The choice between gentle, earth-sourced cures of natural remedies and the potent, synthetic interventions synthetic drugs offer has never been more critical. This article dives deep into their origins, benefits, and risks herbal remedies versus traditional western medicines. Get ready to explore this captivating showdown and arm yourself with the knowledge to navigate the complex landscape of what you put into your body!
Natural Remedies: The Cornerstone Of Indigenous Health
Natural remedies are rooted in plant based therapies. They were the cornerstone of healthcare prior to the widespread adoption of allopathic medicine. The earliest known medical text dated to around 2100 BCE. This Sumerian clay tablet from Nippur reflects a foundational knowledge of herbal medicine. It discusses the use of myrtle for its antiseptic properties, thyme for respiratory issues and willow for pain relief.
One preparation calls for the physician to crush and grind tamarisk, myrtle, and thyme, and mix them with beer. This concoction was to be consumed by the patient. While the specific health condition is not identified on the tablet, this drink was likely given to help with stomach problems, cough or a chest infection, or to boost overall health by fighting off germs. Traditional therapies like this predates the rise of allopathic medicine by millennia.
Herbs come in a variety of forms including fresh, dried, or bottled in liquid. In later times they were formed into tablets or encapsulated. Preparations made from herbs were typically administered as teas, tinctures, poultices, or raw plant material. These medicinal plants were often locally sourced and self-administered making them available to everyone.
There are three traditional methods to draw out a plant’s active compounds. A plant’s dried leaves can be steeped in boiling water and made into a tea. Harder materials, such as a plants roots or bark are typically boiled to draw out its beneficial properties. Herbal tinctures, a concentrated herbal extract, are made by soaking a plants leaves, roots, bark or stems in alcohol to extract the herbs healing compounds. The resulting infused liquids are strained and consumed.
Simple, straightforward and used for centuries.
Synthetic Drug Based Therapies
Unlike the herbal medicines used by laypeople and natural health care doctors around the world, allopathic doctors chose a different route for the creation and synthesis of medicinal preparations.
Most early medicinal drugs began as natural plant materials that were processed through solvent extractions and chemical precipitation. Water or alcohol was used to draw the desired active compound from the plant base. A reagent was then added to change the solution’s pH causing the drawn out compound to precipitate into a solid. The final product was air-dried or gently heated which formed a powder or crystal.
The processes used by drug producers required the use of variety of chemicals including ethanol, ether, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, ammonia, lime, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, acetic anhydride, calcium hypochlorite, charcoal and sodium bicarbonate.
For example the resin from a poppy plant was harvested and dissolved in hot water. A dilute sulfuric acid was added to this solution to form morphine sulfate. Ammonia or lime was then introduced to neutralized the acid and raise its pH. It was dried and ground into a white powder. The result? The potent opium derivative, morphine.
Drug manufacturing, up to the mid-1800s, relied natural products in their manufacturing processes. As time passed formulations began emerging that were developed from non-natural starting materials creating the first fully synthetic drug. The anesthetic chloroform (1847) for example was derived from alcohol or acetone and calcium hypochlorite.
The advent of the oil industry introduced kerosene into the manufacturing process and by the 1900s, other petroleum based byproducts crept their way into the synthesis of drug based products. As time went on, the reliance of plant based materials dwindled. Today out of an estimated 4,000–5,000 prescription drugs available worldwide roughly only 1-2% still contain active ingredients directly extracted from plants. The rest are all synthetic.
For example, here is a small snippet of what is required to produce the drug Atorvastatin, a popular statin drug. This is not the whole process, just one component of it.
“To a solution of 2-((4R,6R)-6-(2-(2-(4-fluorophenyl)-5-isopropyl-3-phenyl-4-(phenylcarbamoyl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)ethyl)-2-phenyl-1,3,2-dioxaborinan-4-yl)acetic acid tert-butyl ester 9 (200 g, 0.285 mol) in a mixture solution of THF/H2O (4 L, 1/1, v/v) was added dropwise an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide (48 g, 0.856 mol) in H2O (1 L) for 1 h, and then the mixture was stirred for 2 h at 25o C. The reaction mixture was diluted with heptane (1.5 L) and agitated for 30 min. The combined aqueous layer was extracted with EtOAc (3 L) and washed with 2 L of brine.”
An Efficient Method for the Large-Scale Synthesis of Atorvastatin Calcium
Here’s the same thing, simplified and said in lay terms. To make atorvastatin chemists start with a base compound that was formulated earlier in the process. They take 200 grams of this compound and dissolve it in a mix of two liquids: tetrahydrofuran and water. Then, they slowly add a solution of potassium hydroxide to this solution. Next, they add heptane, a type of solvent, and mix everything for 30 minutes. They keep the water-based layer, which contains the product they want, and mix it with another solvent, ethyl acetate, to pull out the desired chemical. Finally, they wash this solution with brine to clean it up.
My head spins just trying to read this.
Herbal Remedies Vs. Pharmaceuticals – Keeping It Real
Just to keep it real, there are pros and cons when you compare herbal remedies to drug based medicines.
Herbs can be grown locally, wild-harvested or purchased online. They are affordable and access to them is easy. They are less toxic due to fewer processing artifacts and offer a gentler sustainable solution to a health challenge. The lower concentration of active compounds in plant based natural remedies made them safer from potential adverse reactions or overdose. The drawback to herbal remedies is that the quality of the plant and the preparation of the remedy can leave the potency of these cures less predictable.
Drug manufacturing, on the other hand, endeavors to isolate a specific active compounds. They offer stronger faster relief to a situation. Their synthesis is standardized which helped ensure one batch is the same as the next. And since they are formulated in the lab and not grown in the field, as demand increase the can be readily mass produced.
Bottom line, herbs lower strength work slower but in a safe and gentle manor making them the perfect choice for mild or chronic conditions. Their lack of chemical processing, yield a less toxic product.
Drugs are superior for acute or life threatening conditions especially ones which require rapid action. This makes them great for emergency situations. While they offer a quick fix to a problem, their formulation methods cause them inherently be more toxic to the body, leaving the patient at higher risk for side effects.
Put into perspective, an estimated 500 – 1,000 people died in the US from the effects of herbal remedies over the last 25 year. During the same period, it is believed that between 2.5–5 million people died from adverse drug reactions. This is based on the 100,000–200,000 prescription drug deaths reported annually.
From the simplicity of herbal teas to the complexity of today’s pharmaceutical concoctions, what you decide to put into your body is a decision that demands wisdom. Take charge of your wellness journey. If you are unsure, consult with healthcare experts, and make an informed, empowered selection. It is your health and your choice.
About Dr. Rita Louise
Bestselling author, Dr. Rita Louise is the Founder of the Institute Of Applied Energetics and former host of Just Energy Radio. She is a Naturopathic physician, medical intuitive and intuitive counselor. Dr. Rita is the author of 7 books as well as hundreds of articles that have been published worldwide. She is also the producer of a number of full length and feature videos. Dr. Rita has appeared on film, radio, television and has spoken at conferences around the world covering topics such as health and healing, relationships, ghosts, intuition, ancient mysteries and the paranormal.