Herbs as a Preventative Agent and Source for Healthy Living

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Article Title:

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Herbs as a Preventative Agent and Source for Healthy Living

Article Description:

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We have all heard of herbal remedies, passed on from generation

to generation, lending healthful cures and preventative health

maintenance from the ancient East to our American cowboy. Now

through science, medicine is testing and researching the power

of herbs and finding that there just might be something to the

notion that herbs do more than look pretty, smell good, or make

tasty spices and teas.

Additional Article Information:

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632 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2006-11-03 10:24:00

Written By: Jon M. Stout

Copyright: 2006

Contact Email: mailto:jon.stout@...

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Herbs as a Preventative Agent and Source for Healthy Living

Copyright © 2006 Jon M. Stout

Golden Moon Tea

http://www.GoldenMoonTea.com

We have all heard of herbal remedies, passed on from generation

to generation, lending healthful cures and preventative health

maintenance from the ancient East to our American cowboy. Now

through science, medicine is testing and researching the power of

herbs and finding that there just might be something to the

notion that herbs do more than look pretty, smell good, or make

tasty spices and teas.

For as long as man has been getting sick, old, or even imbibed

too much, we have been looking for a cure for our ills.

Frequently, before formal medicine as we know it today, herbs

played a major role in aiding our ills and soothing our pains.

Herbs have played a prominent role in nearly every culture to

prolong life, heal the sick, or even prevent sickness. During The

Middle Ages, numerous herbs, including garlic, were used to ward

off demons, vampires, and The Plague. Science can provide some

evidence demonstrating the use of garlic to potentially ward off

The Plague.

Recently, herbs have enjoyed resurgence in popularity. As most of

us have become more health conscious, we have realized the

drawbacks to relying solely on anti-biotic remedies to cure the

flu, common colds, and most basic illnesses. We have started to

look more seriously at older remedies that have been around for

centuries for cures for everything from the common cold to

arthritis. Modern science and medicine are now putting many of

those supposed cures to the test, examining everything from wound

healing poultices to depression remedies.

At the Division of Basic Research at the South Carolina Cancer

Center in Columbia, South Carolina, this research has been taken

to a new level. Not only are they examining whether herbal

remedies might work, they are also looking at issues related to

safety, dosages, and the possible interactions herbs might have

with traditional medicine prescriptions.

In addition to their effectiveness, researchers are looking to

see if herbs possess some benefit over and above allopathic

medicine. They also are looking to see if herbal " remedies " allow

individuals to control their medicinal decisions and thus possess

more control over their choices of treatment and remedy. The use

of herbs, both in remedies and in dietary supplements, has raised

many questions.

Are herbal remedies safe? Can an herbal remedy be abused to the

point of addiction or ineffectiveness? Most importantly, do they

interact with pharmaceutical medications, and if they do, is the

interaction positive or negative?

The best example of why research is needed has to do with the

efficacy and interaction resulting from the regular use of St.

's Wort. St. 's Wort is a mild herbal antidepressant

which is well-tolerated by many patients. While effective, it has

been proven to have an effect on some common medications.

For instance, St. 's Wort can induce the CYP3A family of

activation enzymes through which approximately 50% of drugs are

metabolized. This type of interaction can create a risk by

reducing the half life of such drugs as Indinavir, Cyclosporin

and Cyclophosphamide, thus causing these drugs to less effective

Interactions such as this, however, are not all negative.

In some cases, herbal products might create a pathway that

replicates pharmaceuticals, but do not possess any negative side

effects. As an example, several natural anti-inflammatory

compounds found in herbs like green tea, turmeric, rosemary,

feverfew, and others do not possess the risk that some

nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are supposed to

possess. Natural remedies might alleviate the reliance on these

types of pharmaceuticals, and thus reduce the potential of

causing several types of cancers.

Additional study into these facts and findings is needed. The

Division of Basic Research is dedicated to examining both sides

of the issue. More research might, in fact, prove to us that what

the ancients have known all along.

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Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company.

Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox

teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme

care. At their website, you can learn more about their current

tea offerings, including their exceptional green tea

(http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea), white tea, black

tea, oolong tea (also known as wu-long and wu long tea -

http://www.goldenmoontea.com/wu-long) and chai. Visit

http://www.goldenmoontea.com for all details concerning

the Golden Moon Tea Company's fine line of teas.