Herbs and their Medicinal Value
The distinction of plants into herbs, vegetables, greens, and fruits is only a few centuries old. In antiquity, even up to the Middle Ages, the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Chinese and the Hindus, attributed to plants therapeutic qualities and included them in their daily diet. Plants were consumed raw or cooked and combined with fish and meat dishes. In any case, it has been proved that the above plant categories maintain their active ingredients and therapeutic qualities even when cooked.
The Cretan nutritional model includes a wide range of plants (wild greens, vegetables, fruit and seeds) known as "herbs of the kitchen". This qualification is used with the implication that these herbs, if consumed daily, promote health and long life. For a cook in ancient Greece or in the Middle Ages, the lettuce, saffron, bulbs, asparagus, radishes, even pomegranates and berries were in the same plant category as sage, marjoram, and dittany, although the former were not used for infusions. Extracts from ancient Greek texts prove that most greens, vegetables, fruit and herbs were attributed effective therapeutic qualities. Hesiod, for example, was urging the Athenians to consume nettles to shield themselves from common ailments for an entire year.
Centuries later, John Evelyn (1699) wrote, "It [the borage] is known to enliven the spirit of hypochondriacs and relieve the mind of people steeped in study ...". Borage was used in salads, as is the case today. Charlemagne, king of the Franks (742-814 AD) commissioned the compilation of a list of the most valued aromatic herbs and named the list "friend of the physician and the pride of the cook". He then ordered that the herbs on that list be grown in his lush gardens.
