The Holistic Healing Approach

It is not before 1930s that a holistic approach of healing was developed by an English physician, Dr. Edward Bach based on plants. Through trial and error, he established 38 remedies to be used to correct various states of

emotional distress, which he believed were at the root of all illnesses.

Herbal medicines are now being incorporated into food called Nutraceutical. This will enable people to take herbal medicines in a different way rather than swallowing a capsule, tablet or tincture in a form of beverages, bread or chocolate bars. Plant extracts are continuously being formulated to create food products that will help to cure ailments, prevent disease, and maintain health.

Conventional drug research focuses on identifying a single active constituent in a plant, and this approach has yielded a significant number of blockbusting drugs i.e aspirin to be one. Traditional Healing takes a holistic approach believing that the whole of a plant should be used because all the constituents are important, not just the compounds that have been shown to be active i.e moringa oleifera - its bark is traditionally used in Africa to produce mother's milk when boiled. Its flowers are highly beneficial, including its roots and seeds. Its dry seed that taste bitter and then slowly becoming sweet as you chew to eat has a lot pf health benefits i.e improves sleep, regulates blood sugar levels, excellent source of iron, reduces joint pain, lowers cholesterol, induces death of cancer cells, promotes heart health, a powerhouse of antioxidants, and has a high fiber content.

A herbal medicine consists of hundreds of phytochemicals - properties that interacts in a synergy way - together they achieve a greater effect than the sum of all its individual effects. The pharmaceutical industry at large is still focuses on producing 'single-notes' while the holistic way argues that the 'chords' found in herbal medicines are more effective.

In 1999 Middlesex University of London research - an extract of common sage is more potent as inhibitor of an enzyme which action serves to stop excitation of a nerve after transmission of an impulse (helping to maintain memory function) than any of the pure compounds found in the plant. Using mixture compounds is an approach that is now beginning to be used in orthodox medicine. As a result, herbal manufacturers now produce 'standardised' extracts; extracts with a clinical data that often available only from the standardised version of a herb funded by a study of the manufacturer i.e GNC have standardised some of its healing herbs.

Several pharmaceutical companies in the UK have started to research and develop pharmaceutical version of herbal medicines. Like conventional synthetic drugs, it will undergo rigorous controls that may take years and could cost millions of pounds. They include developing a cannabis as a prescription drug for pain relief for people with multiple sclerosis and of a Chinese herbal medicine to treat premenstrual syndrome. Once they go full swing to the paying public, their price will be a thousand folds expensive for us here in Southeast Asia should we not explore and develop our own healing herbs.

France is importing much moringa olefeira for their health products and exporting it around the world? We have some of their products here, and to tell you, it's not an average price to enjoy. Very expensive!