Early in my herbalism studies, I was puzzled that one herb could address so many different issues.
But then I realized there was a mindset I needed to unlearn.
We cannot apply our ways of thinking about medicines to herbs. If we do, we miss so much!
Contrary to the assumption that plants can’t excel at one thing if they’re used for many things, I discovered (as many, many people had before me) that:
a) Herbs can be incredibly effective when we know how to work with them, and
b) The question of “does it work?” misses the allure of botanical remedies.
Should you use herbs or medications—or both? And how do you even begin to choose?
This post explores how herbal remedies and medicines work in fundamentally different ways, and why understanding this distinction helps you make better decisions for your health. It’s a longer read because these nuances matter—herbs aren’t just “natural medicines,” and treating them that way means missing out on their unique therapeutic potential.
While each section builds on the previous one, I’ve included an index below if you want to jump to specific topics:
- Why Herbs Aren’t Just “Natural Medicines”
- What Herbs & Medicines Have in Common
- How do You Choose Herbs or Medicines?
- When You May Want to Use Medicines & The Medical System
- When Herbal Remedies Can Shine
- Overlooked Ways of Working with Herbs
- A Toolkit Approach, Not a Binary Choice
- Working With an Herbalist
Why Herbs Aren’t Just “Natural Medicines”
Plants are incredibly special because their therapeutic potential is intricate. They can work in various ways to support us depending on how we choose to work with them.
Similar to what I needed to better understand at the beginning of my herbal journey, I often notice that people who are new to herbal remedies often conflate them with medications. This post will help you begin to understand how they are different!
First, to avoid confusion, I want to clarify that I am not trying to convince you that herbs are superior to medications.
My stance is that:
Herbal remedies are one potential resource in our wellness journey. They are a viable, supportive, and endlessly varied approach, especially enriching when they walk alongside other forms of care.
Working with herbs may not resonate for everyone, and that’s OK. And if you want to discover your botanical allies, read on to learn how shifting your mindset can help.
Plant remedies literally bring nature to us. Recognizing this makes it clear that they are not interchangeable with medicine.
Medications have isolated, active ingredients, whereas herbs are often worked with from whole plants.
When we work with whole plants, or parts of plants, we’re encountering a range of chemical compounds.
Plants manage stresses and changes in their environment through sophisticated adaptations. When we work with them, we can benefit from these same adaptive properties that support wellbeing in their natural setting. Our body-minds are constantly responding to our environment, and botanicals can support different organ systems, physiological processes, and our stress responses, as well as our needs for rest.
What Herbs and Medicines Have in Common
To help you further differentiate between plant remedies and medicines, I first want to highlight what is similar, so you can better understand where these resources diverge and what is vastly different.
Here are 5 things they have in common. They both have:
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Potential therapeutic benefits
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Potential contraindications
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Research (not every herb in every context)
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Misinformation
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Idiosyncrasy (It’s always possible that someone will respond to individual medicines or herbs in ways that the vast majority don’t.)
How do you Choose Herbs or Medicines?
This is actually not a straightforward answer. It truly depends on several factors.
- Sometimes it’s not one or the other. You may want to work with both or neither.
- Sometimes you may need to accomplish something that you can’t with herbs or that medicine doesn’t offer.
Below, I outline some general considerations for each, but please note that these are not hard and fast rules!
It’s helpful to keep in mind that these guidelines exist on a continuum, and this is a starting place for understanding herbs and medicines as different resources.
When You May Want to Use Medicines & The Medical System
Aside from the systemic issues that interfere with treatment, medicines and medical systems offer important interventions and can provide either a quick, curative, or life-saving response to various needs, including:
- Acute conditions,
- Life-threatening emergencies,
- Traumatic injuries, and
- When you need treatment to kick in quickly.
They also support long-term and preventative care, the management of chronic health conditions, and access to lab work, imaging, and other diagnostic services.
When Herbal Remedies Can Shine
Herbal remedies have a broader range of therapeutic possibilities than many people understand.
The list below is not exhaustive, but rather one that may expand your ideas about working with botanicals:
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Aiding the body and its systems with chronic health conditions
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Going beyond the healthy/unhealthy binary to support your system where it needs it
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Further facilitate the benefits of body-based modalities (acupuncture, physical therapy, massage, etc.)
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Comfort & well-being: comfort in the body-mind, support with sleep, easing the intensity of anxiety, and providing comfort during a grieving process
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Harm reduction: offering soothing over ‘quick fixes,’ assisting with cravings, support for impacts to the body from drinking, smoking, or other substances
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As needed to support an organ system when there’s some type of flare-up
Overlooked Ways of Working With Herbs
Additionally, these are several, often overlooked ways of working with botanical remedies that don’t apply to medicines:
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Symbolically: bringing in an energy or intention that you want to further garner, or working with an energy or influence in your life that is difficult
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Externally: bringing plants in and around your environment is calming for many people, but also can introduce an energy from that plant that is supportive to you
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Subtly: sometimes the influence of a plant can be worked with through plant essences, where plants are gathered and water is imbued with their essences, then combined with glycerine or alcohol to stabilize them and bottled
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Aromatically: inhaling the aromas of plants can support immunity, help sinus issues, and can be calming, focusing, stimulating, relaxing, or support introspection.
A Toolkit Approach, Not a Binary Choice
With the general ideas presented above about medicines and herbs, of course, some medications can be either gentler in their effects than most or prescribed/taken in a light-handed manner.
And similarly, some herbs can work quite acutely!
Understanding these differences doesn’t mean choosing sides—it means expanding your toolkit. By recognizing that herbs and medications work in fundamentally different ways, you can make more informed decisions about when and how to incorporate each into your wellness practice, creating a more complete approach to your health.
Working With an Herbalist
Herbalists work with plants in countless ways. My practice focuses on supporting people through:
- Periods of heightened stress, anxiety, or trauma
- Grief and loss—whether of loved ones, pets, jobs, home, or major life transitions
- Integration work alongside psychotherapy, somatic practices, or psychedelic journeys
- Harm reduction or sobriety support for substance-related challenges, as well as patterns like excess social media use or overworking
If you’re curious about how herbal remedies might support your mind-body wellness in any of these areas, I offer remote one-on-one consultations to help you explore these possibilities in a way that’s tailored to your unique needs.
Be well & well-informed!
-Quai
