Growing up in Northern Germany "country style", I quickly developed a love for Mother Nature, especially for flowers, vegetables and herbs. My family used an almost unlimited amount of herbs in our daily diet, as well as for healing illnesses. One of our favorite herbs was the "stinking rose" garlic, which we considered a wonder herb.

The value of herbs to our lives and to our health cannot be overstated. Since our ancestors first walked the earth, herbs have formed the basis of medicine chests, cosmetic bowls, culinary spice jars, perfume vials and dye pots. They have a remarkable history of healing the human body and maintaining good health when properly used. Most herbs in their natural state are safe, and do not leave a residue in the body that could produce negative side effects. Drugs on the other hand may be extracted from plants, most of them are not and synthetically developed in laboratories, but when the plants are not used in their natural state it can result in harmful side effects. Drugs tend, to treat or mask a symptom or condition, while the use of herbals emphasizes that one could avoid getting sick in the first place because they help to balance and support the body.

The compounds in herbs work synergistically in the body to promote healing. All plants have therapeutic properties as they contain a variety of biologically active substances. Plants undergo photosynthesis, transforming carbon dioxide into energy rich substances. The resulting carbon chains are further transformed into a variety of compounds such as lipids, alkaloids, essential oils and tannins. Through other biochemical processes, minerals and nitrates are absorbed by the roots and transformed into vitamins, trace minerals and antibiotics.

Herbs can affect biological systems in our bodies at the cellular and organ level. Ultimately these high levels of biologically active substances can produce pharmacological and therapeutic effects. The nutritional value of herbs is very high and organically grown herbs offer maximum benefits.

Herbs are extensively used in cosmetics, herbal creams, lotions, shampoo, soaps, toothpastes, oils, tinctures and in cooking. The multitude of uses for herbs as foods, medicines and in products only emphasizes how vital botanical plants are to our health and well being.

Unfortunately, as the Pharmaceutical Industry developed the ability to synthesize medicine from the inert substances such as petroleum and minerals, and developing sophisticated marketing strategies, the therapeutic use of natural herbs diminished.

Recently however, there has been a resurgence of interest in herbs. As people begin to lose faith in drugs (many books have been written by M.D.'s such as "Death by Modern Medicine", Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, Medical Mafia, Guylaine Lanctot, (lost her M.D. license after her book was published), "The Truth About Drug Companies", Marcia Angell, MD, "Overdo$ed America", John Abramson, MD, "Health Betrayal", Eve Hillary, ND, "Death By Prescription", Ray Strand, MD, "Overdose":The Case Against the Drug Companies, Jay Cohen, "Health Myths Exposed", Shane Ellison, "Selling Sickness", Ray Monihan, Alan Cassels, "Dirty Medicine", Martin J. Walker, "White Collar Crime", Edwin H. Sutherland, "The Hundred Year Lie", Randall Fitzgerald, just to name a few), and antibiotics they are rediscovering that herbs are an effective and comparatively inexpensive form of health care. Herbal medicine represents a particular approach to healing which differs from allopathic medicine. Rather than relieving a single symptom with a single active ingredient, herbs offer a holistic approach by striving to heal the entire system and treating the cause. Medicine can only be truly holistic if it acknowledges the social and cultural context in which the illnesses occurred, and then the desired healing takes place.

The renewed interest in holistic medicine, as well as a great number of other alternative complementary therapies, has encouraged changes within the existing medical profession.. Given the financial crisis of the medical system, it is incumbent upon us all to seek out and utilize appropriate health alternatives. It appears that these opportunities will continue in the coming years.

I leave you with this quote from "The Pocket Herbal Reference Guide" by Debbra St. Clair , MH"The art of pharmacy turned to the production of drugs which could bring the quickest relief of symptoms, ignoring the reason that the symptoms appeared. As we look back, perhaps it is time to reconsider the path. The use of these substances has spawned a myriad of unexpected problems, such as suppresion of the very signals that our bodies produce to alert us to a need of a change. Pain itself is a call to action - a call to remedy and inbalance in our life-style. The proficient use of herbal therapy is directly connected to our ability to sense that first signal and to adjust our lifestyle accordingly. It is when these signals are continually ignored that disease has a chance to seat itself more deeply within our bodies. The appropriate use of herbs is only one of many health alternatives to our present medical system."

And remember: If you don't spend enough time every day on health, you will sacrifice a lot of time on illness!

The doctor of the future will give no medicine,

but will interest his patients in care of the human frame,

in diet and the cause of PREVENTION of disease.

Thomas Edison (1847-1931)