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Rating: 
Summary: A wonderfully comprehensive work
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I guess I was spoiled with "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" which I rated "5". I was expecting "Prescription for Herbal Healing" to be at least as good. I am in my last year at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, and I bought "Herbal Healing" as a reference tool. While leafing through, I came across "Infertility". It mentions that spermicidal lubricants should be avoided since they will destroy sperm, which makes perfect sense. However, it goes on to mention that a good alternative would be baby oil or a light vegetable oil. I was shocked to say the least. Not only is baby oil a petroleum based product, it is highly scented with added fragrance. In fact, oil of any kind should never be used as a vaginal lubricant. Only water soluble, unscented products designed to be used in such a delicate area should ever be considered. This alone has caused me to question the credibility of the authors on the subject of herbs. Maybe they should stick to vitamins and minerals as their specialty.
Rating: 
Summary: One Complaint
Review: I have one complaint about this book, and that is that the index is not as good as the rest of the book. I've spent a lot of time looking for things that are in the book but not in the index. A reference book should have a better index. In spite of my complaint, I'm glad I bought this book, and I use it frequently.
Rating:
Summary: One Complaint
Review: I have one complaint about this book, and that is that the index is not as good as the rest of the book. I've spent a lot of time looking for things that are in the book but not in the index. A reference book should have a better index. In spite of my complaint, I'm glad I bought this book, and I use it frequently.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent book
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This book is the one the nearby herbal store uses for a reference guide. That is where I first seen it. This book covers almost everything from alfalfa to yarrow. It starts by listing the herbs first, then lists health problems and the herbs recommended. Sometimes gets a little wordy. But otherwise a great book, I am adding it to my collection.
Rating:
Summary: The Herbal Twin Has Arrived!!
Review: 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...
Rating:
Summary: The Herbal Twin Has Arrived!!
Review: 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...
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