Thai Herbs, Spices and their Medical Values

Herbs and their healing properties have been used domestically for thousands of years and are widely known in Thailand. The value of Thai herbs and their physiological actions can be looked upon as Thai wisdom by the people. From ancestor to ancestor to my parents and to my generation, this wisdom is still known. Even though this knowledge has faded away in the new generation, Thai herbs are still the main ingredient in many Thai dishes. I like to have a healthy diet myself, so I’m particularly interested about the physiological actions of Thai herbs. I would like to pass this knowledge on to you for healthy nutrition and life. There are more than a hundred Thai herbs, far more than I know of. So, in this page, I will put some of the main herbs used in the Thai kitchen which are popular and used often.

Please note this article is not medical advise, for more information about Thai herbs please ask a professional in the Thai herb field.

Herbal medical list:

Lemongrass
Lemongrass is one of the main ingredients in Thai dishes. Do you know? The Lemongrass stems help you to cope with the cold, headaches, coughing and flatulence. Also, it helps release the gas in your stomach, diarrhea, aching, suffering from strangury, and mind asthma. Lemongrass roots have the medical value to release heartburn, gastritis, suffering from strangury, and ringworm. Its leaves help you to cope with fever and reduce blood pressure. Accordingly, with no doubt, eating Tom Yam is good for your health. :)

Ginger
Ginger gives a little kick in many dishes by its heat and spiciness. Moreover, its medical value really gives a kick too. Ginger roots help release the symptom of vomiting, flatulence, bloated, coughing, gastritis, unable to defecate. The stems and flowers also help you cope with gastritis, bloated, flatulence, unable to defecate, and help expelling parasite, worms, and diarrhea. Its fruit is very good in releasing fever.

Turmeric
Turmeric is used in some Thai dishes, for example, Yellow curry. Turmeric has the value of releasing flatulence, bloated, diarrhea, gastritis, and skin diseases like ringworm and dermatitis.

Galangal
Not many westerns know what Galangal is. Galangal is a herbaceous plant. Its roots are generally used in Thai kitchens. The taste is dull spice and bitter. It is one of the main ingredient in Tom Yam and in many curry pastes. Galangal helps release flatulence and bloated feelings. It also cures the urticaria, hives, nettle rash, ringworm, and eczema by applying mixed fresh grounded Galangal and spirit on the symptom until cured.

Kaempfer
Another exotic herb for you, Kaempfer roots or ‘Gra-Chaay’ in Thai, is used in many spicy dishes with coconut milk, such as ‘Hor Mok’ or without coconut milk, such as Jungle curry. The pungent taste of it is unique. Eating Kampfer roots helps release stomachache, flatulence, bloated, suffering from strangury, gives energy, and helps to boost your libido. Also, it can be externally used to cure ringworm and eczema.

Kaffir lime
Kaffir lime fruit tastes like lime but it’s not as sour and a bit bitter. Its skin is a main ingredient in many curry pastes, for example, green curry paste and red curry paste. The skin helps good digestion and enriches your heart. Traditionally, we also use the juice from the fruit as an aromatic shampoo to treat dandruff and it is really effective. Kaffir lime leaves are also widely used for aromatic purposes in the Thai kitchen, such as in Tom Yam and green curry.

Lime
Lime is used for many purposes in the Thai kitchen. Lime juice and fruits have the medical value of Vitamin C, nourishing your skin, hair, voice, helps to expel parasite, releasing gas in your stomach, flatulence, bloated, fever, cough and curing allergic rashes and spots. It is commonly known in Thailand that sipping mixed lime juice plus the seeds with a little bit of salt when you have a cold helps to releave the symptoms and expel phlegm.

Tamarind
Do not worry if you need to go to the loo after eating Tamarind juice or Thai dishes that have Tamarind fruit as an ingredient. Since, Tamarind fruit helps you have good digestion and it’s effects come swiftly. :) It is a tropical tree, native to Africa. The fruit pulp is edible and popular. The hard green pulp of a young fruit is very sour and acidic, so much it cannot be consumed directly, but is often used as a component of savory dishes. The ripened fruit is edible, as it becomes less sour and somewhat sweeter, but still very acidic. It is used in desserts as a jam, blended into juices or sweetened drinks, or as a snack. It is also consumed as a natural laxative. In Thailand, there is a carefully cultivated sweet variety with little to no tartness, grown specifically to be eaten as a fresh fruit. It is also sometimes eaten preserved in sugar with chili as a candy

Coriander
Do you know that Coriander seeds have the medical value to release toothache? Traditionally, Thai people gargle the boiled Coriander seeds with water in the mouth to help release toothache. Scrubbing whole fresh coriander on rashes helps to relieve the symptoms quicker.

Holy basil or Sacred basil
‘Pad Gra Prao’ or Stir fried meat with chillies and Holy basil is a very popular dish for a lunch in Thailand. Holy basil or Sacred basil helps release flatulence, bloated, heartburn, coughing, fever, expelling parasite, and curing ringworm. Crush holy basil leaves then put it aside helps to repel mosquitos.

Sweet Basil
Sweet Basil is used in many dishes for its aromatic purposes, such as in Green curry. Its leaves help relieve headaches, cold, flatulence, bloated, and period pains. Use crushed leaves to cure bruises and rashes. Its seeds are swelled up and glutinous if mix with water, which very good as a pudding or put in syrup or juice and it is good for your digestion, release red-eyes and conjunctivitis.

Clove tree
Cloves can be used in cooking either whole or in a ground form, but as they are extremely strong, they are used sparingly. Cloves are used in Ayurveda called Lavang in India, Chinese medicine and western herbalism and dentistry where the essential oil is used as an anodyne (painkiller) for dental emergencies. Cloves are used as a carminative to increase hydrochloric acid in the stomach and to improve peristalsis. Cloves are also said to be a natural antihelmintic. The essential oil is used in aromatherapy when stimulation and warming are needed, especially for digestive problems. Topical application over the stomach or abdomen are said to warm the digestive tract.

Siam Cardamom
Siam Cardamom, or Camphor seed grows in Thailand, Sumatra, Java, and other East India islands. Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic fragrance. It is a common ingredient in Thai dishes which was influenced by Indian cooking. Dried fruits are used as carminative and anti flatulence.

Black pepper
Like many eastern spices, pepper was historically both a seasoning and a medicine. Long pepper, being stronger, was often the preferred medication, but both were used, for such illnesses as constipation, diarrhea, earache, gangrene, heart disease, hernia, hoarseness, in digestion, insect bites, insomnia, joint pain, liver problems, lung disease, oral abscesses, sunburn, tooth decay, toothaches, and suffering from strangury.

Cinnamon
Cinnamon is an evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka. Cinnamon has been known from remote antiquity. It is principally employed in cookery as a condiment and flavoring material. In medicine it acts like other volatile oils and once had a reputation as a cure for colds. It has also been used to treat diarrhea and other problems of the digestive system. Cinnamon is high in antioxidants. The essential oil of cinnamon also has antimicrobial properties, which can aid in the preservation of certain foods.

By Supapan Lane (Jiab)

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