Herbs & supplements

Herb
It is a plant grown for culinary, medicinal, or in some cases even spiritual value. The green, leafy part of the plant is typically used.

Plants are major group of living things (about 300 000 species), including familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, and ferns.

General usage of herbs differs between culinary herbs and medicinal herbs.
A medicinal herb may be a shrub or other woody plant, whereas a culinary herb is a non-woody plant. By contrast, spices are the seeds, berries, bark, root, or other parts of the plant, even leaves in some cases; although any of these, as well as any edible fruits or vegetables, may be considered “herbs” in medicinal or spiritual use.
Culinary herbs are distinguished from vegetables in that they are used in small amounts and provide flavor (the sensory impression determined by the chemical senses of taste, smell, and trigeminal senses – which detect chemical irritants in the mouth and throat) rather than substance to food.

In botany, a herb is a plant that does not produce a woody stem, and in temperate climates usually dies, either completely (annual herb) or back to the roots (perennial herb), at the end of the growing season.

The term herbaceous means either having the characteristic of an herb or being leaf-like in color and texture.
Non-herbaceous plants are woody plants which have stems above ground that remain alive during winter and grow shoots the next year, such as trees, shrubs, and woody vines.

Herbalism (or phytotherapy, herbal medicine)
It is folk and traditional medicinal practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts.
The use of herbs to treat disease is almost universal among non-industrialized societies. A number of traditions came to dominate the practice of herbal medicine in the Western world at the end of the twentieth century - the Western based on Greek and Roman sources, the Ayurvedic from India, the Chinese herbal medicine.
Many of the pharmaceuticals currently available have a long history of use as a herbal remedies.
All plants produce chemical compounds as part of their normal metabolic activities. These can be split into primary metabolites (such as sugars and fats) found in all plants, and secondary metabolites found in a smaller range of plants, some only in a particular genus or species.
A common misconception about herbalism and the use of “natural” products in general, is that “natural” equals safe. Nature, however, is not benign, and many plants have chemical defense mechanisms against predators that can have adverse effects on humans. Examples are poison hemlock and nightshade, which can be deadly. Herbs can also have undesirable side effects just as pharmaceutical products can.

Medical interactions
The legal status of herbal ingredients varies by country. Those wishing to use herbal remedies should first consult with a physician, as some herbal remedies have the potential to cause adverse drug interactions when used in combination with various prescription and OTC pharmaceuticals. Physicians may not be the best sources of information because most have no knowledge of herbal medicine. There is little known about interactions of herbal remedies with pharmaceuticals because, contrary to pharmaceutical medicine, there is no official system, database, or hotline to report and publish adverse interactions, so even herbalists may not be aware of adverse interactions.

Herbology
It is the art of combining medicinal herbs. It is traditionally one of the more important modalities utilized in traditional Chinese medicine. Each herbal medicine prescription in a cocktail of many herbs is tailored to the individual patient. Chinese herbology often incorporates ingredients from all parts of plants, the leaf, stem, flower, root, and also ingredients form animals and minerals.

Herb farm
It is usually a farm where herbs are grown for market sale. The herbs may also be grown for their essential oils or as raw material for making herbal products.

Nutritional supplements (dietary supplements)
The dietary supplements supplies nutrients (usually vitamins or minerals) that are missing or not consumed in sufficient quantity in a person’s diet.

It is intended to supplement the diet and bears or contains one or more of the following dietary ingredients:

• vitamin
• mineral
• herb or other botanical
• amino acid
• dietary substance used to increase the total daily intake (e.g. enzymes)
• concentrate (e.g. energy bar)
• metabolite, constituent, or extract

Dietary supplement can be in the form of pill, capsule, tablet, or liquid for. It is not represented for use as a conventional food or as the sole item of a meal or diet.
Supplements have to be safe, both in quantity and quality.