How Herbs Work
Herbs are natural plant supplements that are not drugs and not vitamins. Herbs are more food-like, and provide specific nutrition for organs, tissues, and cells. This property of herbs reverses nutritional deficiencies which can lead to poor health. Herbs can also cleanse tissues and remove impediments to proper function.
At our clinic we are primarily herbalists, but we also recommend some therapeutic foods, supplements, and holistic diets. This type of practice is also called nature cure or natural healing.
The beauty of natural healing is that it is simple, safe, causes no harm and should not interfere with pharmaceutical medicines. In this series of articles we will explain how herbs work and what to expect when you visit our clinic or buy products from us.
Most health issues are classified as acute or chronic. Acute problems are recent, like an injury, or a flare up such as a rash or asthma attack, These “sudden onset” conditions usually respond very quickly to herbs and natural healing, Examples might be an ankle strain, low back pain, sinus infection, poison ivy, colds and flus, stomach upset, diarrhea, or any symptoms that have emerged in the last 48 hours.
Chronic health problems are long-term health imbalances that manifest as “disease,” or symptoms that stay with the patient for months or years. We all have heard about these as named, diagnosed conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, psoriasis, asthma, urinary incontinence, Parkinson’s, arthritis, osteoporosis, myofascial pain, Crohn’s, diverticulitis, and so on.
These diseases don’t just show up out of nowhere. There is an underlying cause or causes present which the traditional herbal practitioner or naturopath seek out through a detective-like process of sorting out symptoms into “energetics,” or humoral categories.
In Part 2 of How Herbs Work, we will explain how natural remedies help chronic conditions.