For the body ailments we should turn in herbal remedies

As medicinal plants and spices claim to cure everything from cancer to cavities, we asked the pros what they think of this trend
To this day, I remember how Sreedevi maami brought me back from migraine hell to the land of living with a glass of neem-flower rasam. Ever since, I don’t scoff at home remedies and always keep a stock of dried neem flowers in my kitchen.

I’m not alone though. I am part of a WhatsApp group who begins the day with water infused with cinnamon, cumin, coriander or tulsi. Turmeric capsules are selling briskly at drug stores, and everyone’s growing at least curry leaves, if not brahmi.

From ashwagandha to za’atar, from manjishtha and moringa to cinnamon and curcumin, herbs and spices promise to prevent or heal everything from cancer and insomnia to obesity and hairfall. While the allopathic world asks for evidence-based cures, it seems people are simply asking each other: What’s your grandmother’s go-to-remedy? Here’s why we are turning back time.
Herbs have a positive impact, says Dr Shilpa Shah, Senior Naturopathy Consultant from Coimbatore. They take us back to Nature and act as preventives. “Our body has a tremendous healing ability; we just have to support it. They are being bombarded by the environment, food and our lifestyles.” Detoxification is the way to go, before lifestyle diseases set in, she feels.

Checking in for detox sessions at naturopathy clinics gives the beleaguered body a chance to recuperate and repair. If you can’t check into a clinic, cleanse your body at home. “Sometimes, it is not more expensive than a fancy facial. It is definitely more beneficial,” laughs Shah.

Shalini Jindal is in the business of herbal wellness with a range of health and food supplements that she describes as “detox soul food”. They are targeted at the city dweller, and take into account the abrasive effects that everything from pollution to work stress has. “These are medicinal herbs, spices and plants that are known to have tremendous benefits over hundreds of years,” she says. Her brand, HealthKarma, will soon have an online presence and the products are currently available at her HealthKarma Studio in Delhi, where she holds yoga workshops and offers wellness therapies and consultations with Ayurveda physicians. Her goal, she says, is to use the tools of Ayurveda, yoga, ahaara and dhyana, mainstream them, so we bring them into our daily lives.

Should we turn to herbal remedies for body ailments?
Supplementary treatment

“People are aware that quick-fix symptomatic treatments come with side effects. One of the first questions I am asked is if there are safe alternatives to manage their disorders, if they can get the same relief without strong toxic medicines,” says Shah. She believes traditional herbs and medicinal plants are as powerful and effective healers as conventional medicines.
source by https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/fitness/herbs-the-way-to-go/article24309879.ece