There has never been a greater need for comprehensive, well-researched information about herbs' potential to fight infection. In 1998, Stephen Harrod Buhner - a leading herbal practitioner and author - published the first edition of "Herbal Antibiotics" to great acclaim. Since then, health care providers have discovered many new resistant strains of bacteria, researchers have added to the growing body of knowledge about herbs, and the need for antivirals to treat emerging infections like SARS and West Nile Encephalitis has become urgent. Within ten years, according to sources cited in the book, pharmaceutical antibiotics will begin to fail at epidemic rates. There are, in fact, no new antibiotics currently in planning or development at any of the major pharmaceutical companies. Most notably, there is none for Gram-negative bacteria, which are emerging as the most dangerous pathogens.

For the psychonaut to those curious about psychedelics, this definitive guide to seven psychedelic substances and how they are changing our world is the perfect holiday stocking stuffer. "Shows us how psychedelics can transform mental health and enhance the way we live."-Sara Gottfried MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Hormone Cure This practical guide to psychedelics will appeal to anyone interested in their own health and wellbeing: "A captivating read that shares how society can use psychedelics to transform the way we exist in the world."&#8212Robin Divine, psychedelic advocate and creator of Black People Trip Once feared and misunderstood, psychedelics have emerged as one of the most promising therapies of the 21st century. Through cutting-edge research, substances such as MDMA and LSD are being recognized as powerful keys to healing and human improvement, offering solutions for mental health issues including PTSD and depression. Similarly, plant medicines like ayahuasca, peyote, and iboga, used since time immemorial by Indigenous cultures for spiritual purposes, have been shown to promote feelings of empathy, connection, and love for the self, others, and the world around us. But how can everyday people benefit from psychedelics? And will they really transform healthcare as we know it? In Psyched, health journalist Amanda Siebert explores the history, culture, and potential of seven psychedelic substances. She interweaves real-life stories, clinical research, and interviews with the world's leading psychedelics experts and cultural allies to offer a definitive guide to these cutting-edge treatments.

In this second "Earthwise Herbal" ('herbal', as defined by Merriam-Webster, is 'a book about plants especially with reference to their medicinal properties') Matthew Wood, an expert herbalist who has used medicinal herbs in tens of thousands of cases over a twenty-five-year career, provides detailed descriptions of New World (North American) herbs and their uses. The first volume of this two-volume set, "The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants", was published by North Atlantic Books in May 2008. Organized as a material medica (names and descriptions of herbs/plants are listed alphabetically), the book explains the use of the whole plant - not just 'active ingredients' - in the treatment of the whole person and describes symptoms and conditions that the plants have been successful in treating (digestive ailments, headaches, high blood pressure, asthma, skin rashes, and allergies, to name a few). Wood, one of very few writers who has systematically studied ancient and traditional herbal literature, rather than the occasional text, takes a historical view and presents information in a thoughtful, engaging, non-technical style. In addition, he provides remarkable case studies as well as insight into the 'logic' of each plant - its current usage, past usage, pharmacological constituents, and other elements that together produce a comprehensive portrait of the plant.

Mistletoe is a parasitic evergreen plant that lives on trees such apple and elm. Modern complementary therapies for cancer increasingly make use of mistletoe preparations. However, because mistletoe grows on many different trees, the properties of the plant vary according to the host tree. For the first time, this book presents an important reference for practitioners on the characteristics of each type of mistletoe, and what kind of cancers they are best suited to treat. Thirteen host trees are described, covering all aspects from mythology and botany to homeopathy and flower essences. The author then pulls the various characteristics together to provide a unique guide to which patients might benefit most from the different types of mistletoe. The results will be useful not only in treating cancer but also in prevention. The book includes specific case-studies as well as notes on supplementary therapies using metals.

Lethal Spots, Vital Secrets provides an ethnographic study of varmakkalai, or "the art of the vital spots," a South Indian esoteric tradition that combines medical practice and martial arts. Although siddha medicine is officially part of the Indian Government's medically pluralistic health-care system, very little of a reliable nature has been written about it. Drawing on a diverse array of materials, including Tamil manuscripts, interviews with practitioners, and his own personal experience as an apprentice, Sieler traces the practices of varmakkalai both in different religious traditions-such as Yoga and Ayurveda-and within various combat practices. His argument is based on in-depth ethnographic research in the southernmost region of India, where hereditary medico-martial practitioners learn their occupation from relatives or skilled gurus through an esoteric, spiritual education system. Rituals of secrecy and apprenticeship in varmakkalai are among the important focal points of Sieler's study. Practitioners protect their esoteric knowledge, but they also engage in a kind of "lure and withdrawal"--a performance of secrecy--because secrecy functions as what might be called "symbolic capital." Sieler argues that varmakkalai is, above all, a matter of texts in practice; knowledge transmission between teacher and student conveys tacit, non-verbal knowledge, and constitutes a "moral economy." It is not merely plain facts that are communicated, but also moral obligations, ethical conduct and tacit, bodily knowledge. Lethal Spots, Vital Secrets will be of interest to students of religion, medical anthropologists, historians of medicine, indologists, and martial arts and performance studies.

Despite its small size, Belize is one of the most ecologically and culturally diverse nations in Central America. Over 3,400 species of plants can be found here, within a diversity of ecological habitats. Because of this, Belize is paradise for ecotourists, hosting over 900,000 visitors annually, who enjoy the natural habitat and friendly people of this nation. Many of the plants of Belize have a long history of being "useful," with properties that have served traditional herbal healers of the region as well as those who use plants as food, forage, fiber, ornament, in construction and ritual, along with many other purposes. With Messages from the Gods: A Guide to the Useful Plants of Belize, Drs. Michael Balick and Rosita Arvigo give us the definitive resource on the many species of plants in Belize and their folklore, as well as the natural history of the region and a detailed discussion of "bush" uses of plants, including for traditional healing and life in the forest, past and present. Both Balick and Arvigo bring important perspectives to the project, Balick as ethnobotanical scientist from The New York Botanical Garden, and Arvigo as a former apprentice to a Belizean healer and an experienced physician. The book has been decades in the making, a culmination of a biodiversity research project that The New York Botanical Garden and international and local collaborators have had in motion since 1987. Drs. Balick, Arvigo and their colleagues have collected and identified thousands of plants from the region, and have worked extensively with hundreds of Belizean people, many of them herbal healers and bushmasters, to record uses for many of the species. This collaboration with local plant experts has produced a fascinating discussion of the intersection of herbal medicine and spiritual belief in the area, and these interviews are used to compliment and contextualize the numerous species accounts presented. The book is both a cultural study and a specialized field guide; information is provided on many different native and introduced plants in Belize and their traditional and contemporary uses including as food, medicine, fiber, in spiritual practices and many other purposes. Richly illustrated with over 600 images and photographs, Messages from the Gods: A Guide to The Useful Plants of Belize will serve as the primary reference and guide to the ethnobotany of Belize for many years to come.

I Send a Voice is the gripping, first person account of what happens inside a Native American Sweat Lodge. Evelyn Eaton writes of her resolve to become worthy of participating in a Sweat Lodge healing ritual. She undergoes tests and ordeals inside and outside of the Lodge following the spiritual path to learn the shamanic secrets, and eventually daring to ask for a healing Pipe of her own. This classic book remains one of the definitive accounts of the training and work of a Pipe-carrier and provides a unique insight into Native American culture and their sacred and esoteric rites. It will be essential reading for everyone with an interest in Native American culture, shamanic rituals or holistic healing.

The food products of bees have long been attributed with many health benefits. They can lead to greater stamina, increased resistance to disease, and, counter-intuitively, often help reduce pollen allergies. Scientific studies have revealed that bee propolis, royal jelly, honey and bee pollen are rich sources of antioxidant phytochemicals - vitamin-like substances similar to those found in common vegetables. In this User's Guide, Dr. Broadhurst explains the scientific rationale behind bee foods and describes how they can improve health.

This book discusses the perception of disease, healing concepts and the evolution of traditional systems of healing in the Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh, India. The chapters cover a diverse range issues: people and knowledge systems, healing in ancient scriptures, concept of sacredness and faith healing, food as medicament, presumptions about disease, ethno-botanical aspects of medicinal plants, collection and processing of herbs, traditional therapeutic procedures, indigenous" Materia medica, "etc. The book also discusses the diverse therapeutic procedures followed by Himalayan healers and their significance in the socio-cultural life of Himalayan societies.

The World Health Organization defines traditional medicine as wisdom, skills, and practices based on theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, used in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness and maintenance of health. In some Asian and African countries, 80% of the population depends on traditional medicine for primary health care. However, the knowledge of these conventional healing techniques and traditions associated with conveying this knowledge are slowly disappearing. The authors highlight the importance of safeguarding this indigenous knowledge in the cultural milieu of the Himachal Himalayas.This book will be an important resource for researchers in medical anthropology, biology, ethno-biology, ecology, community health, health behavior, psychotherapy, and Himalayan studies."

One of the most important relationships that human beings have with plants is changing our consciousness-consider the plants that give us coffee, tea, chocolate, and nicotine. Sacred Bliss challenges traditional attitudes about cannabis by tracing its essential role in the spiritual and curative traditions in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas from prehistory to the present day. In highlighting the continued use of cannabis around the globe, Sacred Bliss offers compelling evidence of cannabis as an entheogen used for thousands of years to evoke peak-experiences, or moments of expanded perception or spiritual awareness. Today, the growing utilization of medical cannabis to alleviate the pain and symptoms of physical illness raises the possibility of using cannabis to treat the mind along with the body. By engaging sacred and secular texts from around the world, Sacred Bliss demonstrates that throughout religious history, cannabis has offered access to increased imagination and creativity, heightened perspective and insight, and deeper levels of thought.

"Today, disease and death control us ever more strongly with a litany of viruses, cancers, and heart disorders. The causes may be vaccinations, environmental poisons, despoliation of food, or pollution of the elements-earth, water and air. For Bach the cause was clear and it is clear today: 'It is only because we have forsaken Nature's way for man's way that we have suffered, and we have only to return to be released from our trials. In the presence of the way of Nature disease has no power; all fear, all depression, all hopelessness can be set aside. There is no disease of itself which is incurable.'" -Julian Barnard Clematis prepared by the sun methodIn the 1920s, the physician and homeopath Dr. Edward Bach made his great discovery of the healing effects of various flower essences. Intense and revelatory, his experiences in nature resulted in thirty-eight "flower remedies." He describes these as bringing courage to the fearful, peace to the anguished, and strength to the weak. But the therapeutic effects of the remedies were never limited to emotional states. They are equally effective in the treatment of physical disorders. Barnard begins the process of explaining this phenomenon. He describes how Bach made his discoveries and examines the living qualities of the plants in their context and how the remedies are actually produced. The result is remarkable. The author recounts his observations so that readers can experience, in a living way, the complex ways in which the remedy plants grow-their gestures and qualities, ecology, botany, and behavior. This exciting book is a trumpet call to attend to nature in a new way. Fully illustrated.

Just as alchemists transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, with this book you can transform everyday herbs and spices into effective healing herbal remedies. Rosalee de la Foret, a clinical herbalist, examines the history and modern-day use of 29 herbs, offering clinical studies to support their healing properties. She also dives into the energetics of herbalism, teaching readers how to match the properties of each plant to their unique needs, for a truly personalized approach to health. The recipes in this book take a variety of forms - from teas and pastilles to beauty products and delicious foods - to show how easy it is to incorporate the healing power of herbs into your everyday life. You could start your day with Spiced Cold Brew Coffee, pamper your skin with Green Tea and Rose Facial Cream, make a meal of Astragalus Bone Broth and Sage Chicken, then treat yourself to Cardamom Chocolate Mousse Cake and a Holy Basil-Ginger Julep. Beautiful photos taken by the author of the herbs and recipes complement each chapter. This book will appeal to those interested in natural health and herbalism, and the recipes offer an easy entry for beginners. Readers will never look at cinnamon, coffee, parsley, lavender or even chocolate the same way again, as they realize the kitchen can be their medicine cabinet!

The Gaelic pharmacy was rich, the sources of which lay almost entirely in nature and were subject to the minimum of preparation. Much of the rich store of material comes from the great legacy of medieval Gaelic manuscripts. In more recent times, papers of medical societies have shown how traditional methods and cures are still of value to modern medicine. In addition to a general historical background, which traces the story of Highland folk tradition from earliest times, Mary Beith describes a whole variety of traditional remedies, cures and practices, from the healing properties of stone and metal, animals and insects, to rituals, charms and incantations. Her book also includes a list of the most commonly used herbs. Clearly written with extensive source notes, Healing Threads is a unique introduction to a subject that has fascinated generation after generation.

Herbal supplements are available without prescription in many countries throughout the world and accounting for over $30 billion U.S dollar in sale. A majority of U.S population (25-40%) use herbal supplements while alternative medicines are major forms of therapy in third world countries used by as much as 80% population. Contrary to the popular belief that herbal remedies are safe and effective, many herbal supplements have known toxicity and unexpected laboratory test results may be the early indications of such toxicity. In addition, some herbal products such as St. John's wort can interact with many Western drugs causing increased clearance of such drugs and hence treatment failure. This monograph would provide information on how herbal supplements affect laboratory test results thus patient's safety. This monograph would provide a comprehensive and concise practical guide for laboratory professionals, physicians and other health care professionals. The emphasis of this monograph is to provide clinically relevant information rather than discussing in detail mechanisms of such effect, although brief explanations would be provided for such unexpected test results.

QUIERO SENTIRME MUY SALUDABLE PARA LUCIR Y PENSAR MEJOR Combatiendo y previniendo muchas enfermedades, CURANDONOS NATURALMENTE CON MEDICINA O REMEDIOS NATURALES Mejorando asi nuestra de vida