Wild Rue

Peganum harmala, commonly called esfand, wild rue, Syrian rue, African rue, spilani, harmel, or aspand.

Not related to rue (ruta graveolens).

Cited by Robert Thomson, in “Natural Medicine” (Wildwood House, London, 1981) as one of the top herbs for a natural medicine herbalist to stock.

It is said to have antioxidant and antimutagenic properties and has been used as an emmenagogue and abortifacient agent. Also as an anthelmintic.

Image: By Lazaregagnidze (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Red Clover

Robert Thomson, in “The Grosset Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine” says, “…it is used in the treatment of malignant ulcers, scrofula, indolent sores, burns, whooping cough and various spasms, and bronchial and renal conditions. The warm tea is very soothing to the nerves.”

In latin it is called trifolium pratense.

In TCM it is Mu.

Sweet Wormwood

Wormwood, also known as sweet wormwood, sweet annie, sweet sagewort, annual mugwort or annual wormwood.  In TCM it is Qing Hao.  The latin name is artemisia annua.

A December 2016 study found that, “A centuries-old herbal medicine, discovered by Chinese scientists and used to effectively treat malaria, has been found to potentially aid in the treatment of tuberculosis and may slow the evolution of drug resistance.”

In fact, wormwood is well known not just within the TCM system but also in western natural medicine and Unani Tibb.

Menzies-Trull, in "The Herbalist's Prescriber" says it is an anti-infective with cautions for diarrhoea, headache and tinnitus.

Robert Thomson, in “The Grosset Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine” (1980), says, of wormwood (artemisia absinthium), “The tops and leaves are used as a tonic, a stomachic, a stimulant febriluge, an anthelmintic, and a narcotic … it is a first-rate treatment of enfeebled digestion and debility … It is also treated for [amongst other things] loss of appetite … diabetes … obstinate diarrhoea.”

Image

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMing_herbal%3B_(painting)%3B_Sweet_wormwood_Wellcome_L0039414.jpg

Spring Detox

Bhikha and Abdul Haq in “Tibb – Traditional Roots of Medicine in Modern Routes to Health” state,

“In spring, the warmer weather brings the formerly latent or dormant humoral excesses of winter up to the surface. Biologically, nature supports cleansing of the body in spring. In Winter, the digestive fire is high and people eat more sweet and heavy food. Most of the time, they aren’t able to assimilate these hard to digest food, and so the phlegmatic humour starts accumulating…"

"In Spring, the hardened phlegmatic humour begins to melt and the volume becomes great in the circulatory channels. As a result of the increased circulating phlegmatic humour, the digestive activity weakens, causing diseases. If you don’t assist these toxins moving out of the body, you become prone to many illness conditions e.g. allergies. Spring is the best time for detoxification because nature is already trying to clear out these toxins. A diet rich in light meals like soup with heating herbs and spices is encouraged to assist the body in the elimination of accumulated phlegmatic humour.”

Chishti in "The Traditional Healers Handbook" provides an excellent detox programme.

Marshmallow

Robert Thomson, in “Natural Medicine” (Wildwood House, London, 1981) refers to it on several occasions including as part of a formula for roughness of the lungs from smoke or dust, or loud shouting.

In TCM marshmallow root is Yao Shu Kui and is classified as sweet, neutral, and pungent.

Liquorice

Robert Thomson, in “The Grosset Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine” says, “… prescribed for a variety of ailments, including dropsy, coughs, sore throats, and catarrhal conditions of the urinary tract. The dosage of the powdered root is ½ to 1 teaspoon, as a tea.”

In Tibb (Islamic Medicine), it is classified as hot and moist: food qualities.

It is Gan Cao in TCM.

In Arabic it is called al-Sus and also Urq al-Suws

Chicory

Robert Thomson, in “Natural Medicine” (Wildwood House, London, 1981) says, “All the Hakims I consulted were in agreement that chicory is the best remedy for bad temperament of the liver.”

Chicory root, is al-hindubaa al-baria in Arabic, and Ju Ju Gen in TCM.

In Tibb it is classified as a tonic, diuretic, hepatic and laxative. It removes phlegm. It is good for the liver. 

In TCM it is classified as bitter and diuretic and considered as good for the liver.

Turmeric, Memory and Mood

In a study published in January 2018 it was found that, “… people who took curcumin experienced significant improvements in their memory and attention abilities, while the subjects who received placebo did not, Small said. In memory tests, the people taking curcumin improved by 28 percent over the 18 months. Those taking curcumin also had mild improvements in mood, and their brain PET scans showed significantly less amyloid and tau signals in the amygdala and hypothalamus than those who took placebos.” (Source: EurekAlert!, the online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society.)

In Tibb (Islamic Medicine), turmeric is classified as hot and moist: food qualities.

Yoghurt and Heart Health

A February 2018 study published in the American Journal of Hypertension, published by Oxford University Press, suggests that, “higher yogurt intake is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk among hypertensive men and women.” (Source: EurekAlert!, the online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society.)

In Tibb (Islamic Medicine), yoghurt is classified as cold and dry: food qualities.

Strengthening the stomach

“Include in the diet: pomegranate, quince, orange and orange peel, cinnamon, gur, senna, cloves, cardamom, and mint … Everything that strengthens the stomach also strengthens the intestines and throat.”

Chishti in "The Traditional Healers Handbook" 

Strengthening the Liver

“Include in the diet: chickory, roasted chickory root, pomegranate, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves. Liver weakness comes mainly from things that cause coldness and moisture.  Therefore, including heating [garmi] foods and spices.”

Chishti in "The Traditional Healers Handbook" 

Strengthening the heart

“Eat peaches, pomegranate, tamarind, apple, rhubarb, cowslip, mint, coriander seeds, orange, cinnamon, senna, gur, saffron, carrot, cardamom…”

Chishti in "The Traditional Healers Handbook" 

Strengthening the brain

“Include these items in the diet: quince, apples, orange, rose water, ginger, valerian, cloves, chicken, brains, and goat’s milk."

Chishti in "The Traditional Healers Handbook" 

Strengthening the kidneys

The signs of weak kidneys are, “white or colorless urine and pain, weakness of the body, loss of virility, backache and headache.” The remedy is, “by diet consisting of large amounts of pure water, kidney meats, parsley, leafy green vegetables, wheat germ, and fresh green peas. Avoid coffee … and other stimulants.”

Robert Thomson, in “Natural Medicine” (Wildwood House, London, 1981)

Physis

Hakim Chishti in "The Traditional Healers Handbook" said, "Behind every natural action of the human body is an inherent wisdom, a mechanism that allows the body to heal itself. In fact, no herb, no food or any other substance or procedure can do anything on its own to heal; it can only aid and assist the body in its own self-healing role. If your finger is cut, it is not the stitches or the bandage or the iodine that causes it to heal; it is the skin itself that performs this miracle.”

Eating Fish and Quality Sleep

In Tibb (Islamic Medicine), sleep is classified as moistening.

In a recent study by the University of Pennsylvania it was found that, “Children who eat fish at least once a week sleep better and have IQ scores that are 4 points higher, on average, than those who consume fish less frequently or not at all, according to new findings from”

Source

EurekAlert!, the online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society.

Sleep and Food Intake

In Tibb (Islamic Medicine), sleep is classified as moistening.

In a recent study by Kings College London it was found that, ““Sleeping for longer each night is a simple lifestyle intervention that could help reduce intake of sugary foods and lead to a generally healthier diet”

“The fact that extending sleep led to a reduction in intake of free sugars, by which we mean the sugars that are added to foods by manufacturers or in cooking at home as well as sugars in honey, syrups and fruit juice, suggests that a simple change in lifestyle may really help people to consume healthier diets.”

Source

EurekAlert!, the online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society.

Obesity

The Tibb Institute of South African in its paper, “Tibb and body weight – different options” tell us that, “Tibbʼs approach is to deal with three aspects of lifestyle – food intake, physical activity, and sleep hygiene. For instance, dietary sugar and fructose syrup, now revealed as major culprits, need to be severely curtailed, together with most processed foods. In support of these changes, physical activity needs to be increased, and good sleeping patterns developed.”

In their paper, “Concept of Obesity and its management in Unani Medicine – A Review”, Ali and Naushin outline Tibb approaches for the management of obesity, noting, “there is treasure of plant origin drugs having highest diversity in their properties both in dieto- and herbal therapy, which can reduce body weight and prevent diet induced obesity.” And recording that Buqrat (Hippocrates) advised that obese people should,

• “reduce the amount of food
• …Avoid all fatty diets
• Use dry and desiccated food
• Promote fasting
• Restrict meat, milk …
• Eat vegetables in excess
• Hot spices should be added to food
• Foods should be cooked in vinegar.”

Ali and Naushin set out 20 herbs with a hot/dry temperament useful in the management of obesity, a disease that is cold in temperament.

Ahmer, Khan, Jamil and Ali in “Research and Reviews: Journal of Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy Obesity (Siman-E-Mufrat) in Greeco-Arabic Perspective: A Review” outline dietary, exercise and regimental therapies for dealing with obesity, noting for example that, “One should consume at least eight large glasses of water every day. This ensures effective removal of any toxins present inside the tissues and blood vessels. After a meal, one should not drink so much water that it might cause the food to leave the stomach and float about … one should abstain from drinking water till the food has passed down from the stomach.”

Tabassum and Mohammad Nasar in, “Scope of Unani Herbal Medicine in the Management of Obesity - A Review” give details of several well-known foods, herbs and spices useful in dealing with obesity, including, for example, lemon juice which “…is cold in temperament. It is digestive and having the property of jali (detergent). Lemon juice is quite effective for obesity patients. 5-10 ml of lemon juice is mixed with one glass of water and should be taken on empty stomach in the morning. The mix is very useful for melting of adipose tissue from the body as well as weight loss. However, it is recommended to take the above mix [only] once a day, otherwise, the person may experience loose motion or some digestive problems.”

Asthma

Asthma is a very challenging, chronic lung disease and globally the number of sufferers is increasing.  The Unani Tibb Medicine approach to asthma is, as in other areas, different to allopathic medicine.

The Ibn Sina Tibb Institute identifies three main types of asthma: allergic asthma (breathing difficulties; itchy and red watery eyes; allergic rhinitis with post-nasal drip), phlegmatic asthma (coughing; wheezing; a feeling of tightness in the chest; difficulty in breathing), and melancholic asthma (marked breathing difficulty; mucus or phlegm expectorant is absent; coughing is rare). These are hot, cold and moist, cold and dry, respectively.

The National Health Portal of India says, “Asthma is described with different names in Unani literature as Rabu, Buhar, Zeeq-al- nafas, Dama and Intesab- al- nafas.” and provides useful advice on preventative measures, single and compound medications within the Tibb tradition.

A 2014 report discussed the link between balghami (cold and dry) temperaments, obesity and asthma.

Early treatment for asthma is always highly recommended.

Tibb, homeostasis: dynamic optimum functioning

Bhikha and Abdul Haq in “Tibb – Traditional Roots of Medicine in Modern Routes to Health” state, “Tibb could be defined as: “The art of serving, with respect, the physis of each person you meet”.”  And, “…the complex inter-connectedness of ever-changing and mutually influencing parts requires something more sophisticated than balance. We prefer to describe homeostasis as ‘dynamic optimum functioning’. It is the active component of an ideal state. Dynamic optimum functioning does not always require equal measures of all contributing factors to health. Different personalities require different measures of different contributing factors. Some personalities need creative stress, others need more sleep and some people depend more on certain nutrients than others.”