How can something you gather from the side of the road be as effective as your expensive and much-touted fertility treatment? Herbs and modern medicine are not exactly unrelated to each other. Around 25% of today’s prescription medication is derived directly from herbs including bark, leaves and flowers of certain plants. When an herb is considered effective for use as a medicine, its “active ingredient” is isolated and becomes the actual medicine. However, some herbs have a holistic effect and it is difficult to explain exactly how they work, since there may not be one “active ingredient”, but a variety of components which create an overall effect. This is the reason herb treatments tend to yield less dramatic and immediate effects, but, after increased doses and long term use, they can often be as effective as prescription medication. Herbs are also easier on the body than conventional treatments, such as hormones, and can be used over a longer period of time with little or no side effects. Some herbs have properties that mimic hormones and bind on the receptor sites which would ordinarily receive the actual hormone. This “tricks” the body into “thinking” that the hormone is present, when actually, it is the herb.
Where to go Herb-Hunting
Some herbs can be found in your back yard, in the woods, at the side of the road, most or in a local health store. You can add some herbs, such as red clover, directly to salads and food. Leaves and flowers can be dried and brewed as tea. Other herbs are available as tinctures in small bottles with medicine droppers or in pill form. Directions for use are usually clearly labeled. Use of these herbs with other fertility treatments is discouraged, and once a woman becomes pregnant, she should discontinue use of herbs that do not support pregnancy, such as Dong Quai, Siberian Ginseng, Black Cohosh.