Gemmotherapy: Healing With Plant Stem Cells

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We are all familiar with herbal medicine. Many of us weave it into our lives, not only when we’re sick, but as a daily support for our well-being. Though not as well known in the US, the use of homeopathy is growing exponentially as people spread the word about its ability to restore health at a profound level using minute dosages of natural substances. A subtle, potent, and refined form of natural medicine that most Americans have never heard of — called gemmotherapy — lies somewhere between the two.

Although most sources cite the Belgian doctor and homeopath Pol Henry as the inventor of gemmotherapy, its true foundation was built by Hildegard of Bingen in twelfth century Germany. An abbess, philosopher, physician, composer, writer, and researcher, Hildegard perceived the world with enormous sensitivity.

From childhood, she experienced both severe pain syndromes and intense spiritual events. Her work on nutrition and medicine included meticulous study of the use of the buds and new shoots of plants, collected and preserved under specific conditions.

Hildegard saw that sickness and health are deeper than the chemistry of the physical body, and that plants, too, have numinous energy and purpose. Hildegard believed the buds held particular promise for healing, regeneration, and growth, which was contained both in their physical substance and in their vitality.

In the modern world, it was Pol Henry and a team of homeopaths who brought this special medicine into its current form around seventy years ago. Henry named it phytoembryotherapy: phyto means plant, and embryo originally meant something full, swelling, and growing, or a newborn creature. It was a rather cumbersome name, and the French doctor Max Tétau soon began to call it gemmotherapy instead, from the Latin word gemmae for “bud.”

Embryonic Cells Of The Plant Kingdom

The uniqueness of gemmotherapy lies in its use of only the meristem tissues of plants. Meristem cells are found in the parts of the plant where growth occurs, and they can be thought of as the plant kingdom’s version of embryonic stem cells in animals. In other words, they are undifferentiated; they have not yet developed to serve a specific purpose in the plant. Each meristem cell contains the genetic information necessary to transform itself into any kind of cell. Whatever type is needed, that’s what it will become.

All the properties of every part of the mature plant — leaves, blossoms, roots, bark, seeds — exist already in the meristem cells. Further, they contain all the potential of those tissues at any stage in the plant’s life: the upward growth of youth, the stability and productivity that follow, and the time of special concentration on reproduction.

Once they develop into leaf cells or flower cells or any other type, that completeness of potential is lost. Then each has its own limited use. Herbalists know, for example, the leaves, roots, and flowers of dandelion all have different medicinal properties, and plant parts collected in fall will have a different effect than those collected in spring.

Gemmo Extracts From Rootlets, Shoots And Buds

Gemmotherapy extracts (often referred to affectionately as “gemmos”) are prepared by a somewhat different process than herbal products. Most herbal tinctures involve macerating the plant material in either alcohol, water, or occasionally glycerine. Specific plant compounds are better extracted by different solvents. Gemmo extracts are made by macerating the plant material either in all three, or occasionally in only alcohol and glycerin, for a very precise period of time, and never with heat.

For each plant, specific tissues are used — it may be the rootlets or the first rapidly growing shoots of some shrubs, or, more often, buds. They must also be harvested under the correct conditions.

Dr. Henry worked with some plants familiar to him as a homeopath, but also many others, in particular the great forest trees and woodland shrubs of Europe. Most of these had long histories of medicinal use, but also deep traditional symbolic significance.

Hildegard saw that sickness and health are deeper than the chemistry of the physical body, and that plants, too, have numinous energy and purpose.

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Trials and observation confirmed the extracts were indeed potent and contained a wider range of medicinal properties than mature plant parts. The intelligence of the full-grown tree — the magnificent canopy of leaves, the deep and extensive root system, the hundreds of thousands of seeds that will create the next generation — is embryonically held in the meristem cells.

The extracts contain abundant phytoactive compounds, enzymes, and minerals, so they have nutritive and health-promoting properties on the chemical level. However, their efficacy is considered to lie also in the energetic realm. Very small doses are used, and their action is gentle but powerful.

In Europe, gemmotherapy has been embraced by many physicians, herbalists, homeopaths, and lay people. Gemmos are used together with conventional medicine — for instance, they can be greatly beneficial to those undergoing chemotherapy — or with other therapies, but they are also used independently.

Medicine For The Most Sensitive Individuals

Emotional distress and mental challenges can be addressed, as well as physical problems. Many have a particular affinity for cleansing the body’s tissues of toxins and promoting cellular regeneration. Like homeopathy, gemmotherapy is wonderful for the most sensitive among us: those with chronic diseases, babies and children, and animals.

So far, there are very few knowledgeable gemmotherapists in North America, but gradually the number is growing. Some of the most important texts are unfortunately not yet available in English, and educational programs are few and far between. Many of the extracts can be purchased here though, and a number of useful books for beginners are available.

Can everyone treat themselves or their families with gemmotherapy? As with all other kinds of medicine, whether we can safely do this depends on our overall state of health, the clarity and the severity of our symptoms, and the extent of our knowledge. Gemmos are a wonderful addition to a home herbal collection to be used for minor complaints with the guidance of a good manual.

The extracts are gentle, but also potent. For long-term or more serious problems, it’s important to seek the guidance of a professional. Anything which has the power to influence our health must be handled with respect and care. Which extract to choose, when and how to synergistically combine two or more, and the complexities of selecting a safe and effective dose do require lengthy study and experience.

Gemmotherapy is a lovely reminder that the search for healing, and the instinct to understand and feel integrated with the natural world around us stretches back in time far beyond civilized memory, and into the future as well. It inspires us to reflect on the creativity of people like Hildegard, often regarded as the mother of modern botanical medicine; Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, whose brilliant insights produced the most potent energy medicine in the world; and Pol Henry, who synthesized these great traditions into forms from which we can build our own personal apothecaries at home.

Susan Ratliff has 25 years of education in homeopathy, herbal medicine, gemmotherapy, holistic nutrition and natural healing, with a deep passion for contemplating what health, sickness and medicine really are. Visit smratliff.com.

Find holistic Homeopaths in the Spirit of Change online Alternative Health Directory.

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