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Grow Culinary Herbs right at home. Includes tips on Soil Preparation, Planting, Fertilizing, Watering, Weed Control, Insects, Diseases, Harvesting and Storing.

A study revealed a range of health and dietary benefits of consuming cardamom, including increased appetite, fat loss and inflammation reduction, making the spice a "superfood." Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, Ph.D. said the study shows cardamom could be a healthy dietary choice, and that its consumption can help maintain lean body weight and reduce fat. Cardamom is a popular spice in many parts of the world and the study findings should expand its popularity. The spice has a warm herbal flavor and an aroma that blends eucalyptus, mint and pepper. "Cardamom is a spice little known in the U.S. but very common...

Greece is known today for its herbs that are used in teas and homeopathic remedies. But did you know that there are many herbs that the ancient Greeks used that are still popular in Greece today? The five herbs below were gathered for their vast range of medicinal, superstitious, and culinary attributes thousands of years ago in ancient Greece, and they are still used today. Herbs can be found growing wild all across Greece, with their scents perfuming the air, and they are particularly well-suited to the country’s mountain slopes and green fields. Ancient Greek herbs used today Oregano (Rigani)...

A team found evidence that the herb rosemary could be a two-pronged weapon against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The scientists found that the compound, carnosic acid, can block the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 outer "spike" protein and the receptor protein, ACE2, which the virus uses to gain entry to cells. The team presented evidence carnosic acid has a separate effect inhibiting a powerful inflammatory pathway—a pathway active in severe COVID-19 as well as Alzheimer's. "We think that carnosic acid is worth investigating as a potentially cheap, safe, and effective treatment for COVID-19 and some other inflammation-related disorders," says...

University of South Florida Health-led team discovers that the compound fenchol has the same beneficial effect as gut-derived metabolites in reducing neurotoxic amyloid-beta in the brain. Fenchol, a natural compound abundant in some plants including basil, can help protect the brain against Alzheimer’s disease pathology, a preclinical study led by University of South Florida Health (USF Health) researchers suggests. The new study published on October 5, 2021, in the Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, discovered a sensing mechanism associated with the gut microbiome that explains how fenchol reduces neurotoxicity in the Alzheimer’s brain. Emerging evidence indicates that short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)–...

The Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR) at Mampong Akwapim in the Eastern Region has made progress in the development of herbal medicine for the treatment of COVID-19.The centre is collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other stakeholders in research to find a herbal cure for the deadly pandemic. According to the acting Executive Director of the centre, Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah, his outfit was fast developing the herbal medicine adding that it would bring great respite to Ghanaians when it was introduced. Speaking at the launch of an immune-boosting food supplement called Thorntina-74 Mixture, he said...

Zimbabweans Scramble For Zumbani To Fight Covid-19 18th February 2021 Zimbabwe Spread This News By Jeffrey Moyo Even as the world is bracing for vaccination drives to combat COVID-19, many people in the Southern African country of Zimbabwe have latched their hopes on zumbani — a woody shrub — to keep the pandemic at bay. Nyson Mhaka, 52, and his wife Gertrude, 47, were infected with COVID-19 in December. They claim to have recovered after taking the “wonder herb.” And since then, the couple has turned a campaigner, giving lectures on the lifesaving properties of the fever tea tree leaves....

In a shocking claim the President of Madagascar has said that the WHO offered $20m bribe to poison COVID-19 cure. The herbal remedy called COVID-19 Organics made from Artemisia can cure COVID-19 patients within ten days said the President. He also raised the question that if it was a European country that had actually discovered this remedy, would there be so much doubt? The President of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina has accused the World Health Organisation of a plot to have its COVID-19 Organics, the local African ‘cure’ for the virus poisoned. Rajoelina claims WHO offered a $20 million bribe to...

Many FReepers have knowledge to share about improving and maintaining health and would like to share it and learn from others; and others may not know much yet but want to learn. Some of us don't have much money for good insurance or doctors, some want to try other methods besides prescription meds, and some have experience in treating and solving health problems. More and more "regular" doctors have accepted treatment methods such as the benefits of acupuncture, massage for many conditions, better diet, use of herbs and so on. There are limits, and often side effects, to some standard...

If cayenne pepper (Capsicum annuum) is not the king of medicinal herbs, it is certainly a prince among them due to the incredible health benefits it gives. It may have been presumptuous for me to have first coined it "king of herbs" but I feel it is just that -- for there is no other medicinal herb or spice that can do what it can. If you have heard about Capsicum or are interested in its benefits, you've come to the right place. Bold to say yes, but I stand by it. For I am the one who conducted the...

Not many substances are as widely studied as tea. Now, the verdict is in. The bottom line: if you're not drinking tea on a regular basis, it might be a habit worth starting. That's because when it comes to your health, tea packs a powerful punch. Combined studies examining literally hundreds of thousands of tea drinkers led a vast array of scientists to conclude that a consistent dose of tea is good for the body. Most of the research was conducted in Asian countries, on people drinking hot, green tea. The amount mattered. Usually people only experienced health benefits if...

Kate Fons couldn't help herself. It was Earth Day, and she was listening to public radio, to a segment describing how Earth Day originated in Wisconsin and so, by the way, did Little Free Libraries. A guest on the program was a man who had combined these two, installing a Little Free Library in his front yard specifically for cookbooks and planting herbs around the base. What a cool idea, Fons thought. There already was a Little Library a few blocks away from her south side home, so Fons zeroed in on the herb garden idea. She ordered a colorful...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Bottles of Walmart-brand echinacea, an herb said to ward off colds, were found to contain no echinacea at all. GNC-brand bottles of St. John's wort, touted as a cure for depression, held rice, garlic and a tropical houseplant, but not a trace of the herb. In fact, DNA testing on hundreds of bottles of store-brand herbal supplements sold as treatments for everything from memory loss to prostate trouble found that four out of five contained none of the herbs on the label. Instead, they were packed with cheap fillers such as wheat, rice, beans or houseplants.

DNA testing on hundreds of bottles of store-brand herbal supplements sold as treatments for everything from memory loss to prostate trouble found that four out of five contained none of the herbs on the label. Instead, they were packed with cheap fillers such as wheat, rice, beans or houseplants. Based on the testing commissioned by his office, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday he has sent letters to the four major store chains involved — GNC, Target, Walmart and Walgreens — demanding that they immediately stop selling adulterated or mislabeled dietary supplements. Nutritionist David Schardt of the Center...

A plant part valued for its medicinal, culinary, or aromatic qualities, for centuries herbs have been used to make medicines, add flavor to foods, make teas, mask odors, and attract bees and other pollinators into the garden...

An alphabetical listing of 40 sources of Seeds, Transplants, and Bulbs for Vegetables, Herbs, Flowers, Grains, Grasses, Ground Covers, Vines, Fruits, Sprouting, Trees, Wildflowers, and much more. Many are Open-pollinated, Non-GMO, Organic, and Heirloom varieties. Most offer a Free Catalog.

The Smithsonian's Alain Touwaide studies ancient books to identify medicines used thousands of years ago In 2002, Alain Touwaide came across an article about the discovery, some years before, of a medical kit salvaged from a 2,000-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Tuscany. Divers had brought up a copper bleeding cup, a surgical hook, a mortar, vials and tin containers. Miraculously, inside one of the tins, still dry and intact, were several tablets, gray-green in color and about the size of a quarter. Touwaide, a science historian in the botany department at the National Museum of Natural History, recognized that...

It's almost a done deal. We are about to see herbal preparations disappear, and the ability of herbalists to prescribe them will also be lost. Big Pharma has almost reached the finish line of its decades-long battle to wipe out all competition. As of 1 April 2011—less than eight months from now—virtually all medicinal herbs will become illegal in the European Union. The approach in the United States is a bit different, but it's having the same devastating effect. The people have become nothing more than sinks for whatever swill Big Pharma and Agribusiness choose to send our way, and...

Your right to choose your vitamin, mineral and other supplements may end in June-August of this year (2005). After that U.S. supplements will be defined and controlled by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The CODEX ALIMENTARIUS (Food Code) is setting the supplement standards for all countries in the WTO. They will be enforced by the WTO and will over ride U.S. laws. The U.S. President and Congress agreed to this take-over when the WTO Treaty was signed. Violations are punished by WTO trade sanctions. CODEX drastically restricts vitamins, minerals, herbs and other supplements. CODEX...

Using spices eaten in the Mediterranean diet as natural antioxidants is a good way forward for the food industry, given the beneficial health effects of these products. This has been shown by researchers from the Miguel Hernández University (UMH), who have put the clove in first place. Researchers from the Miguel Hernández University have identified cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) as the best antioxidant spice, due to the fact they contain high levels of phenolic compounds, as well as having other properties. "Out of the five antioxidant properties tested, cloves had the highest capacity to give off hydrogen, reduced lipid peroxidation well,...