Galen (129–c. 199)
Humans and animals have always needed food in order to survive. Their challenge was locating and differentiating those herbs that could serve as sources of nutrition from those that were hazardous to their health. Our ancestors likely observed and emulated the choices made by their animal neighbors. The lucky ones learned, through trial and error, that when lesser amounts of some hazardous plants were taken, they produced changes in bodily function, mood, or behavior. Perhaps, the herb relieved an illness or injury they were experiencing.
Initially, this “drug-related” information was shared orally and, later, more permanently, on papyri, clay tablets, parchments, and paper. Among the herbs known to be used as medicines in prehistoric times is black cohosh, employed by Native Americans to treat gynecological and kidney disorders, depression, sore throats, and rheumatism. White willow bark has long been cultivated in Europe and China for pain relief, and yarrow—used throughout history as an astringent to reduce bleeding and as a diaphoretic to promote sweating—was excavated at Shanidar IV, a Neanderthal flower burial in northern Iraq dated to around 60,000 BCE. Birch polypore, an edible mushroom used as a laxative, was carried by Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,000-year-old mummy found in western Austria. Various human societies in antiquity have consumed mallow to cleanse the colon.
Experience revealed that not all parts of the plant were equivalent in producing their health-promoting effects. The most powerful responses might occur after eating the leaves, roots, bark, fruits, seeds, or juices. After fragmenting that plant part and mixing it with a liquid, such as alcohol, a more concentrated mixture of active constituents could be extracted in either the liquid solvent or the solid residue. Such liquid and solid plant extracts—collectively referred to as galenicals, after the Greek physician Galen—continued to be used as medicines into the twentieth century. In fact, many contemporary dietary supplements consist of herbal mixtures.
SEE ALSO Opium (c. 2500 BCE), Colchicine (c. 70), Smith and Ebers Papyri (c. 1550 BCE), Morphine (1806), Alkaloids (1806), Dietary Supplements (1994).
While searching for food, our gatherer ancestors uncovered herbs that did not satisfy nutritional needs but rather, to their surprise, ameliorated some of their common health problems.