Written by Phyllis A. Balch (author of Prescription for Nutritional Healing), this book covers the medicinal benefits of over 200 herbs. It's easy to read, very well researched, and has become a permanent part of my own research library. - Mike

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Product Description

The popularity of herbal medicine has exploded during the past decade, with herbal remedies becoming increasingly available in such conventional outlets as drugstores and even supermarkets. Prescription for Herbal Healing brings to herbal medicine the same in-depth, easy-to-understand information and accessible style that Prescription for Nutritional Healing successfully brought to diet and nutritional supplements.

This book is divided into three parts for easy reference. Part I discusses the basic principles of herbal medicine and outlines the properties and characteristics of some one hundred sixty single herbs and sixty herbal combination formulas. Part II describes more than one hundred fifty common disorders, conveniently arranged in alphabetical order from acne to yeast infection, and names the herbal therapies that can be used in the treatment of those conditions. Part III is a guide to using various kinds of herbal and other alternative therapies. In addition, it includes self-diagnostic tests and boxed insets throughout, which offer detailed information on a wide variety of topics.

Complete coverage of Chinese and Ayurvedic herbs make this volume entirely comprehensive, and thorough scientific references lend it an authority not found in any other herbal book. Prescription for Herbal Healing is the definitive herbal resource and is a necessity for any health-conscious consumer.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7526 in Books
• Brand: Books
• Published on: 2002-01-14
• Released on: 2002-01-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780895298690
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, has been a leading nutritional consultant for more than twenty years. She continues to study nutrition-based therapies, procedures, and treatments in the United States and abroad.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Preface

Open this herbal encyclopedia before you open your medicine cabinet. This book may help with illnesses from colds and flu to chronic fatigue to cancer. You can easily and quickly look up your ailment or disorder, get a clear explanation of what may have caused it, and find a list of herbal options to use in treating that particular illness or condition. You will get straightforward alternatives and establish when and if you should call a health-care professional. Prescription for Herbal Healing is a collection of herbal treatments that are reliable and understood in scientific terms. It offers precise herbal "prescriptions" that can be used to treat an array of health conditions. It lists herbs and formulas that can amplify the benefits of a healthy diet, nutritional supplementation, and natural healing techniques. It presents clear information on the compatibility of herbs with conventional medication in the treatment of health conditions. It points out possibilities for combining herbal healing with conventional treatment with outcomes that neither can achieve alone for various conditions. It's amazing how far we have come in natural healing, without serious side effects. Herbal treatments are capable of healing all kinds of disorders and all parts of the body. Many countries, especially the European countries and China, are ahead of the United States in using natural products such as herbs, but even in North America, many doctors now blend the best of conventional medicine with alternative healing and have found powerful new treatments that work.

Part One of this book defines the principles and materials of herbal healing. Then it lists over 200 of the plants used in traditional herbal healing and the scientific evidence for their use in extending health. It gives the most current scientific explanation of how each herb has been used successfully for centuries as a healing tool. It also provides current clinical information on the herbal formulas of ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, Native American, and South American medicine most widely used today, as well as several modern herbal formulas of great healing potential.

Although every herb and formula listed in Part One has been employed by one or more of the great schools of traditional herbal healing, no herb in Part One is employed only by informal healers. In fact, all of the herbs and formulas listed in this book are used in modern medical practice in Europe, Egypt, Israel, or Japan. The herbs and formulas listed in Part One are at least understood in chemical terms and can be used with predictable results with modern medicine. Interestingly, most conventional drugs were originally derived from plant sources. The problem with this is that to make a pharmaceutical drug, the component of the herb believed to be responsible for its activity is extracted and concentrated. In their whole form, herbs are buffered because they contain many different components. Because of this, they are less likely to cause side effects (which can sometimes be worse than the original problem).

People need to be educated about their treatment options and the potential risks involved. Anything you can do to help yourself, to empower yourself, helps to get rid of the sense of hopelessness when disease strikes. It's never too late to protect your health. There is no reason you should not know about your body and how it works, even as doctors know these things.

Not every herb recommended in Part One has been confirmed by the highest standards of research recommended (if not always actually used) in conventional medicine. That is, not every herb listed in this book has been confirmed as effective by statistically controlled, randomized, double-blind, clinical studies. But every herb and formula listed in this book is known to be safe when used as prescribed and has a long history of healing benefits, which makes for a brighter future for all of humankind.

Part Two of this book shows how these herbs and formulas can be used to treat over 150 specific conditions. This information is also based on scientific studies. It is included for those who wish to provide themselves with the widest range of possibilities for gaining health. This section reveals how herbs correct disease processes. It discusses the use of herbs with diet and nutritional supplements. It also lists dozens of therapeutic practices for which there is objective evidence. Herbs, nutrition, and personally directed healing therapies are included to give the reader even greater opportunity to take charge of his or her health.

Part Three provides information on making baths, compresses, creams, lotions, ointments, and tinctures. This information is included for those who are most comfortable using herbs as a healing art, as a healing connection to the natural world.

This entire book has been written with an acute and personal awareness of the frequently overwhelming cost of health care. The most economical approach to regaining and maintaining health is a combination of conventional medicine with supplemental approaches. Except for minor conditions, the herbs and formulas in this book are not chosen to replace conventional medicine. Instead, they are intended to work with conventional medicine, to help it work more quickly, effectively, painlessly, and economically.

Of course, for herbs to be useful with conventional medicine, it is essential to pay attention to herb safety. Only those herbs that are generally recognized as safe, or that can be processed by known manufacturing practices into safe forms, are included in this book. Special notes on safety for administration to children and during pregnancy and nursing are included where needed. Always read the precautions for each herb before using it. And since the philosophy of this book is that herbs can be used with a doctor's prescribed medication, interactions of herbs and drugs are noted throughout the text.

I want to thank you for choosing to read this book. Its purpose is to make the process of treating disease and returning to health a little easier for you. May this book help you use the best of herbal healing and, when needed, modern medicine to find greater health than you have ever known before.

--from Prescription for Herbal Healing by Phyllis A. Balch, Copyright © January 2002, Avery Books, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc., used by permission.

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Customer Reviews

The Herbal Twin Has Arrived!!
We all loved the book "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" by James F. Balch and Phyllis A. Balch, and now comes its long awaited twin; The same winning format, the same width of knowledge, and this time - the best herbs to treat (almost) every ailment. Besides an overview of the principles of herbal healing, the first part of the book describes a long list of herbs that are mentioned throughout the book, the scientific evidence of their benefit, and various considerations for use, alone and/or with other herbs. However, this part is missing a listing of active constituents (future edition?). The second part excells in bringing an alphabetical listing of various health conditions and summarizing, in a clear-cut table, the herbs that can be used, the doses, some ready formulas, and a short comment on action. I loved this format in the first book, and find myself praising this format in the present book. Need to treat an ailment? - just open the right page, and the table of beneficial herbs is right in front of your eyes. The story goes on - "Herbs to Avoid", general "Recommendations" and "Considerations" - all written by a super-expert in the field. Amazon found a very strange way to show us the contents of a book ("look inside") but never exposed "real" pages. Just give a customer a chance to look at a page from the second part of this book and he will know what this book is all about. In the third part I found the information I needed to prepare my own herbal extracts. The tips are invaluable and the various techniques for herbal healing are very well discussed. Ms. Balch made our life much easier and healthier by introducing two superb books where in a glance one can match nutritional healing with herbal healing for a wide array of common health problems. It's time to go one further step - to move both books to the CD format...

an excellent book
I highly recommend this book (I give 5 stars to few books) to anyone interested in herbs and herbal remedies from a more scientifically based approach. I found that her citation of studies and use of them to describe the actual effects of the herbs helpful, whereas most herb books are filled solely with arguments from tradition or some metaphysical bias. Although tradition, or any other tact, may actually be correct sometimes, I find it unconvincing alone. I like to know that ginseng, for example, has been shown in studies to relieve stress. I don't want to read an author only mention how it is a magic herb that will bring one closer to a certain positive force of the universe (apologies for the sarcasm). She does include, naturally, traditional uses (by multiple cultures) and their histories, but her descriptions/prescriptions aren't solely based on them. She does a wonderful job and has come up with a book I'd been seeking for a long time. She has obviously put a lot of careful time into this work, and ended up with what will surely earn its shelf life.

I hope this review has helped.

A wonderfully comprehensive work
I found a flyspeck on page 407 so I'm giving this book 1 star---No, this is quite simply the most complete and the most reader friendly book on herbal medicine in print today, Phyllis Balch's finest effort. Free from the biases of authors who are selling particular products or promoting their in-store information kiosks, Prescription for Herbal Healing was obviously written to help real people get well with simple remedies at the lowest possible expense in the shortest possible time with the least risk of side effects (and when I checked MedLine, there were no reports of adverse results from using baby oil). I like it even better than the Prescription for Nutritional Healing books that are, for reasons I can't understand, for better known. Even if you think you've seen it all in herbalism, buy this book.