Herbal medicine is the oldest form of healthcare known to mankind.
Herbs had been used by all cultures as primitive man observed and appreciated the great diversity of plants available to him. The plants provided food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. Much of the medicinal use of plants was developed through observations and by trial and error. As time went on, each community added the medicinal power of herbs in their area to its knowledge-base. By methodically collecting information on herbs they created significant herbal pharmacopoeias. Many drugs commonly used today are of herbal origin.
Though Western Medicine discredits the validity of the herbal knowledge-base, that humans have safely used and validated these substances for thousands of years proves both their efficacy and their efficiency. Science seeks to find the single ingredient of an herb to prove or disprove its benefit to human health. However this “single-focus” approach fails to comprehend the many thousands of individual chemical components that comprise an herb, all of which work together to provide the benefit. Think of a symphony and the individual players that work together to create beautiful music. The sum is greater than the parts. Because science seeks the limited view, and has discounted the contribution of the other components within an herbal plant, it may never comprehend the full impact of any herbal remedy.