Herbs You should Grow in Your Home

Grow These Herbs At Home!

The below mentioned are a few herbs which you can easily grow even in small spaces and can be included in your cooking. These have a plethora of health benefits, preventing many diseases and diseases, thus helping to lead a healthier life.

We shall see 4 herbs which help in treating illnesses like common cold, flu, cough and digestion problems and even primary level respiratory problems.

Holy Basil – Ocimum basilicum, Tulsi in Indian Languages

1. Can be eaten raw, but not recommended for a long time.
2. Rich in vitamins A and K, minerals such as Magnesium, Potassium, Iron and Zinc and anti-oxidants such as beta-carotene.
3. Improves mental health.
4. Cure for cold and cough.
5. Helps in regulating blood pressure and sugar levels.
6. Helps in improving digestion.
7. Better to eat a few leaves on an empty stomach in the morning for three days fortnightly.
8. Consume as basil tea.
9. Avoid regular basil consumption if one is trying to conceive and if one has low sugar levels.

Mexican Mint/Indian Oregano – Coleus aromaticus, Omavalli/Karpooravalli in Tamil, Ajwain in Hindi

1. Can be eaten raw in less quantities, but recommended too consumed cooked or as an herbal drink.
2. Rich in minerals and vitamins. Also rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
3. Cures cold, cough and fever.
4. Improved digestion and protects gut health.
5. Its therapeutic qualities helps in skin and hair care too. Applying the juice on wounds can help heal faster. Boiling a few leaves in coconut oil and applying the scalp before shampoo helps treating dandruff.
6. Can be added in chicken/fish dishes, soups and salads and leaves can be used to make chutneys.
7. A few leaves can be added while preparing tea.
8. Excess consumption can cause heartburn, gastric problem. Leaves and stem can be allergic.

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Climbing Brinjal/Purple Fruited Pea Egg Plant – Solanum Trilobatum, Thoothuvalai in Tamil, Kantakaari Lataa in Hindi

1. Cannot be eaten raw normally.
2. Rich in iron, calcium, phosphorus, crude fiber and minerals.
3. Helps in treating cold and cough.
4. The Roots of the herb help reduce the inflammations
5. It is a good anti-oxidant.
6. Can help improve immunity.
7. Leaves can be used to make soup/rasam, chutneys.
8. Leaves dried and powdered can be consumed mixing with honey or hot water. ½ teaspoon of the mixture is enough.
9. Toxicity of the herb is very low, so generally suits everyone. But, the herb increases body heat so consumption in moderation is better, more so pregnant ladies should be careful about the quantity.

Betel Leaf – Piper betle Linn

1. Is eaten raw along with Areca nut and Can be consumed as cooked.
2. Rich in Vitamin C, Carofine, Riboflavin, and Calcium.
3. Since these leaves cannot be eaten in high quantity, the effects of these nutrients are negligible. But their non-nutrient components provide greater medicinal benefits.
4. It has anti-cancer, anti-microbial and anti-diabetic properties.
5. Helps in healing wounds, curing headaches/migraines.
6. Remedy for treating common cold and cough.
7. Can help in digestion.
8. Leaves can be used in rasam/herbal drink.
9. Leaf when consumed in proper way can go a long way in giving us good health rather than being combined with other harmful ingredients which can totally reverse the effects and become dangerous.

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A simple herbal drink using these four herbs for 3 people. Ingredients and Method.

Holy Basil – 10-15 leaves

Mexican Mint  – 4-5 leaves

Climbing Brinjal – 8 leaves

Betel leaves – 3-4

Turmeric – a pinch or two

Ginger – ½-1 inch piece

Cumin seeds – 2 teaspoons

Jaggery/Palm Jaggery/Palm Sugar Candy/Honey – As required (do not make it very sweet)

1. Boil the above ingredients except turmeric in a 3-3.5 glasses of water.
2. Cook until the color of the water changes and the leaves have wilted and changed colours as well.
3. Now, add turmeric powder and boil for a couple of minutes.
4. Strain the water from the herbs.
5. Consume when it is warmer only.

Drinking this twice a week on consecutive days can prove to be immensely beneficial in preventing a lot of common viral infections, increasing appetite, cleansing the body inside and help us lead a healthier life.

Very young children can drink up to 10 ml, children up to 8 years can drink 30ml and older children and adults can consume around 100ml of this herbal drink.

Our ancestors lead a life closer to nature and followed a lifestyle that helped them live healthier. Following in their footsteps, let us inculcat4 those simple and traditional ways of food habits in our daily diet.

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Ashraf Hameeda T