Thought leader: Gus Le Breton

Plants have long been used in traditional medicines around the world. At home, in Africa, herbal remedies are still commonly used to treat various illnesses and symptoms. One man who understands the power of plants in medicine is Gus Le Breton, who has spent most of his life researching indigenous plants and exploring their traditional uses and healing properties.

Le Breton’s website, called The African Plant Hunter, is full of valuable information and videos on various medicinal plants and traditional remedies. He is a thought leader in this sphere and has a wealth of knowledge in natural plant-based medicines. His videos highlight the unique plants of Africa and their various uses, not only for healing but also for nutrition and their historical value.

Who is Gus Le Breton?

Le Breton was born in Kenya but moved to Brazil as a child. When he was 18 years old, he returned to Kenya on an epic voyage that saw him drive through the Sahara desert and southward through Chad, Congo and across to the Rift Valley. “My journey into African plants began when, as a student at the Yale School of Forestry, I was shown a map of the world by the great ethnobotanist Dr Michael Balick,” explains Le Breton.

“The map showed the sources of all the best-known plant-derived medicines, with the location marked as a black dot. The Americas, Europe and Asia were liberally spattered with these dots. But there, right in the middle of the map, lay Africa, with barely a single dot on it. As if Africa doesn’t have medicinal plants. Now, I knew that not to be true,” he says.

“There are as many medicinal plants in Africa as anywhere else in the world (in fact my life was saved from malaria as a baby by a traditional healer with medicinal plants). It was just that the world didn’t know about them. So, there and then, it became my mission to change that,” states Le Breton.

“Since then, I’ve spent more than 20 years investigating African plants, looking at what makes them special, how they are traditionally used, what their phytochemical properties are and what their potential commercial applications might be. But in the process, I’ve learned a huge amount about how these plants can be harnessed for the greater good in the 21st Century,” he concludes.

Medical plants of Africa in the spotlight

Le Breton’s life-work has focused on the healing powers of herbal medicines. Many of these plants are used in our Isiphethu Sempilo remedies and Le Breton shines a light on their benefits for health. Plants such as Devil’s Claw and Resurrection Plant, which are used in some of our own traditional remedies, are explored in some of Le Breton’s videos.

While much of Le breton’s content revolves around trees and historic plants of Southern Africa, he also looks at some of the unique characteristics of these natural wonders. There is no doubt that plants can be used to improve health and well-being. The important work being done by leaders such as Le Breton will help to keep herbal remedies relevant in the modern era. He is sharing his knowledge of herbal remedies and plant characteristics with those who have an interest in natural healing and the medicinal properties of plants.

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To learn more about African medicines and traditional plant-based remedies, please do not hesitate to contact us. Source of Health is a manufacturer of Traditional African Medicines under the brand Isiphethu Sempilo. We use biomedicine processes to create herbal remedies, combined with scientific methods to ensure the finest quality and trustworthy herbal extracts.

Source of Health offers a range of herbal products that are effective as natural remedies for pain, depression, illnesses and more. The use of medicinal plants as part of traditional African healthcare is one of the oldest and most assorted of all therapeutic systems. It has been used through the ages to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illnesses.

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