Spices and Herbs: Natural Healing Traditions of Mexico
by Elaine K. Harriss

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Some of the world's greatest healing agents have been derived from simple, native herbs and spices. Mexico offers generations of traditional natural medicines handed from grandmother to mother to daughter. With this heritage and the rich variety of cultures and landscapes, Latin American families have managed to continue their use of herbs for medication without controversial mandates that we experience in the United States.

True that in most families these traditional medicines are from lack of accessibility of over-the-counter drugs and prescribed medications, but who is to say that this is not of more benefit than loss? Studies have shown that the lack of side-effects with natural herbal medicines offers an easier healing process for most people. A few examples of Mexico's common healing herbs are:

• Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum), used primarily as a spice in Mexican dishes, is also valuable as a medicinal tea used for calming anxious children, for stomach cramps, and as a mouth wash for inflamed gums.
• Epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides) because of its tenacity and ability to grow in less than ideal conditions is used throughout southern and central Mexico where mothers steep it in milk and sugar and give the resulting "tea" to their children to help rid them of intestinal parasites. It is also known to prevent flatulence when added to your beans ten to fifteen minutes before cooking is complete.
• Estafiate (Artemisia ludoviciana, frigida), or Wormwood, is used primarily to treat stomach ailments, but may also serve as a deterrent for diarrhea and for menstrual cramps. Additionally it may be used as a bath for rheumatism or to reduce swelling from sprains or as a steam inhalation for sore throat.
• Yerbanis (Tagetes lucida), or Mexican Marigold Mint, is primarily used as a medicinal tea to calm stomachs and nerves, cure colds, and to alleviate the symptoms of a hangover. It grows throughout central and southern Mexico and is popular with the Tarahumara Indians of Chihuahua and the Huichol Indians of Jalisco and Nayarit who use it in their religious rituals.
• Yerba Buena (Mentha spicata) or Spearmint, works well as a simple, soothing tea to ease stomachaches, headaches, and childbirth. It is also brewed with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg to cure a hangover and is a well-known remedy for flatulence.
• Oregano de la Sierra (Lippia graveolens) or Mexican oregano, a native to rocky slopes, arroyos, and the arid conditions of Mexico and Central America, is good used as a hot tea for coughs and also for indigestion and gas in the stomach.

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