Herbal remedies go back to the dawn of humankind. I do think there are certain risks associated with some of them though (if it's strong enough to have an effect, it's strong enough to have side effects, they're not necessarily safer than pharmaceuticals, etc.). However I think if you want to drink peppermint tea or ginger tea for an upset stomach there's nothing wrong with that!
He does have a point in that some of the 'alternative medicine' types are into all that new agey/pagan crap and often peddle stuff that has no basis in reality.