Reply To: Wild Medicinals
Hello! I am just diving into the first videos of this course, and Amanda Howe has a few times used the word “tonic” to discuss the medicinal uses of plants. I know this was covered briefly in the Introduction to Herbal Medicine course, but as someone who is new to this I am struggling to clearly define the term. For example, Hawthorn is described as “a valuable heart tonic” and “blood vessel tonic.” What does this mean exactly? I think I recall that tonics have a strengthening and invigorating effect?? — but that sounds both vague and broad to me, so I’m having trouble wrapping my head around what it actually means.
Any clarity or more specificity would be much appreciated. Thank you so much!