Edward Bach—Inventor of the Bach Flower Remedies

Edward Bach (1886–1936) was an English doctor and homeopath. He became disenchanted with homeopathy and invented his own remedies, which are inspired by homeopathy but do not follow its main axiom. Bach assumed that illness was due to emotional imbalances. For each of the fundamental states of mind that he alleged to be the cause of ill health, he found a remedy based on plants. Bach flower remedies are produced by putting the fresh plant into water and later conserving the water with brandy. They do not contain sufficient amounts of active ingredients to have any health effects. The few clinical trials of Bach flower remedies fail to demonstrate that they are effective beyond placebo.