Herbal Remedies

MrsStepford

I'm into organic food, or at least food without artificial colours, flavourings, sugar and sweeteners, preservatives and any other gunk. My mother is into homeopathy whereby (as explained to me) homepathic therapists use minute quantities of poisons to supposedly cure people. I'm not into that and wouldn't touvh it with ten bargepoles. 

However, since aspirin came from willow trees and digitalis from foxgloves, modern drugs can have plant origins. I bought a book by Dr Lelord Kordel PhD, a Polish biochemist and he was into diet and herbal remedies in a big way. 

I'm not going to start taking mountains of herbal tablets, but on the other hand, I'm happy to eat more fresh herbs and try herbal teas. 

So, I would appreciate any book or website recommendations.

Many thanks x

JohnnyB70

Lelord Kordel was jailed for the fraudulent claims he made, including those in his book.

oystercatcher

JohnnyB70 said:

Lelord Kordel was jailed for the fraudulent claims he made, including those in his book.

Interesting. A quick google confirms this information. 

My mother was (and still is) a great fan of herbal medicine , as a child Iearned to conceal illness to avoid the nasty and ineffective remedies I was given. 

Katiehound

well some herbal / homeopathic remedies such as arnica have become almost mainstream. Great stuff for bruising although sadly you can no longer get the tincture (poisonous!)  and cream is no where near as effective.

JohnnyB70

oystercatcher said:

JohnnyB70 said:

Lelord Kordel was jailed for the fraudulent claims he made, including those in his book.

Interesting. A quick google confirms this information. 

My mother was (and still is) a great fan of herbal medicine , as a child Iearned to conceal illness to avoid the nasty and ineffective remedies I was given. 

That’s sad to hear.

It’s hard to believe that even now educated people in a country like the UK can ignore all the science and go with what in many cases is either witchcraft or magical thinking.

As Tim Minchin puts it in his very good beat poem “Storm”, alternative medicine is just what we call medicine that’s not been proven to work, or has been proven not to work.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been issues with conventional medicines or treatments, but the answer to that is higher quality data and practices there, not to abandon the science entirely.

theoretica

Do you have a garden or allotment?  Homegrown vegetables and herbs taste so good, and if you choose what to grow can save money and be nutritious.  Apple mint for tea is a favourite of mine. 

-taff

JohnnyB70 said:

It’s hard to believe that even now educated people in a country like the UK can ignore all the science and go with what in many cases is either witchcraft or magical thinking.

Except in cases where it does work, like quinine, digitalis, aspirin, honey, arnica, rosehips for vitamin c, etc... Science does have a place with modern drugs but science only tells us that some herbal medicines do actually work and have done since people began using them.

Both have their place.

Rosa_Damascena

-taff said:

JohnnyB70 said:

It’s hard to believe that even now educated people in a country like the UK can ignore all the science and go with what in many cases is either witchcraft or magical thinking.

Except in cases where it does work, like quinine, digitalis, aspirin, honey, arnica, rosehips for vitamin c, etc... Science does have a place with modern drugs but science only tells us that some herbal medicines do actually work and have done since people began using them.

Both have their place.

 All of which can lead to life-threatening toxicity in the wrong hands. People who think "natural" is best when it comes to their meds are totally deluded, and naturopaths IMO should be put in jail.

Eat a healthy balanced diet by all means, but leave medicine to the medics.

JohnnyB70

-taff said:

JohnnyB70 said:

It’s hard to believe that even now educated people in a country like the UK can ignore all the science and go with what in many cases is either witchcraft or magical thinking.

Except in cases where it does work, like quinine, digitalis, aspirin, honey, arnica, rosehips for vitamin c, etc... Science does have a place with modern drugs but science only tells us that some herbal medicines do actually work and have done since people began using them.

Both have their place.

That’s not alternative medicine.

Frith

Homeopathy is bunkum. 

JohnnyB70

Frith said:

Homeopathy is bunkum. 

Accurately put.

When Hahnemann invented it we did not know about the atomic nature of matter, so his claim that there  was a tiny bit of the original substance was at least plausible.

Now that we know better it’s ridiculous, as is the post-hoc claim that water has a memory.

It has no prior plausibility, and studies have shown (as expected) that it has no effect.