The Therapeutic Potential of Phytotherapy: A Review of Efficacy, Cultural Value, and Challenges for Integration into Contemporary Healthcare

Phytotherapy, one of the therapeutic modalities of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), has gained significant prominence as a complementary therapeutic practice, being utilised in do-mestic settings and formal contexts such as healthcare services. Its therapeutic potential, demon-strated across various clinical conditions, has sparked interest and necessitated an analysis of its contribution to human health. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify and discuss the ben-efits of phytotherapy for human health and to analyse the challenges associated with its integra-tion into healthcare services.This is a Narrative Literature Review (NLR), which incorporates 12 articles published between 2014 and 2025 and searched in PubMed and LILACS. The results revealed that phytotherapy is used across different populations (children, the elderly and even pregnant women) and for mul-tiple clinical conditions, such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), gastrointestinal disorders, bronchitis, and breast cancer. The main motivational factors for its use include accessibility, low cost, cultural tradition, and the perception of safety. However, some gaps are notable concerning standardisation, safety, the quality of clinical trials, and communication between practitioners and patients. It is concluded that phytotherapy presents high therapeutic potential and cultural acceptance, and can complement conventional therapy. Nevertheless, its full integration into health systems requires more studies, regulation of its use, professional training, and the pro-motion of safe, evidence-based practices.