Chinese Herbal Cures

Rating:
Summary: Legendary CHinese Healing Herbs/Henry C. Lu
Review: If the index wasn't so horrible, this would be a great book. It is very difficult to find anything. It is not indexed (front or back) by plant names or latin names. No indexation for types of herbs, i.e. upper respiratory, etc. If you can wade through it and make notes on the inside back cover when you actually find something, it's informative.

Rating:
Summary: Not for Initiates
Review: This book is geared towards readers with more than a basic understanding of Chinese herbs. I grew up taking these medications in one form or another, but could not relate to most of the listed herbs, although botanical information was given. As taking these remedies requires consultation with an expert (an imbalance or contradictory herbs could be fatal), this is not a DIY manual, but more a summary reference publication.

Rating:
Summary: The Basics for Beginners
Review: This is an excellent book for readers unfamiliar with way TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) works and why. Even though it's a short book, it introduces a lot of the basics. For example, the effects of weather on health. TCM pays a lot more attention to the effects of weather on health than does Western medicine.

Taste of herbs (sweet, sour, bitter, acrid, salty), energy of herbs (Cold, Cool, Neutral, Warm, Hot), and meridians targeted by herbs also is covered. Each herb covered also includes a bit of folklore in order to help readers remember the herb and some of its property.

This is not a book for a student who knows the bare basics and is looking for more detail (such as that provided by Giovanni Maciocia). It is an excellent book for readers unfamiliar with TCM and with TCM's poetic though literal terminology. (The common cold is called Wind Cold Disease in TCM because those are the two "evils" that can bring about a cold.)

It's not a DIY manual. No TCM book is. It is a book that may help you decide if you'd like to consult a trained TCM healer or not, and a little of what to expect if you do.