What is the effect on your body

One of the first things you have to learn to be a functional herbalist is the medical terms for the plants action. Below is a basic list. Whether you want herbalist support for your body or not, you should become familiar with these terms because the apply to products you might buy at a pharmacy. Knowledge is power!

Adaptogen
Adaptogenic herbs are all about restoration and balance, bringing our bodies back to a solid foundation from which we’re better able to cope with physical, mental, and/or emotional stress. They work on a broad-spectrum scope, as opposed to targeting a particular organ or part of the body. And most typically they are entirely safe and non-toxic.

Alterative
Alterative herbs help to restore proper function and overall health and vitality to your body. To be completely honest, alterative herbs are kind of difficult to define, and their pharmacological action is not well understood. In fact, alterative is probably one of the most unclear and misunderstood herbal actions. Nonetheless, alterative herbs play an important role in herbal medicine. You may also hear alterative herbs referred to as blood and lymph cleansers or tonics, alluding to their role in helping to maintain our body’s essential function of natural detoxification. As one of the most important physiological processes, our body’s ability to self-cleanse is key to maintaining overall health and vitality. And at the risk of greater confusion, you may hear alterative used interchangeably with adaptogen and tonic as well.

Analgesic
Analgesic herbs help to relieve pain, plain and simple. They may work in a variety of ways, but primarily by reducing the sensitivity of our nerves to pain. And they may be used for all kinds of pain, including pain associated with headaches, sore muscles, arthritis, back pain, and toothaches.

Anti-Fungal
Anti-fungal herbs either completely wipe out or slow the growth of fungi. You’ll commonly see anti-fungal herbs used to help with gastrointestinal candida overgrowth, vaginal yeast infections, athlete’s foot, ringworm, and more.

Anti-Inflammatory
Anti-inflammatory herbs have the broad effect of helping to decrease inflammation in your body. They do so by helping to manage (or control) inflammation as a normal and healthy body response to infection or anything else that may be causing inflammation. Unlike most pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories, herbal anti-inflammatories do not necessarily work to suppress inflammation. There are a wide variety of plant compounds and mechanisms that can act as anti-inflammatories. These compounds work with our bodies to bring healing and restoration to the affected area.

Antimicrobial
These guys are our protectors! Antimicrobial herbs contain plant compounds that directly block harmful bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoans that can cause the common cold, flu, or any other number of other infections. They can be applied topically or taken internally.

Antioxidant
Antioxidant herbs help to prevent oxidative stress to our cells that may be caused by environmental factors, poor quality food, certain medications, smoking, alcohol abuse, or any number of the physical, mental, or emotional stressors we face. Oxidative stress is often the cause of premature aging and many inflammatory diseases.

Antispasmodic
Antispasmodic herbs help to soothe muscle contractions and prevent spasms that may present as painful stomach cramping, muscle tension, and more.

Antiviral
Antiviral herbs work to completely destroy and/or suppress the growth of viruses. And they do so by generally supporting and strengthening the immune system. Interestingly, many herbs that may show antiviral properties in a lab setting are not actually effective in a clinical setting. This is perhaps just another mechanism of defense for the plant that doesn’t translate over to us humans.

Aphrodisiac
In the simplest of terms, aphrodisiac herbs help to stimulate sexual desire and pleasure, increase potency, and/or enhance performance. And they do so by nourishing your nervous, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems. They can be taken internally or applied topically and work via a variety of physiological and energetic mechanisms to “get things moving.”

Astringent
Astringent herbs help to tighten and tone (by way of contraction) our tissues so that they can function better. You can often detect the astringent qualities of an herb when putting it in your mouth. A tea or tincture made with astringent herbs may cause your mouth to feel tight and dry. Plant compounds known as tannins are oftentimes responsible for this tightening and toning action. Because of these tannins, many astringent herbs often help to speed up wound healing.

Bitter
Bitter herbs are a chemically complex group! But regardless of the wide variety of phytochemicals (plant chemicals) that their bitter properties come from, they all have one thing in common: that goshdarn awful bitter taste. Fortunately, as we age and naturally lose taste buds, we’re better able to handle (and even enjoy) the bitter taste of these herbs. They’re incredibly important medicine for our overall health. As soon as they hit our tongue, they start to work their magic. Herbs with bitter qualities start a cascade of stimulations and secretions that encourage healthy and efficient digestion. They help to keep all our digestive organs, including the stomach, pancreas, liver, and gall bladder, in tip-top shape. When you learn of bitter herbs, think of digestive support!

Carminative
Carminative herbs help to stimulate and ease digestion in a way that helps to prevent symptoms of poor digestion such as gas and bloating, indigestion, nausea, low nutrient absorption, etc.

Demulcent
Demulcent herbs help to soothe irritated and inflamed internal tissues such as the mucous membrane that lines our entire digestive tract from our esophagus to our colon.They’re often mucilaginous or oily in nature and work by forming a protective coating over the irritated or inflamed mucous membranes.

Diaphoretic
Diaphoretic herbs cause perspiration. Have you heard folks say “sweat it out” when referring to a fever? That’s what diaphoretic herbs help you do; they help to sweat it out. They’re often used with fever to help cool things down.

Diuretic
Diuretics help the body get rid of excess sodium by increasing the amount of fluid we’re getting rid of through urine. Basically that means they’ll have you peeing a lot!

Emmenagogue
Emmenagogue herbs stimulate blood flow in the pelvic region. Many emmenagogues can help to stimulate and regulate menstruation. For this reason, their use is contraindicated with pregnancy due to an increased risk of miscarriage.

Emollient
Emollient herbs are characterized by their softening and soothing properties due to oils or mucilage. They are typically used on inflamed and irritated skin. And while they are very similar in action to demulcent herbs, emollients are generally used externally and demulcent herbs are used internally

Expectorant
Expectorant herbs help you to remove excess mucous from your lungs. They help you to “cough it up” when there’s just too much mucous or it’s too thick and sticky for your natural mechanisms to be able to keep up. There are different types of expectorant herbs for different sticky situations: soothing and stimulating. Soothing expectorants are generally mucilaginous in nature and work to help loosen stuck mucous. And on the other hand, stimulating expectorants, work almost as chemical irritants that stimulate gastric reflex, causing you to cough. One thing to note when formulating with and using expectorant herbs is that adequate hydration is an essential part of their effectiveness.

Galactagogue
Galactagogue herbs may help to stimulate milk flow and can be helpful to nursing mothers. For the largest benefits, it’s generally recommended that the nursing mother is in optimal health to begin with.

Heart Tonic
Heart tonics (also called cardiac tonics), as you may imagine, work by supporting the natural, healthy function of the heart. They’re essentially adaptogens for your cardiovascular system.

Hepatic
Hepatic is used as a general term for herbs that act on the liver. These herbs work via a broad spectrum of mechanisms. For example, some may help to stimulate healthy liver function in the way bitter herbs do or they may work more to protect the liver. Herbs that have more of a protective action may be referred to as hepatoprotectives. Nonetheless, both bitter and hepatoprotective herbs can be referred to as hepatics. Hepatoprotective herbs work to support normal liver function and protect the liver from damage. As our filter through which all toxins pass, the liver has a big and difficult job. In today’s world, our liver is often on overdrive and could use all the love it can get so that it can adequately do its job of natural detoxification.

Hypoglycemic
Hypoglycemic herbs work to help lower blood sugar. Plain and simple.

Hypotensive
Hypotensive herbs help to reduce blood pressure. These herbs work by many different mechanisms. To help lower blood pressure, some may act as diuretics, heart tonics, or antispasmodics.

Nervine
Nervine is a general category of herbs for those that work on the nervous system. They are generally nourishing and soothing to the nervous system in a way that can help to bring balance to the body and may help to ease stress and anxiety.

Nutritive
Nutritive herbs are those high in vitamins and minerals. They help to nourish and ultimately sustain life.

Sedative
Sedative herbs may help to calm the nervous system and can be beneficial in reducing stress and anxiety. They are characterized by their ability to help us relax and may be helpful for insomnia.

Tonic
Tonic herbs help to nourish, restore, and even invigorate tissues, organs, and entire body systems. They are generally targeted to a specific organ or body system, unlike adaptogens that work on a broader, whole-body spectrum. For example, there are herbs that act as heart tonics, those that work more on the liver, and others that may target our entire system of natural detoxification. Still, some target the uterus or the entire reproductive system. It totally depends on the herb. In general, tonic herbs are meant to be taken in small amounts over long periods of time and ultimately function to help the body stay in balance. In this way, they may seem very similar to both adaptogens and alterative herbs.

Vulnerary
Vulnerary herbs are wound-healing. They may help to promote or speed up the healing of both wounds and irritated tissues.

Credit for content to Botany Culture