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| and protects irritated or inflamed tissue. They reduce irritation down the whole length of the bowel, reduce sensitivity to potentially corrosive gastric acids, help to prevent diarrhea and reduce the muscle spasms which cause colic. They also ease coughing by soothing bronchial tension and relax painful spasm in the bladder. |
| Diaphoretic. These herbs promote perspiration, helping the skin eliminate waste from the body and thus ensuring that the body has a clean and harmonious inner environment. Some produce observable sweat, while others aid normal background perspiration. They often promote dilation of surface capillaries, helping to improve poor circulation. They support the work of the kidney by increasing cleaning through the skin. |
| Diuretic. Diuretics increase the production and elimination of urine. In herbal medicine, with its ancient traditions, the term is often applied to herbs that have a beneficial action on the urinary system. They help the body eliminate waste and support the whole process of inner cleansing. |
| Emmenagogue. Emmenagogues stimulate menstrual flow and activity. In most herbals, however, the term is used in the wider sense of a remedy that normalizes and tones the female reproductive system. |
| Expectorant. Strictly speaking these are herbs that stimulate removal of mucus from the lungs, but the term often means a tonic for the respiratory system. Stimulating expectorants irritate the bronchioles, causing expulsion of material. Relaxing expectorants soothe bronchial spasm and loosen mucus secretions, helping in dry, irritating coughs. |
| Hepatic. Hepatics aid the liver. They tone, strengthen and in some cases increase the flow of bile. In a broad holistic approach to health they are of great importance because of the fundamental role of the liver in the healthy functioning of the body. |
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