Saturday 5 April 2014

Arthritis Research UK final article of the week :)

Growing your own pain relief herb garden with Niki Preston

Growing your own pain relief herb garden with Niki Preston

Herbs for pain relief is very new to me so I have done a fair bit of research and asked those in the know what kinds of herbs are helpful for joint pain relief.
Niki 7I have it on good authority that turmeric eaten with black pepper is an excellent pain reliever, James Wong himself let me into that little secret so it must be worth a go, if anyone knows there stuff it is him. One word of caution however, please always ask your doctor before trying anything new and never take yourself of any medication without consulting your doctor.
Along with turmeric I have learned that cayenne pepper has excellent anti-inflammatory benefits and this is an easy and fun plant to grow too, great to add into curries, salads and dressing. With its bright red peppers it will add great colour to your herb garden as well.
One thing that I am definitely going to try to grow is pineapple; apparently the bromelain in the juice and stem of a pineapple is known to ease the pain and inflammation that comes with Arthritis. As far as I am aware you can grow a new pineapple from a whole pineapple bought in your supermarket. Firstly cut off the leafy part of the pineapple, leaving about an inch or so of the flesh, pop it on a plate and of course eat the rest of the pineapple. Pick a good spot to grow your pineapple, sunny and with space, they can grow quite large.
Niki 6
Get your pot and bury the pineapple so that all the flesh is buried and the leafy parts are showing, give it a good water and that’s about it, wait but be patient it can take 2 years for the plant to fruit, if you live in a frost prone area remember to give it shelter in the winter. This might seem like a long time just for a pineapple but think how proud you will be if you manage it, and free pain relief into the bargain.
Ginger is another great pain and anti inflammatory herb. Again this can grown from ginger roots bought is the local supermarket. Ginger contains an active substance called gingerols which are said to stop the body creating the process that leads to inflammation. I am no expert though so please don’t just take my word for this.
So here are just a few ideas to get your joint pain herb garden started, I think I would also include some heavenly scented lavender for its relaxing benefits and possibly some thyme, rosemary and bay just to add some interest, colour and of course for their culinary uses.

1 comment: