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James Sloane
Wrote this post on another board regarding a question on what herb books to get for a absolute beginner: For herbs my first book was the Herb Book by John Lust, which is a great book. Although it is also extremely important to learn … the chemistry of the herbs and how the body works if you wish to become a safe and very effective herbalist. For instance if you simply look up how to treat diabetes are you aware that there are multiple form\s of diabetes and they are not all treated the same? Or that commonly recommended herbs in books include the berberine herbs and uva ursi, which both present problems? These will not treat non-sugar diabetes and the berberine herbs can destroy some of the flora reducing immunity also lowered in sugar diabetics. The berberine herbs can also raise blood pressure, which is often already increased in diabetics due to insulin. And uva ursi can damage the kidneys if taken too long, and sugar diabetics are also prone to kidney damage from insulin. And lets say you want to treat hypothyroidism. You cannot simply thrown iodine containing herbs at the problem. Hypothyroidism can result from hypothalamus of pituitary dysfunction, high estrogen or exposure to human made xenoestrogens, adrenal dysfunction, high intake of goitrogens, exposure to other halogens other than iodine including too much salt intake, too much or too little iodine, poor T4 to T3 conversion, low cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels of high cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase expression, elevated RT3 levels, autoimmunity, etc. In addition it helps to understand the chemistry of the herbs to understand side effects and interactions. For example lemon balm, green tea, flax, bugleweed and prunella are all thyroid suppressants. And hypothyroidism suppresses immunity, increases risk of gout and by increasing inflammatory homocysteine increases the risk of cancer and heart disease. And herbs high in tannins such as green tea, oak bark, and uva ursi will bind many active components in herbs as well as bind medications rending them useless to the body. Turmeric is high in oxalic acid that binds beneficial minerals rendering them useless and if not bound be absorbed increasing the risk of kidney stones. Some herbs are very unstable especially as tinctures or teas and some can increase the dangers of other herbs if mixed together. As where other herbs can be mixed to increase the benefits while reducing risks. Some herbs such a chaparral, Jack in the pulpit, and cascara sagrada cannot be used fresh. They have to be dried and aged for months to years to render then safe to ingest. Other herbs change properties with drying and aging such as valerian and hops. Other herbs have to be prepared in certain ways. For instance rhemannia has to be boiled about 9 times to remove the poisonous cardiac glycosides from it and fo-ti is a powerful laxative when not prepared and us used as a rejuvenator when prepared by first cooking it with black beans. The list goes on an on. Point is that it helps to understand how the human body works so you know what you are addressing and why and to understand the chemistry of the herbs to use this knowledge to your advantage including creating synergistic effects, preventing active compound binding, reducing toxicity, targeting various aspects of diseases, avoiding herbs that can lead to other health issues, etc. Herbalism is not simply reading in a book that an herb does this or that and so taking it or throwing it in the mix. This is why I highly recommend picking up some books on basic chemistry, especially organic chemistry, and on human physiology and pathophysiology to understand what you are using and the whys for both safety and effectiveness. You can find these books very inexpensively in thrift stores.
I see you recommend John Lust’s book. Are there any others that help us to understand the science of our bodies combined with the science of plant medicine?
@Lisa Ballerini. Books by Michael Murray are great such as Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine. He explains things in layperson terms and backs all of his stuff with scientific studies. Also check out American Botanical Council. They have a lot of herbal monographs also backed by studies.