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assimilable form of nutrition, became popular. The 1950s and 1960s saw
the development of vitamin, mineral, and other supplements made from
animal parts, sea and land vegetables, minerals, and other derivatives.
More recently, “superfood” drinks have been created using primary plants
like algae and lichens— that is, using nature’s potent forces. Finally, at the
beginning of the twenty-first century, people— not least, the leading
supplement companies— are turning to combining supplements and
herbs.
What should we choose? As a daily matter of course, I would suggest
good food with liberal amounts of culinary and wild herbs, with
superfood drinks to balance the effects of pollution and stress. For those
chronic deficiencies picked up through tests or diagnosis, it is wise to
choose supplements, superfoods, juices, or a combination of them all.
Food builds us physically as well as nurturing us on a more subtle,
unseen vibrational level. Many great minds, not least those of botanists,
archaeologists, and herbalists, have recognized that, in the prefarming era,
health rested largely on humans’ consumption of many different species of
plants. This contrasts with the modern, genetically engineered and
overproduced twenty or so species that are farmed today. It was this
diverse array of plant chemistry that kept our systems honed and hardy
and allowed our immune systems to act with force and spontaneity. It
enabled our digestive systems to perform with vigor and digest almost
anything. Since we stopped collecting and eating wild foods, which tend
to be more bitter or sour (and altogether more rudimentary in their
flavor), society has incurred a whole range of gut-based diseases that
simply did not exist before. Many of our modern herbs were, originally,
everyday foods, and it is the lack of everyday usage that has, in part,
caused people to become physically weaker and more prone to an overall
and ever-increasing degeneration of the body— not least through allergies.
Therefore, we should get back to using our known culinary herbs in
earnest. Herbs such as thyme, marjoram, coriander, mint, and garlic
should be included in the diet at every opportunity, as should salads in the
form of our garden “weeds”— dandelions, chickweed, young oak leaves,
fat hen (also known as goosefoot or pigweed), and so on.
Being ill on an obviously physical level, like having a bloated stomach,
arthritis, or a headache, might lead you to believe that somewhere along
the line your diet may have been responsible. But very often it is easy to
miss the more emotional and behavioral side effects of the wrong food
input. Being poisoned, or else starved of the correct nutrition, can create
anger, impatience, apathy, and a whole array of negative emotions, which
you may simply regard as being “you.” Strip away the coffee, tea, alcohol,
sugar, and chocolate and replace them with more healthy foods (which
balance stomach flora and kill off any opportunistic parasites), and you
may be surprised at the person you meet! There are many herbs that
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