Also sometimes a plant HAS been used for medicine but no longer IS because it was tested and we found out something akin to "....oh no, it gives you cancer/liver failure/other fun stuff longterm".
Even NON-MEDICINAL foragables can have that happen. There is a mushroom that people ate, until we tested it and found out that it has this weird compount that just kinda. chills there, except for when your body suddenly Notices it and attacks its own blood in an allergic response and kills you after x-th time you eat the mushroom. (real one, had to change the edibility rating in my second hand bought mushroom guide. check things periodically!!) (Paxillus involutus for those concerned. again, you can eat it many times with maybe only a slight stomach upset, then DIE the next time)
You might ask "how did we not know that!?!" Well, how would the folk knowledge connect "ate this thing for years/decades with no ill effect, suddenly died" with One plant/ mushroom that was a culprit? You can't, really..
Some medicinal plants also really are better avoided Now that you can get The Same Compound in a stadardised dose in a pill! No, natural is not better in this case, really. The concentration of the medicinal (often also poisonous) compound can vary greatly from plant to plant, depending on the enviroment, time of year, plant's age, and a bajillion other things. Don't risk it if there's literally the Same Thing, in very pecise same dose in each pill.
Using the plant might have been better that nothing when these were the only options. We can remember the history without risking our health for no good reason when we have safer alternatives now
romaincrisis
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