jean-claude:
>If you were open to extend your food intake to medicinals plants  in their
>raw state and let your sense of taste guide you,  you will benefit from
>their "healing properties" at their fullest.

Tom:
While I agree that, when possible, medicinal herbs can be used
raw, there are a number of caveats.

1. Raw herbs are usually stronger, sometimes much stronger, than
tinctures/cooked. One must be careful of dosage with raw herbs.
For example, tea made (by cooking) from neem leaves is mild in
effect; tea made by steeping raw neem leaves is very harsh
in effect when consumed.

2. Medicinal herbs -- the term includes such non-edible items as
bark, hard seeds, etc. It is often easier to make tea from
such items and consume them, than to chew bark, wood, acorns,
etc.

Some time ago I wrote an article on the topic of raw vs. cooked
medicinal herbs. It is in the archives of this list, and I think it
is also in the articles section of the living-foods.com web site
as well.

Tom Billings