Herbal remedies using Rosella

Herbal remedies using Rosella (Hibiscus sabdariffa)

Also known as roselle, Jamaica sorrel and karkadé

The use of herbal remedies, including the herb rosella (roselle, Jamaica sorrel, karkadé), classified as Hibiscus sabdariffa, are popular as an alternative to standard Western allopathic medicine for a variety of problems, including proper kidney functioning, clearing up mucus and opening a blocked nose.

Hibiscus sabdariffa is an effective remedy for various ailments, and this natural holistic approach to health is becoming more and more popular, but should NOT replace conventional medicine or prescription drugs.

rosella, Hibiscus sabdariffa, outer leaves of the Hibiscus (also known as Natal sorrel) flower (calyxes - calyces)

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Rosella is used for

Which part of rosella is used

Making herbal tea

Warnings

Other infusions and herbal index
Hibiscus sabdariffa

Rosella is also known as Hibiscus sabdariffa, and has certain therapeutic properties and the reported benefits of using it internally, in the form of a herbal tea (infusion) are listed below.
Rosella is used for the following roselle, Jamaica sorrel or karkadé, Hibiscus sabdariffa, rosella

Hibiscus sabdariffa benefits:

* soothes colds
* opens blocked nose
* clears up mucous
* astringent
* promotes proper kidney function
* helps digestion
* general tonic
* diuretic
* helps reduce fever

Which part to use for rosella herbal tea soothes colds

The outer leaves of the Hibiscus flower (also known as Natal sorrel) (calyxes - calyces) are used for making the brew.
Making herbal tea promotes proper kidney function

The standard way to make an infusion, unless otherwise specified, is to pour a cup of boiling water over the material to be infused, let it stand for 5 minutes, strain it, and drink it.

* Fresh plant material
o When the recipe refers to fresh plant material to be used, a 1/4 cup fresh material is used, following the method above.
* Dried material
o When the recipe refers to using dried material, use 2 teaspoons of material when making it.
* Bark or seeds
o Should the recipe call for bark or seeds to be used, use 2 teaspoons of seeds or 1 tablespoon of bark.
* Sweetening your infusion
o You could sweeten your health drink with honey, should you so require, and a dash of fresh lemon juice may also enhance the taste.

General warning when using herbal infusions Hibiscus sabdariffa

* Only use the herbal material if you are 100% sure that it really the herb in question.
* If you are ill or have any health concerns, consult your health practitioner.
* Do not continuously drink the same infusion. At maximum use for 10 days and then skip 5 days.
* Only have one cup of herbal infusion per day, except during acute periods - such as when you have a cold or flu, you can then have it three times a day, but for a maximum of 4 days.
* When you use herbal remedies, be aware that they can be extremely powerful, and should you have any side effects when taking these infusions, immediately stop using the herb and consult your health practitioner right away.

Herbalism

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy. Sometimes the scope of herbal medicine is extended to include fungi and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts.

Many plants synthesize substances that are useful to the maintenance of health in humans and other animals. These include aromatic substances, most of which are phenols or their oxygen-substituted derivatives such as tannins. Many are secondary metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated — a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total. In many cases, these substances (particularly the alkaloids) serve as plant defense mechanisms against predation by microorganisms, insects, and herbivores. Many of the herbs and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.^[1][2]

[edit] Anthropology of herbalism

People on all continents have used hundreds to thousands of indigenous plants for treatment of ailments since prehistoric times.The first generally accepted use of plants as healing agents was depicted in the cave paintings discovered in the Lascaux caves in France, which have been radiocarbon-dated to between 13,000-25,000 BC. Medicinal herbs were found in the personal effects of an Ice man, whose body was frozen in the Swiss Alps for more than 5,300 years, which appear to have been used to treat the parasites found in his intestines. Anthropology or Anthropologists theorize that animals evolved a tendency to seek out bitter plant parts in response to illness.

[edit] Herbs in history

Borage from Project Gutenberg EBook of Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses, by M. G. Kains

In the written record, the study of herbs dates back over 5,000 years to the Sumerians, who described well-established medicinal uses for such plants as laurel, caraway, and thyme. Ancient Egyptian medicine of 1000 B.C. are known to have used garlic, opium, castor oil, coriander, mint, indigo, and other herbs for medicine and the Old Testament also mentions herb use and cultivation, including mandrake, vetch, caraway, wheat, barley, and rye.

Indian Ayurveda medicine has been using herbs such as turmeric and curcumin possibly as early as 1900 B.C.^[3] Many other herbs and minerals used in Ayurveda were later described by ancient Indian herbalists such as Charaka and Sushruta during the 1st millenium BC. The Sushruta Samhita attributed to Sushruta in the 6th century BC describes 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources, and 57 preparations based on animal sources.^[4]

The first Chinese herbal book, the Shennong Bencao Jing, compiled during the Han Dynasty but dating back to a much earlier date, possibly 2700 B.C., lists 365 medicinal plants and their uses - including ma-Huang, the shrub that introduced the drug ephedrine to modern medicine. Succeeding generations augmented on the Shennong Bencao Jing, as in the Yaoxing Lun (Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Herbs), a 7th century Tang Dynasty treatise on herbal medicine.

The ancient Greeks and Romans made medicinal use of plants. Greek and Roman medicinal practices, as preserved in the writings of Hippocrates and - especially - Galen, provided the patterns for later western medicine. Hippocrates advocated the use of a few simple herbal drugs - along with fresh air, rest, and proper diet. Galen, on the other had, recommended large doses of drug mixtures - including plant, animal, and mineral ingredients. The Greek physician compiled the first European treatise on the properties and uses of medicinal plants, De Materia Medica. In the first century AD, Dioscorides wrote a compendium of more than 500 plants that remained an authoritative reference into the 17th century. Similarly important for herbalists and botanists of later centuries was the Greek book that founded the science of botany, Theophrastus’ Historia Plantarum, written in the fourth century B.C.