Nutrition and Nourishment
A medical herbalist will not blind you with the science of food nor will they have unreal expectations in relation to diet and eating habits. They will however help you gradually adapt your eating habits so that your diet shifts to one that supplies you with the nutrition that you need. This ensures that your mind and body are nourished, and your energy and stamina levels are maintained at optimal levels.
As herbalists we don't think “you are what you eat” so much as “you are what you can digest and absorb”. Without absorption this is why even with good food and good digestion it is still possible to be undernourished. Herbs are excellent for improving the absorption of nutrients from the food by toning and strengthening the digestive tract. Quite dramatic improvements can be seen in a person's energy and vitality from improved digestion and absorption.
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, advised us to let food be our medicine and medicine our food. He also distinguished between herbs as medicine and herbs as food on the basis of taste; herbs as food would be bland and herbs as medicine had to have strong specific tastes in order to be effective as a medicine. And that is pretty much what herbalists several thousand years later still understand as a truth.
Some herbs can and are used as healthy foods and indeed work well to maintain health, while others have no food use but act as powerful medicines. A medical herbalist will know when your body is in need of nutritive support and when a more powerful medicine is needed.
Click on Find a Medical Herbalist to find your local Medical Herbalist.
As herbalists we don't think “you are what you eat” so much as “you are what you can digest and absorb”. Without absorption this is why even with good food and good digestion it is still possible to be undernourished. Herbs are excellent for improving the absorption of nutrients from the food by toning and strengthening the digestive tract. Quite dramatic improvements can be seen in a person's energy and vitality from improved digestion and absorption.
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, advised us to let food be our medicine and medicine our food. He also distinguished between herbs as medicine and herbs as food on the basis of taste; herbs as food would be bland and herbs as medicine had to have strong specific tastes in order to be effective as a medicine. And that is pretty much what herbalists several thousand years later still understand as a truth.
Some herbs can and are used as healthy foods and indeed work well to maintain health, while others have no food use but act as powerful medicines. A medical herbalist will know when your body is in need of nutritive support and when a more powerful medicine is needed.
Click on Find a Medical Herbalist to find your local Medical Herbalist.
Member Login
