Herbal, medicine uses specific parts of plants to strengthen, support and nourish the body. Herbs can be used alone or in combination to promote the same pathways that conventional drugs do. Therefore it may be used to treat as well as prevent disease.

Herbs also have a specific energetic quality or 'personality' that is matched to the individual. Herbal medicines have been used for centuries as a primary method of health care and were, until the evolution of the pharmaceutical industry, a primary treatment option in all forms of medicine. In fact many herbs are still taught in medical schools, used in emergency rooms and prescribed in clinical practices in developed countries around the world. For example, emergency rooms in Germany still routinely use milk thistle (Silybum marianus) intravenously for patients who are experiencing alcohol poisoning or drug overdoses, in order to protect liver function. Another example of use in North America is the herb fox glove which is used to make Digitalis, the heart medication.