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Welcome to the Animal Naturopathic Medicine Educatum podcast, specializing in canine, feline, and equine animal health from a biological perspective. Today your hosts are myself, Leslie

Welcome And Today’s Question

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and Ashley. Hello everyone. Hello, Ashley. Hello. So today we are discussing what is herbal medicine. You could argue that all useful plants are herbs. This more or less is how the Oxford English Dictionary

What A Herb Really Is

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defines the term, specifying that it is open the quote, applied to plants of which the leaves and stems are used for food and medicine, or in some way for their scent or flavour. So looking at the immense range of modern herbs and their current uses, one would be tempted not so much to narrow this definition as to make it even broader. It would now, for instance, include flowers, roots, and seed pods, as well as stems and leaves. To expand on the Oxford Dictionary definition, a herb can be a plant used as an ingredient within food or medicine.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yes. Yet intriguingly, the common understanding of herbs has more limited and specific connotations in everyday life. For example, we tend to exclude plants when they are being used purely as food. Watercress, as a salad, is a vegetable, pure and simple. But in the 18th century, there was a common recipe in which it was like simmered with scurvy grass and oranges to make this spring cleansing drink as a detox. So that is unquestionably classifying watercress as a herb. And most people would seriously not regard willow twigs woven into a basket as a herb. Yet originally they were used in an infusion for colds and headaches, and their active constituents then led to the production of what is now known as aspirin. Common thoughts are still attached to herbs. So like used on a small domestic scale or in traditional culinary or medicinal tinctures, the other common thought is that they must like do you some good in some way, right? So like improving your health or appearance or even your sense of well-being. But a less sympathetic

When Food And Medicine Blur

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parallel image is one of amateurism and superstition. Like the history of herbal medicine, it is rich with mythology and like where herbal medicine is still not taken seriously in some quarters of the world. This is particularly because much of the literature has failed to discriminate between good scientific evidence that we have today and then the quackery and like magic from the past. For most people and for much of history, like there was no clear division between the use of plants for food and for medicine. Wild vegetables, for example, like they were not only necessary to sustain diets, but also improved important trace minerals. An important objective of herbal medicine is that it has always offered long-term supporting benefits, attempting to remedy deficiencies of trace minerals. All ancient human cultures had an understanding of this green medicine. And it was everyday practice of when life was lived in this realm of the natural world around them. So like the most basic herbal remedies, they were first discovered by this trial and error. And plant species with fast and like drastic effects, such as purgatives, uh like buckthorn, or another example is like the

Mythology And Tribal Knowledge

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narcotic painkiller herbs, such as like henbane. They both would have made their mark really early on, I reckon.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Yeah. It's hard to imagine the fascination plants must have held in a pre-scientific age. They could appear out of the ground by spontaneous germination, barely distinguishable, you know, species could either kill you, feed you, or drive you mad. The secrets of their growth and properties were beyond ordinary understanding in those times. So it's no real wonder that plants with suggestive appearances were credited with special powers and that theories and stories were developed to try to explain and predict their effect on humans. Most of these variations on the principles of sympathetic magic were based on a search for similarity, contrast, and pattern. Beliefs about the medicinal properties of plants were based on how they performed. But nowadays we tend to describe how a herb performs by listing its therapeutic actions.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yeah, that's actually a really good thing to touch on. Like, for example, once upon a time, toadstools that were gathered from a dead tree, they were seen to then put life back into a corpse that looked like it was like near death. So like not all prescriptions were this solemn. Like other classical authors believed that notoriously like windy, gassy producing types of foods like lentils, uh, they would protect a garden from strong gale force wind damage if they were planting the net the lentils like around the edges of the garden. So like we could almost think of this as the beginning of companion planting, right? Exactly. Like, and this was our ancestors' science and method for collecting information but also remembering information. Remember, this is passed down from generation to generation, and this is what we refer to as tribal knowledge. So, yes, we may disparage these thought processes now as a little amateur, like there might be a bit more on the gullible superstition side, but in an age when humans felt themselves to be a part of nature, not its master, it was surely not unreasonable to believe that the way plants grew in some way mirrored their actions not just on the body but on the earth itself.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Yeah. So how do we define herbs then in this modern era? Good question. Yeah, there's there's no doubt that in extreme situations, the treatment devised by modern medicine can offer an unparalleled

Modern Medicine Versus Plant Traditions

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opportunity to relieve symptoms and save lives. Orthodox pharmaceutical medicines sustain life and counter infections in situations where other types of treatment will have very little to offer. Yet, despite the dramatic advances of conventional medicine, we tend to forget that in all but the last 200 years, humans have relied almost entirely on plants to treat all manner of illnesses. Today, herbal medicine is back into prominence, not just for humans, but for animals too. We see this with human herbal medicine university degrees being offered in many parts of the world, as herbal medicine often complements conventional treatments, providing safe, well-tolerated remedies for chronic to acute conditions.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yeah, well, like most commonly used herbs can be extremely safe to use. However, plants can produce side effects. And like all medicines, herbal remedies, they must be treated with respect in this regard. The ability of a herb to affect bodily systems depends on the chemical constituents that it contains. Like scientists, they first started extracting and isolating chemicals from plants in the 18th century. And like since that time, we have grown accustomed to looking at herbs and their effects in terms of these active constituents that they contain. And like, yes, research into isolated plant constituents is of great importance. For like it has given rise to many of the world's most useful drugs, such as morphine and aspirin. Like today, modern medicine still relies on plants rather than these laboratory grown plants that we have for over 30% of its medicines. And many of these are among the most effective, but also the most potent of conventional drugs available. And like although it is important to understand the actions of these individual active constituents, um, herbal medicine, unlike conventional, like allopathic lab grown medicines, um, they are ultimately about like the use and the actions of the whole plant when we're looking at the philosophy of herbal medicine. So rather than the isolation of the constituents away from the original herb that it is found within.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Yeah. I guess this is the same sort of thing, like if you're taking a watch apart into its little bits and pieces and trying to identify its key parts, it will not show you how it works. And as a whole, it won't even give you

Whole Plant Synergy Explained

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the time unless you put it all back together again.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

That's a really good analogy, actually. Like dividing up a medicinal herb into its constituent parts cannot in some instances explain exactly how it works in its whole form. So, like when several of these constituents come together, along with then the nutritional aspects of the plant, such as vitamins and like trace minerals, uh, like the plants they themselves will contain hundreds of different constituent chemicals that then will interact in complex ways. Uh, like furthermore, although it is like very useful to know that a plant contains certain active constituents, and like such information in isolation can also be misleading on its own. Um, like I'll use an example, Chinese rhubarb. Yeah? It is commonly used as a laxative as it can irritate the gut wall and stimulate your bowel movements. However, at low doses,

Chinese Rhubarb And Dose Effects

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other constituents within Chinese rhubarb, notably the tannins, they'll actually dry and tighten up mucous membranes in the gut, resulting in a different effect or action on the body, which is why, like Chinese rhubarb, it works in two apparent opposite ways, depending purely on just this dosage range alone, either as a laxative in high dosages or to treat and stop diarrhea at low dosages. But like these effects that Chinese rhubarb has, like that I'm referring to, is only relative to humans. Like it does not have these same effects on other different digestive tracts, like a cat or a dog, for example.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Yeah, exactly. Which, you know, this outlines just how important it is for herbal uses to be biologically appropriate to the specific species it is intended for, yeah. So as anatomy of all animals within the animal kingdom drastically differs from one to another, yeah. So let's say if we had two animals, both are mammals, you know, that could be that can be a cat and a human. Yeah. Um, their digestive

Species Biology Changes Everything

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physiological classifications are completely different then. For example, the mammal species may either be a herbivore, an omnivore, or a carnivore. And as each are very different and have very different bodily processes, they therefore, um with the uptake of such, you know, or different whatever herbal constituents might be very different for each species. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Like herbs act as like a powerful aid to mitigate the impacts of dysfunctional health in humans and animals. But herbs cannot completely negate uh poor health impacted

Herbs Cannot Fix A Bad Diet

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by a diet or inappropriate foods. So, like, yes, herbs can provide concentrated medicinal properties that help the body compensate for a lack of whole foods, but they cannot fix the problems caused by the diet. That's like a human eating bags of lollies for like each meal. The herbs are like not going to have much of an effect, right? Like they will just be beating their little herbal heads against a brick wall. So, like now, this can also apply to a biologically inappropriate diet. Like, um, for example, a carbohydrate-based bag of flavoured kibble for any carnivore species, like our dogs and cats, for example, the herbs, they cannot be of much help because the actual digestive tract is already compromised and not functioning correctly because the diet is incorrect for an animal designed with a carnivore-digestive anatomy.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Yeah. So, uh, all right. So a high a poor and high-processed diet often starves good bacteria, doesn't it? Yes. Yeah. So it fosters harmful inflammation as well. I reckon these diets, you know, that are so heavy and refined sugars and carbs, they cause such spikes in blood sugar and insulin resistance. Absolutely. Yeah. And that these diets are lacking in fresh whole foods, often resulting in sluggish digestion and poor nutrient uptake. Um, and not just vitamins, but it's minerals and amino acids as well. But any of herbs that would be fed to try and help such a poor diet, um, yeah, those little herbal heads will, again, they'll be hitting their head against a brick wall.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Exactly. Like, and like this like Chinese rhubarb example that I mentioned earlier, I think it reveals a couple of like fundamental truths about herbal medicine and like the philosophy behind it that I think like I should probably re-summarize just so then everyone can really just mull over and really think about. Like the first is of course, the value of a medicinal herb cannot be reduced simply to a list of its active constituents and its effects then on the individual systems of the body. Right. So, like, secondly, um, the digestive classification of the individual animal is extremely important in regard to then the herbal action and the effects that this will have on their biological form, their safety parameters, and then the contraindications that are linked to this. Uh, and then, like, I think the third point is that herbs they cannot fix the health consequences of a poor diet because they lack the macronutrients and the comprehensive micronutrient profiles that the body fundamentally requires to just function, repair, and to sustain itself. So, like, while herbs they offer antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, they are not structural replacements for whole foods. Like, this reminds me of Hippocrates, like everyone knows his famous quote, let food be thy medicine. And like, yes, it is true, you are what you eat, and our animals are what they eat too. So, like herbs, yes, they do have their place in the health paradigm, as do all aspects of treatments and medicine, but this is only one facet of the therapeutic treatments that make up a much larger aspect of looking at the body as a whole. Herbs, when used and applied correctly with the biological knowledge of the species anatomy, can work wonders in aiding and supporting whole health. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

And I think, you know, when you're considering if herbs would be suitable for the animal in your care, just please make sure you talk to a fully qualified animal herbalist in animal herbal medicine

Choose A Qualified Animal Herbalist

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and specifically the species that's in question. Yes. A human herbalist will have human-only herbal knowledge. They will have no biological knowledge specific to, say, for example, a cat, a dog, or a horse. Three very different animals. Um, so just because a herb is safe for a human does not mean it's safe for our animals or in the same safe dosage range. So many times this lack of education does more harm than good, I think. Yeah, definitely. But not to mention, uh, you know, it's a complete waste of time and money quite often. Yes. So many things that we read up on on a product and check the ingredients and go, oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

Anyway, um very expensive poo that ends up sitting like in the yard or cattle, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Yeah. It does. It goes, yeah. Uh, but please, you know, consider to always seek a species-specific or animal qualified professional. So your animals can always receive the correct nutritional, but herbal benefits that are going to be specific to them. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Yeah. I think that's the perfect way to end this. Um, and we hope that this has been an insightful discussion for you today. Uh, the world of herbal medicine is wonderful. Um, and we hope that you also are inspired maybe to look further into herbal medicine, maybe seek a fully qualified animal herbalist. Um, and thank you for listening. Thanks again, everyone. Bye for now.