antiviral plant medicine
Today’s pharmaceutical industry is a relatively recent phenomenon, originating from Victorian apothecaries where drugs such as morphine were made from plant compounds, and early twentieth century dye and chemical companies who discovered medicinal uses from their by-products. For millennia before that traditional medicine primarily used the properties of plants to treat or help prevent illnesses, including viral infections.
Clinical research on the antiviral properties of specific herbs is limited, having been conducted in laboratory petri dishes, or on animals, and may not have been tested on humans. However, chemical components within plants may disrupt the viral lifecycle and alleviate symptoms, for example, help relieve a cough, assist with breathing or sleep, improve recovery, or boost the immune system.
EXTRACTION OF PLANT COMPOUNDS
Plant compounds are used therapeutically in several ways.
• concentrate the properties of a specific• are concentrated herbal extracts made by soaking plant material in an alcohol or vinegar base. Tinctures make it easy to ingest the health-boosting chemicals in plants and are relatively cheap and easy to make.• can be eaten, made into teas or used as poultices. While beneficial they’re less potent than tinctures or essential oils.
