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When I post about plant medicine and medicinal plants, please note that I am approaching this topic from a science-informed perspective.
While I have no respect whatsoever for homeopathy, I do respect spiritual and magical healing practices. It's just not what I do.
While I have no respect whatsoever for homeopathy, I do respect spiritual and magical healing practices. It's just not what I do.
A general problem with medicinal plants is a lack of research. There's just not a lot of money to be made by, for example, examining why a common weed helps some people with nausea.
There's also way, way, WAY too many plants that are known to have mild beneficial effects. These effects can be life-changing for Sick people, but research tends to focus on plants that have more dramatic effects.
Slowly we're working through them, it just... will take centuries
Slowly we're working through them, it just... will take centuries
So with my research and experimentation, I do check research if it is available, but for the most part I make educated guesses based on historical and traditional knowledge, anecdotal evidence, and the response of my own body.
In practice I try out traditional medicinal plants from all parts of the world, if the historically or anecdotally known effects match a pattern I'm interested in.
E.g. something that is recommended for diarrhea, coughing and rheumatic pain might be a mast cell stabiliser.
E.g. something that is recommended for diarrhea, coughing and rheumatic pain might be a mast cell stabiliser.
I utilise collections and databases of medicinal plants as starter points. They tend to mix useful information with pseudoscience, so working with them is a bit of a pain.
I might occasionally link them as resources - so this is a general disclaimer. Question what you read.
I might occasionally link them as resources - so this is a general disclaimer. Question what you read.