Are Herbs Safe?

People often ask me two things: first, whether herbs are truly safe, and second, if they are, why the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved them. My answer to the first is an emphatic yes. As for the second, I’ve long said I would be more troubled if the FDA ever did approve herbs.

The numbers alone give a sobering perspective. CDC estimates show that more than 100,000 people die every year inside U.S. hospitals from properly prescribed, FDA-approved drugs. Hospital stays average about eleven days, and deaths from prescription medicines taken outside the hospital are thought to be four times higher still. By contrast, poison-control records reveal no death toll
from properly used herbal preparations. Statistics, however, are only part of my confidence in herbs.

My deeper trust is rooted in the way plants were created. Many modern drugs began as plant extracts, yet manufacturers isolate and concentrate single chemicals, stripping away the balancing compounds God placed in the whole plant. Goat’s-rue,
for instance, contains an alkaloid later turned into the drug metformin. The whole herb nourishes and steadies the body; the isolated compound, refined into a drug, now carries black-box warnings and liver cautions. Yes, refined drugs “work,” but only after the built-in safety factors have been processed out.

My greatest confidence, though,
comes from the Creator’s own words. In Ezekiel 47:12 we read, “The fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.” Alma 46:40 explains that God prepared “many plants and roots…to remove the cause of diseases,” and the Lord’s health code declares that “all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man.” Wholesome means whole: nothing added, nothing taken away. That is exactly how herbs are meant to be used—and why they can heal
at the root rather than merely masking symptoms.

So yes, I can hold my head high and say from decades of practice, study, and faith that herbs, in their God-given form, are safe—and that the very act of refining them into synthetic drugs is what introduces danger. May we remember that truth as we care for our bodies this season.

Wishing you a warm, healthy, and Merry Christmas!

David Christopher is a Master Herbalist, director of The School of Natural Healing, and son of our beloved Dr. John R. Christopher. He is continually helping others
improve their health and that of their family members. The School loves having him as the director.