Identifying Medicinal Plants
Knowing which plant is which can be tricky.
Plant species are often lumped together under a common label. “Ginseng”, for example, can represent 15 different species of plants in the same family, each of which is distinct in its chemistry.
An issue can arise if you think you’re taking one thing but it’s really a cousin of what your body needs. Plant databases around the world cite an average of 15 alternate names for each discrete species. It can be confusing, to say the least.
When taking any herbal remedy, you need to know exactly what you’re taking. In most countries, herbal remedies aren’t regulated so it’s up to you as the consumer to read the label to see the actual plant derivative that’s in the bottle to ensure it’s the one you want, regardless of what it’s named.
“Many countries publish ‘pharmacopoeias’, which are official publications providing precise detailed descriptions and tests to identify and assess the quality of plants used in herbal drugs. The number of plants covered by pharmacopoeias, however, represents only a small percentage of the diversity used in traditional plant-based medicines,” warns one useful medicinal plant guide. (4)
In Africa and China, the use of herbal and other forms of alternative/traditional medicines and treatments are more common than the Western approach.
Alternative treatments and medicines in the United States are becoming more popular. However, in 2012, 59 million people (1 in 5) employed some kind of complementary approach to medicine. This translates to almost $13 billion in expenditures on natural health supplements alone. (5) Plus, the use of herbal medicines in Europe is increasing as well.
Plants as Medicine
Because of their complicated and intricate structures as living things, the way plants work in the human body is complex.
Phytochemicals work synergistically, especially with other plants, and must be thoughtfully applied to produce desired outcomes.
Well-established gaps exist in the use of pharmaceuticals to treat human illness and, according to one British study, “Herbal medicines have the potential to make a significant contribution towards addressing such ‘effectiveness gaps’”. (6)
“Plant medicines are thus ideal tools to restore health and treat disease because they consist of a multiplicity of chemical components that act synergistically to make active constituents bio-available. Conversely, their constituents may combine antagonistically to buffer otherwise potentially potent active principles, thereby preventing adverse effects. Investigation into the scope and mechanisms of synergy has come to the forefront of phytomedical research in recent years.” [Ibid.]