A few weeks ago I went over to the free herbal clinic at Arbor Vitae and got an herbal protocol. It involves ashwagandha tea, and nettle tea and oak bark and some other things.  It has changed my bedtime protocol – in that I now spend some time boiling water and create creating infusions.

I got some of my plants from Flower Power in the East Village of NYC. The rest I got from the farmers market in Union Square. But why is this called a protocol?

I normally think of a protocol as a template – a procedure or rule set. In this interpretation the protocol is independent of the particulars of the protocol. Like TCP/IP is a protocol -you must use a particular structure when sending a packet  – but you can send anything you like -as long as you use the structure.

Meanwhile my health protocol was about the particulars. I should not replace ashwagandha with say lions mane. Why is this called a protocol??