The Honest Herbal : A Sensible Guide to the Use of Herbs and Related Remedies

This work offers accurate information on over 100 of the most commonly used herbs and their therapeutic and medicinal use. Now in its third edition, "The Honest Herbal" continues to present essential botanical information and folklore uses of herbal remedies in language that can be easily understood by a wide variety of readers. This straightforward book is valuable at a time when more misinformation regarding the efficacy of herbs is being placed before consumers that at any previous time, including the turn of the century heyday of patent medicines. In 1990 alone, health food stores sold $94.2 million worth of literature to customers, much of it pertaining to herbal remedies. "The Honest Herbal" is written by an experienced health professional and it presents a serious evaluation of both the positive and the negative features of the use of various herbs for therapeutic purposes. This book begins with chapters on the general rational and irrational use of herbs and the complex laws and regulations pertaining to their sale in the United States. The entries cover many of the most commonly used herbs and related medicines and provide useful botanical information, descriptions of traditional folk uses of each herb and detailed discussions of the safety and therapeutic effectiveness of the remedy. Concluding each entry is a final value judgement on the safety and validity of each herb's therapeutic use. The closing chapter provides a handy table of the essential facts on all the herbs covered, and the principal uses and a concise estimate of the effficacy and safety of each herb. "The Honest Herbal" is referenced extensively throughout, and each entry includes a bibliogrpahy to aid more detailed study of the herbs and their effects. "The Honest Herbal" enables herbal enthusiasts and health care professionals to evaluate for themselves the usefulness of herbs for therapeutic purposes and then make informed decisions about investments in herbs for medicinal use. The handy summary tables assist in the rapid retrieval of facts. The accessible descriptions, the non-technical discussion of the chemistry, pharmacology, active principals of the drug, and particularly the author's over-all evaluation of the herbs' practical uses, makes this a valuable reference.