Robust health and longevity require a judicious and objective approach to medicinal herbs and plant nutrition. Our ancestors found a medicinal use for every plant, and those foraging skills link our history on the planet. Borrowing from their evolutionary wisdom, a successful forager can select what is needed and what to eliminate. The purpose of this book is to provide you with the knowledge to make informed choices about what works and what does not. But here’s the problem: Many herbalists and herb purveyors use a reductionist approach to disease treatment. Like modern allopathic medicine, they target illness with a single plant chemical or an arsenal of potent chemicals in combination. There is a place for this; that place too often is in the late stages of disease. What I advocate is prevention: Eat good-quality whole foods, drink pure water, exercise daily—and add selected medicinal plants to your diet. This healthy regimen prevents disease by nipping it in the bud. Bear in mind, however, when using the term medicinal herb I am most likely talking about an edible wild plant, too—they are often the same thing. This fact lends credence to the old saw: You are what you eat. You are a plant with wheels because, either directly or indirectly, all of your chemistry comes from plant chemistry—therefore plants are your food and medicine.
Understand, also, a healthy person eats the foods that are in season—the plants of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These seasonal plants provide what is right for that time of year. Spring provides the immune-enhancing tonic greens: nettles, alliums, watercress, and dock. Summer provides the antioxidant-rich cancer-fighting fruits and berries, and autumn, the fiber-rich pomes, seeds, and polysaccharides that give us energy and strength to thrive through the cold months of winter. Formed in the breast of nature, these natural foods and plant medicines are free and available to those who know. With this book you will become one of those who know.
My nutritional beliefs are the accumulation of knowledge from numerous sources: from experience, science, undergraduate and graduate school, hundreds of books, other experts, gardening, foraging, and personal use. A broad base of whole plant foods and herbs make the foundation of healthy diet and pave the road to longevity.
With all that said, I am delighted to share these pages, my humble contribution to the human experience. Let’s go walk the planet, pull some weeds, and have fun!