Our Founder

The Birth Of

Benedictine Herbs

A Visionary for Healing

To her clients, customers and friends, Martha Benedict, LAc, ND, inspired passion for acupuncture and herbal medicine.

Widely recognized in the industry as a product trailblazer and innovator, she combined her professional background in the healing arts with a world-view of herbology. 

Her products encouraged people to make healthful changes to improve their quality of life. The customer feedback she received helped her invent unique herbal formulas specific to balancing the mind, body and spirit.

Today, Martha’s original recipes are still as popular as ever, with products designed specifically for the health needs of women, men, children and pets. All of the herbal products are still made from whole plants that are prepared by infusion, decoction, or extraction in water, alcohol, extra virgin olive oil, or other oils appropriate for its application.

Martha’s products stand today as a legacy of health for a new generation. 

The Butterfly Project

As an ecological advocate, Martha started a project to save Pipevine butterflies that were endangered due to loss of habitat and the pipevine plant on which they needed to lay their eggs. She coordinated with the local colleges to grow the pipevine and distributed them in the community. Her vision was to create a pipevine butterfly corridor in Santa Cruz County. She even had a butterfly nursery in her kitchen and butterfly release parties in her garden.

According to chaos theory, a butterfly in the Amazon jungle can change the weather in Mexico by flapping its wings. A Shaman at an international conference in Texas signaled to an interpreter that he wanted to talk to the blond woman named Elsa who was from Santa Cruz. When Elsa was introduced to him he told her, “I have a gift for your friend who is a midwife to the butterflies, the one who helps the butterflies.” He held out a beautiful beaded necklace with the image of the pipevine butterfly woven into the bead work. “I know who this is for and I will take it to her. Thank you.”