Top 10 Common Herbs and Their Remarkable Healing Benefits

Healing herbs are a great tool for enhancing your wellbeing. When you think of herbs, the first thing that probably comes to mind is using them in food. They are great for flavoring your food, with a wide range of flavors and aromas to choose from. But that isn’t even close to the range of benefits you get from herbs. Even the most common herbs can help you heal.

In this article, we are going to talk about medicinal herbs. They are herbs and plants that contain healing and medicinal properties. These properties can help with everything from improving your gut health and reducing anxiety, to skin issues and even infections.

Why Use Common Herbs As Medicine?

By choosing common herbs, you can take a more natural and holistic approach to your health care and healing.

Medicinal plants do not replace western medicine and medications you might need for various illnesses, but they can complement it.

They provide an alternative when it is available, and when it can help with minor health issues.

There are many benefits to using medicinal herbs, including:

• Saving money on medications
• Providing healing from home
• Speeding up healing
• Preventative medicine
• Saving time by not going to the doctor (for minor issues)

Best Common Herbs For Your Healing

Here are 10 of the most common herbs that have healing properties.

1. Lavender, the Soothing Beauty

Lavender is a wonderful herb that is often used for mental health, skin problems, and even fungal infections. You might find it in plant form or have used lavender essential oil.

Lavender is very easy to find in its various forms, including dried, essential oils, and tea leaves.

It has a light, flowery scent, and its immense number of benefits are what make it one of the most popular that you can get your hands on.

Health Benefits of Lavender

Relieve pain – This is probably one of the most common reasons people use lavender. It is great at reducing mild pain, from headaches to gastrointestinal distress.

Improve your sleep – Whether you have insomnia or stress-related sleep issues, lavender is calming and can help you get a good nights’ sleep.

Help manage blood pressure – Lavender has been shown in many studies to help balance out blood pressure levels, often by reducing stress.

Reduce anxiety and stress – Naturally, lavender is wonderful for mental health conditions, including chronic stress and anxiety.

2. Chamomile, The Most Common of Healing Herbs

Next up is the most common of all herbs, chamomile. You’ve probably had a cup of chamomile tea and understand that it can be relaxing to have before bed. But you may not realize this herb provides so many more health benefits.

Chamomile is not one type of plant, but a group of plants that all look similar to the daisy plant. There are a lot of varieties, but the most common for medicinal purposes are Roman chamomile and German chamomile.

They are anti-inflammatory and provide a lot of calming and relaxing effects.

Health Benefits of Chamomile

Improve your digestion – Many people use chamomile for their digestion, especially drinking a cup of chamomile tea after eating something that upset their stomach.

Help you relax and sleep better – Chamomile tea and vapor such as in essential oils can help tremendously with relaxing, reducing stress and anxiety, and improving your sleep.

Treat skin conditions – Did you know chamomile can actually speed up the healing of various skin conditions? This includes burns and other wounds like lacerations and cuts.

Natural treatment for stomach conditions – In addition to helping with your digestion, chamomile can also be useful with other stomach conditions, including bowel movement problems, gastritis, and ulcerative colitis.

Use for cold and asthma symptoms – When you get chamomile in vapor form or with essential oils in a diffuser, you can relieve some of your cold symptoms.

3. Sage, the Cleansing Positive Energy Bringer

An herb that is a wonderful food ingredient also has some healing benefits. Yes, you can use sage in a cup of tea or as an essential oil.

However, sage is also commonly used to burn and smoke. This makes it an interesting addition to the list. Sage is bundled up, tied together, then burned, and used to cleanse a room.

But it can also be healing for a variety of different reasons.

Health Benefits of Sage

Purify – One of the most common reasons people use sage for burning and smoking is to help purify the body and the environment you live in. Sage has many natural healing properties, including being antibacterial and antimicrobial. It can help purify your body of various toxins.

Get rid of negative energy – Smudging sage is a very popular way to get rid of negative energy, either from your person or the space in which you live or work.

Help with other conditions – Many people have reported using sage to help neutralize positive ions, which can lead to allergens like mold, dust, and pet dander. If you are particularly sensitive to these allergies, burning sage might help. It has also been known to help with other respiratory issues, including asthma and bronchitis.

4. Lemon Balm, the Conjurer of Tranquility

If you have not heard of lemon balm before, now is a great time to learn more about it!

Lemon balm sometimes referred to as balm mint, is a wonderfully healing plant. It is in the mint family and comes from many regions, including Central Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean.

Lemon balm can be found in a few different forms, including dried leaves to be used in tea, tincture liquid, and other dried forms when making your own natural care products.

The primary healing ingredient in lemon balm is called rosmarinic acid, which provides antioxidant properties.

Health Benefits of Lemon Balm

Sleep better – Insomnia is a problem that many people struggle with, but don’t want to use harsh drugs that lead to dependence and drowsiness. Another option is to use a more natural herb, such as lemon balm, which has been shown to help with sleeping problems.

Relieve anxiety – In addition to helping you sleep better, lemon balm can also be a great holistic remedy for anxiety, stress, and other negative emotions.

Lower your cholesterol – Did you know one of the reported health benefits of lemon balm is lowering your bad cholesterol? It doesn’t hurt to give it a try.

Find relief for indigestion and heartburn – Finally, you may get some relief for heartburn, GERD, acid reflux, and indigestion.

5. Ginger, the Fiery Protector

When you were little, you might remember having a cup of ginger tea or some Ginger Ale when you had a tummy ache. Ginger is a great herb for digestive issues and nausea, but it also contains a lot of other amazing medicinal benefits.

There are a few different forms and varieties of ginger, including:

Fresh ginger root

Ground ginger

Mature ginger

It has many healing properties, including being antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, and you will see from the below benefits.

Health Benefits of Ginger

Thanks to the anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties, ginger can help with the following:

Improve your digestion – Need some help with your digestion? If so, having a cup of ginger tea can often reduce bloating and gas, and help you find some relief.

Reduce acute or chronic pain – While less common, some people have also found benefits with ginger helping to reduce some types of pain, particularly muscle soreness from exercise.

Reduce nausea – Not only does ginger help tremendously with digestion, but also with nausea for other reasons. In fact, it is one of the most popular natural remedies people use for nausea and vomiting.

Help with the cold or flu – People are constantly trying to find more natural remedies for illnesses like the cold and flu. Ginger has been used for hundreds of years for this very purpose, thanks to its antiviral properties.

6. Rosemary, the Aromatic Anti-Inflammation Warrior

Rosemary is one of those herbs that are not only used often in cooking for its excellent flavor, but also for its various health benefits.

You will find rosemary growing most often in the Mediterranean region, but you can get the plant or dried rosemary just about anywhere you find plants and herbs.

Here are some things to know about rosemary:

1. You can get some of the health benefits just by using it in your cooking.

2. The rosemary plant is a perennial, meaning it can live for multiple years.

3. You want to be careful with high doses of rosemary, as it can make you ill.

Health Benefits of Rosemary

With rosemary, you can get some of these amazing health benefits:

Reduce inflammation in the body – Herbs that contain natural anti-inflammatory properties are great for reducing inflammation, as well as helping with pain caused by inflammation and swelling in the body, such as with arthritis.

Improve your digestion – There are many herbs that help with digestive issues, and luckily rosemary is one of them.

Find relief for joint pain – If you have joint pain in addition to inflammation, rosemary might be able to help with that as well.

Improve your memory – Surprisingly, the aroma of using rosemary essential oils in a diffuser and for aromatherapy can actually help improve your focus and memory function.

7. Peppermint, the Queen of Your Common Healing Garden Herbs

Another plant in the mint family is peppermint, which has so many health benefits that people aren’t even aware of.

Peppermint does have a strong smell and its essential oils are very popular, but don’t forget about the herb itself and all the medicinal qualities it has!

In addition to the popular use of peppermint, which is to help ease digestive issues, bloating, and intestinal discomfort, it can also help with many other areas of healing.

Health Benefits of Peppermint

Here are some of the top health benefits of using the peppermint herb or oils:

Relieve pain from headaches – When you have headaches caused by tension or stress, peppermint is a wonderful holistic remedy to keep you from taking too many over-the-counter pain-relieving drugs.

Improve your energy levels naturally – If you want more energy without stimulants like caffeine, consider a cup of peppermint tea instead.

Reduce pain from menstrual cramps – Try using peppermint during your menstrual period if you suffer a lot from cramps.

Freshen your breath – If you have gingivitis, you can easily freshen your breath with peppermint.

Improve your digestion – Last, but certainly not least, it can of course help with digestive issues. It is commonly used for indigestion, gas, bloating, and nausea.

8. Yarrow, the Humble Wound Healer

Next, we have yarrow, which is also a popular essential oil in addition to the herb itself being used often.

Yarrow is actually part of the sunflower family, with the herb itself looking like clusters of daisy flowers.

Here are some of the health benefits you get with this herb.

Health Benefits of Yarrow

Heal your wounds more quickly – Yarrow can help speed up the healing of skin lacerations and wounds.

Reduce inflammation – Inflammation in the body can lead to swelling and pain, which can be remedied with some yarrow.

Relieve your anxiety – Anxiety disorders are not easy to live with, and often get worse over time without treatment. If you want to complement other anxiety treatments, try a natural herb like yarrow.

Improve your digestion – If you have ever suffered from digestive issues, you know how valuable it is to find a natural remedy. If the other herbs are not helping, why not give yarrow a try?

9. Turmeric, the Powerful Magician

This one probably won’t surprise you at all! Turmeric has been used for many years for healing, but it has become even more popular in the last few years.

It may not be one of your common garden herbs but it is commonly used in cooking.

Whether you use the herb, capsules, or make a cup of “golden milk”, it has numerous health benefits for people who are looking for more holistic options.

Before we get into the health benefits, here are some things you might not know about turmeric:

1. Turmeric is actually in the ginger family, which is why it looks so similar to ginger root.

2. It was originally used in Ayurvedic medicine before it became more mainstream.

3. It is commonly used in Indian and Asian cooking, especially combined with curry flavors.

4. You can get it in many different forms, including capsules, dried, powder, and bottled.

Health Benefits of Turmeric

Here is a list of some of the many health benefits you can get by using turmeric on a regular basis:

Inflammation and joint pain – The curcumin found naturally in turmeric is especially useful for reducing inflammation in the body caused by arthritis and other joint issues.

Relieve itching and skin irritations – Some people have found turmeric useful in helping to reduce chronic itching and other skin problems.

Reduce anxiety and depression – Stress, anxiety, and depression are all mental health issues that can be improved by using turmeric regularly.

Relieve heartburn – If you have heartburn from something you ate, or related to GERD or acid reflux, you may find some relief with turmeric in your tea or food.

10. Goldenseal, the Mighty Conqueror of Pain

With a name like goldenseal, you might not even know this is a plant, let alone one of the common herbs, but it contains many healing properties.

The goldenseal plant has large leaves similar to what you find on palm trees, with a single flower in the center of each.

These flowers are what contain all the medicinal properties.

Health Benefits of Goldenseal

Don’t miss any of the amazing ways goldenseal can improve your health more naturally.

Relief for respiratory conditions – A lot of respiratory conditions may be improved with goldenseal, including common cold conditions, asthma, fever, and whooping cough.

Help with digestive and bowel problems – People have shown great improvements in their bowel and digestive issue with goldenseal, including constipation, diarrhea, ulcers, and gastritis.

Female conditions – For women, it might be helpful for menstrual cramps and PMS.

Skin lesions and other skin issues – It is not uncommon for people to use goldenseal for conditions like wounds, itching, blisters, acne, dandruff, and cold sores.

Chronic medical conditions – Finally, there are some other mild and serious conditions that might be helped with goldenseal. It is not a cure but can be used in conjunction with more traditional treatments, including for cancer, chronic fatigue, liver problems, gonorrhea, and pneumonia.

Final Word On the Use of Healing Herbs

While common healing herbs are super beneficial for your health, too much of a good thing can be indeed too much. These can be very potent herbs so always read the instructions on the use and dosage very carefully. If you’re on medication, always consult with your health care provider on any potential interference with the meds. I mean, a chamomile overdose would be a pretty embarassing anecdote to tell.

Disclaimer:

This article was written by Zuzana Halliwell. I am not a doctor or health professional and cannot be held liable for the information written here. This article is meant to provide information about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and diet. The content is based on my own personal experience and on information provided by medical professionals that is available to the public. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Do not use it as an alternative to seeking help from a medical professional.