Herbal and Natural Medicine: 5 Comprehensive and Reliable Reference Books

I'm one of those people who rarely go to the doctor. You won't see me set foot in an emergency room unless I'm thoroughly convinced that I'm dying. Instead, for whatever the ailment, I turn to natural and alternative medicine first. More often than not, I find just the remedy I'm looking for in one of these 5 useful books:

1. Natural Healing by Mark Evans: This little gem was given to me as a gift from my husband back when I first became interested in natural medicine. Filled with simple herbal remedies and easy-to-follow instructions for nearly every common condition from menopause to arthritis to nosebleeds, eczema to stomach ulcers to hemorrhoids. Each section offers you a variety of therapies to consider including naturopathy, homeopathy, aromatherapy, herbal medicine, and more. Most of the remedies are easy enough to make at home with only a few common ingredients that can be purchased at any grocery store. A must for every natural household.

2. Herbal Well-Being by Joyce Wardwell, Colleen Dodt, and Greta Breedlove: An excellent beginner's guide to herbs, their uses, and the variety of ways to prepare them. The first chapter gets you started with a shopping list of your most useful herbs and spices for planting in your garden and stocking up your medicine chest. Learn the difference between a tea, a tincture, an oil, and a salve, and how to make every one right in your own kitchen. For the most part, this book examines herbal skin care, hair care, hygiene, and aromatherapy.

3. Indian Herbalogy of North America by Alma Hutchens: I happened upon this book by accident in a used book store-and it changed my life (and my ideas regarding natural vs. conventional medicine) forever. As my copy is a reprint, I'm not sure the book can be found at any Barnes and Noble or Borders bookstore, and will probably have to be purchased on Amazon.com. This beautifully detailed and illustrated book discusses a forgotten kind of medicine that our Native American ancestors have been using for centuries before conventional medicine even existed. It suggests alternative treatments for cancer, infections, asthma, depression, diabetes, blindness, infertility and more. So much more.

4. The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats by Shawn Messonnier, D.V.M.: Before you take your pet to the vet and spend a fortune on pills and shots and tests... check out this book! Easy, affordable, natural remedies for over 200 conditions most commonly found in dogs and cats. Conditions such as Giardia, worms, glaucoma, arthritis, ticks, leukemia, bladder infections and more. This book is a must for any pet-owner.

5. The Natural Baby by Janet Balaskas: If you have a baby, you must have this book! Just some of the countless jewels you'll find in this book include: life before birth, learning to breastfeed, comforting your baby, baby massage, help baby to crawl, walk, talk, and swim, eye and ear infections, teething, childhood infections, herbal remedies for baby and mother... and the list goes on and on. This book makes the perfect gift for every expecting mother and every alternative parent.

With maybe one exception, these books may be found at any Barnes and Noble bookstore and range in price from $15 to $28. Used copies may be purchased on Amazon.com for as little as the $3 plus the cost of shipping. If you're interested in building your Natural Health home library, I strongly recommend all 5 of these books!

References:

Evans, Mark. Natural Healing. New York, NY: Barnes and Noble Books, 2006.

Wardwell, Joyce; Dodt, Colleen; Breedlove, Greta. Herbal Well-Being. San Diego, CA: Storey Publishing, LLC, 2002.

Hutchens, Alma. Indian Herbalogy of North America. Boston & London: Shambhala Publications, Inc, 1973.

Messonnier, Shawn, D.V.M. Natural Health Bible for Dogs and Cats. New York, NY: Prima Publishing, 2001.

Balaskas, Janet. The Natural Baby. Quayside Publishing Group, 2002.