Herbs that are foods and foods that are herbs
Herbs that are foods and foods that are herbs
Foods:
Only eaten for nutrition-
Rice, potato, corn and nuts
Nutritional & Therapeutic-
Garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, aniseed, rosemary, oregano, sage, dill, thyme, mushrooms, fenugreek, globe artichoke, fennel, green tea, ginger and hops.
Herbs:
Never eaten as foods-
Echinacea, goldenseal, rhodiola, gymnema, boswellia
Where herbs are used as foods, the focus is on the full spectrum of components unique to each plant. These include proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, enzymes, vitamins, minerals and insoluble and soluble fibers as well as their secondary metabolites.
The use of herbs as foods is more essential to human health, supplementing the various nutritional and metabolic needs of the body. When herbs are used as food the emphasis is on sustaining and promoting health.
To be healthy we need to select plants from each side of these categories, predominantly from the nutritional and therapeutic side, that is the common ground between nutritional and herbal therapy, however when the need arises, we could consider choosing from the “herbs never eaten as food” category.
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