Herbal remedies have been present in every culture throughout human history and are still commonly used in less developed countries where pharmaceuticals are not affordable and unavailable. Recently, there has been a rising trend of bringing back old traditional methods and means in more prosperous nations.
Why? A greater sociocultural change is taking place where the practices and habits of the past are being revived because, simply, they work. It isn’t just medicinal herbs, it’s also past practices such as yoga, meditation, hiking, drumming, massage etc.
Lately, consumers are becoming more aware and questioning the efficacy and safety of synthetically produced drugs preferring more natural approaches. It is interesting to note that botanical medicine isn’t even included in the education of physicians and pharmacists anymore. Practitioners tend to also be biased against natural approaches speaking about them as unpredictable and less effective in comparison to their synthetically produced compounds.
Personally, this raises many red flags because it implies that our scientific understanding, which has been around for about 200 years, is superior to the thousands of years our ancestors utilized these herbs in order to survive. While the scientific method leads to more rigorous and precise truth, it would be a mistake to simply dismiss past knowledge and regard it as invaluable because of its ability to overcome the test of time.
There is good reason in thinking that many plants were probably tested and trialed that weren’t effective and therefore didn’t carry over from generation to generation. The ones we know about today are because people still use them for their beneficial properties in less developed parts of the world.
The good news is that we are now beginning to better understand what our ancestors already knew through the advent of scientific investigation into natural remedies and it is becoming clear that we need to recognize the importance of past knowledge.
