"Cleansing Herbs"

 

 

 

 

   Dr. Brown explained to me the history of "cleansing herbs".  My first question was the name implied there was something wrong with us that we needed to be "cleansed" so my inquiry was the assumption might not be correct.  Here's his answer which I've always remembered and my twist to why maybe we still do need "cleansing herbs". 

 

   During the medieval times, especially in most of Europe,  folks did not have a healthy diet in the winter months.  There were no fresh vegetables, no fresh fruits, and many meat/fish products were preserved by salting.  Unlike today you lived only on what you could grow and if it was cold winter that severely limited what one could eat.  People were deprived on nutrients due to what was available.

 

    When spring came many  "benefical weeds" would  sprout and immediately the locals would find a way to prepare those "green weeds" and incorporate them into the meals.  Basically the body had been deprived of so many good vitamins and minerals that more were needed so they found a way to make the weeds/herbs palatable.  This is one of the early beginnings of the term that herbs are "benefical weeds".

 

    The other problem was over the course of months of eating only salted meat/fish there had been an assumed accumulation of toxic type substances and it was felt the toxins needed to be removed.  The way to remove the toxins was to eat some "cleansing herbs". 

 

    Certain herbs, beneficial weeds, would be eaten and actually acted as mild diuretics and would encourage elimination.  It was this group of herbs that became known as the "cleansing herbs".  

 

     Do we need cleansing herbs now?  Certainly most of us have access to vegetables, fruits etc. from all over the world so "local content" is no longer as strong as it used to be so that does not appear to be the answer.  In this time of many healthy foods what do many people do? 

 

   Simple, we do not eat well.  It's a fast food culture dominated by ease of use, cheap cost, eating on the run and the fresh healthy fruits and vegetables are left out of our diet not due to lack of them but because of our hectic lifestyles. 

 

   One could question if the diet of old is not better than the diet of now.  

 

   Now you know something about the history of the "cleansing herbs" or the need for "blood purifiers".