What is herbal?

Herbalism, also referred to as medical herbal or botanical medicine, is one of the earliest medicine systems known to exist. In fact, according to the World Health Organization has always been herbalism and still the most practiced therapeutic modality in the world. This is evidenced by the fact that many medical texts refer to herbal as folk medicine, suggesting that it is a medical industry studied and practiced by native inhabitants of numerous cultures bridging history and globe. This is also proven in modern pharmacology, because almost half of all pharmaceutical drugs that are used today come from botanical materials. The most remarkable thing is that pharmacological activity obtained from the whole plant is more valuable than activity expressed by any individual component extracted from its parts. Furthermore, if any component is more or less powerful than the whole, the other components present balance the scale to say. This sense of botanical synerGII is the basic difference between herbalism and conventional medicine, because it usually seeks to synthesize pharmaceutical remedy from isolated plant extract. Of course, herbalists also reject the idea that this synergy can be replicated in the laboratory.

Herbs and plants owe their healing properties of a wide range of natural compounds, which are often referred to as phytochemicals and bioflavonoids. Terpenoids, glycosides, phenols and alkaloids are the most basic and active and pharmacologically active. Medicines made of herbs are prepared in different ways. Perhaps they decompose into powder and encapsulated, prepared as infusions or tea, made in decoction - soaked roots and bark, or are placed in tincture of alcohol extraction. In addition, herbal agents are also administered as ointments and streets.