Iain Maclean Herbalist

16/03/2026

Vietnamese tea, antioxidants galore ❤️🇻🇳

15/03/2026

Silence is of four kinds:
silence of speech,
silence of the eye,
silence of the ear, and
silence of the mind.

Only the last is pure silence and
is the most important.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

13/03/2026

Can’t beat Vietnam for fresh veg

06/03/2026

Local herbalist in Hanoi, prime position

03/03/2026

02/03/2026

THE MINERALS OF LIFE
Why life cannot function without them

Life on this planet is carbon-based, but it does not run on carbon alone.
Carbon provides structure.
Minerals provide function.

Every living cell depends on minerals to maintain shape, transmit signals, move fluids, generate energy, and respond to stress. Without them, cells cannot organise themselves, communicate, or adapt.

Minerals are not optional nutrients added on top of biology.
They are the inorganic (non-decaying) framework that makes biology possible.

Calcium gives tissues structure and stability.
Phosphorus enables energy transfer and growth.
Potassium allows nerves and muscles to respond.
Sodium governs fluid movement and distribution.
Magnesium supports enzymatic activity and balance.
Iron manages oxygen and inflammatory response.

These are not interchangeable roles. Each mineral performs specific tasks that no vitamin, protein, or hormone can replace.

This is why mineral imbalance shows up early.

Long before a disease name appears, cells begin to lose efficiency. Signals slow. Repair weakens. Regulation becomes inconsistent. The body adapts as best it can, but those adaptations create symptoms.
Fatigue. Irritation. Poor healing. Congestion.
Not because the body is failing, but because it is compensating.

From a biochemic perspective, symptoms are often the first visible signs that mineral-dependent processes are under strain. They are not random, and they are not meaningless. And most importantly, they are not the enemy.

Understanding minerals as foundational changes how we read the body. Instead of asking what has gone wrong, we begin asking what the cells are struggling to maintain, and how we can help.

And that question changes our relationship to our own body and tissues in a very profound way.

Nature, and your body is intelligent. Respecting this fact and learning the language of the cells and your own biology is such a powerful way to live, such a wonderful way to find harmony. And thus, find health.

01/03/2026

"Biochemistry Sounds Too Simple" - Why that is it's strength.

When I first found biochemistry, I thought the same thing many people think.
Twelve mineral salts? Cellular deficiency? Restore balance?

Surely it couldn’t ALL be that straightforward.. The claims were intriguing, bold even. So I did what any sceptical person would do.
I read everything I could find. Old texts. New texts. Schuessler’s own writings.. And the deeper I went, the more it just.. made sense.

And when you dig down to the the creation of the biochemic method / tissue salt therapy, you soon learn that
- Simplicity Was The Aim!

Schuessler was not naive.
He was a medically trained doctor who later turned toward homoeopathy after witnessing the power of gentler methods. But even within homoeopathy, he saw something that troubled him.

Hundreds, thousands of remedies, an ever-expanding materia medica.
He wanted clarity.
He wanted a system that made physiological sense.

He wanted something rooted in the chemistry of the body itself, not in endless symptom catalogues. And most importantly, he wanted a method that could be used not only by doctors, but by the thoughtful layperson.

A small, coherent system. Twelve essential tissue salts.
Not thousands of remedies.
Foundational, memorable and usable.
That was the intention.

SIMPLE does not equal UNSOPHISTICATED
Biochemistry does not rely on similarity or mimicry.

It works from the premise that the human body is built from specific mineral salts. When the balance of those salts shifts, cellular function shifts.
Restore the mineral required, in a form the cell can use - and function can recalibrate.

That isn’t reductionist.
It’s structural biology, cellular economy and the most basic of first principles.

The Practical Reality:
The remedies were gentle.

They were the same mineral salts already present in healthy tissue, prepared finely so they could be absorbed and utilised. The same stuff we ingest daily in our foods.

No forcing the body, no suppression of symptoms.
No dramatic override of physiology.

Just supplying what may be lacking. There was no real reason not to test it on myself.
And when I did, and saw consistent, repeatable shifts. Some subtle, some very quick and noticeable (like in acute conditions).

I understand why Schuessler fought to simplify.
Not because he wanted to reduce medicine in any way.
But because he wanted to refine it, and bring it into alignment with the intelligence of the body, while also making it approachable for anyone to learn.

The body and it's cells prefer order.
The body does not run on spectacle.

It runs on gradients. On electrolytes, oxygen transport, mineral balance, etc.

If one element falls short, the system compensates.
If the limiting factor is restored, equilibrium improves.

Biochemistry feels simple because it stays at the level of structure.
And structure is rarely chaotic. It is precise.

If you’ve ever thought, “Surely it can’t be that straightforward,” I understand, because I thought that too.

Sometimes refinement looks like reduction.
And sometimes the most powerful approach is the one that removes excess, and returns to foundation.

21/02/2026

According to the likes of Aldous Huxley and Terrance McKenna plant hallucinogens like Psilocybe cubensis can reliably and repeatedly open the floodgates of the reducing valve of consciousness and expose the individual to the full force of the howling Tao.

Consciousness has been called awareness of awareness. Ordinary consciousness is the end product of a process of extensive compression and filtration and that the psychedelic experience is the antithesis of this construction according to Huxley

18/02/2026

Germ theory of disease was always bogus, from Jenner to Pasteur to Koch and Henle and to Paul Erhlich, but it’s so accepted and so entrenched that it’s seen as truth never to be questioned, it’s the epitome of scientism.

The biggest threat to the medical establishment? Questioning Germ theory.

Think about it for a second.

The virus narrative is pushed to create fear and gain control. The truth is it’s unproven.

How different would things have been if most people understood the lack of evidence to support germ theory? How would you have handled 2020 knowing that you don’t pass disease and that another person is not responsible for your health? How would things have been if the establishment had no reason to justify interventions like vaccinations or mask mandates?

Germ theory is the linchpin of the allopathic model, and this is why it’s so important that people understand the truth about our health.

We do not catch illness, and we do not pass illness.

If you want to fight against the system, start by learning the truth about health.

I created a great first step to get you started, click below to access my signature protocol for free.

https://ow.ly/nPzS50YhNMt

13/02/2026

The ancestors of humans came out of the trees and out onto the plains of Africa, which by some accounts they created these plains with fire. From here they hunted cattle and game and consumed psilocybin mushrooms that only grew in cattle manure. Here it’s suggested our ancestors brains developed rapidly due to the effect of psilocybin on our left and right hemispheres and they became self aware . Language developed, vocalization and articulation evolved, we may well have eaten our way to higher consciousness. This may well have been a million years, an extremely powerful natural habit that lead to the human species. Our history is one of an intimate relationship with psilocybin that led to the creation of our species. This relationship has been lost over the millennia but are we rediscovering our evolutionary past through the rediscovery of psilocybin? The effects of psilocybin on our nervous system gave us an evolutionary advantage, better skills for hunting amongst others. Will our reestablishment of our relationship with psilocybin help us to better relate to one another and our planet? The dominator ego of our current age is terrified of any situation where boundaries are dissolved but this is likely the very thing that will help us heal ourselves and our planet.

11/02/2026

Another little waterfall in the Mountain Park close to home ❤️

03/02/2026

The majority of the visual architecture sits at the back of the head in the occipital lobe, 10 billion cells and a trillion synapses create our visual experience, this is where visual reality occurs, the brightness and colour are created and perceived. Amazing to think what we see out there is actually happening in the dark spaces within our skull. It’s not out there but actually in here at the back of our brains.