Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline. Current drugs offer limited benefits and often cause side effects. Recently, interest has grown in medicinal plants for the treatment of AD due to their neuroprotective compounds. This review explores how herbal remedies may help AD, focusing on key plants including Ginkgo biloba, Curcuma longa, Withania somnifera, and Panax ginseng. These plants show promise in reducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and amyloid buildup. Their bioactive compounds, including flavonoids and alkaloids, may promote memory and slow AD progression. Despite these promising findings, the review also highlights significant challenges in translating preclinical success into clinical efficacy. Issues such as variability in plant composition, lack of standardized formulations, insufficient large-scale clinical trials, and regulatory hurdles continue to impede the integration of herbal therapies into mainstream AD treatment. Addressing these challenges through rigorous scientific validation and standardized protocols is essential for advancing the use of herbal medicine in neurodegenerative disease management.

Abstract Obesity driven by high-sugar and high-fat dietary patterns has become a major global health challenge and is closely associated with metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders. Growing evidence indicates that junk food disrupts lipid metabolism, alters gut microbiota, and triggers chronic inflammation, leading to systemic metabolic dysfunction. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), rooted in holistic regulation of organ systems, blood circulation, and energy balance, offers multi-target plant-based strategies for modulating obesity. This review summarizes key mechanisms through which Chinese medicinal plants counteract obesity, including appetite suppression, regulation of lipid metabolism, activation of thermogenesis, modulation of gut microbiota, and anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory actions. Representative herbs such as Panax ginseng, Nelumbo nucifera, Cinnamomum cassia, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, and Pueraria lobata exhibit lipid-lowering, glucose-regulating, and inflammation-modulating activity in experimental and clinical studies. Overall, TCM herbal therapies provide a holistic and safe approach to correcting metabolic imbalance through multi-pathway regulation. However, standardized formulation, mechanistic validation, and large-scale clinical trials are urgently required to establish their efficacy and translational value. Future work integrating traditional knowledge with biomedical research will help position TCM-based phytotherapy as a scientifically grounded strategy for obesity prevention and management.