Health: 4 Natural African Herbs

4 Natural African Herbs

Africa is home to millions of species of plants, scattered around the continent. While some are native to specific environments, others can be found blooming in every country.

Before the popularized western medicines, Africans depended totally on some of these species of plants for centuries due to their discovered medicinal properties.

Today, most African people still trust and depend on local Herbs, with full confidence in their proclaimed medicinal abilities.

The use of medicinal herbs as an essential component of the African traditional healthcare system is perhaps the oldest and the most assorted of all therapeutic systems.

Up to 80% of people in most areas regularly use traditional medicines and consult traditional health practitioners in their locality for herbal prescriptions.

In other areas in Africa, traditional treatments are the main or only treatment because they are easily accessible, affordable (with some personally acquired or grown), and culturally accepted.

Out of the thousands of beneficial African Herbs, this list is compiled judging from the number of benefits that could be obtained from each of them.

These benefits include the ability to treat diseases, maintain good health, and cure or help heal physical injuries.

Below is our list of Natural African Herbs

Natural African Herbs

4. Devil’s Claw

Botanical name: Harpagophytum

Other names: grapple plant, wood spider, devil’s claw

First on our list is the devil claw!

The Harpagophytum owe their common name “devil’s claw” to the unusual appearance of their hooked fruit.

This is an interesting name for a plant to have, considering the immense medicinal benefits it provides in many health sectors today.

Health benefits of Wormwood include:

• Devil’s claw is popularly known to be used primarily for joint diseases, back pain, and headaches.
• Health benefits of the Devil claw include:
• It may be used to reduce body pain.
• To assist in treating osteoarthritis {pain and stiffness, especially in the hip, knee, and thumb joints}
• Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) {deformity and immobility, especially in the fingers, wrists, feet, and ankles}
• It may be used to alleviate allergic reactions

It can also be used as a topical ointment on boils, heartburn, gastrointestinal disorders, skin injuries, and ulcers. It is used primarily for joint diseases, back pain, and headaches. With all these medicinal benefits, it is befitting to include Wormwood among the top natural African Herbs.

3. Wormwood

Botanical name: Artemisia absinthium

Other names: wormwood, grand wormwood, absinthe, absinthium, absinthe wormwood, mugwort, wermout, wermud, wormit, wormo.

The wormwood comes second on our list! It can be easily identified by having a straight stem with fibrous roots, with silvery green leaves.

Wormwood is part of a few species native to the African continent that are proving effective at curing diseases.

Read More Like Top Natural African Herbs: Powerful African Fruits

Health benefits of Wormwood include:

• Wormwood is used for various digestion problems (loss of appetite, upset stomach, gall bladder disease, and intestinal spasms)
• it can be used for dyspepsia (indigestion)
• for various infectious diseases like Crohn’s disease (inflammation of your digestive tract)
•  wormwood may be used to treat Berger’s disease (kidney disease)

2. Linzia nigritiana

Other names: (Oliv. & Hiern) Isawumi, Asteraceae.

Last on our list on the top natural herbs in Africa is the Linzia Nigritiana! This African herb is located in west tropical Africa.

It is harvested from the wild for local medicinal use. The root is sold in markets for medicinal purposes. The Linzia Nigritiana is a plants are used as herbs and in herbal teas and other beverages

Some of its medicinal benefits include:

• The root is diuretic (medications designed to increase the amount of water and salt expelled from the body as urine), and an emetic (Emetic drugs are usually administered in emergencies after ingestion of a toxin).
• A decoction made from the plant is used in the treatment of constipation and dysentery.
• The plant contains vernonin, which is claimed to resemble digitaline in its actions.

1. Christmas bush

Botanical name: Alchornea cordifolia

Other names: Christmas bush,

Their perennial evergreen shrub with young erected shoots, which later become horizontal, hollow, and glabrous, makes them easy to be identified.

Both the leaves and the roots of the Christmas bush are believed to be medicinal, serving amazing health benefits when ingested.

Medicinal benefits that could be obtained from the Christmas bush include:

• they may be used to treat sore throat, cough, and bronchitis
• They may be used in the treatment of genital-urinary conditions such as venereal diseases, menstrual problems, and impotency and female sterility;
• Other diseases the Christmas bush may treat include amoebic dysentery, anemia, and tachycardia.
• The roots of the plant can be used to cure diarrhea

There you go!

These are some of the top African herbs that provide immense health benefits

These herbs serve amazing benefits if consumed the right way. While some plants are completely safe to consume fresh (after washing of course), other plants require various steps of processing before they are safe for consumption.

Some herbal plants can be toxic and only their extracted oil is used. Be sure to educate yourself more on the herb of your choice if you are new to them.

Are there any other African Herbs we missed? Be sure to mention them in the comments below!