PLANTS AND HUMAN BEINGS
We human beings have been interacting, communicating and growing with our environment throughout history, during plants and animals have evolved into the incredible life forms they are today. Plants want to expand their life, so they have developed strategies that attract insects and animals and uses the wind to carry their pollen far and wide. We have all seen bees buzzing from one lavender flower to another, collecting nectar and spreading pollen.
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In more protective moods, plants have developed compounds that help guard them from damage by a plethora of microbes. For instance, peppermint has developed powerful essential oils that ward off fungal invasions. However, the little microbes have an agenda of their own and over time have evolved new challenges to threaten the plant’s defence.
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Animals and we, humans have discovered how to use these plants for a wide range of benefits. Through this close-knit relationship with plants we have learnt that plants help our body and mind heal. Some evolutionary biologists think that plants have used humans to spread their seed. You can trace the spread of many species across the planet by following human migration and trade. It’s the idea of being selfishly wise and wisely selfish; you look after yourself so you are well enough to look after others, and they are well enough to look after you. If we listen to the world around us and connect with how we feel, then we can be more present in the world. Maybe we will be better able to take a moment and see the wood for the trees. We can learn to feed those people we meet as they help us flourish. And we can learn how to develop defences against invaders that harm us; eating less sugar may be one solution and more organic plants may be another.
Until about 100 years ago we used to regularly eat over 100 species of plants, but for most people today it’s down to around 10 to 20. It means the variety of plants and herbs in our diet has radically diminished. As a result, we are no longer bathing our cells in the spectrum of plant protection as we have done through all of our evolution.
According to a study, how our happiness is directly connected with the amount of vegetables we eat. We may broaden our nutritional horizons by including more of the less well-known plants in our diet. The ability that plants have developed to protect themselves from invading microbes and extreme climates is remarkable. These qualities can help our life flourish. Some plants are lively (e.g. ginger), and some are much more mellow (e.g. chamomile). Whatever they do, plants share life with us and we have developed complex systems to understand them.
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Traditional health systems, such as Ayurveda (an alternative medicine), teach us to open our senses and read the language of nature. Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest holistic (whole-body) healing systems. It was developed more than 3,000 years ago in India. It’s based on the belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body and spirit. Its main goal is to promote good health, not fight disease.
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A plant like ginseng, surviving through the harshest winters, can bring us warming strength or another, like aloe vera, thriving in the hot desert, can soothe our burns. Or we can appreciate for a moment that just as cinnamon thrives in the humid jungle, its drying heat can help protect us from drizzle and damp. Understanding more about how plants cope with extreme conditions can tell you a lot about what they can do for us.
(Adapted from the Pukkaherbs website)