Traditionally used by all societies and cultures, herbs and plants were our first medicines and food and predate recorded history. Herbal medicine or ‘phytotherapy’ is the oldest and still the most widely used system of medicine in the world today.
The practice of herbal medicine in New Zealand is regulated under The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. Herbal medicine is drug free and uses plant extracts to tone and nourish certain parts if the body, curing or preventing disease.