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National Geographic Guide to Medicinal Herbs: The World's Most Effective Healing Plants
"Because I have long worked to make accurate information on botanical remedies available to consumers as well as to doctors, pharmacists, and allied health professionals, I am delighted to see the appearance of the National Geographic Guide to Medicinal Herbs. This excellent guide is the work of a team of highly qualified botanical and medical experts, including two of my colleagues from the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. It offers reliable, up-to-date, practical information about 72 of the most important medicinal herbs." --Andrew Weil, M.D., from the Foreword
There is a world of health and healing all around you--in your spice rack, your backyard, and on the shelves of health food and grocery stores. This informative guide is a reference you will keep at the ready, connecting 72 of the world's most common and useful medicinal herbs with the body systems they help and heal.
Eight chapters focus on body systems:
1. Mental Health & the Nervous System
2. Respiratory System
3. Heart & Circulation
4. Digestive System
5. Joints, Muscles & Skin
6. Urinary & Male Health
7. Female Health
8. Wellness & Perception
Each chapter begins with an overview of how plants can bring health to that part of the body, with stories about traditional herbal remedies from around the world and current scientific findings on herbal remedies for specific illnesses. Then each chapter highlights nine plants, combining botanical and medical information--therapeutic uses, effectiveness, preparations, cautions, and advice, including a round-up of current science about the active ingredients in the plant. Every chapter includes a photo gallery showing how one of its herbs is cultivated and processed commercially--the story behind the contents of that bottle you buy in the store. Special features include "Over the Kitchen Counter"--quick and easy ways to use herbs in your everyday life, and time lines for every herb, showing how today's use of herbal remedies collects wisdom from the centuries and around the world. A functional appendix includes an illustrated index to all the plants in the book, an ailment-by-ailment therapeutic index, a glossary, and an index.
There is a world of health and healing all around you--in your spice rack, your backyard, and on the shelves of health food and grocery stores. This informative guide is a reference you will keep at the ready, connecting 72 of the world's most common and useful medicinal herbs with the body systems they help and heal.
Eight chapters focus on body systems:
1. Mental Health & the Nervous System
2. Respiratory System
3. Heart & Circulation
4. Digestive System
5. Joints, Muscles & Skin
6. Urinary & Male Health
7. Female Health
8. Wellness & Perception
Each chapter begins with an overview of how plants can bring health to that part of the body, with stories about traditional herbal remedies from around the world and current scientific findings on herbal remedies for specific illnesses. Then each chapter highlights nine plants, combining botanical and medical information--therapeutic uses, effectiveness, preparations, cautions, and advice, including a round-up of current science about the active ingredients in the plant. Every chapter includes a photo gallery showing how one of its herbs is cultivated and processed commercially--the story behind the contents of that bottle you buy in the store. Special features include "Over the Kitchen Counter"--quick and easy ways to use herbs in your everyday life, and time lines for every herb, showing how today's use of herbal remedies collects wisdom from the centuries and around the world. A functional appendix includes an illustrated index to all the plants in the book, an ailment-by-ailment therapeutic index, a glossary, and an index.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
43 people are currently reading
827 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 15, 2015
Handy to have. I pull it from my shelf every once in awhile. I do wish they included more SCIENTIFIC aspects of the herbs, such as the chemical compositions, molecular interactions, etc. That would help a reader understand a lot more about each herb.
January 4, 2018
This is a huge book but even so, it is not nearly thorough enough to use for anything other than very basic information. It covers an impressive number of herbs and each one gets exactly 4 pages. One page is pretty much just a large, glossy picture. One page is a sort of interesting historical summary. One page talks about the habitat and cultivation of the herb where it typically grows. The last page includes *some* medicinal uses and vague information on how to use it (such as recommended dosages of it in various forms, but it doesn't what the dosages are for -- i.e. for maintaining health or treating a condition or which one). There are occasionally little blurbs on how to make something with it at home, and these were actually the most helpful bits for me. They are not included for every plant though, and are not anywhere near complete information on how to use them.
The book is interesting and does provide an intro to how you can use each herb. That said, I was shocked again and again at how much it left out. For instance, the section on elderberries touched on so few of elderberries' and elder flowers' proven benefits and contained so little information on how to use them (and no information on how to forage them or grow them). Obviously, this is an area where I tend to know a lot since I've written a book on foraging, growing and using elderberries for health benefits and also for cooking, so maybe it's not fair for me to expect better information on that particular plant. But I have not written books about many other herbs I encountered in the book where I was shocked that they didn't mention that the plant could also be used for A, B, C and D. Nettles, for instance, have literally dozens of proven medical uses (even the book points out that 74 medicinal uses were listed for nettles by Pliny the Elder), but it listed about three.
This is NOT a book for:
-- Finding out how to find, forage and/or use wild medicinal plants (even very common ones like stinging nettles and elderberries).
-- Growing your own medicinal plants (basics like garden zones are never listed).
-- Complete information on the health benefits of any medicinal plant (I knew of many additional benefits for almost every plant listed).
-- Accurate health warnings about contraindications. For instance, I was shocked to see that in the section on black cohosh, it said there were no known risks to pregnant women because studies hadn't been done. Maybe studies haven't been done, but it's common knowledge that black cohosh was one of the most common herbs used in the old days for natural abortions (coded back then as "bringing on menses" or curing "delayed periods"), usually combined with a couple of other herbs. It was also used to bring on labor in the later stages of pregnancy. While it may or may not work, the fact that it is so well known as a way to end pregnancy should be mentioned even if nobody has done a modern study to prove it.
All that said, it is a really helpful book for a very basic intro to all of these herbs. It's the kind of book I'd like for my collection in addition to lots of others, though I would never use it as a stand-alone guide.
The book is interesting and does provide an intro to how you can use each herb. That said, I was shocked again and again at how much it left out. For instance, the section on elderberries touched on so few of elderberries' and elder flowers' proven benefits and contained so little information on how to use them (and no information on how to forage them or grow them). Obviously, this is an area where I tend to know a lot since I've written a book on foraging, growing and using elderberries for health benefits and also for cooking, so maybe it's not fair for me to expect better information on that particular plant. But I have not written books about many other herbs I encountered in the book where I was shocked that they didn't mention that the plant could also be used for A, B, C and D. Nettles, for instance, have literally dozens of proven medical uses (even the book points out that 74 medicinal uses were listed for nettles by Pliny the Elder), but it listed about three.
This is NOT a book for:
-- Finding out how to find, forage and/or use wild medicinal plants (even very common ones like stinging nettles and elderberries).
-- Growing your own medicinal plants (basics like garden zones are never listed).
-- Complete information on the health benefits of any medicinal plant (I knew of many additional benefits for almost every plant listed).
-- Accurate health warnings about contraindications. For instance, I was shocked to see that in the section on black cohosh, it said there were no known risks to pregnant women because studies hadn't been done. Maybe studies haven't been done, but it's common knowledge that black cohosh was one of the most common herbs used in the old days for natural abortions (coded back then as "bringing on menses" or curing "delayed periods"), usually combined with a couple of other herbs. It was also used to bring on labor in the later stages of pregnancy. While it may or may not work, the fact that it is so well known as a way to end pregnancy should be mentioned even if nobody has done a modern study to prove it.
All that said, it is a really helpful book for a very basic intro to all of these herbs. It's the kind of book I'd like for my collection in addition to lots of others, though I would never use it as a stand-alone guide.
February 2, 2014
I think this is my new favorite herbal. I loved the sections explaining the science of how they think the herbs work.
September 9, 2012
This book was very interesting. I didn't read the whole thing but rather just looked at what each item was used for, then read more if it looks interesting. I thought it was a very informative book, well laid out, organized, and easy to understand.
I actually have several of these plants growing in the garden. What I did find a little sad is that many of these plants were added to, the removed from, the US Pharmacopeia and have now been replaced with chemically synthesized versions of the same thing. We're animals, and perhaps Mother Nature does know best. Not some guy in a lab coat. What was especially interesting was much of this stuff was used in HIV/AIDS research and had promising effects.
I'll definitely be checking out the Devil's Claw for my back. Not sure I want to spend $40 on this, I read it as library book , bug if I could find a cheaper one, it'd be neat to have around.
June 24, 2020
Great reference. Easy to read. Breaks it down to body systems (heart/circulation, digestive, mental health, etc.). Also indexes by herb and condition. Explains how to use and prepare herb as well as background of herb. Excellent resource!
December 20, 2020
I have this in my amazon cart and it is totally going to be mine! Everything is divided into sections there are descriptions of he herb, what it can be used for, basically everything you need to know about it. I LOVE it.
February 18, 2018
Very interesting historical backgrounds of the herbs! I think it is a handy reference. You can also look up herbs by looking at the ailments in the back and which herbs they treat.
January 3, 2021
I love being able to pull this book out when I need it. Took me a while to read it cover to cover. Now I just use it when I need to.
January 8, 2021
Loved this book. Great source of information that is well laid out.
July 23, 2021
For herbal research. Such a great resource, with close-ups of all the curative plants for all kinds of human ailments. I took at least ten pages of notes.
March 6, 2017
One of the better herbal books I've read by far.
That being said, it is probably not good enough to merit me buying it.
Pros:
It delves nicely into the properties of herbs (it might say something like its digestive actions is due to the presence of the alkaloid X).
Beautiful layout
Great index
Cons:
Not as many herbs as I'd like.
That being said, it is probably not good enough to merit me buying it.
Pros:
It delves nicely into the properties of herbs (it might say something like its digestive actions is due to the presence of the alkaloid X).
Beautiful layout
Great index
Cons:
Not as many herbs as I'd like.
February 1, 2020
It has the information I was looking for, plus more than I even need. I, however, use it more as a reference book. I use it to look up the health benefits of what I’m currently drinking or to see what I need for problem X.
February 1, 2015
This is a beautiful book, with full page illustrations of each medicinal plant, recipes, historical tidbits and more! I got it from the library but wouldn't mind owning a copy for my reference. If you just want a field guide or a remedy how-to book, this particular volume might be overkill. It is big and bulky - not something you will want to put in a backpack and go outside with. One thing I particularly enjoyed about this book was its pictures of the plant close up, but also en masse at harvest. There are super cool photos of aloe farms and cranberry farms that you just won't see anywhere else. Super plant nerd stuff, but worth a gander!
May 25, 2014
This is a beautiful, well organized and cross referenced book. Not only does this book relay medicinal uses of herbs but how to grow them and medical studies results on each herb. I did not read the whole book but read sections on heart health, woman's health and skin, and bones and joints. Fortunately this book is carried at my local library and I will be able to reference it again if needed. Informative and helpful !
March 10, 2016
This book is really informative and beautifully laid out. It includes exquisite pictures and great recipe ideas. I loved the logical format and found it very easy to read in spite of the fact it wasn't on a crazy exciting topic. Definitely would recommend for anyone looking to learn more about herbs and medicinal plant uses.
September 24, 2012
Loved this one, I might even have to buy it. It reads like an encyclopedia for herbs. I really like that you can either look up an herb to see what it's health benefits are or you can look up an ailment and it will tell you what herbs to take. It also has pretty pictures, which I always appreciate.
February 7, 2014
one of the best overall guides of its type:
well-written
gorgeous photos
useful information for gardening and health
includes research citations, suggested preparations, and sensible warnings
lovely. i'll definitely refer back to this one again.
well-written
gorgeous photos
useful information for gardening and health
includes research citations, suggested preparations, and sensible warnings
lovely. i'll definitely refer back to this one again.
May 5, 2012
This reference book makes me feel Spring and Summery!.
June 12, 2015
easy to read. good reference book.
October 19, 2015
Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Provided lots of info about the herbs!
January 27, 2015
Good reference book with pictures, dosages, and research evidence.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews