Hi! It's me, Lisa, back to answer another question we get asked at least once a week that can't really be answered with a quick answer and also doesn't really belong in an FAQ:
What is this herb good for?
The answer is YOU (probably)!
“What is this herb good for?” is one of the most common questions we hear. It’s understandable, we all want to learn more!
This is a question we struggle with answering, for two reasons:
1) We’re herbal suppliers, not medical professionals or even herbal educators, so we can’t make any kind of health claims
and
2) Herbs aren’t the same as pharmaceutical drugs. Herbs don’t have binary actions, such as “this herb for this symptom”
In herbalism we generally don’t pick out chemical constituents to describe an herb. We pass along herbal knowledge and experiences, and sometimes modern science catches up and “discovers” certain constituents in an herb. Personally, I love this! But plants are more than their perceived active constituents.
Herbalism is inherently holistic - it’s a system of care that looks at the person as a whole and not at symptoms in isolation. To reduce an herb to a few things that it’s “good for” is not holistic, and it also feels disrespectful towards the herb. To reduce an herb to its uses feels incongruous to a system that cares for a whole person. It feels like treating an herb like a pharmaceutical drug.
Additionally, every body is different. Even herbs that have generally accepted effects on a body, such as valerian supporting sleep, can have a different effect on other people. For example, valerian is stimulating for a fairly large minority!
While most herbs can be helpful in certain situations, like how chamomile may support sleep in some people and ginger may support digestion in some people, and together they may support a stressed digestive system in some people, what these herbs are actually “good for” is supporting YOU!
Xo,
Lisa