Opinion: Sebastian Pole
Sebastian Pole outlines his vision to promote and strengthen our relationship with healing plants by providing free and trustworthy information through his new venture Herbal Reality.
I first came across the healing power of plants through Ayurveda in the early 1990s, which inspired me to become a herbalist and Ayurvedic practitioner. My clinical experience showed me that the simple power of herbal medicine, and all it teaches about diet and lifestyle, has a place in healthcare. But in a pharmaceutical-driven medical system, how can we help more people access it? How do we overcome endless roadblocks of regulations, costs, medical hegemony and cultural hesitancy? This thinking eventually led me to co-found Pukka Herbs, but clearly the nation’s health needs more than a few cups of herbal tea!
Given the acute pressure the NHS is under, the high national levels of ill health and the poor access to support services, it seems herbal medicine could play an important part in the nation’s wellbeing. Looking at supplement sales figures, the public certainly think so too.
The ever-mounting positive research into the efficacy of herbal medicine has fuelled a surge in confidence regarding the benefit of plant-based diets, herbal medicines and a natural lifestyle. This has trickled into the growth of herbal supplements and the wellbeing industry, which is doing much to open people’s eyes to the potential of natural health. Parallel to this ‘retail’ awakening, professional herbal medicine colleges have proliferated, resulting in the number of qualified herbalists growing from a small base. Integrative Medicine is now the Zeitgeist of every evolved GP.
Significant issues face herbal medicine: concerns regarding poor quality and the safety of source materials due to widespread environmental pollution, ecosystem pressures, increased demand and unsustainable harvesting. In response, parts of the industry have acted to set higher standards, initiating schemes such as FairWild to ensure sustainable collection and fair remuneration, and B Corp to instil social and environmental standards alongside financial objectives. But accurate, easy-to-access information is still lacking.
“Rather fed up with the ‘herbs will cure everything’ panacea and the ‘one sip will kill you’ polemic driven by unqualified media clickbait, I felt a need for there to be a reliable source of information curated by herbalists with clinical and research expertise.”
After years of writing for Pukka, I felt stifled by the legal restrictions of what can be said about herbal efficacy and safety. Clearly, regulations intended to keep the public safe are also hindering their ability to access sound information written by herbalists. Rather fed up with the ‘herbs will cure everything’ panacea and the ‘one sip will kill you’ polemic driven by unqualified media clickbait, I felt a need for there to be a reliable source of information curated by herbalists with clinical and research expertise. Importantly, it needed to be free to access, without adverts and unencumbered from the bias inherent with promoting products. So, at Herbal Reality we’ve adopted more of a donation-based Wikipedia model rather than a sponsor-influencer WebMD model.
Herbal Reality is a free, expert-driven hub where we publish clear, rigorously-checked articles from a wide community of specialists: medical herbalists, phytotherapy researchers, foragers, healthcare and industry professionals and educators. Drawing on their clinical and academic expertise, we commission high-quality content that explores the breadth of herbal medicine’s everyday potential.
In a world where chronic conditions are increasingly common, herbalism offers supportive ways to maintain wellbeing, complement conventional care and bridge therapeutic gaps. If you’re new to herbs, Herbal Reality aims to spark curiosity – inviting readers to discover plants already in their kitchens, gardens and hedgerows, to learn how these can be used safely. For professionals, our platform is a credible resource on herbal safety, integrative healthcare opportunities and the sustainability challenges facing the botanical industry.
Over the past five years, we’ve built a library of monographs, condition-focused articles, features, resource pages, a health quiz and a podcast. We’re guided by a simple aim: to share traditional, scientific and practical insights into herbal medicine that deepen understanding of how plants can support specific health concerns. We want to empower, engage and evolve society’s relationship with healing plants by keeping trustworthy information free and accessible. Your customers already ask about herbs – we can help make your team’s responses confident, safe and evidence-aware.
Practical ways to use Herbal Reality in store
Train your team daily: pick one monograph a day and focus on actions, safety and quality notes.
Make safety visible: print our monograph safety sections for staff reference near the till and signpost complex queries to the practitioners listed on our site.
Seasonal storytelling: share our monthly newsletter snippets on your socials or in emails to educate and drive footfall.
Source with confidence: use our sustainability status and quality concerns sections to guide buying decisions and explain them to eco-conscious customers.
By Sebastian Pole, Herbal Reality