Well I’ve already told you about my obsession with recipes. Unfortunately this is not my sole addiction. I am also a collector of herbals (an herbal is a book which discusses the medicinal properties of herbs and plants). I must have about 20 different books that discuss the uses of herbs in food, in medicine, in folklore, and in magic. Like I said, it’s an addiction.

“The Healing Herbs: the ultimate guide to the curative power of nature’s medicines” by Michael Castleman was put out by Rodale Press in 1991. Rodale Press (http://www.rodalestore.com) publishes approximately 100 titles every year in the fields of cooking, health, home & garden, and others.

One thing that tends to set Rodale press titles apart from their competitors is that they strive to make all of their material very simple for anyone to understand. Most of their titles strive to introduce new concepts to utter novices. “The Healing Herbs” is a book like that. Someone who is already familiar with herbal medicine can use it as a handy reference, or someone who has no experience at all on the subject can use it to satisfy a curiosity.

The Book Itself

Part One

In just shy of 30 pages Mr. Castelman overviews the use of herbs in history, their safety today, even obtaining and preparing herbs. While he touches on some important information here, including the fact that as a rule pregnant/nursing women should not use herbal preparations, there is not enough detail for the novice. Someone for whom this is their initial foray into herbal medicine will find this section lacking.

Part Two

This section covers the herbs themselves, 100 of them in fact.

For each plant we are presented with:

a pencil drawing of the plant
the scientific name of the plant
folk names
the part used
and a smattering of information including, historical use, healing properties, and even “safety factors”

However, here again I find information lacking. While the author provides dosing information for each herb he does not give any guidelines to adjust the dose to suit your own body. Obviously, a 98 lb. Woman will be affected more strongly than a 200 lb. man. But the dosing information is not explained in any more depth.

The drawings are simply decorative. You simply cannot use them to identify a plant you may find in the wild. I understand that color illustrations may be cost prohibitive there is no need to not be a bit more descriptive. Another title which uses monochrome drawings, ”The Herb Book” by John Lust, also gives a thorough written description of the herbs it covers. You get a much more complete picture (no pun intended) of the plant you are studying.

Part Three

This section provides a chart listing conditions, the herbs you might consider using to treat it, and any special precautions you should be aware of. I have to say that this chart is very clear and despite the limitations of its format is rather thorough.

There is also a reference guide, broken down by herb, so that if you were interested in doing detailed research on any given plant. You could. Finally, the index is quite thorough, making it equally easy to look up information under herb name, or under the ailment/symptom you are trying to treat.
Overall

For the curious, for the ones who are only interested in exploring the possibilities of herbal medicine this book provides an excellent overview.

However, I would not recommend that any start treating themselves having only used this book as a reference. Before adding any herb (or other natural supplement for that matter) to your life you should research it thoroughly.

If after reading this title you find yourself wanting to persue herbal remedies further here are some other excellent choices:

“The Master Book of Herbalism” by Paul Beyerl – provides medicinal and folkloric associations of numerous plants

“A Modern Herbal” by M. Grieve - this is a 2 part text but a classic

“Culpeper’s Complete herbal” by Nicolas Culpepper

“The Herb Book” by John Lust




























NOTE:

This book is intended to increase your overall knowledge of the uses of “healing plants”. You should treat herbs as drugs and discuss their use with your medical practitioner or pharmacist if you are going to add them to your daily regimen.


Recommended: No