Why Do We Use It? Last edited: 09 04 2011 07:50

The reasons are pretty simple

it is safe and it works! While there is little doubt that conventional medicine works well in the case of trauma, emergency and acute illness (you don’t call your herbalist if you get hit by a car!), it is rather less effective when it comes to prevention, chronic disease, and in addressing the mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of an individual. These are precisely the areas where herbal medicine excels. To most of the world’s population, over 80 per cent to be precise, herbal medicine is not “alternative” at all, but rather the basis of an integrated and sound approach to healthcare.

To Western-trained doctors herbal medicine is “something not taught in medical schools” and something that doctors don’t do and, one could add, generally know nothing about. Herbal medicine actually encompasses a very large array of different approaches including dietary and lifestyle modification, using tonic herbs to promote resilience, and using specific herbs to treat specific symptoms.

Here in the UK people use herbal medicine for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it is because conventional medicine doesn’t seem to have the answer for a particular set of problems, and more often than not it is because people are highly attracted to the idea of using natural plant remedies to help with the healing process.