by Terri Bebla

Created on: January 20, 2009

Throughout my studies of Holistic health, I have become intrigued with herbal medicine. I have found it to be quite fascinated that, what I believe to be our best pharmacy comes straight from Mother Nature's own two hands. I then reminisce about the times when I was a young girl; if I ever had a stomach ache, what I remember most is that my mother did not give me some over the counter red syrup, made in a lab somewhere. She would give me a cup of tea made from the mint plant (or what we referred to as Hierba Buena) in our back yard. Is it not amazing that something as simple as a small plant in the back yard that my mother used for cooking, could work wonders for a child's stomach ache?

If I ever had an ear ache (which was very rare) she didn't take me to the doctor's office so that he may prescribe me harsh antibiotics. What most parents do not know is that ear infections are viral, so antibiotics do nothing for the child accept, set them up for further health issues down the road. Especially digestive distress; antibiotics kill the good bacteria needed for healthy digestion. My mother would simply take a cotton ball and apply warm olive oil and plug the ear that was hurting. Within minutes the pain would be gone; Simple yet effective.

Some may ask," If a plant holds such powerful properties why are pharmaceuticals used so widely here in America?" Many plants in nature have the ability to do what pharmaceuticals are said to do, but without the many side effects. Do you find it coincidental that 25% of all prescription medications were originally derived from plants? For example, Aspirin came from willow bark, Paclitalis (Toxal), used for cancer chemotherapy comes from the Pacific yew tree, Morphine and codeine come from the opium poppy, and Digitalis, a heart muscle strengthener, is derived from the Foxglove plant. But the question of why pharmaceuticals are so popular here in the United States, still remains.

It has much to do with Herbal medicine being part of the "Unconventional", and Pharmaceuticals being apart of the "Conventional medical model". I believe it is only fair to take a brief look at both sides of the health care spectrum. There is as we all know Holistic medicine and Allopathic medicine. As I have said before, they both have beliefs of a different nature, but both have made contributions to health care.

Let us take a look at what "Holistic" actually means. One definition of holistic is, "Concerned with wholes rather than analysis or separation

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