What are the best books on herbal medicine?

Question

What are the best books on herbal medicine?

Answer 1

I can't think of any, since any herbal medicine that works (much medicine is plant-based) is incorporated into Western Medicine.

Herbal medicine is a shot in the dark, especially since the products are unregulated and many contain dangerous levels of lead or mercury.

See http://www.quackwatch.com

Answer 2

Anything by Penelope Ody, 'The Yoga of Herbs", anything by Rosemary Gladstar, and "Herbs of Life' by Tierra

Answer 3

the best of the best is by Leslie Taylor, ND ,the title is The healing power of rainforest  herbs. her web site is http://rain-tree.com

Answer 4

i own a couple...

john lust - the herb book

margaret carter - little book of herbs

i've found both to be useful.

bb

Answer 5

Tash, I'd NEVER just go out and reccomend a book on Herbs without knowing the background of the person. One does NOT simply pick up a book of herbs and become and expert after reading it in a week or two. It's MORE than just knowing which herb to take but also which parts of the plant accomplish the desired results. It is ALSO important to know the route of dosing, should it be taken internally? externally? as a tincture? as a Tisane? Too many times folks go into the health food store and see thousands of bottles filled with pretty colored capsules of herbs and automatically think, Capsules... pop them into your mouth and THAT can be fatal in some cases. Some plants can be VERY effective at treating illnesses BUT you also have to know HOW to take them. And NONE of that are you going to get from ONE single book. John Lusts book is an EXCELLENT book but it will NOT tell you everything you need to know. It rarely gives you contra-indications nor does it tell you which herbs to NOT mix with a particular herb.

Additionally, you have the problem of adulteration, Many herbs that you buy commercially have been adulterated and they almost NEVER tell you what it has been adulterated with. YOu don't know where it was grown, whether or not the field was sprayed with pesticides, what minerals the soil contained, if the Field was near an urban center or off in the wilderness, nothing. All you'll have to go by is what the salesperson can tell you about the company that manufactured the capsules or other preparation and that is based on the company's OWN literature and THEY aren't about to tell you any of the BAD things about their products. They wouldn't be able to sell them if they did. There is ONLY ONE way to be absolutely sure of your source and that is to either GROW them yourself or gather them from the wild yourself. In BOTH cases you had BEST do your homework on soils, biomes, and other conditions in which you find or grow them.

I have been using herbal healing for more than 30 years and even after ALL of that time I realize exactly HOW LITTLE I know. You're NOT going to gain all of that experience in a few short weeks from just reading a book or two. I don't even allow my students to TAKE an herb until they can PROVE to me that thay have properly identified the plant, know which parts to take, how, how much, when and what contra-indications preclude its usage. My students first books aren't even herbal books, they're field guides and I make them positively identify at least 20 herbs, their uses, their preparations, which parts of the plant are useful, what the dosages are, and the routes of dosage. I also make them be able to determine alll the conditions under which they must NOT use the herb. They must also be able to accurately diagnose the problem to make sure that what they think is the problem really IS the problem. ALL of that is done BEFORE I will even let them use an herb on themselves. My students don't get to take an herb until they have accomplished at least two years of studing and identifying their herbs. And then, they ONLY get to use the innnocuous herbs that are common and considered fairly safe under ALL conditions.

Some of these plants are deadly to use without knowing what you are doing, in fact some are deadly to just handle and grow if you fail to take the proper precautions. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a life saving plant that can treat heart conditions BUT it can be deadly to just reach out and touch with sweaty hands. It CAN and WILL cause heart failure in folks who treat it improperly. It's ALSO a beautiful ornamental plant and many folks have ended up in the hospital from handling it without realizing exactly what it IS that they are planting.

I recommend that you find a profient teacher, rather than simply buying one or two books and trying to treat yourself with herbs. What you are doing is trying to practice medicine without the training in Medicine or Herbology and THAT is a very dangerous thing to do. Would you pick up a couple of medical textbooks and then go out and try to remove your tonsils, without ever having even so much as SEEN a Tonsil? I don't THINK so. So why try to do it with herbs? It's the EXACT same thing.

There ARE no shortcuts when it comes to self diagnosis and treatment of you ailments and to do so, you NEED to KNOW what you are doing. That kind of knowledge does NOT come overnight and is VERY complicated and difficult to understand, even for folks with advanced college degrees. Never rely on just one or two books for your knowledge. It takes an entire library of books, and NOT just herbal books but also, field guides (at least four or five different ones), physiology books (at least 5 to 10 of those), Herbal texts (as many as you can find, there's NO such thing as having too many) AND the name and phone number of the nearest Poision control center (even among experts, accidents happen and it's nice to have proficient backup handy).

Even after more than 30 years of herbal healing I only consider myself to be an expert on my original 20 herbs and even then I am constantly learning new information about those so, I'd tend to even doubt my expertise on those 20. I never use a new herb until I have read EVERYTHING that I can find about the herb AND go and actually talk to an expert on that particular herb (which often means that I have to go to a herbal college to sit and talk with that expert), and then I go and READ everything that he or she has directed me to read. It can be as long as a year before I will start to experiment with the herb and always beginning with the lowest possible effective dosage first and slowly working up to the correct dosage. I prefer to err on the side of caution rahter than just go in with my guns blazing.

Herbology is NOT for amateurs and dabblers, just as traditional medicine is not. If you'd like to know a little bit more, feel free to e-mail me. Err on the side of caution and don't go out and poision yourself. Herbs ARE dangerous, but can be very beneficial and effective when used properly.

Brightest Blessings,

Raji the Green Witch

Answer 6

I love my Lifetime Encyclopedia of Natural Remedies.

It's not exclusive to herbal remedies- but it basically has a section on every common illness out there, listing stuff for each, such as vitamins, herbs, teas, etc. I find it incredibly useful for everyday things like cramps, colds, indigestion, and so on.