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Zusatztext “I have been searching for a user-friendly! objective herbal guide for years. Michael Castleman has finally provided one! This book will tell you what you need to know about how to use nature’s medicines effectively.” --Joe Graedon! author of The People’s Pharmacy Informationen zum Autor Michael Castleman Klappentext Discover how to get the most from nature's oldest remedies In this revised edition! The New Healing Herbs provides up-to-date profiles of 100 of the most widely used medicinal plants! detailing the therapeutic benefits and healing properties of each of these amazing natural cures. Inside you'll find: • Valuable advice for buying! storing! and preparing herbal remedies • Clear! concise dosage instructions and safe-usage guidelines • A comprehensive cure-finder chart with treatments for more than 100 common conditions--Ginkgo to improve and even reverse symptoms of macular degeneration...Cinnamon to treat cuts and scrapes...Marshmallow to boost immunity...St. John's wort to speed healing...Coffee for weight loss...Ginger for colds...Apples as a source of first aid...And much more! Leseprobe Chapter 1 From Magic to Medicine 5,000 Years of Herbal Healing In 1991, on a glacier in the Italian Alps that had melted back to an unusual extent, hikers stumbled on a dead body. It turned out to be the naturally mummified body of a prehistoric man who had frozen to death some 5,300 years before and whose remains were preserved in the ice. Dubbed the Iceman, he’s been studied by Italian anthropologists ever since. He wore straw-lined leather shoes, leather clothing, a thick coat made from woven grass, and a bearskin cap. He carried a wooden bow, a leather quiver filled with stone-tipped arrows, a flint-bladed knife, a wood-handled ax with a copper blade, and a food pouch that still contained dried deer meat and a prune. The Iceman’s pouch also contained two mysterious corklike lumps about the size of walnuts that were pierced through and strung together on a leather thong, indicating that they were of value. The lumps turned out to be bracket fungus (Piptoporus betulinus), one of many mushrooms that grow in shelflike plates on tree trunks. This species of fungus contains agaric acid, a potent laxative, and an oily resin that is toxic to some bacteria and intestinal parasites. The scientists studying the Iceman had no idea why he would have carried bracket fungus until, in 1998, a painstaking autopsy of his digestive tract turned up the eggs of an intestinal parasite (Trichuris trichiura) in his rectum. It now appears that the Iceman knew he carried the parasite, which causes abdominal pain, and was using bits of bracket fungus to treat his condition. Given its laxative and antiparasitic action, the fungus probably provided some benefit. This discovery ranks as the world’s oldest documented example of the practice of medicine, and it suggests that prehistoric humanity was more medically sophisticated than previously believed. After all, the Iceman or someone else had diagnosed his malady correctly and had recommended a reasonably appropriate treatment—an herbal treatment—around 3300 b.c. Animal Attractions Just what is a healing herb? The word herb comes from the Latin for “grass.” Technically, herbs are plants that wither each autumn, plants other than shrubs or trees. But many woody perennials are used in herbal healing, such as slippery elm, tea tree, and white willow. To an herbalist, the phrase “healing herbs” applies to every plant with medicinal value. Prehistoric sites in Iraq show that the Neanderthals used yarrow, marshmallow, and other herbs some 60,000 years ago. What attracted them to these plants? Animals played a key role. Prehistoric humans were keen observers of the world around them. No doubt our ance...
