Healthy Living

People native to different geographical locations have long used plants and plant extracts to cure or prevent specific maladies. Age-old use of herbal supplements and medicinal herbs spans the globe.

Sometimes the use of medicinal herbs is referred to as "folk" medicine. Folk use of herbal remedies is familiar to all of us, in some form or another, because this is how these remedies are learned. Recipes for homegrown herbal supplements and medicinal herbal teas, for example, are handed down from generation to generation. Many are still remembered and used to this day. Unfortunately, the "folksy" image of medicinal herbs and the way this knowledge is shared is the target of disdain from the scientific community. It really is their loss, because generations of experience and knowledge should not be so readily dismissed. In fact, many of our modern medicines have their roots in herbal medicine. Herbal remedies from the rainforest, for example, have spawned remarkable advances in modern medicine.

With all our so-called advancements in the medical field, however, it's interesting that physicians are still treating "effect" rather than "cause." The use of traditional medicinal herbs and herbal supplements, on the other hand, focuses on prevention first.

Thankfully, the attitudes toward traditional herbal remedies are changing for the better. Medical professionals are beginning to recognize the 'alternative' route of using natural herbs is valid.