Features
- Cover Type: Mass Market Paperback with 617 pages
- Published by: St. Martin's Paperbacks July 15, 1998
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0312966482
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0312966485
-
Book Dimensions:
6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
- Weighs: 7.2 ounces
Product Review
There's still a lot to learn about the healing power of plants, James Duke points out, but what we do know is already prodigious. Much of that knowledge is gathered in
The Green Pharmacy, an A-to-Z guide to that relies on plant-based medicines to cure what ails us. Between the listings, Duke crams personal anecdotes from a lifetime of studying herbs, berries, and bark. For example, he relates how he worried about telling a pregnant niece that ginger could help alleviate her morning sickness because he'd learned from a pharmacologist that ginger could also induce miscarriage. Then he solved the mystery: he'd recommended ginger tea, which contains about 250 milligrams of ginger. The Chinese, he learned, use about eighty times that much to end pregnancies--another testimony to the amazing versatility of these natural medicines.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Very readable and fun, The Green Pharmacy is the culmination of the author's thirty years of studying and using herbs. In an interesting mix of folklore and science, Duke, a botanist and authority on healing herbs, describes treatment protocols for over 120 health conditions. Although there is frequent reference to experts and studies, including up-to-date findings from the German Commission E monographs, no accurate references or bibliography are provided. Nonetheless, based on the author's credentials, this is recommended for greater collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reader ReviewsThere are a lot of books similar to this one, with alphabetically arranged diseases and symptoms for sections, followed by passages on the kinds of herbs that might be helpful, and why. Of all the ones I've seen, this one is my favorite. Duke has a very engaging writing style, and the book is well suited for browsing or reading cover to cover. He seems appropriately cautious in some of the suggestions he makes, but I agree with other reviewers concerns that this is not always the case. I cannot speak from the perspective of an MD or an herbalist, because I am neither of those. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't try a lot of the potential remedies presented in this book, and I disagree with some of the suggestions contained in it. Nevertheless, there is plenty of information that I did agree with and overall I'd say this book is wonderful to read and learn from. Duke's experience and authority on the subject matter is very impressive, and that is reflected very well in this book.
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