source of the popular saying: “Cleve to thy Crown though it hangs on a bush.”

Other names for this tree include Quick, Thorn, Whitethorn, Haw, Hazels, Gazels, Halves, Hagthorn, Ladie’s Meat, and Bread and Cheese Tree. Germans call it Hagedorn while the French bestow upon it a more noble title “L’epine noble” (The Noble Spine).

The Plant

Hawthorn is known in scientific communities as Crataegus oxyacantha. It belongs to the plant family, N.O. Rosaceae. The name of the Hawthorn plant is derived from the Greek words “kratos”, meaning hardness (of the wood), “oxcus” (sharp), and “akantha” (a thorn). From a very early period, the Germans used the Hawthorn plant to divide their land into small plots using this plant, which they call “Hagedorn” (Hedgethorn). Interestingly, the alternate name for Hawthorn is “Haw” which is an old word for “hedge.”

Hawthorn trees usually grow up to a height of 30 feet and live to a great age. Each Hawthorn blossom contains a single seed-vessel producing a separate fruits. When the fruits mature, they turn a brilliant red, making some wonder how they resemble a miniature stony apple. People of some districts call the mealy red fruits of the Hawthorn tree as Pixie Pears, Cuckoo’s Beads, and Chucky Cheese.

Carrion insects are mostly the ones that fertilize the flowers. The reason for this is that the Hawthorn blooms exude a scent that suggests of decomposition, thus attracting these insects that would normally lay their eggs and hatch out their larvae in decaying animal matter.

Health Benefits

Since the ancient times, Hawthorn has been used by the Greeks as a medicine. Herbalists used extracts from Hawthorn leaves for the treatment of heart problems such as angina, arrhythmia, and high blood pressure. Hawthorn was also used as an effective deterrent against the occurrence of a heart attack. Today, recent studies have show considerable evidence that the herb may have some positive effects for angina and heart disease.

The main constituents attributed with all the healing properties of Hawthorn are its variety of bioflavonoids and flavonoids. These include oligomeric procyanidins (OPCs), vitexin, vitexin 4’-O-rhamnoside, quercetin, and hyperoside.

Hawthorn is said to primarily affect the circulatory system, specifically the heart and blood vessels. The abundance of flavonoids and bioflavonoids in Hawthorn makes it effective in improving coronary artery blood flow and strengthening the contractions of the heart muscle.

Researchers have examined the plant and its effects on blood pressure. Results from their clinical trials have confirmed that hawthorn leaf and flower extracts are beneficial for people with early-stage heart disease.

Buying Information

The part of the Hawthorn plant used for medicinal purposes are the leaves, flowers, and berry fruits so be sure to look for all three or either of that when you buy hawthorn supplements. A normal safe dose is 80-300 mg hawthorn capsules or tablets. Traditionally, 4-5 ml tincture taken three times a day has been used.