I have this friend who’s always looking to better himself and looking for ways that he may become healthier. He’s a lot like the general population who feels he’s being force fed prescriptions to get rid of an illness. In fact, he doesn’t like it at all and claims that there’s times after taking these prescriptions it still feels like his bodies not right or takes him a week or two to “get back to normal”. So, being curious, he asked me:

If I was to take herbs to say help with a condition, like a cold or headache, what’s the one major advantage you can claim for an herb over that of a commonly prescribed or used dose of medication?– TOMMY DYCKMAN

Emphatically, the biggest advantage to me of using an herb instead of an over-the-counter or possibly prescribed medication is that of safety. Even an aspirin comes with a warning label with possible side effects. Toxic side effects are rare in herbs.

To me, that’s a really good thing! In addition, most of the herbs that we go over here on this site are readily available to the general public through grocery stores, specialized health food stores, online and through mail-order. In general, they have an excellent safety record and can be taken with confidence.

As a secondary advantage that comes really close to home for me is that some of these herbs can even be grown at home in pots or gardens. No need to run to the store and buy them. But for those that you do go out and purchase, most will come prepackaged usually with really easy to follow instructions.