Lavender (Lavandula) Benefits , Medicinal Uses , Origin and Beauty Benefits

Lavender
Scientific Name: Lavandula
Rank: Genu
Higher Classification: Lamiaceae
Lower Classification: Lavandula atriplicifolia

As an herb, lavender has been in documented use for over 2,500 years. In ancient times lavender was used for mummification and perfume by the
Egyptians, Phoenicians, and peoples of Arabia.
Romans used lavender oils for bathing, cooking, and scenting the air, and they most likely gave it the Latin root from which we derive the modern name (either lavare--to wash, or livendula--livid or bluish). The flower's soothing "tonic" qualities, the insect-repellent effects of the strong scent, and the use of the dried plant in smoking mixtures also added to the value of the herb in ancient times.
Lavender Essential Oil is most often extracted from the flowers through a process called steam distillation and offers many natural and wonderful benefits to your health and home. Lavender oil benefits include positive affects on your physical, mental and emotional states.
Lavender Oil as a Relaxant
One of the most commonly enjoyed benefits of Lavender Essential Oil is its stress reducing, tension relieving, relaxation inducing properties. Lavender Oil is a sedative and helps with depression by improving mood and outlook. Lavender essential oil’s calming scent eases the nerves and feelings of anxiety.
You can benefit from Lavender Oil in the treatment of headaches. It lowers emotional and mental stress while helping to increase clarity of thought and mental activity.
Those suffering from insomnia can benefit from its use as Lavender essential oil can induce sleep.
Lavender Oil as a Pain Reliever
Lavender essential oil is also often used to treat various aches and pains such as sore or tense muscles, joint pain, rheumatism, and sprains. Lavender Oil benefits also include relief from back pain. Getting a Lavender Oil massage will ease away many tension and pains!
Lavender Oil for Respiratory Health
Lavender Essential Oil provides an excellent therapeutic benefit for throat infections, the flu, colds, and sinus congestions. It is also great in treating asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory ailments.
Lavender Oil for Improved Circulation
Lavender essential oil lowers blood pressure and improves blood circulation. It has also been used to treat urinary disorders since it promotes urine production and hormone balance as well as reduces inflammation of the urinary bladder.
Lavender oil benefits digestion as it increases intestinal mobility. The essential oil also stimulates the production of gastric juices and bile and aids in treating indigestion, stomach pain, colic, flatulence, vomiting, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal ailments.
Lavender Oil Benefits for General Health
Lavender Essential Oil has so many amazing benefits for your general health. Use it regularly to enhance your immune system and help resist infections and diseases. Lavender Oil also helps reduce fevers and relieves sinusitis.
Lavender Oil is an excellent insect repellent and is used in many over the counter mosquito repellents. It can be used to soothe itchy insect bites and prevent them from leaving scars on your skin.
Studies have shown that lavender has powerful antibacterial, antiseptic, and antibiotic properties. It kills the bacteria that cause many diseases including typhoid. This makes Lavender Essential Oil a great tool for treating cuts and scrapes.
Lavender essential oil benefits also include relief from headaches, earaches, migraines, and menstrual cramps.
Lavender Oil and Skin Care
Lavender is said to inhibit the bacteria that causes skin infection. Due to the antiseptic and antifungal properties found in Lavender Essential Oil it can be used to treat and soothe various skin problems like acne and psoriasis, cuts, scrapes, burns, and sunburns. Sufferers of Chicken Pox will find relief in the soothing benefits of Lavender Oil and appreciate how it prevents scarring.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Always consult your Physician

Neem Oil , (Azadirachta Indica) oil , Benefits , Medicinal Uses

Neem oil is a naturally occurring pesticide found in seeds from the neem tree. It is yellow to brown, has a bitter taste, and a garlic/sulfur smell. It has been used for hundreds of years to control pests and diseases. Components of neem oil can be found in many products today. These include toothpaste, cosmetics, soaps, and pet shampoos. Neem oil is a mixture of components. Azadirachtin is the most active component for repelling and killing pests and can be extracted from neem oil. The portion left over is called clarified hydrophobic neem oil.
Benefits…
1. Anti-Aging with Neem
Neem Oil is used in skin care because it’s loaded with nutrients. Neem contains extraordinarily high levels of antioxidants that help to protect the skin from environmental damage. Neem also contains carotenoids (similar to carotene) which provide high antioxidant compounds that help defend the skin against age-promoting free radicals.
Neem Oil is especially high in important fatty acids and vitamin E and is easily absorbed into the skin without leaving skin greasy. Once absorbed, these powerful properties work to rejuvenate the skin’s cells and restore elasticity.
When used regularly, this blend of compounds, makes Neem perfect for smoothing wrinkles and fine lines while helping to prevent the signs of aging. The saturation of antioxidants and vitamin E will help restore a youthful glow to dry or damaged skin and balance skin tone.

2. Neem will Improve Acne Prone Skin
Neem Oil is ideal for acne-prone skin because it can help to soothe irritation and inflammation, clear up pimples and remove bacteria from the surface of the skin that can cause more break-outs.
Neem oil contains an aspirin-like compound that helps with acne conditions by ridding the skin of acne-causing bacteria. It also helps reduce redness and inflammation.
The high fatty-acid content in Neem Oil is said to prevent and treat scars from acne and is non-comedogenic. Its leaves are also an excellent exfoliant that can be used in a facial masque to pull out impurities and tighten pores.

3. Soothe Dry Skin & Eczema with Neem
Eczema is a very common inflammatory skin condition characterized by extremely irritable, dry, red, itchy skin. At it’s worst, skin really flares up, and can become raw, and cracked and can cause secondary infections.
The root cause for eczema lies in our genes, so eczema usually runs in families. Neem Oil, can relieve eczema symptoms, but it will not cure the root causes for eczema. But due to its ability to reduce inflammation and heal abrasions, it can be very soothing for eczema sufferers.

4. Treat Nail Fungus, Ringworm & Athletes Foot
Nail fungus, ringworm and athletes foot are all common fungal infections of the skin. Since Neem extracts are some of the most powerful anti-fungal plant extracts around, Neem is a great natural alternative to over-the-counter creams from the drugstore.
Gedunin and nimbidol, compounds found in the leaves of the neem tree are powerful anti-fungal agents that destroy fungi, which cause athlete’s foot, ringworm, and nail fungus. Neem extracts have proven in laboratory experiments to be toxic to more than 14 cultures of common fungi that invade the skin.

Malabar Nut (Adhatoda Vasica) , Medicinal Uses , Origin , Family Name , Habiitat

Adhatoda Vasica

Botanical Name : Adhatoda Vasica
Family Name : Acanthaceae
Common Name : Malabar Nut
Part Used : Leaves, Whole Plant
Habitat : The plant grows in plains & in lower himalayan ranges upto 1000 m above sea level
Product offered : Whole plant , leaves

Medicinal Uses : Principle constituents of Malabar nuts are the several alkaloids present and chief principle being quinazoline alkaloid, vasicine.
 The leaves are rich in vitamin C and carotene and yield an essential oil. 
 The shrub is the source of the drug, well known in indigenous systems of medicine for its beneficial effects, particularly in bronchitis. The leaves, flowers, fruits and roots are extensively used for treating cold, cough, whooping cough, chronic bronchitis and asthma. It acts as a sedative, expectorant, antispasmodic and anthelmintic. It is a bronchial antiseptic, bronchodilator and expectorant. The roots, leaves and flowers and active principles of the plant possess a number of pharmacological properties and are used in cough, chronic bronchitis, rheumatism, asthma and bronchial asthma. Fresh juice of leaves have been used in treatment of tuberculosis. Its local use gives relief in pyorrhea and in bleeding gums.

Ashwagandha (Winter Cherry) Withania Somnifera , Medicinal Uses , Habitat

Common Name: Winter cherry (Eng.)
Sanskrit Name: - Ashwagandha
Lt. Name: - Withania somnifera

Habitat and Botany : Ashwagandha is a small shrub that grows to 1.5 meters tall. It is related to the tomato and has small yellow flowers that turn to red fruits about the size of a raisin. This plant is native to India, parts of Africa and the Mediterranean.

Ashwagandha benefits / Medicinal Ashwagandha uses :

This herb is considered an adaptogen which is a nontoxic herb that works on a nonspecific basis to normalize physiological function, working on the HPA axis and the neuroendocrine system.
Ashwagandha is effective for insomnia but does not act as a sedative.its rejuvenative and nervine properties produce energy which in turn help the body to settle and sleep. Thus it helps the body to address a stress related condition rather than masking it with sedatives. A herb that rejuvenates the nervous system, erases insomnia and eases stress.
Ashwagandha has also been shown to lower blood pressure and is highly effective in stopping the formation of stress induced ulcers.
In arthritis, which involves joints that are painful, dry, swollen and inflamed, Ashwagandha would be the herb of choice.
One of the special properties of Ashwagandha is that it will enhance ojas. Ojas is the most subtle, refined level of the physical body and is the end result of healthy food which is properly digested. It is responsible for a healthy immune system, physical strength, lustrous complexion, clarity of mind and sense of Well being. It allows consciousness to flow within the body. With decreased ojas, we are less in touch with ourselves and more prone to diseases and having a feeling of disharmony. 'Ojakshaya' (decreased ojas) is a condition similar to AIDS/HIV
Research on Ashwagandha has concluded that extracts of the plant has a direct spermatogenic influence on the seminiferous tubules of immature rats presumably by exerting a testosterone-like effect.
Ashwagandha increases hemoglobin (red blood count) and hair melanin.It stabilizes blood sugar and lowers cholesterol.

Andrographis Paniculata , Kariyat , Medicinal Uses , Benefits And Side Effects

Andrographis paniculata

Sanskrit Name: Kariyat
English Name: Indian echinacea
Family Name: Acanthaceae
Parts used: Leaves and other parts

Medicinal uses of Andrographis paniculata  (Indian echinacea)
Andrographis paniculata possesses immuno-stimulant, aperients, anti-parasitic, tonic, anti-biotic and anti-viral activities. It is used for treating hepatitis B, HIV, flatulence, gastric acidity, bowel complaints and common cold.

Andrographis and its various components have demonstrated a variety of effects in the body. Some aspects stimulate the general immune activities, others inhibit the body's inflammatory mechanism and still others demonstrate not only anti-microbial abilities, but also are instrumental in killing certain tumor cells. Studies have also indicated that the active chemical, Andrographolide, helps to stop the clumping of blood platelets which is the clotting process that can lead to heart attacks.

Colds, Flu, Sinusitis: Andrographis compounds have shown antiviral properties which appear to inhibit glycoprotein's in the virus. This impedes the viruses ability to invade cells in the body and replicate. Also andrographolides are currently being studied for the antiviral effects they have on avian bird flu virus, ebola virus and HIV.

Andrographis has a major effect activating the general defense function of the immune system by stimulating the production of antibodies as well as non-specific immune responses such as increased macrophage phagocytosis, rather than by any direct anti-microbial activity.

Clinical studies have demonstrated its efficacy in healing colds, flu, sinusitis, pharyngotonsillitis, familial mediterranean fever and upper respiratory tract infections. It also has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of colds by 2.1 time and prevent flu and complications.

Anti-inflammatory: There appears to be a significant presence of flavanoids in the Andrographis Paniculata herb, which always have an anti-inflammatory affect. In vitro, studies have shown that the flavinoid activities supressed the genetic expression of neutrofils, an inflammatory agent. Similarly, studies have indicated that a variety of inflammatory proteins, including COX-2, are reduced by the presence of Andrographoloid.Anti-tumor: In vitro, andrographolide studies indicate an immuno-stimulating activity, as well as a marked inhibitory effect. Its presence increases proliferation of lymphocytes and production of interleukin2, TNF-alpha production and cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes against certain cancer cell lines, as well as demonstrating potential direct anti-cancer activity by the induction of cell-cycle inhibitory protein p27 and decreased expression of cyclin-dependent kinase.

Andrographis Paniculata Side Effects & Safety
Andrographis Paniculata has been widely tested and is considered safe with few if any minor side effects at commonly prescribed levels. In clinical trials with children between 4 and 11 Andrographis was effective and safe. Side effects occurred in HIV trials at a dose of 10 mg of andrographolides per kg of body weight or roughly 12 time the recommended dosage.

Precautions
Pregnant women or those trying to conceive should avoid Andrographis, animal studies have shown the possibility of contraceptive effects at high dosages. Safety during lactation is not known. Andrographis may increase glucose metabolisation which could unduly enhance blood sugar lowering medication.
Use cautiously in patients taking anticoagulant agents