Back to our roots: Integrating wholistic research approaches in the study of medicinal plants and mushrooms

Whole plants and mushrooms contain hundreds or thousands of compounds, many of which are directly bioactive and/or interact with other compounds to influence biological outcomes.The interactions among bioactive metabolites to enhance the activity of the primary active components has been termed the entourage effect (Russo 2018), although antagonistic or inhibitory actions can also occur.One of the most widely studied interactions are between cannabidiol and THC, with numerous reports showing synergistic and opposing interactions (Boggs et al. 2018).Another example, caffeine, is the world's most widely used stimulant and is consumed both as a purified compound, as well as in natural sources such as tea, coffee, and cocoa.Caffeine is known to have beneficial health effects; however, pure caffeine in even small doses can also lead to adverse events, such