Medicinal Herbs Active Constituents Part 7

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Glucosinolates

https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/2515
https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/19/4537/htm
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13880209.2016.1223146

You know that strong odor from sulfur, well that is our next item. This is a Glucosinolate(s). This is a nitrogen containing glycoside that is responsible for giving herbs/plants their pungent scent. Think of Horseradish, Nasturtiums and Mustard. They are so pungent because they contain this Active Constituent.

This is also what occurs naturally in the Brassicaceae family, think, cabbage, mustard, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts. For these foods though it acts as a natural defense system.

Many plants in this family can have an irritant effect on the skin, which can cause blistering. However, if you grind it down and dilute it such as with a poultice it can become helpful for aching joints as it will increase blood flow to the area that it was applied.

Bitters

Bitters are in many different herbs, and they are only linked by the bitter taste of those herbs. This is a group of constituents together that produce this flavor. Most of us do not like bitter things, so we tend to avoid them. Have you ever had just straight, real chocolate, no sugar or dairy added. It is extremely bitter.

This bitterness stimulates secretions of the salivary glands an the digestive organs. Herbs in this group can help stimulate your appetite, and improve the absorption of other nutrients and herbs that you are ingesting.

Herbs within this family are:
Mugwort
Angelica
Centaury
Cinamon
Dandelion (You would be amazed at how good this “Weed” is for you)
Valerian

Alkaloids

https://thenaturopathicherbalist.com/plant-constituents/alkaloids/
https://www.britannica.com/science/alkaloid

WARNING: Alkaloid Containing and significant tannin containing plants should never be mixed together directly

Tannins will counteract the actions of the Alkaloids. This is also why tinctures were largely developed. Alkaloids are soluble in Alcohol (Ethanol) but do not do well in water.

The Alkaloid family is pretty large and does a large variety of things. The major groups of Alkaloids are
Tropane
Isoquinoline
Pyridine
Pyrrolizidine
Quinoline
Indole
Purine

The medicinal uses of Alkaloids are anesthetics, cardioprotective, and anti-inflammatory. The most well known are morphine, strychnine, quinine, ephedrine, and nicotine.

Took me a minute but I finally found the common names of the herbs high in Alkaloids

Poppy (Pretty much anything in this family)
Ergot Fungus
Buttercups
Nightshades
Amaryllis

Vitamins

Many herbs contain very useful levels of Vitamins. For example Dog Rose contains high levels of Vitamin C. Most of us learned in either health class or science class that carrots have high levels of beta-carotene. Nasturtiums have good levels of Vitamin B1, B2, C, and E as well as Beta Carotene.

This is a small section simply because there is a long list of herbs on this list and we will get into those in the videos on the herbs themselves.

Minerals

Yes, minerals are also found in herbs, especially the one that we grow organically ourselves. When we grow them ourselves and do not use harsh chemicals that can strip out the mineral content. We are also able to better absorb the mineral content from herbs. The mineral content of a plant is a key factor in the herbs therapeutic activity in the body.

This was very short, as I said before we will go into detail on different herbs and what Vitamins and minerals that they contain.

Our next video we will start with the basic Kitchen Herbs. Since most people have these items in their kitchens.

Equipment I use:
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GoPro Mounting Items: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09Q3D1RZL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

GoPro Protective Housing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FRTLX2M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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