What are the best books on herbal pills?
the best of the best is by Leslie Taylor, ND ,the title is The healing power of rainforest herb. her web site is http://rain-tree.com
I can't think of any, since any herbal drug that works (much medicine is plant-based) is incorporated into Western Medicine.
Herbal medicine is a shot within the dark, especially since the products are unregulated and many contain dodgy levels of lead or mercury.
See http://www.quackwatch.com
Answers: Tash, I'd NEVER just go out and reccomend a book on Herbs minus knowing the background of the person. One does NOT simply pick up a book of herb and become and expert after reading it in a week or two. It's MORE than just knowing which herb to run 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 move about into the health food store and see thousands of bottles filled near pretty colored capsules of herbs and automatically regard, Capsules... pop them into your mouth and THAT can be fatal in some cases. Some plants can be VERY important at treating illnesses BUT you also have to know HOW to take them. And NONE of that are you going to bring back from ONE single book. John Lusts book is an EXCELLENT book but it will NOT tell you everything you need to know. It once in a while gives you contra-indications nor does it tell you which herb to NOT mix with a particular herb.
Additionally, you hold the problem of adulteration, Many herbs that you buy commercially have be adulterated and they almost NEVER tell you what it has be adulterated with. YOu don't know where it be grown, whether or not the field was sprayed near pesticides, what minerals the soil contained, if the Field was near an urban center or past its sell-by date in the wilderness, nought. All you'll have to go by is what the salesperson can explain to you about the company that manufactured the capsules or other preparation and to be exact based on the company's OWN literature and THEY aren't about to share you any of the BAD things about their products. They wouldn't be able to provide them if they did. There is ONLY ONE way to be absolutely sure of your source and to be precise to either GROW them yourself or gather them from the crazed yourself. In BOTH cases you had BEST do your homework on soils, biomes, and other conditions in which you find or grow them.
I hold 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 adjectives 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 own 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 kind them positively identify at least 20 herbs, their uses, their preparations, which parts of the plant are adjectives, what the dosages are, and the routes of dosage. I also make them be able to determine alll the conditions beneath which they must NOT use the herb. They must also be able to accurately diagnose the problem to make sure that what they infer 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 attain to take an herb until they have skilful at least two years of studing and identifying their herb. And then, they ONLY get to use the innnocuous herb that are common and considered fairly nontoxic under ALL conditions.
Some of these plants are deadly to use short knowing what you are doing, in fact some are killer to just handle and grow if you come to nothing to take the proper precautions. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a life in your favour plant that can treat heart conditions BUT it can be deadly to just get out and touch with sweaty hands. It CAN and WILL exact heart failure in folks who treat it incorrectly. It's ALSO a beautiful ornamental plant and frequent folks have ended up within the hospital from handling it without realizing exactly what it IS that they are planting.
I recommend that you find a profient guru, rather than simply buying one or two books and trying to treat yourself with herb. What you are doing is trying to practice medicine without the training surrounded by Medicine or Herbology and THAT is a very dangerous item to do. Would you pick up a couple of medical textbooks and then dance 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 beside 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 type of knowledge does NOT come overnight and is VERY complicated and difficult to understand, even for folks beside advanced college degrees. Never rely on just one or two books for your knowhow. It takes an entire library of books, and NOT just herbal books but also, paddock guides (at least four or five different ones), physiology books (at least 5 to 10 of those), Herbal text (as many as you can find, there's NO such thing as have too many) AND the name and phone number of the nearest Poision control center (even among experts, accidents develop and it's nice to have proficient backup handy).
Even after more than 30 years of herbal healing I solely consider myself to be an expert on my original 20 herbs and even consequently I am constantly learning new information roughly speaking 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 give or take a few the herb AND go and actually communicate to an expert on that particular herb (which often process that I have to go to a herbal college to sit and chat with that expert), and then I run 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 near the herb and always beginning near 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 a moment ago go in beside my guns blazing.
Herbology is NOT for amateurs and dabblers, just as traditional medicine is not. If you'd approaching to know a little bit more, feel free to e-mail me. Err on the side of care and don't go out and poision yourself. Herbs ARE dangerous, but can be totally beneficial and effective when used properly.
Brightest Blessings,
Raji the Green Witch
Anything by Penelope Ody, 'The Yoga of Herbs", anything by Rosemary Gladstar, and "Herbs of Life' by Tierra the best of the best is by Leslie Taylor, ND ,the title is The healing power of rainforest herb. her web site is http://rain-tree.com
I love my Lifetime Encyclopedia of Natural Remedies.
It's not exclusive to herbal remedies- but it primarily has a section on every adjectives illness out there, fact list stuff for each, such as vitamins, herbs, teas, etc. I find it incredibly adjectives for everyday things like cramps, colds, indigestion, and so on.
i own a couple...
john lust - the herb book
margaret carter - little book of herbs
i've found both to be adjectives.
bb