Study the text about how certain plants can affect our health and do the exercises below.

Anna Faszcza Medicinal Plants

PharmacypharmacyPharmacy has made huge progress over the last centuries and most of the available medications are developed in pharmaceutical laboratoriespharmaceutical laboratories [pharmaceutical laboratory]pharmaceutical laboratories. However, over many centuries, the main source of medications were… plants. Medicinal plantsmedicinal plants [medicinal plant]Medicinal plants were already known in prehistoric cultures. Human settlements were often surrounded by weeds used as herbal medicineherbal medicine. Ancient peoples, such as Egyptians or Greeks, continued to discover the healing effects of plants. In the Middle Ages, medicinal plants were cultivated in herbal gardensherbal gardens [herbal garden]herbal gardens, which became famous for pharmaceutical teaspharmaceutical teas [pharmaceutical tea]pharmaceutical teas, infusionsinfusions [infusion]infusions, and tincturestinctures [tincture]tinctures. Later, scientific studies of various herbs began, which explained their effect on our health. Still, many plants known to have healing virtueshealing virtues [healing virtue]healing virtues have not yet been thoroughly studied by sciencethoroughly studied by science [thoroughly study]thoroughly studied by science.

You may be surprised to learn that many animal species have created their own pharmacies from ingredients that commonly occur in nature. Birds, bees, lizards, elephants, and chimpanzees all share one survival strategy: they self‑medicateself‑medicateself‑medicate. These animals eat things that make them feel better, or prevent disease. Even creatures with brains the size of pinheads somehow know what to ingestingestingest when they are unwell. Have you seen a dog eat grass during a walk? The dog probably has an upset stomach. The grass helps them to clear their digestive systemdigestive systemdigestive system of harmful contentharmful contentharmful content. Some lizards, in turn, are believed to respond to a bite by a venomous snake by eating a certain root to counter the venomcounter the venomcounter the venom. Also, pregnant elephants in Kenya eat the leaves of some trees to quicken the deliveryquicken the deliveryquicken the delivery. These are only a few examples of many types of animals that self‑medicate.

Many contemporary people choose to try herbal remediesherbal remedies [herbal remedy]herbal remedies these days for various reasons. Dissatisfaction with conventional treatmentconventional treatmentconventional treatment or family traditions are some of the reasons why herbal medicine is preferred as treatment. Also, using herbal food supplementsherbal food supplements [herbal food supplement]herbal food supplements has become trendy in many parts of the world. Medicinal plants have the opinion of being more eco‑friendly and having fewer dangerous side effectsdangerous side effects [dangerous side effect]dangerous side effects in comparison with conventional treatments. Still, you must remember that even the best herbal remedy will not replace the medical advice of a doctor.

There are many different ways to prepare herbs and choosing the best one depends on the condition you are treating and the therapeutic effecttherapeutic effecttherapeutic effect you are looking for. An herbal teaherbal teaherbal tea is most often used with a single herb or a mixture of herbs during an illness to help relieve symptomsrelieve symptomsrelieve symptoms. For example, ginger tea is great to sip when nauseousnauseousnauseous or when you have a cold or flu. Another way of using medicinal plants is through a herbal infusion, a large amount of herbs brewedbrewed [brew]brewed for a long time. These feed the body a high dose of vitamins and minerals as well as active ingredients of the plantactive ingredients of the plant [active ingredient of the plant]active ingredients of the plant. Finally, herbal tinctures are made by soaking plant materialsoaking plant materialsoaking plant material in alcohol to extract its medicinal propertiesextract its medicinal properties [extract medicinal  properties]extract its medicinal properties. Tinctures have a long shelf lifelong shelf lifelong shelf life and are easily absorbedeasily absorbed [easily absorb]easily absorbed by the digestive system. However, they contain small amounts of alcohol, so are not suitable for everyone.

Can herbal remedies replace conventional medicineconventional medicineconventional medicine? Many of them have not yet been thoroughly explored. Most scientific studies suggest that although medicinal plants can be effective in treating or preventing certain diseases, they may best be used as a supporting therapysupporting therapysupporting therapy. Also, in treating any condition, we should not follow the example of certain animal species described above and self‑medicate. It is best to rely on the advice of a qualified doctor who will decide which therapy is best, and prescribe the necessary medications for you to use: herbal or conventional.

1 Źródło: Anna Faszcza, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.