Do you think that teas and natural herbs can be just as effective (or even more effective) for treating certain illnesses than modern medicine?

Yes, and there are a lot of people out there that think this way. This does not mean you just bane doctors and medicine, they do have there place, but I know my wife has me on herbs for my PTSD and this seems to work fine with me. From what I have been told about herbs you also get what you pay for.

Herbs also help prevent you from getting sick as often.

I believe that they can be just as effective or atleast aide with minor illnesses such as colds, headaches, chroonic pain, flus, etc. However for more serious illnesses such as cancer, infections, and any life threatening disease medicine should be used, especially for a young child who has no say in what they would prefer.

Yes Chris you are very right. By doing something as simple as increasing our garlic intake we can stay healthier.

it’s usually a psychological thing but I think either are just effective

I think some can help, like most have said. But still, either way you go be careful. Some herbs and medicines can have alternate effects (not side effects) where the medication or herb does the opposite of what it is supposed to or something else entirely. Another thing to be careful with is High Blood Pressure. If you are on meds for it some herbs can mess with it. Like, even though it’s not an Herb, Grapefruit juice can alter the effects of HBP medication and make it not work correctly. So just be careful, don’t necessarily ask a doctor as most do not believe in Herbal or Holistic medicine. You could ask a Pharmacist, they will know the reactions herbs can have on medications, if you aren’t on any medications you could try to find a local Herbal or Holistic place.

You mean past the placebo effect? No. I dont think it is any more than a placebo effect. However, the placebo effect is very real and it is quite effective. So if people’s brains can fool them into getting better, so much the better. Apart from that, no, I dont think that it is more effective than medication. Medication has to prove itself to be better than a placebo before it can be approved by the FDA and sold as medication. This is how I see it, if there was any proof that these herbs and teas were effective, medication companies would jump on them to make a pill or medication out of them that could be prescribed. It would highly profitable to them and they’d be stupid not to take advantage. It amazes me how ‘natural’ has suddenly come to mean effective or without harm.

Yes, and there is a very good logical reason for this. Most modern medicines are synthetic versions of active ingredients found in plants. However, while herbs and other plant-based options can be effective, many of the active ingredients in them are unknown, as thus cannot be regulated. You do not know what the side effects are, what interactions it may have with other medications etc. With modern medicines you are also able to work out the optimal dosage, whereas you cant do this with plant-based treatments.

actually the drug companies have jumped on them! Thats what medicine comes from - synthetic versions of plants. However, they cant really profit from teas and herbs as they are classified as foods, not drug. They can be very effective however.