From Mountain Herbalist to Hospital Naturopath w/ Dr. Les Moore, ND

Dr. Les Moore learned his first herbs from his father, a community herbalist from the mountains of Virginia, who healed his neighbors from a closet full of tinctures during the Depression era. Decades later, that same devotion to plants and people built a natural pharmacy inside a New York hospital, and it is still growing.

Growing Up with an Herbalist Father

Dr. Moore grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, where his father, a community herbalist, knew three to four hundred plants and used them to care for everyone around him. His family wildcrafted and sold ginseng and goldenseal to survive during the Depression era. As a young boy, Dr. Moore walked those same trails, touching leaves, smelling roots, and absorbing knowledge that would shape the rest of his life.

He went on to study forestry, then served in the military twice before returning to naturopathic school. There he worked in the school medicinary during his first year, surrounded by Eclectic Institute products and the herbal journals Ed Alstat was reprinting, including the works of Felter and Ellingwood. Dr. Moore became Ed's student rep, selling those books and introducing fellow students to the herbs. He and Ed formally connected later at a naturopathic conference, a friendship that would eventually bring pallets of Eclectic Herb product to thousands of people in need.

A Natural Pharmacy Inside a Hospital

For twelve years, Dr. Moore practiced at Clifton Springs Hospital in upstate New York, a hospital founded in 1849 on mineral springs by a physician with a vision for nature cure. He helped restore those healing mineral springs to the hospital and built a natural pharmacy that grew from a closet to a room to a full-window display right across from the conventional pharmacy in the main foyer.

The pharmacy carried raw herbs, tinctures, encapsulated products, and homeopathics. It served paying patients and those who could not afford care alike, thanks in part to donated product from Eclectic Herb.

Herbal Legacy: The Eclectic Physicians

One of the most moving moments in this episode is when Dr. Moore describes meeting a woman in his clinic whose great-great-grandfather was Finley Ellingwood, the eclectic physician whose foundational herbal text is still studied in naturopathic schools today. He was able to hand her a copy of that very book, one that Ed Alstat had reprinted decades earlier.

This is the root of Eclectic Herb: honoring those who came before while continuing to bring that wisdom forward.

Plants for the Community: Giving in the Hardest Times 

After leaving Clifton Springs, Dr. Moore pastored a church in the area that ran a massive food distribution program, reaching up to 800 cars and multiple families at every distribution. He added a free herbal clinic to that program and trained local herbalists to serve those who came through.

During the pandemic, Eclectic Herb donated pallets of product. Tulsi, several other beloved adaptogens, dandelion, and more went out to thousands of people who might never have accessed herbal medicine otherwise.

His Favorite Herb: Sassafras 

When sharing about his favorite herb, Dr. Moore paused, apologized to all the others, and said sassafras. He grew up with it, chewed the leaves, drank the root bark tea his father made every spring as a cleanse, and still prepares it as a gemmotherapy today. The smell alone, he says, transports him right back to springtime in the mountains.

Sassafras is an alternative herb, traditionally used to support gentle cleansing and detoxification. Its volatile oils open the senses and connect us directly to the living world of plants.

What Nature Cure Really Means 

Dr. Moore traces the roots of words we use every day: physician from the Greek, meaning "one who uses nature". Therapy from the Greek meaning "to serve". And the words heal and whole, sharing ancient roots that point back to wholeness and soundness of body. It's a powerful reminder that plant medicine is not a fringe idea. It is the foundation every culture on earth has built its healing traditions upon. 

Connect with Dr Les Moore ND, MSOM, MA, D.Min, RH, DHANP, LAc. here

If you are ready to embrace more of this foundational healing to your life, check out the freeze-dried difference that Eclectic Herb has to offer you and try herbs as fresh as nature intended here at eclecticherb.com

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with your plant-loving friends and connect with us @eclecticherb on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

*This is for educational purposes. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. All products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent diseases.