Back in ancient history, people turned their faces to nature, observing nature’s laws and studying its healing power. It was a journey that began to bear fruit. The effect of plants, fruits, minerals, and domestic products on treating certain diseases was studied. Thus a special branch of medicine was created. Today, scientific medicine has already gone a long way in finding cures. A large part of the medical profession is dedicated to studying medicinal herbs, their impact on our body, disease, and the creation of good medicine for our body. There is a general balance all around us, and so is the balance of disease and herbs. All diseases, even the most severe ones, which we consider to be incurable, have a cure in nature, that is, in medicinal herbs. The fact is that you need to know which medicinal plant is most successful in treating certain diseases because each plant has its own specific medicinal properties. Also, by mixing plants and their parts (such as leaf, flower, root, etc.) and their properties in certain quantities, we get drugs for many diseases.
Parts of plants
Name: Root
Latin name: Radix
It is the underground part of the plant by which the plant is attached to the ground. Plants are used to receive food from the soil. It may be shaggy and threadlike, its main parts thicker and fleshy, and its ends thin and tender. The root can also be woody. The thicker parts of the root contain larger amounts of substances, such as carbohydrates in the form of sugar, which in most cases gives it a sweet taste. Many medicinal plants have active substances in the root, so it is harvested and used to make medicines because of this property.
Name: Tuberous
Latin name: Tuber
It is also the underground part of the plant. It is mostly round in shape, fleshy and juicy in structure. Tubers generally contain a lot of carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. These properties give it great nutritional value.
Name: Bulb
Latin name: Bulbus
It is an underground part of the plant that is short round in shape and can also be oblong, containing leaves that are compact and fleshy. They contain stored reserve nutrients and a wide variety of other substances. For example, red onion has such an underground part and is also considered to contain medicinal properties.
Name: Rhizome
Latin name: Rhizoma
It is the underground part of the plant that resembles the aboveground part. It often develops shell-shaped leaves that are not the usual green color. Sometimes, leaves on the aboveground part; can be simple in shape and branching. It lasts for several years and grows in one direction or several directions.
Name: Stem
Latin name: Caulis
That part of the plant carries leaves and flowers. It consists of two parts: underground and aboveground. The underground part differs from the root in that it has left. The above-ground part grows upright and in two forms: the herbaceous form and the woody form. There are two types of annual and perennial stems. They do not have many medicinal properties, so they are not harvested much for medicinal purposes.
Name: bark
Latin name: Cortex
The bark is the outer shell of the tree. It consists of several layers, the outer part, and the inner part. The outer part is firm, rough, cracked, and darker. The inner part is much softer and brighter with living cells that contain many organic compounds, and because of this property, we often use them for medicinal purposes.
Name: Flower
Latin name: Flos
They have very complex shapes. They serve for plant propagation. They reproduce by pollination by wind and insects. The flowers are of various colors, shapes, and parts. They contain anthers and a pistil with seed embryos. They contain many medicinal properties, so we use them for medicinal purposes. You should take them carefully because they are delicate.
Name: Fruit
Latin name: Fructus
The flower produces a fruit, which is fertilizing a plant. There is great variety among the flowers and even greater among the fruits. In the fruits, the plant stores various substances that contain medicinal properties or are poisonous. The fruits are often used for medicinal purposes.
Preparation of teas
Tea is prepared from a selected medicinal plant or mixture of plants, which is properly ground. Larger fruits, peels, and roots must be finely chopped or pounded before making the mixture. All medicinal herbs selected for tea, must be mixed well so that the mixture acquires an equal, homogeneous appearance. The mixture must not be crushed so that it turns into a powder. If this powder is still found in the mixture, it must be removed by sowing. The tea is prepared by taking clean porcelain or enameled vessel, which is rinsed with boiling water, a certain quantity of medicinal herbs is placed in it, and this is poured over with boiling water. The amount of water depends on the number of herbs. Then cover the dish with a clean linen towel and leave it in a warm place for 10-20 minutes. The strength of the tea also depends on the length of the stand. Tea is seldom brewed, and only those mixtures consist of medicinal plants’ bark and roots. Mixtures composed of various bark, roots, plant fruits, especially if dried, need to be finely chopped and placed in cold water to soften the ingredients. They stand like this for 6-8 hours, and then they are boiled and drained in that water. Each tea should be used for at least 5-6 weeks.
Pregnant women beware!
Pregnant women should not use and consume herbs during pregnancy. The reason is straightforward. Some herbs can increase the risk of miscarriage. These are just some of the herbs we will list, and we recommend that you do not consume them during pregnancy:
Barberry root bark
Cousin
Blueberries
Fine mint
Vinobojku
Rutvica
Menu
Fragrant wormwood
Vratić
Tuju
Common wormwood
Pear balm
Krasuljica
Hawthorn fruit
Mountain mint
Bud
Our Lady’s grass
On another note, it is very wise not to overdo it with celery and parsley. In smaller quantities, it will not harm but will help. It is important not to overdo it.
