6 Essential Herbs That Will Boost Your Health

To enjoy a quality of health you can sustain, the better approach is to err on the side of caution and keep all your core functions in balance. They can take care of each other and internally make up for any imbalances in one or the other. This approach works because that’s exactly how the body works – no divides, no separation of body and mind, and no obsession with organ system microcosms.

So when you have an upset stomach, do what you need to immediately do to support your digestion and normalize your stools, like avoiding spicy food and having more fiber. At the same time, make sure you’re supporting your other core functions as well like immunity, brain function, and your bones. Infections and stress, too, can cause an upset stomach while your bones will bear the brunt of poorly digested food.

The body systems, the core functions, are way too interconnected and interdependent for you to always be able to make the right associations.

# Digestion

Rousseau said happiness is all about a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion. Some people then are born happy. For most others, good digestion is all about good food practices. A few precious slips and they are back to heaviness, bloating, and heartburn, the usual symptoms of poor digestion.

So if you aren’t part of the first group, it’s time to ask yourself the following questions: are you eating the right foods? Are you taking the right herbs? Are you following the right routine? In short, are you doing everything you can to help this complex multi-step process?

# Sleep

Sleep is your body’s simplest hack of bringing itself back to balance. Deep, restorative sleep repairs your torn tissues, helps your muscles grow, consolidates your memory, helps your nerve cells branch out, helps synthesize essential proteins and hormones, and reduces your sensitivity to pain.

# Energy (Metabolism)

Metabolism is what directs the flow of energy through your body – in some cases, producing energy, in others, using it. Depending on the balance between the two, you can swing anywhere between “I’m ready to conquer the word” to “I’m not going to lift a finger today.”

# Immune Function

Your immune system is your body’s department of defense. It prevents and deals with foreign invasion (read disease-causing microbes or pathogens) and quashes guerrilla forces (read free radicals) inside.

For the first, it utilizes an army of specialized immune cells and for the second, it relies on a special unit of chemicals known as antioxidants. There’s a third critical unit – gut bacteria – that needs to be managed just right to keep the pathogens away; else, they could turn rogue and help the free radicals.

# Mental Health

Your brain is your body’s master switch. If it’s not functioning at its best, several other parts of your body aren’t too.

Brain function and mental health are typically governed by your innate metabolic personality or prakruti. In fact, your brain activity reflects your prakruti. For instance, in ‘light and quick’ people, the frontal executive system of the brain, which deals with attention switching, detecting errors, decision making, and emotional input, is more active than in ‘slow and steady’ people. As a result, the former are overstimulated, quick to take action, and able to multitask.

# Physical Health

By the time you’re “thirty and flirty,” your bones are at their prime, you have peak bone mass and your joints feel healthy. As you age, your bones and joints start to succumb to the friction and pressure, they were, up until now, coping with beautifully.

The body ages; it will happen. What is in your control is the support you give it as it transitions. For your skeletal system, yes, your lifestyle during your growing years matters, but what you do once you cross thirty also matters. And this is irrespective of whether or not you were active as a teenager.