a copy of a section of the book the green pharmacy

a copy section of the book the green Pharmacy a grate herb book.

putting safety first

i'll be the first to admit that herbal medicines is not risk free.

to benefit from using herbs, you need to have some basic background information.

then you need to have confidence in the herbs you use and in any herbal practitioner you consult.

 this is no different from conventional medicines, where you need to have confidence in your physicians and pharmaceuticals you take.

as a rule, however, rational herbal medicines is safer then conventional medicine because the medicines are more dilute and side effects tend to be less severe.

but you still have to exercise cation when using herbal medicines.

you also need to understand that things can go wrong.

there are a number of strategies that you can use to protect yourself.

first of all, get the right stuff.

unless you are absolutely sure of an herb's identity, don't take it.

this rule applies mainly to people who are picking herbs in the wild, of course.

people have been known to eat poisonous or dangerous plants simply because they misidentified an herb and took something other than what they thought they were taking.

the classic killer is poision hemlock, which looks rather like wild parsley or wild parsnip.