What Makes Herbs Medicinal?
There is an involved, scientific answer to this question, and a simple one. Let me see if I can give you an answer somewhere in the middle. Like anything that is living, all plants contain a variety of chemicals, vitamins, and minerals. These chemicals can be good for you or bad for you. The general term used for any beneficial chemicals, vitamins and minerals found in plants is “phytonutrients”. When I first started using medicinal herbs, you had to search hard for any scientific validation for the nutritional and health benefits of herbs. Oh, science did use chemicals that were derived from plants, for example, the chemical the eases pain in Bayer Aspirin is derived from White Willow, and a chemical used in some pharmaceuticals for prostate problems is derived from Saw Palmetto. Digitalis contains chemicals derived from Foxglove (not an herb you want to be using medicinally). While pharmaceutical chemists will study a plant and then copy or synthesize the chemical that provides healt
