Learn About Herbs: How do I Choose the Right Ones for Me?

A lot of people are interested in learning about herbs but don't know where to start. Given the difficult of finding good quality information, we've tried to make it easier for you by helping you narrow it down:

Why Use Herbal Remedies?
In general, most herbs provide a safe, effective and affordable ways to support health. In all human cultures, herbalism has played a central part of health for millennia. Any person only has to look back as far as their own grandparent or great-grandparent to find a family history with herbs if they didn't grow up with herbs themselves.

What do you need to know?

1. What herb is most effective for me or those I care for?
2. How do I know it's safe for me or the ones I care for?
3. How do I prepare the herbs?
4. How much do I take, and for how long?

Let's break it down...

1. What herbs are the most effective for me or those I care for?
The easiest, quickest and most effective way to answer this question is to talk to an herbalist. Herbalists help you find the answers you're looking for by talking with you and assessing your individual needs.

But if you want to learn more in general there are other options:

Free online resources

• Herbal Reality: https://www.herbalreality.com/

Paid online resources - classes and more

• Railyard Apothecary
• Learning Herbs
• Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine
• Herbal Academy

Books
Beginner

• Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health by Rosemary Gladstar
• Medicinal Herbs: A Beginners Guide by Rosemary Gladstar
• Body Into Balance by Maria Noel Groves
• Working the Roots - Over 400 Years of Traditonal African American Healing

Intermediate/Advanced

• Medical Herbalism by David Hoffman
• Principles and Practices of Phytotherapy by Simon Mills and Kerry Bone:

Herbal medicine schools

• Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism
• Gaia School of Healing
• Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine
• Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism:
• ArborVitate
• CommonWealth Holistic Herbalism

2. How do I know it's safe for me or the ones I care for?
Many herbs are very safe for many people. However, not all herbs are safe for all people. Some herbs that are easy to come by may be poisonous in large doses even for healthy individuals. However, these herbs are somewhat rare in commerce.

The best answer to this is again to talk to an herbalist, and/or to talk to your doctor.

Most of the above resources on herbs should give general guidelines for safety, however there are certain situations where extra caution must be taken, including the following (those this list may not include all cases where extra caution is needed):

• The very young or very old
• Pregnancy and lactation
• People with serious health conditions, such as liver, kidney or cardiovascular disease
• People taking strong and/or large amounts of pharmaceutical medications

In all cases, but especially these cases, it's best to talk to someone with the knowledge and experience to help guide you.

For medication interactions there are various online interaction checkers such as drugs.com or WebMD. These may help to identify any common red flags, however they are missing a lot of herbs, and a lot of information in general.

This book is a decent quick reference guide for herbs and safety, though is not the most recent:

• Winston & Kuhn's Herbal Therapy and Supplements: A Scientific and Traditional Approach

3. How do I prepare the herbs?
Most herbs are easy to take, either as an herbal tea, tincture, powder or capsule. However there are a few foundational things to learn, as well as a lot of options out there for more interesting preparations.

Free internet resources

• Railyard Apothecary's free online course

Paid internet resources (classes and more)

• DIY Herbalism: Foundations of Medicine Making
• Learning Herbs:
• Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine
• Herbal Academy

Books

• The Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook by James Green
• The Modern Herbal Dispensatory by Thomas Easley

4. How much do I take, and for how long?
Dosage information is one of the harder pieces of information to find reliable sources for. Here's what we've come across and believe is good information:

Free internet resources

• Healthy.net Materia Medica
• Herbal Reality

Books

• Winston & Kuhn's Herbal Therapy and Supplements: A Scientific and Traditional Approach

Intermediate/advanced

• Medical Herbalism by David Hoffman
• Principles and Practices of Phytotherapy by Simon Mills and Kerry Bone

Conclusion
There's a lot of information out there - we hope this is a good place to start. Let us know if you have any questions!

Know anyone that might be interested in this information?  Please share!  Thanks!

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