Herbal Medicine

[SteveW]

Sorry, I know this is probably not the right place, but I'm not sure where else to put it.

Medicinal Herb books and resources, I can find a myriad of books. websites and blogs for wild food foraging that often allude to the medicinal use of the plants being collected but seldom do they go into much detail. I'm looking for some book or site recommendations so I can study the topic a bit deeper. Think of it like looking for the wild medicine book equivalent of a John write or Roger Phillips.

 

[bigbear]

Good point, too often one sees "used an an ........" With no hint as to how one prepares it.
Hope that someone can enlighten us !

 

[Toddy]

Ah, yes. All to easy to read a 'herbal' and realise that they're just paraphrasing something someone somewhere else wrote and gave very little in the way of real details.

The Germans however consider herbal medicine to be pretty much mainstream and they specify what to use, in what quantities, for known needs.

The best one I have is :-
Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals. A Handbook for Practice on a Scientific Basic With Reference to German Commission E Monographs. Eds; Bisset, Norman Grainger, & Wichtl, Max. 2nd Edtn, 2001
Medpharm, scientific publishers, Stuttgart & CRC Press.

I don't know if it's available as an online book; if it is, it's very much worth finding

Mary

p.s. you don't want to know what the 3rd edition (2004) costs, but the cheapest I can find the 2nd (2001) one is around £25 plus p&p.
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-sear...-handbook-for-practice-on-a-scientific-basis/

 

[Toddy]

While I mind though; James Wong has been doing a fair bit of writing on the topic in amongst his 'ethnobotany' publications. Very approachable I found, if a wee bit limited.

M

 

[copper_head]

This is the book you want... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamlyn-Edible-Medicinal-Britain-Northern/dp/0600352811

It gives the appropriate preparation and dose for most of the medicinals it lists. Although some it just says used in homeopathy. Still its a good field guide and for 57p I think quite a bargain!

*EDIT* Perhaps you're looking for something a bit more detailed though, in which case it's only a couple of paragraphs at most on the medicinal uses per plant.

 

[Goatboy]

Its a tricky subject to cover as different plants, depending on age, time of year, where they're growing and just their genetic makeup can differ vastly in their amount of efficacious compounds. This coupled with their interaction with other plants and or drug/chemicals in the body can be problematic as to dosage. Also it would imply a certain amount of diagnosis skill in the practitioner. All combine to make a legal & moral minefield.
There are books and websites that will give you primers on the subject on the more basic aspects but if it's something you wish to go into in depth then speaking to a practitioner may make some sense.
I have used some of the safer and more basic "folklore" things; cloves and willow bark spring to mind, but especially if you have serious underlying health problems then a little dabbling may not be advisable without proper medical advice.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[nephilim]

While I mind though; James Wong has been doing a fair bit of writing on the topic in amongst his 'ethnobotany' publications. Very approachable I found, if a wee bit limited.

M

He did a TV series called grow your own drugs. They were drugs crested using medicinal herbs, flowers, trees etc, and he explained how they helped and their properties.

I made an ear cleaning solution which has helped massively for me as my ears make a huge amount of wax. They helped clean and remove the wax.

 

[GGTBod]

This is my favourite book on medicinal plants and ethnopharmacology, not any use in the way of foraging really but a fascinating read


Plants of the Gods Richard Evans Schultes

 

[Lizz]

So the joy is there's lots of interesting stuff published about herbal medicine - I have a pile beside my bed right now - the sad things is there is much that is rubbish! A couple of the books I'm reading are so bad I can't decide what's the safest way to get rid of them so that no-one else makes use of them and ends up right poorly!

if you want to learn about using the plants local to you or out on trips effectively and safely you may find your local medical herbalist (who will belong to NIMH or one of the European bodies) will run short courses. The books mentioned above will help you know what to use and will give a good idea of preparation modes - decoctions, tisanes, embrocations etc. but learning with someone can also be really useful, depends on what you want to do really and your learning style...

If you're thinking of maybe self medicating and already take any prescription medication please do check contra-indications.. There are some allopathic medicines that contain the same active substance sometimes synthesised and sometimes natural as in a herb that would be prescribed for the same condition and too much of the same thing can be less fun!

The best short intro I've read is Penelope Ody (a licensed medical herbalist) 'simple healing with herbs'. There are number of herbal healer books where the author is not trained and has just picked things up along the way. I'm not sure I want them to advise me on taking something that 'is natural and therefore must be a good thing' - doesn't seem like the best way to prescribe something... Though chewing a cardomon pod probably won't kill you, some of the suggestions I've seen might especially if you take any kind of medication regularly.

You might also find that your local college runs courses, or if that's way too much head stuff then 'grow your drugs' or the 'kitchen pharmacy' by Rose Elliot and Carlo de Paoli (the latter is a proper herbalist, Rose E knows her grub) might be a great place to start...

 

[Lizz]

Wow Mary - that's really expensive £325+++! Still, I can see its filling a gap in the German (and English speaking) market. Wow. Must go and lie down in a dark room with some lavender oil - or maybe sandalwood as it'll stop me being miserable about the price of lovely books...

 

[Toddy]

I didn't know of that one Lizz I have been a fan of Rose's cookery books for over thirty years now She was a brilliant introduction to cooking for a young family.
I think I'll have to find the herbal
Thank you

M

 

[Lizz]

Me too! I got given a book of hers when I went veggie a very very long time ago. I've looked inside the cover, it came out in 1991! Though the edition I've got is from 1998... Gosh even that's nearly 20 years ago, my my how time flies...

 

[Toddy]

I have the phytopharmacopea one from 2001, it's really, really good, and it's only £25
I think I paid £35 all those years ago, but I was earning good money and books are a treasure trove
I know I wouldn't have paid £300+ for it though. That's a library type price for a Uni.

I found Rose's books to be very approachable, very rational somehow. Easy to use, easy to cook from, and always loads of variety

Herbals though; thousands of them out there, and many are a good read, but by heavens there's some total tosh among them.
M

 

[tsitenha]

My paternal grand mother was a medicine woman, like all there is an apprenticeship period where the knowledge is verbally and physically passed on. Herbs and other medicines are of different potency from locale to locale, season to season, bush to bush. That's where experience comes in. A lot of modern medicines do come from plants, animals and such, we only see the chemical refinements as medicines.

 

[SteveW]

Thank you all for your suggestions, I will work my way through them from the library and see what ebay can come up with on the cheap.

Lizz, you hit the nail on the head there. So many people reference what they have heard or read without any true understanding. I am trying to avoid the dross but it is so hard when you have very limited knowledge to start from.

Maybe we should have a dedicated herbal and medicines forum, to keep the knowledge in one place?

Cheers again everyone.

 

[Lizz]

So, that might in be the first aid and medicine section of the forum? 😜

 

[Toddy]

There's also the Lotions and Potions Group.
Very quiet these days, but the folks there are the kind who make their own, iimmc

M

 

[SteveW]

Do you know, I didn't even notice that Lizz

 

[SteveW]

There's also the Lotions and Potions Group.
Very quiet these days, but the folks there are the kind who make their own, iimmc

M

Just joined, though I can't remember do you get notifications when a post is made, or do you just pop in and out hoping for the best ?

 

[Toddy]

No, you need to give me a nudge and I have to approve it just as we do newbies on the main forum.
Sorry, didn't notice, but I'll click the buttons for you in a moment

M