7 Flowers That Promote Overall Health
7 Flowers That Promote Your Overall Health
Giving flowers is a time-honored tradition and a beautiful expression of love. But flowers hold many secrets beyond their amorous appeal. They are an expression of Love!
Flowers grab the attention of passing insects with a wild display of fantastic colors and designs. Makes perfect sense, since it is the flower’s job to manage the reproduction of the plant. Plants produce beautiful flowers to advertise their sexual organs hidden inside. The flowers then release powerful aphrodisiac scents, an instinctive incentive for insects to come in and play. Not only does the insect benefit from the flower’s nectar, but the plant benefits as well. The insects carry the pollen to other plants which insures rapid fertilization and reproduction. Flowers are smarter than you might think, but there’s more to flowers than just Love.
As spring emerges and flowers bloom, consider the fact that flowers do much more than just look pretty. We have depended on flowers for our food supply as rice, wheat and corn and of course, tea. Cotton flowers are used for clothing and flowers have been used as herbal medicine for thousands of years. Long before pharmaceutical drugs, flowers were used as herbal remedies and recorded use goes back to 500 A.D. Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic and Western herbal doctors all have a rich history of using flowers for medicinal purposes to heal a variety of afflictions.
Lonicera Flower (Jin Yin Hua)
Lonicera Flower (Jin Yin Hua) has been used in Asian cultures for colds, flu and sore throats. Recently, it was one of the four herbs in a formula to combat the swine flu and has proven its antibiotic properties successfully through years of research. The price of lonicera flower extract has quadrupled in the last year possibly due to its popularity for treating a variety of infections when combined with other herbs. Large corporations have submitted patent extracts including this flower in their anti-viral formulas which is also a likely factor in price increases.
Viola Flower (Zi Hua Di Ding)
Viola Flower (Zi Hua Di Ding) is known as the purple flower earth herb. This herb/flower has both anti-inflammatory and anti-pyretic effects, meaning it can treat fevers and bacterial infections. It has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy to treat snake bites because it can reduce both swelling and toxicity.
Pagoda Flower or Sophora flower (Huai Hua)
Pagoda Flower or Sophora flower (Huai Hua) is used to stop various bleeding disorders. Chinese medicine often uses this herb/flower in the treatment of hemorrhoids and excessive menstrual bleeding. Both the flower and root are common treatment protocols in Chinese medicine for intestinal hemorrhage such as occurs with ulcerative colitis.
Chrysanthemum Flower (Ju Hua)
Chrysanthemum Flower (Ju Hua) is a common herb that has more than 30 different species. It is a wonderful natural treatment for dry, irritated eyes, or fevers and headaches due to the common cold. Chrysanthemum is used for high blood pressure, dizziness and other aliments when combined with other herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
There are many different species of Chrysanthemum. Do not use garden variety for medicinal purposes. Chrysanthemum also has a Western herbal history of being made into a wine “considered beneficial in the digestive, circulatory and nervous afflictions.”
Safflower (Hong Hua)
Safflower, also known as Carthamus (Hong Hua), is a red flower used to treat menstrual disorders such as cramps and amenorrhea included in PMS Relief Herb Pac .
It’s known to invigorate circulation and help dissolve clots. Safflower has been extensively studied and found beneficial for use in patients with heart disease and joint pain. This flower also has a high success rate in the treatment of flat warts.
Magnolia Flower (Xin Yi Hua)
Magnolia Flower (Xin Yi Hua) is a flower that is incredible at treating nasal congestion. It’s one of the most effective herbal remedies for stuffy noses and chronic sinusitis. It can quickly clear the nasal passages and relieves sinus headaches.
Lotus flower (Lian Zi Xin)
It would be remiss not to mention one of the most famous flowers associated with Chinese medicine, the Lotus flower (Lian Zi Xin). Eight parts of the lotus plant are used for their botanical medicinal qualities. The flower is known to treat bleeding disorders (i.e. bloody noses) and often used for irritability and fevers.
Flowers truly have thousands of uses which we often take for granted, even though everyone consumes, wears or ingests them on a daily basis. Yet, it is flowers’ healing properties that we can find most miraculous. Traditional Chinese Medicine understands flowers are useful beyond their sexual appeal of beautiful packaging and wonderful gifts. I thank the flowering plants for their beauty and I love to receive them on special occasions, but I never overlook the fact they also provide us with an abundance of natural herbal cures which make everyday life more enjoyable.
One caveat, whether herbs are flowers or other botanicals, they should be used in a balanced formula and dosed by a licensed practitioner. In Chinese medicine, herbs are always dosed together in formulas for safety and effectiveness.
