Why “Beyond the Herb”?
When I first became an herbalist, I loved how magical herbs felt. I would read about herbs and what they could do, and then experience how they could completely transform myself or my children's daily experience in such a positive way. As time went on, I noticed herbs would only work temporarily or maybe not at all if external factors were not addressed. Sleep, toxin overload, stress, diet, or antibiotic exposure were some of the many factors beyond the herb that sometimes needed to be looked at closely.
Now as a clinical herbalist, I know that the external factors, whether they are lifestyle, environmental, or situational, can be more important to address than the herbs themselves.
Why is there a problem happening in the first place?
A symptom is often the body’s way of telling us that something needs attention. Reaching for an herb may help support that symptom, but it doesn’t always answer the bigger question: What is driving it?
This question is where Beyond the Herb begins. Of course we will also deep dive into herbs here as well but looking at the bigger picture is what takes a mom, herbal student, or even clinical herbalist from having an effective, lasting remedy or being stuck in a cycle of chasing symptoms.
Looking Beyond the Symptom
It can be tempting to think about herbalism as a simple equation:
Symptom = Herb
Trouble sleeping? Take an herb for sleep.
Digestive discomfort? Take an herb for digestion.
Skin problems? Find an herb for the skin.
But the human body is rarely that simple.
Two people can have the same symptom for completely different reasons. A digestive complaint may be connected to food, digestion, the gut microbiome, stress, medications, nutrient status, or something else entirely. Skin symptoms may involve the skin barrier, immune responses, digestion, environmental exposures, or underlying imbalances.
The symptom is important but it may only be the starting point.
Instead of asking only, “What herb is good for this?”, I want to also ask:
Why is this happening in the first place?
The Root of the Problem
Looking at root causes doesn't mean that every problem has one single cause or that we can always identify a perfect answer.
The body is complex and root causes are also sometimes complex.
Nutrition, lifestyle, environment, genetics, stress, sleep, digestion, immune function, the microbiome, medications, and many other factors can intersect in ways that aren't immediately obvious.
This is why I believe herbalism can be so much more than matching plants to symptoms.
Plants can be incredibly valuable tools but they are tools within a much larger picture.
Sometimes the most helpful thing we can do is support the body while also looking at what may be contributing to the problem.
That might mean asking different questions.
It might mean looking at nutrition before adding another supplement.
It might mean considering the microbiome when the complaint seems unrelated to the gut.
It might mean looking at environmental factors when the body continues to struggle despite doing “all the right things.”
And sometimes it simply means slowing down enough to notice the patterns.
These are the conversations I want to have here on this blog.
A Different Way of Looking at Health
My goal isn't to convince you that there is one perfect herb, one perfect diet, or one perfect approach to health.
Although there are some who believe that there IS a perfect herb (topic for another time!)
Instead, I want Beyond the Herb to be a place for curiosity.
A place to look at the bigger picture.
A place where we can appreciate the wisdom of traditional herbal practices while also asking thoughtful questions about how and why things work.
And most importantly, a place where we remember that a person is more than a symptom.
The herb may be part of the answer.
But sometimes, the more important question is what brought us to the herb in the first place.
That's what it means to go beyond the herb.
This same perspective guides my work in the herbal clinic, where I look beyond the symptom to consider the whole person and the bigger picture.