Since the dawn of time, man's reliance on the God-given remedies that were found in the Natural world around him meant that he also had to learn to identify and collect the beneficial plants, and then prepare and take the often very disagreeable potions and elixirs. Only in the last quarter-century has it become commonplace to enclose herbal material in capules for consumption.
Capsules provide convenience, the potential for greater consistency, and a barrier that protects our taste buds form the strong flavors associated with many herbal preparations. Commercially prepared remedies, now including many pills, extracts, and preparation of crude plants. Newcomers to the world of natural healing may also find that the physical similarity of these preparations to familiar pharamceuticals provides a psychologically more comfortable "bridge" to an otherwise unfamiliar world.
On the down-side, encapsulated herbs can be more difficult to digest and assimilate than simple teas and extracts. The input from the senses of taste and smell that may contribute to the effectiveness of the herbs in their natural form is also reduced. While commercially prepared herbal remedies may make us less dependent on pharmaceuticals, they are necessarily more costly than their "home-grown" counterparts, and they still keep us dependent on sources outside our own means to provide them. Since few of us have sophisicated analytical equipment, the quality, efficacy, and even the proper identity of plants in these products is largely a matter of faith in the company that produces them. Perhaps even more significantly, complete reliance on manufactured supplements and remedies does little to bridge the chasm between our selves and the bounty of natural healing power that lies under our very footsteps. 1
References:
1. Trinity College of Natural Health, Herbology
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