A Herb generally refers to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant that have a variety of uses such as for improving taste, flavor and palatability of food. However traditional medicine systems such as Chinese and Japanese medicine, homeopathy and Indian Ayurveda relied heavily on herbs for treating diseases.
Today, alternative medicine has become integrative health. With a rising demand for natural healthcare prevention and treatment options, herbalism is the main offering in integrative health options. Scientific interest in herbs is very high and has led to an exponential growth in published research, increasing our understanding of the benefits of herbal medicine.
Modern Day herbalism is the concept of integrating herbs into allopathic medicine in the form of isolated, often synthesized components of prescription drugs, Traditional Chinese Medicine which is prescribed by acupuncturists and naturopaths, who embrace herbal treatment, and chiropractors, who often offer herbal dietary supplements.
It also extends to normal people who grow and consume herbs to keep healthy and to heal minor health issues such as digestive discomfort, micronutrient deficiency and high immunity.

The modern urban Indian is very well travelled and well read. Also we see a very high incidence of infectious and non-communicable diseases around us. Modern day herbalism is an opportunity for a normal person to access traditional and highly effective Herbs to improve his health. This has led to people using herbs and growing them in their own backyard or small pots at home. These herbs range from garlic, ginger, green onions, aloevera, basil, celery, thyme, mint, cilantro, curry leaves, lemon grass and wheat grass, raw turmeric, parsley etc and are now grown in commercial setup and are a profession for people who either grow and sell fresh herbs or get them compounded in compounding pharmacies to make herbal supplements. Herbalism is both a hobby for some but also mainline and sustainable profession for a lot of enterprenurs and pharmaceutical and consumer goods companies.

There is a lot of interest in Herbalism today. For people to be able to grow them at home there is a basic amount of training and information required. Like we have hobby classes on piano and classical Indian music there are now also weekend classes on learning to grow your own herbs. Alternatively, there are online courses available in herbalism that not only teach you how to grow herbs but also equip you with the information on the usage. Learning to grow herbs either in a class or an online setting enables you to include the herbs that have medicinal properties in your everyday routine and empower you to take charge of your own health in the preventive space. Learning about Indian herbs also makes people more aware of the goodness of traditional and home cooked food and makes us invest our time and effort in the right type of eating and food. It also allows us to question modern medicine and think before popping pills for every small or big ailment.

A lot of chronic diseases today start from inflammation which occurs due to various toxins and inflammatory foods. The origin of type II diabetes mellitus, organ faliures, Cancers, neurological disorders and gut issues can all be attributed to inflammation. Herbs are nature’s potent way to counter inflammation and to restore the health of many organs and organ systems.
I am in my present clinical practice using herbs both in a fresh and compounded form to prevent and treat hormonal disbalances and cancers. For example, using raw ginger and garlic in everyday food is a potent way to prevent a large number of cancers. Many herbs such as celery, mint, cilantro and curry leaves have the property of chelating toxic heavy metals from the body. People who have high toxic load of mercury, cadmium, arsenic, aluminum can chelate them and allow the body to get rid of them by using the above herbs in every day cooking or making a green concoction that can be consumed periodically. Herbs are also nanotized and exponential amounts of the same are made available in the form of natural medicines that can be used for treatments. At one of the integrative Cancer Centres that I work, we grow our own micro greens that are miniature plants of broccoli, celery, mint, kale, parsley, cilantro, radish, lemongrass and wheatgrass. The three- day- old broccoli and the above microgreens contain 10 to 100 times more cancer-fighting compounds than the corresponding mature plants. The microgreen herbs are being successfully used to both prevent and treat Cancers. Due to their high antioxidant content, microgreens are a functional food and also support a healthy complexion, increased energy, lower weight, and longer life expectancy.