Exploring Herbalism

This guide is the part of a series exploring "alternative" therapies.

Herbalism is defined by Wikipedia as "...folk and traditional medicinal practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts." While not a conventional system of medicine, the roots (no pun intended) of herbalism are wide and deep. Natural Health School states that the first evidence of humans using plants medicinally dates back 5,000 years to the Sumerians, in what is now Iraq. Every culture in the world has a tradition of herbalism: in Western medicine, developed from Greek and Roman sources; Ayurveda from the Himalayas, and is used extensively in Traditional Chinese Medicine in China and beyond. Many of today's pharmaceuticals have their origins in herbalism, including aspirin, originally derived from meadowsweet.

The Wise Woman Community Weblog, sponsored by Susun Weed, an herbalist and healer who has been studying herbal medicine since 1965, is a nascent network of blogs that includes Childbearing Year, addressing issues such as fertility, postpartum depression and pregnancy; Healing Wise, a Q&A site; and Menopause Metamorphosis, which focuses on menopause.

Androgiennei is the diary of an herbalist and doctoral candidate at the Clayton College of Natural Healing. Her blog provides a plethora of information on all things herbal and includes a (completely doable) list of recommended reading under "Library." (Note: Some posts are password-protected.)

LadyBex Nutrition has a thorough post how dandelion benefits the "stressed-out [or] internally sluggish" by working to purify the kidneys, bladder, spleen, pancreas, stomach and intestines.

Master Herbalist Blog is an exceptional resource. The site is a little tricky to navigate in a "Myst" sort of way, but Bobbie Grennier (yes, the master herbalist just like the blog's name) has information on a variety of herbs, their salutary effects and contraindications including valerian for insomnia and nervous conditions; milk thistle for hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver and possibly benefiting the conditions of depression and psoriasis among others; and saw palmetto for support of the prostate and urinary tract and its use as an aphrodisiac (woo woo).

The Essential Herbal Blog, the blog of "The Essential Herbal Magazine," has a recipe for a spring tonic to take after the heavy eating of the winter months. The tonic will help "...stimulate the liver to...digest fats and improve the digestive process."

An herbalist may be found here.

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