Now that interest in natures medicines is growing again we are seeing how single herbs and their derivatives are now heros that everyone speaks about.
As an ayurvedic Doctor, who has devoted his entire life to natures medicines, this is news I ought to welcome. I truly do, but I also find certain aspects of it a bit troubling.
Let me explain. Ayurveda has over 34,000 registered and documented formulations created via combinations of about 10,000 plant species.
Today however, when something becomes popular it instantly gets considered by many as a cure all. This is troubling as people will take something their friends recommended and then say nature didn’t work for me. Truth is, nature is what is keeping us all alive.
The plants that seem to have achieved this cure all hero status in the last year for example include moringa, garlic, turmeric, coconuts and cbd.
These cure all claims are seldom correct and precise. Each plant in ayurveda is understood not only for its molecular nature but also it’s 5 element properties. Hence garlic which boosts immunity owing to its saponins is great for flu as it is hot but really bad for herpes because it is hot. CBD has been studied by ayurveda for thousands of years and we understand its uses and side effects. I never see any Doctor or article speak about the ayurvedic understanding of CBD. Coconuts also have a few marvelous uses but they to come with cautionary statements and time restrictions in consumption. They are cooling and only grow in hot climates. Hence coconuts should never be consumed on a cold winter night. However, the article one reads on coconuts will never tell you that. In short Ayurveda wouldn’t have 34000 formulas if there was one single cure all. There isn’t, and hence we do have so many precise formulas of prior art that can never be patented.
This obsession with single ingredients also seems to forget about all the synergies that ayurveda has studied. Seldom in ayurveda will you hear about a single herb being prescribed. Enlightened Doctors of the past, created these combinations for a precise reason and now the importance of the combination is ignored. Sometimes we hear from patients that our capsule has only 50 mg of turmeric whereas the other one they saw has 500. What is overlooked in such observations is the fact that 490 of those 500 mg of turmeric will get flushed out by the liver and the synergistic combination with only 50 mg turmeric is the one that will get absorbed and do what it is meant to in the body. We for example have numerous formulas with turmeric and each formula has its own particular use. Furthermore the turmeric we use is 95% curcumin, and I doubt you will find that anywhere else.
My mission is to get plants recognized and understood for the medicine they are. This mission has been passed down to me by my ancestors who were also horticulturists and Doctors. Hence I urge you to reach out to us anytime you have a question about any plant or food. You may do so via the Doctor consult function on www.biogetica.com.