When it comes to healing, plants are a natural choice. Their healing powers have been used by ancient Chinese and Indigenous cultures for centuries, and they've also been the inspiration for many holistic remedies in the Western world.
"The pharmacopoeia of Emperor Shen Nung of China, around 2730–3000 BC, describes the medicinal use of plants such as Hemp."
For thousands of years, cultures all over the world have used plants to treat a variety of conditions including headaches, colds and flu, infections, and more. While modern medicine continues to expand with the help of technological advances, the practice of using plants and herbs as medicine has never been more important to research and promote as we experience phases of global over-consumption, issues with accessibility and affordability in many regions, and the desire for more sustainable healthcare practices.
There has been a worldwide resurgence in using plant medicine which is exemplified by the World Health Organization announcing just this past March, 2022, of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine based out of India.
Botanical medicine is the holistic approach to healing that uses medicinal plants to treat the body, mind and spirit and is becoming more popular in western cultures due to its
effectiveness and positive effects on patients' well being. Think of the popularity and importance of selfcare (#selfcare hashtag used 68.7 million times on Instagram alone) and mental preservation (#mentalhealth used 44.2 million times) beyond physical wellness.
Over 80% of the world uses traditional healing practices (such as herbal medicines, acupuncture, yoga, indigenous therapies).
So many common ailments can be treated naturally by plants, such as pain, sleep disorders, anxiety, depression and more. They can be taken as teas or extracts made from the leaves or roots of certain plants; they can be applied topically directly onto an area that needs treatment; and some are best absorbed through inhalation.
I think we can all agree that plants are essential to our life on Earth. They provide us with food, shelter and clothing as well as many other things we take for granted every day. The best part of plants is that they also offer us a natural alternative to pharmaceuticals when it comes to treating illness or injury and the best part is that it can be grown in your own backyard!
We want to thank you for reading and welcome you to our new blog! Stay tuned as we continue to share our appreciation of all things plants and living our most healthy and best lives.
Abelson, Philip H. "Medicine from plants." Science 247.4942 (1990): 513-513.
Gossell-Williams, M., R. E. Simon, and M. E. West. "The past and present use of plants for medicines." West Indian Med J 55.4 (2006): 217-218.
Jain, Sudhanshu Kumar. Medicinal plants. National Book Trust, India, 1968.
World Health Organization. (2022). World Health Organization, “WHO establishes the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India".
World Health Organization. (2019). "WHO global report on traditional and complementary medicine 2019". World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/312342.