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Herbal Medicine

herbal medicine

Are herbs medicine?

If your food can be used as your medicine, then it is natural to ask ‘are herbs medicine or are they food and can they improve my health? This is important because herbal supplements come under ‘food supplement’ category which has different laws to medication.

At Barefoot Medicine, Simone takes the approach that we can all eat a healthy diet but what that actually means will vary from person to person as well as from one season to another. Eating what is right for you will help to maintain homeostasis, but there are times when that is not enough. If you are going through a stressful time in your life, taking adaptogenic herbs in addition to a healthy diet will help your body to adapt or cope with the higher stress levels. Equally, as the seasons change, we may want to increase the number of antiviral herbs in our diet to ward off colds and flu, or anti-mucosal herbs if we are suffering from bronchitis, COPD or other inflammatory conditions.

Medical Marijuana, Medical Cannabis

Simone is a member of the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society who advocate for appropriate training and guidance in the use of medical marijuana.

The MCCS is an independent community of medical cannabis pioneers – the first prescribers of this treatment in the UK.

The Society is an expert-led, not-for-profit community, dedicated to bringing this safe, legal and effective medicine to people living with chronic conditions.

Herbal Medicine and Ethics

In the United Kingdom, the Register for Chinese Herbal Medicine recommends a handful of high quality suppliers, even though it is possible to find almost anything on the internet. The reason for this is simple: safety. Safety for the patient who needs to know what he/she is taking but also safety for the natural world that gives us this wonderful bounty of food, fresh water and medicine.

CITES is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade. It stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Simone is an active advocate of protecting the environment and as a permaculture designer she believes in Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share. She has also joined Stop Ecocide International which is a movement to have ecocide – the mass damage and destruction of the natural living world – recognized as a crime.

Simone’s Moral Choices at Barefoot Medicine

As an herbalist I had never expected myself to be faced with the moral dilemmas that have faced the medical profession. It is widely known that Big Pharma funds university courses, they pay huge taxes to governments and have sales reps incentivise medical establishments to promote their drugs.

I used to use a supplier of excellent quality natural supplements called Pure Encapsulations. Not only was the product excellent, but they sponsor superb training for functional medicine practitioners that would otherwise be unaffordable for me. However, it came to my attention recently that Pure Encapsulations has been bought out by Nestle. I find it hard to reconcile the notion that this $308.1 bn company whose profits derive from unethical policies and environmental destruction has suddenly developed a conscience and wants to make the world and you much healthier.

For this reason, I will no longer be recommending Pure Encapsulations as a brand. Whether the supplements are good or not, none of us can be truly healthy if we inhabit a polluted, dying planet and support the organizations that are causing this mass destruction.

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