

Inflammation consists of heat, redness, swelling, and pain. Some plants are a combination, and a few (such as garlic) are “broad-spectrum antimicrobials,” meaning they fight all three.Īn anti-inflammatory herb calms excess inflammation. Some herbs are anti-bacterial, some are anti-viral, some are anti-fungal. Topical herbs fall into several categories of actions.Īn anti-microbial herb destroys invading microbes: bacteria, viruses, and fungus. When we talk about herbs, we use “actions” to understand how different plants do what they do.
SYMPHYTUM OIL USES SKIN
Love your skin by caring for it with nontoxic, organic products and herbal remedies you make yourself or buy from deep-green businesses found in Green America’s National Green Pages®. “These ingredients alone can add up to a phenomenal array of combined exposures to a variety of toxins,” says Janet Nudelman, director of program and policy at the Breast Cancer Fund. US women use an average of 12 cosmetic products with 168 unique ingredients each day and men use 6 products with an average of 85 ingredients, according to the Environmental Working Group. Humans absorb much of what we put on our skin-and we put on a lot. Some are common weeds! Toxins and your Skin Many topically healing herbs are easy to grow in gardens or containers, and others can be purchased in the tea section of most grocery stores. If the fortress is “breached” by injury or trauma, herbs can help to repair it gently and effectively. The skin, the largest organ of the body, is designed to keep invaders out of your fortress.

These basic inputs keep everything in working order. The first line of fortress defense is basic preventative health. Diet, hydration, and stress levels affect the strength of the fortress to defend you from “invading” germs such as bacteria, viruses, and fungus.

Using herbs topically is easy and effective, and even safer than consuming them, because there’s no possibility of interference with medications. The same plant chemicals that boost health after they’ve been ingested will also support the body from the outside. But the ways that herbs can support the body aren’t limited to what they do inside. When we talk about herbs, it’s often in the context of tea or food.
