As food (or wild vegetable), herbs contain nutrients and phytochemicals just like any other plat food. Phytochemicals is a fancy word for chemical compounds from plants, such as plant hormones and other food substances, that we obtain nutritionally when we ingest the plant.

Because we rely on our foods to provide the body with the rigth chemicals needed for fuel and nourishment, it is important that our plants get what they need to be healthy so that they, in turn, will become nutritious food for us. If you are what you eat, then why eat a plant that is lacking?

Unfortunatelly, we are finding that the majority of our commercially grown fruits and vegetables are an "empty harvest" and lack significant nutritional value. To sustain the growing population, farmers have resorted to mass produced agriculture, which depletes the land of top soil. Top soil is where most of the nutrients and minerals are located to nourish growing crops.

This problem is why many are turning to herbs to supplement their diets. Even when our diets are considered "good" diets by American standards (that is, diet with lots of fruits and vegetables), the majority of us realize this is just not enough. Growth hormones used to genetically alter fruits and vegetables are not producing more nourishment−they are producing more fiber.

Have you ever compared the taste of a homegrown tomato and a commercially grown one that has been genetically altered to look pretty, grow quite large, and be almost to look un-squashable? Which do you think tastes the best? Which do you believe provides you with more nutrients?

These altered fruits and vegetables are produced to be larger, firmer, and brighter than what nature provides. If this food provide everything you need for health, then none of us would be experiencing as many ailments as we suffer from these days, nor would herbal remedies, supplements, and natural health care be such a growing industry (no pun intended!). The good news is that herbs serves as concentrated forms of nutrition and can help make up for many food defeciencies.