Classical herbal medicine utilises the Hippocratic principles of treating the whole You, not just your disease, by evaluating your symptoms and lifestyle as well as your emotional and circumstantial environment.

Herbal Medicine (Herbalism) is the use of plants (leaves, roots, stems etc) for medicinal purposes. Plant extracts are ingested in tincture, capsule, tea, or infusion form, or applied topically to the skin.
Herbal medicines can be likened to being very potent nutritional substances; each herb stimulating specific aspects of your body’s function.

Finding healing powers in plants is an ancient idea. People in all continents have long used hundreds, if not thousands, of indigenous plants, for treatment of various ailments dating back to prehistory.

Plants have an almost limitless ability to synthesize aromatic substances, most of which are phenols or tannins. Most are secondary metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated.
In many cases, these substances (esp. alkaloids) serve as plant defence mechanisms against predation by micro-organisms, insects, and herbivores.
Many of the herbs and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.

The autologous functions of secondary metabolites are varied. For example, as toxins to deter predation, or to attract insects for pollination. It is these secondary metabolites that can have therapeutic actions in humans and which can be refined to produce drugs. Some examples are inulin from the roots of dahlias, quinine from the cinchona, morphine and codeine from the poppy, and digoxin from the foxglove.

The use and search for drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have accelerated in recent years. Pharmacologists, microbiologists, botanists, and natural-products chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals that could be developed for treatment of various diseases.

Examples

• Artichoke and several other plants reduce total serum cholesterol levels.
• Black cohosh and other plants that contain phytoestrogens have some benefits for treatment of symptoms resulting from menopause.
• Echinacea extracts limit the length of colds in some clinical trials, although some studies have found it to have no effect.
• Garlic lowers total cholesterol levels, mildly reduces blood pressure, reduces platelet aggregation, and has antibacterial properties.
• St John's wort is more effective than a placebo for the treatment of mild to moderate depression.
• Peppermint tea for problems with the digestive tract, including irritable bowel syndrome and nausea.

Medicinal interaction

Those wishing to use herbal remedies should first consult with a Herbalist/Naturopath/Doctor as many pharmaceutical drugs interact adversely with Herbal medicines.
For example: Dangerously low blood pressure may result from the combination of a herbal remedy that lowers blood pressure together with prescription medicine that has the same effect.
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