Homegrown herbs in Malaysia
Interesting article about the wealth of herbs in Malaysia:
Malaysia’s incredible biodiversity makes it a treasure house of herbs such as misai kuching, (left, with white flowers), seruntung, (centre) and hempedu bumi (right), a fact that regrettably few Malaysians seem aware of.
DO you know that we live in the heart of the oldest rainforest in the world? Yes, we were never hit by an Ice Age like the Amazon was some 13,000 years ago. Not only that, Malaysia is a mega-diversity nation. We rank 12th in the world and fourth in Asia. Indeed, one in eight herbs that grow on the planet, grow here.
It is even more amazing when you consider that Malaysia is truly the home of Asian traditional medicine. For more than 500 years, the three major races of Asia — Malays, Indians and Chinese — have practised their unique traditional systems in harmony.
Yet Malaysians are more familiar with imported herbs. How sad! Would your grandmother have taken an imported herb like St John’s Wort or Echinacea? No way!
When we talk about foreign herbs, you do not have much a choice. They do not grow here. You can only purchase them as dried herbs or in dosage forms such as capsules or creams. You also do not benefit from direct experience of the herb. Nor do you enjoy its freshness.
The wonderful thing about getting to know and studying local herbs is that they grow in our gardens and backyards. You can actually see and feel them in their natural state and habitat. You can take them raw or process them as an infusion (tea) or paste. You may even combine them with other herbs for the necessary synergy. If you are adventurous, you could dry the leaves, powder them and the make your own capsules using empty capsule shells that you could easily purchase in the pharmacy
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