These days it seems that herbal medicine is becoming almost mainstream. After more than a century of putting much of our faith in pharmaceutical medicine, an increasing number of us are turning back to traditional, plant based remedies. The reasons for this appear to be myriad: our current medical system’s lack of preventative medicine, a lack of remedies without detrimental side effects, a desire to be well as opposed to merely not sick, a need to understand and take charge of our own health in the face of an increasingly complex, expensive, and precarious healthcare system, and an attraction to greater self-reliance and increased connection with the natural world. Herbal medicine can offer all of these things, not as a replacement for modern medicine, but as a complementary, and sometimes alternative, set of tools for keeping us healthy and happy.
Herbal medicine is not a new idea. If you look back far enough in anyone’s ancestry, you will find a great reliance on plants for medicine. Though plant-based diets are gaining repute and verification in medical communities, we have left many of our plant-based medicines behind and now rely largely on pharmaceuticals. While many pharmaceuticals derive their active constituents from plant-derived molecules, such molecules are generally isolated and made very potent, rendering their effects unrecognizable from that of the whole plant from which they originate. In contrast, our ancestors relied on whole plant remedies which, while less potent, provided medicines with some advantages. So, in embracing remedies based upon the plants that grow around us, or by growing medicinal plants in our gardens and sourcing sustainably grown and harvested plants from others, we are really just returning to knowledge and traditions that we have largely abandoned.
Our medical technology has made incredible advances in the past century, increasing life expectancy, reducing the incidence and severity of infectious disease and organ failure, and healing us after catastrophic injuries. Modern medicine also provides important tools for diagnosis. What we lack, though, represents a considerable loss. We lack a deep cultural understanding of what keeps us well, including real foods, lifestyle practices, and medicines growing around us. We lack a recognition of the body’s innate ability to heal itself. As a student of physiology, I am in awe of the myriad systems functioning within our bodies which keep us in balance, and protect us from the dangers of being alive. Most of our pharmaceuticals achieve their desired effect by finding a way to work around the body’s innate functioning in order to alleviate a symptom, or to keep us alive when those functions are compromised. While such medicines at times are necessary, and may be taken for many years without serious detriment, there are many undesirable or dangerous side effects, and a solution to the underlying malfunction is rarely or never achieved. While plant remedies can be effectively used to assuage many acute ailments, perhaps even more important is their ability to gently nudge our body systems back into a place of balance and more proper function, when used alongside good food, rest, and general self-care. Perfect health is not something I believe in, but I find that this holistic approach leads to better overall health and fewer unintended harms. While I am grateful that we have the medical tools offered in hospitals today and believe that there are absolutely times for us to use them, I want a larger, more nuanced medical toolbox.
We are living in a very exciting time in regard to plant-based remedies. Science is beginning to be conducted which helps us to understand empirically how and why traditional plant remedies have been effective for humans throughout the ages, and why they are such important allies now. Though often quite reductionist in nature, scientific studies both in vitro (conducted in labs) and in vivo (in live beings- sometimes humans, often mice) are beginning to verify and explain the benefit of medicinal plants to the human body and mind. We have a long way to go in designing these studies to represent the realistic, everyday use of herbal medicine, but that is another topic altogether. Those well-designed studies that have been conducted often verify that traditional remedies are effective, and I am confident that we can expect more of this verification as time goes on.
Perhaps even more exciting to me than the outcome of scientific inquiry is the mystery and complexity behind plant-based medicine. We are not likely to understand with our current tools the full influence of a whole plant on an entire human body, mind, and consciousness. We can place human cells into a petri dish with a chemical molecule extracted from a plant and observe its effect, and we can even give a human a whole plant preparation and measure specific health outcomes. But with our current scientific tools, we cannot begin to comprehend the full effect of a living plant, with its myriad constituents and combined effects on an entire human, with all of our complexity. For me, it is sufficient to understand that we humans, no matter what ecosystem our ancestors inhabited, evolved into what we are now over millennia of ingesting plants. This means that our bodies evolved in the presence of a cornucopia of plant molecules, constantly stimulating and relaxing body functions, providing nutrition for body cells and structures, and innumerable other influences, subtle and dramatic. Today, we ingest a tiny fraction of the plant molecules our ancestors did, while ingesting a whole lot of molecules that our ancestors never came into contact with (trans-fats anyone?). This leads to me ask: If our bodies evolved their structures and functions under the influence of so many plant molecules, could it be that our systems cannot function optimally, or maybe even close, without such influence? Could the lack of diverse plant molecules in our food and medicine be the biggest contributor to the unprecedented rates of chronic illness we face? As the herbalist Guido Masé points out, it would make perfect sense if it were not possible for our digestive systems to function well in the absence of the bitter-tasting plants our ancestors ate constantly, as bitter plants stimulate digestive juices and encourage the work of the liver. One thing is for certain: If we truly are ecosystems, as science increasingly tells us we are, diversity in our experience of organisms, including plants, will create greater wellness and resilience within us.
A basic fact that we must accept is that human health is dependent upon our attention to our basic needs. Neither plant-based nor pharmaceutical remedies are likely to be truly effective in the face of a damaging set of lifestyle conditions, such as lack of sleep, high stress, a reliance on processed foods, etc. Success with herbal remedies, then, generally requires some level of responsibility and intention on the part of the individual. Luckily, in addition to helping to improve imbalances and steer our body systems toward proper functioning, plant remedies have the ability to help us with lifestyle transitions such as better sleep, lower levels of stress, and even food cravings. It must be noted that, while plant medicine is generally safe when used properly, those already taking pharmaceuticals should take care to learn of the possible detrimental interactions between herbs and drugs. A skilled herbalist should be consulted to aid in navigating such scenarios
How to get started? If you are lucky enough to have elders around you still, ask them if they have any traditions around plant medicines. At the very least, we can all find healthy recipes in our family traditions, often with culinary herbs, which are a great way to begin to explore the medicinal properties of plants. After all, when viewed holistically, the lines are blurred between food and medicine, and our culinary herbs offer many benefits. Beyond that, take a class, read a book (see my “resources” section for some suggestions), pick up a local field guide to medicinal plants and (carefully) identify the medicine growing around you.