Germans are, by far, the most advanced modern nation in herbal medicine. The "German Commission E monographs" is heralded as THE word on efficacy of medicinal herbs in the modern, western world. However, as far as I know, they didn't test combinations of herbs for synergetic effects and a lot can be said for herbal "catalysts" in bringing forth healing properties of herbs otherwise deemed unuseful.

A lot of folklore has prevailed in providing information on healing with herbs. "Scientific" studies are great but can be misleading if done subjectively with a priori conviction in mind. A healthy 94 year old lady who drinks sassafras tea is a "scientific" study in my book as opposed to the USDA feeding sassafras to rats until they develop cancer as another. I don't see that as helpful in studying the reasonable use of herbs on human "guinea pigs" if you will. Myself, my friends and family are my "guinea pigs" so to speak and I've learned a lot by just trying things out that I've heard or read about to see how well they work. The skeptical are the best to try formulas on because it decreases the "placebo effect"

I understand and agree that we are the best guinea pigs in this arena. But some folks like to see what studies have been done scientifically. I like to have access to both kinds of info, which is I posted here.

I have often experienced results that have no "scientific" backing.

i gotta tell you, there's just too many herbal-ologists out there making a buck for me to take herbs with no data supporting them-at least some-i like Dr Andrew Weil's website-he thinks outside the traditional medicine box but is cautious. his site offers lots of info

www.drweil.com

Herbal-ologists?

I have a big stack of herbal medicine books and only one is based on hard science- The Commission E Monographs. Most all of the remedies in the rest of them are traditional and have been handed down but have been re-tested over and over again. And, for the most part, they work. My point is that "Scientific" can be as mis-leading as informal, yet entirely empirical, studies that "prove" that different things work.

Can someone tell me where you get your herbs? St John's Wort and Sage specifically. Do I have to grow my own? I don't want to buy something that is not up to standard. I guess I could buy the actual herbs and make tea. Also, could someone recommend a good book to start for herbal remedies, doses, etc. Thanks for any help!

There should be an herbal store in your area. I've never seen an herbal store that didn't carry quality stuff except one that was less on the medicinal side and more on the witchcraft side. They didn't care about freshness or quality because I guess that doesn't make a difference in witchcraft qualities. If you want to buy over the internet, there are a lot of people trying to capitalize on herbal crazes so it’s difficult to know where to go. If I’m buying bulk herbs or many other natural/herbal products on the internet, I use STARWEST Botanicals; they are highly reputable and have been around a long time.

St. John's Wort is pretty common stuff as well as Sage and they’re pretty easy to grow. The problem with common names is they can get you into trouble using them, i.e., hemlock the tree can be useful but poison hemlock will kill in small doses. I assume you are talking about cooking sage (Salvia), not sagebrush (Artemisia), both of which are very common and easy to find. And yes, buy the actual herbs because preparations are where you can get ripped off, either because of high prices or questionable quality.

My favorite books are Michael Tierra’s “The way of herbs” and his “Planetary Herbology”, Dr. John Christopher’s “School of Natural Healing” and David Hoffman’s “An Elder’s Herbal” and “The Herbal Handbook”. As I mentioned above, the most scientific information available is in the book “The Complete German Commission E Monographs, Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines”, (numerous authors). This is the result of extensive scientific studies done on the efficacy of hundreds of herbs and is, by many, the final word on herbal medicines. It’s a pretty expensive book though.

Good luck, Jeff