Template:Cover abstract/Herbal supplement
Herbal supplements are non-pharmaceutical, non-food substances marketed to improve health. Herbalism (herbal medicine, botanical medicine) is the use of plant-derived substances, and sometimes other environmental substances, to treat or cure medical conditions. Herbalism recognizes that pre-industrial cultures had a great deal of practical medical knowledge, most of it botanical, and seeks to make use of this. Definitions are problematic. There are no unified practices, and relatively few guidelines for practitioners. There isn't even a clear definition of what an "herbal remedy" is. A large number of currently available drugs are originally plant-derived, which means herbalism is basically pharmacology's petulant, stubborn little brother.