Informative Speech On Whole Plant Medicine

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As caregivers for our animals, we can look to them as our guides as we become more and more familiar with using herbal medicine. Even though the past century has muted humans symbiotic relationship with nature, for animals, that relationship remains intact and innate. Animals and plants have coexisted for a millennia and whole plant medicine is the simplest way to achieve effective healing for the many aliments that effect our animals each day with little or no side effects.

Plants cleanse, regulate and nourish the body through an unspoken intelligence. All living creatures have a predisposition for whole plant medicine. Think of it as a type of genetic memory. I know for some, especially those practicing allopathic Western medicine, it …show more content…

Milk thistle is an herb that I use consistently in my practice. Not only is it a wonderful liver regenerator, it also protects the liver from toxins during allopathic drug therapy. The “active ingredient” in milk thistle is silymarin. When given as an isolated chemical, silymarin can interfere with the liver’s ability to metabolize prescription drugs. This is the opposite effect that silymarin has when administered as whole plant medicine. When used as either a tincture or powdered supplement, silymarin is accompanied by all of the plant’s constituents. This allows the plant to support the liver by assisting it with detoxification instead of interfering with it.

The effectiveness of any plant is not due to the action of any one chemical as modern science would have you believe. When plants are synthesized in a lab, they are analyzed to find their most potent and active components. The rest of the plant is left behind. What science is forgetting is that each leaf, stem, flower and root work in their own unique way to deliver what is need to the body.

The synergy of plants is the foundation of herbal medicine because fresh plant material provides living medicine for all of us, including our pets. This synergistic quality has always baffled scientists because some things can not be broken down and understood at a molecular level. It is often the in-between …show more content…

I an not saying that standardized extracts cannot be effectively utilized in self-care but when it comes to using plants for everyday medicine, long-term healing and prolonged health, it is best to use plants in their natural state.

The Franciscan friar, William of Ockham who has been attributed to the principle known as Occam’s Razor which basically states that “when you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better”. I could not agree more and when it comes to using plants as medicine, the simplicity of whole plant medicine cannot be replicated.

In part two of using whole plant medicine, I will discuss the different forms of whole plant medicines, making specific medicines for dogs, how to purchase herbs as well as resources for purchasing pre-made whole plant medicines and working with an herbalist. In the meantime, I highly recommend viewing the documentary Numen. It is a lovely account of the healing power of plants and our relationship to them. Numen can be viewed at

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