Plant medicine is the subset of integrative medicine that harnesses the power of nature to heal.

Plants are fundamental to our health and wellbeing. Humans have co-evolved with the plant world and have employed plant remedies since the beginning of humanity.

Plant medicine is undergirded by the study of botany and the careful use of medicinal plants to heal all aspects of a human. It is good to remember that modern Western medicine makes use of many plant-derived compounds as the basis for pharmaceutical drugs. 

Plant medicine utilizes plant-based material such as herbs and botanicals in whole, pill, tincture, oil, topical, infusion, or vibrational forms.

Plant medicine also encompasses the therapeutic use of:

• medical marijuana for certain health issues (as qualified by NY state)

• plant-based psychedelic therapies such as psilocybin, mescaline, and ayahuasca in a controlled, therapeutic environment

• the potent medicine of spending time in nature

• flower essences

• essential oils

• plant-based foods (for more on this topic, see here.)

Herbal and botanical medicines can offer effective treatment with a relatively good degree of safety, especially with the right guidance.

There has been an exponential increase in pharmacological studies and clinical trials related to plant medicine in the last half century.

Plants, because of their vast number of synergistically working phytochemical constituents can take different actions in the body. They work differently from pharmaceuticals in that pharmaceuticals usually only have a single pharmacologically active substance.

For example, due to its inherent botanical properties, licorice root has many potential functions - it can work as an antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, demulcent, and/or adaptogen depending on what the body needs.

Dr. Shah provides personalized herb / botanical prescriptions to support the treatment of your specific acute and chronic disease(s), stress, mental health issues, pain, and/or other autoimmune/inflammation-based disorders.

Dr. Shah is careful to cross-reference all interventions you may be using including standard Rx, supplements, and herbal/botanical therapies to avoid potential interactions. She employs such resources as the Natural Medicines database and Consumer Lab to further ensure optimal recommendations.

Dr. Shah is able to evaluate and certify patients in New York State for medical cannabis prescriptions for the treatment of qualifying conditions (read here for more information).