Herbalism, also known as Phytotherapy, is the medicinal and traditional practice that uses plants and herbal extracts to promote good health. Herbal remedies are one of the oldest forms of medicine and have been in use for several millennia. During our evolution alongside plants, we have come to learn various ways of working with them.
Herbalists prefer to use remedies extracted from plants (or one of their parts), with all their biochemical constituents, rather than individual extracts of isolated chemicals. The reason for this preference is because the plant’s phytocomplex has several active ingredients, not just the active ingredient we use to treat a particular condition. These active principles, taken together, can reduce the unwanted effects of the active principle we are interested in, by increasing the bioavailability of the body to receive it.
Plants should always be used with respect, as some are dangerous to the human body when consumed. We must take the right dose and always pay attention to possible reverse effects and interactions with other medicines, mainly chemicals and the combination with other plants.