Herbal diets: Directions for improving health and wellness

Abstract

Herbal diets, rooted in ancient traditions and practices, are now increasingly recognized for their potential health and medicinal purposes. Beyond their seasoning qualities, the interest in herbs has dramatically resurged over the past few years (Salm et al., 2023). Evidence highlights their richness in bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, tannins, phytochemicals, phenolic diterpenes, and sulfur-containing compounds that are popularly attributed to cure and manage many ailments due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and palliative properties (Charneca et al., 2023). Globally, the rise of metabolic diseases and age-related degenerative disorders is very alarming, and it is closely attributed to increased oxidative stress. In addition to synthetic drugs and targeted therapies, extensive research is in progress to validate the antioxidant capacity of traditional herbal-infused diets parallel to clinical trials to test their efficacy on markers of oxidation (Santos et al., 2023).

Keywords Diet, Health Promotion, Humans