In this post, we will tell 20 healing herbs with their benefits.
Frankincense
Also used as an essential oil and that is frankincense. Frankincense contains compounds such as alpha-pinene, which have anti-inflammatory properties but also they can pass through the blood-brain barrier, and really help calm the brain there as well.
So there’s some great research on frankincense oil in fighting cancer, there’s some great research in frankincense the powder and the oil reducing inflammation. And frankincense powder is actually very high in something called boswellic acid, which again is really good for the joints and reducing inflammation.
Frankincense oil itself acts more not as much on the joints but more on the brain itself affecting really overall and improving overall brain health. So frankincense is even good for depression, anxiety, and also for balancing out immune responses in the body. So if somebody has an autoimmune-like condition, frankincense is one of the most powerful supplements or essential oils that somebody could use.
Turmeric
The research on turmeric is just staggering. We’re talking about over 10,000 studies on turmeric alone, and its active compound called curcumin. And we know that turmeric is probably the king of reducing inflammation in terms of herbs.
So again, if you’re struggling with arthritis and joint pain, or in fact even cancer, turmeric and curcumin have great studies, but it’s a great supplement to take. I typically recommend about a thousand milligrams, two times daily of turmeric powder. Taking that in supplement form, mixing it with a bone broth protein is great to do as well, or taking a bone broth protein turmeric supplement can be a good choice.
Along with that I would mention taking turmeric essential oil. Turmeric oil actually isn’t as high in curcumin but is very, very high in something called turmerone which has been shown to help support your body and healthy stem cell production.
So again, turmeric, one of the most powerful herbs there on the planet especially when it comes to inflammatory conditions.
Ashwagandha
Now, this is the best herb for any male or female struggling with thyroid issues. If you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, hypothyroidism, or even Graves disease, or hyperthyroidism, ashwagandha is probably the main herb.
The great thing is it is an adaptogenic herb and helps support your body in balancing out thyroid hormones and cortisol at the same time. So really a transformational herb when it comes to the overall health of your thyroid, your adrenals, and just, in general, your overall hormonal levels. And so again, taking an ashwagandha is one of the most powerful herbs for any of those issues.
Cilantro
Now cilantro is known for its ability to support detoxification and specifically potentially help your body eliminate different heavy metals such as arsenic, and lead, and mercury that can build up within our tissues.
It is also a little bit more of a bitter herb and it tends to support again liver detoxification, it’s also somewhat, again I mentioned bitter so it’s good for even getting rid of things like candida from the body and excess fluid and edema. But again, cilantro is one of the best foods somebody can consume on a regular basis especially when it comes to detoxification.
Vitex
This is the herb that’s probably the most beneficial for women specifically and in its vitex. And it really helps bring into balance those estrogen levels. Estrogen levels, especially in young women, can get too high, what that does is that keeps progesterone low and can cause issues such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome known as PCOS, it can cause infertility issues or very severe PMS symptoms if somebody has too high of estrogen and too low of levels of progesterone.
So vitex, especially for women that fall in those categories, is probably the most powerful herbal supplement used within Chinese medicine for treating every one of those conditions.
Lavender
And I’m specifically here talking about lavender essential oil. Lavender oil is all things calming to the body, and to the skin, and to the nerve system.
Lavender oil contains compounds like linalool and linalyl acetate which have been shown to work with the nerve system to lower cortisol levels and help your body relax.
What I would recommend you do is buy a diffuser and add some lavender oil to that, and defuse it by your bed at night or your work desk, you do a few drops like two to four drops, rub it on your temples and then your upper part of your neck. And the other option is to do a healing bath with it. Several drops, about 20 drops of lavender oil in a bath with Epsom salts which are high in magnesium is really great for unwinding, relaxing, and helping rejuvenate the body.
It can also good for cuts, and scrapes, with kids or adults, and burns. So again, many use there for lavender.
Milk thistle
Now, dandelion is also very strong, but dandelion should typically only be used in the springtime. It really shouldn’t be used about nine months of the year or very often. Milk thistle though is one that you can use much more often, and it contains silymarin which is a very powerful compound that actually protects the liver against radiation damage or the body, and also even supports liver regeneration.
If you’ve had toxic exposure whether you’re a man or woman, milk thistle is great especially again if you know you’ve been exposed to any type of toxins.
Cayenne pepper
Now, cayenne pepper contains a compound called capsaicin. And cayenne is very powerful opening up the arteries. In fact, talking about incredible for your metabolism, if you really want to boost your metabolism doing cayenne pepper and other hot peppers like serrano pepper, is really good for igniting your metabolism, increasing something in the body called thermogenesis which supports fat burning. So cayenne is great for that.
It’s also great again for increasing circulation throughout the body. So if you’re a person that gets cold extremities and, or you have a cold or flu cayenne pepper or cayenne and ginger together really powerful at supporting circulation and warming the body internally, helping you fight a cold or flu, supporting fighting heart disease, and also supporting weight loss.
Astragalus
Now, this herb is renowned in Chinese medicine, and it’s known to support your spleen in Chinese medicine. And the spleen in Chinese medicine is known for holding things together so, your blood cells it helps hold those together or even your stool, if somebody has loose stool rather than a well-formed stool it can be because of the combination of the spleen along with your pancreas isn’t functioning properly or it’s worn down and it’s exhausted and it has too much stress on that organ.
Astragalus can really help reduce dampness in the body, and really help support the spleen and tonifying and strengthening it helping with healthier bowel movements, helping with your red blood cell production. So astragalus, many benefits there used in Chinese medicine. It’s also an adaptogenic herb. But if you have any type of digestive issues, or immune-related issues, or both, astragalus is definitely a go-to herb you want to check out.
Thyme
Now, thyme oil or thyme itself is very high in a compound aptly named thymol. So thymol which really is one of the most powerful antibiotics in nature. So if somebody is struggling with something that typically a doctor might prescribe a synthetic antibiotic for, well thyme or thymol that compound acts as a natural antibiotic. Very similar to oregano which has carvacrol, thyme has thymol. And thymol is going to help kill off parasites, bad bacteria, and funguses within your body.
And the other thing about thyme that’s great is that it’s actually pro progesterone. Thyme and clove both are, to where we mentioned earlier vitex actually helps balance out the estrogen. Well, thyme can actually help balance out progesterone levels to a degree or has some pro progesterone properties.
Sage
Now I would say of all of the things on this list, sage is probably the most powerful essential oil in terms of its ability to naturally balance hormones. So if you’re a person right now watching this and you’ve got hormone imbalance, maybe it’s PCOS, or severe PMS symptoms, or fertility like issues, I would consider doing a combination of vitex and sage together or doing both of those.
So sage we know, very powerful at balancing out those estrogen and progesterone levels both. And you can take sage as a tea, drinking sage tea daily or do clary sage essential oil topically. Both are great to use.
Garlic
Now garlic contains a compound called allicin, which has antifungal properties. So we know garlic is very good for supporting heart health and very good for fighting the cold and flu.
Also, it contains high levels of sulfur which is actually really good for your skin, hair, and nails, and just overall your immune system. So garlic’s an herb you may want to add in your diet.
Myrrh
And I know frankincense gets a lot of press, but I will tell you that myrrh oil might be just as powerful if not more powerful in many categories.
There was a study done where they put myrrh essential oil and frankincense oil head-to-head battle on which one was more powerful at fighting cancer. And you know which one won? Myrrh oil won. It was actually more powerful.
Now there are many species of frankincense, I believe potentially the most powerful frankincense oil at fighting cancer is frankincense.
So again another great hormone balancer here is myrrh. Myrrh is also good for gums and gingivitis. So if you have any bleeding gums at all, do a drop of myrrh oil and actually rub it on your teeth or add a drop to your toothpaste to brush your teeth with it is a great thing to do.
Myrrh oil, in fact in the Bible is referenced Queen Esther did six months of beauty treatments with floral oils and myrrh, it was part of the holy anointing oil. And myrrh has very anti-dampening properties, so using myrrh is also excellent at fighting candida and dampness in the body. So if you have a white coating on your tongue, you absolutely want to use myrrh. You could just rub a single drop on your tongue and swish around and then spit the water out, is a great way to sort of get rid of yeast and thrush long-term.
Echinacea
Echinacea has been shown to cut down cold and flu time by 1.5 days. And it really has very powerful antiviral properties so, if you’re struggling with a viral infection of any type, echinacea is powerful.
In fact, even a lot of endurance athletes now are using echinacea mixed with beetroot juice to improve their stamina as well as other things such as reishi and Rhodiola, is a really good combination for increasing your endurance.
Holy basil
Holy basil here is a really incredible adaptogenic herb. Now, this is revered and Ayurvedic medicine out of India, and holy basil’s also known as Tulsi. And I would say anybody here who’s looking to balance hormones, overcome thyroid issues, or adrenal stress, this is found in many adrenal formulas.
If somebody’s looking at overcoming adrenal fatigue, holy basil is great, drink it as a tea on a regular basis. Definitely, an herb that I recommend.
Licorice
Here in the United States people tend to think of licorice as like mixed with molasses and some wheat powder and the licorice sticks. But licorice root was used in Chinese medicine especially for stomach ailments, and for adrenal ailments. So if somebody had a combination of major fatigue that was coupled with a digestive issue, licorice root was really the go-to adaptogen to use for those different conditions.
You will see most adrenal formulas today contain licorice as part of the formula. So again licorice root, really good for stomach and adrenals, and any type of ulcer. If you ever get a canker sore what you want to do is you want to buy licorice root capsules, open them up and actually rub licorice root and keep it right on that ulcer, right on that canker sore because of its antiviral properties. You could also do like a little drop of thyme oil on that area as well.
Citrus Peel
The citrus peel which is found in lemon essential oil, bergamot oil, orange or neroli oil, or just lemon peel in general, has a lot of bitter properties and so it’s going to dry up candida.
And also support the digestion of fats. So if you have any gallbladder related issues or digestive issues, doing digestive bitters, or a citrus peel, or citrus oil is going to really help gallbladder and lymphatic drainage both.
Cinnamon
Now cinnamon is used for a remedy for multiple things but most importantly today it’s used in the treatment of diabetes. If somebody has blood sugar levels that tend to spike or if you’re a person, you tend to get hypoglycemic or do have any form of diabetes, I would recommend a teaspoon of cinnamon, two to three times daily.
So again cinnamon though, clinical research showing helps balance out blood sugar levels, also it’s warming to the body, so great for fighting a cold and flu there as well and candida.
Ginger
What a powerful herb when it comes to reducing inflammation. Most diseases today are caused by inflammation, whether it’s arthritis, or colitis, or iritis. Any type of -itis which means inflammation in Latin, ginger can help with. It contains compounds like gingerol and zingiberene which are really, really powerfully anti-inflammatory. And also acts as a natural antihistamine.
So almost any condition you can imagine ginger is going to help because of its warming and drying properties. Whether you’re doing a ginger juice shot, that’s great, doing ginger tea, ginger powder in a recipe, or ginger essential oil, ginger all around one of the best supplements you could do on a regular basis for fighting inflammation.
Cannabis
Now, I’m not promoting cannabis necessarily here for recreational use, but cannabis as medicine. It’s been legalized in many states now, but cannabis contains several compounds, CBD and THC.
One of the issues today in recreational use is that they have bred the cannabis plant to have really high levels of THC and very low levels of CBD. So what it does, it really just has more of a hallucinogenic effect. Whereas in nature typically if it was found in a more balanced level and the most common types of cannabis plants, it has balanced levels to where it’s really not this strong hallucinogenic effect.
In fact, what it is, it’s like a relaxing effect, just like using lavender essential oil or something like that, it’s more calming to the body. But cannabis has been shown to help reduce pain in cancer patients, it’s been shown to help in healing digestive and gut issues. CBD found in cannabis has been shown to be tremendously healthy for the brain. So again cannabis one of those things it can be ultimately healing if it’s used responsibly in the right strain that’s more of a CBD, very high CBD strain of cannabis there as well.
