Скачать или смотреть Plants over Pills

Humans and plants enjoy a symbiotic relationship. We humans could not be alive without plants. We are plants; plants are us — we’re practically second cousins twice removed. That’s why plants feed us, nurture us, heal us and protect us from harm. “We share biology in all kinds of clever ways,” Chris Kilham explains. “We have a more intimate relationship with plants than anything but water and air.” And since plants pack more medicine than a suitcase to Vegas, the list of pharmaceuticals inspired by nature reads as long as Otis Redding’s Greatest Hits catalog.

Aspirin — based on a naturally occurring polyphenol salicylic acid, a plant compound found in willow bark.
Digoxin — a heart medication that comes from the foxglove plant.
Reserpine — a blood pressure medication derived from Rauvolfia serpentina, or Indian snakeroot.
Fingolimod — used to treat multiple sclerosis, a modified compound derived from the bug-eating fungus Isaria sinclairii.
Quinine — used to treat malaria, derived from the cinchona tree.
Sudafed — originally contained Ephedra sinica, a scraggly bush used in traditional Chinese medicine.

And there are bucketloads more if you’ve got the time and attention span.

When herbal medicine is used ethically, responsibly, and intelligently, we share a deep and symbiotic kinship with the plant kingdom.