Herb Basics: A Beginner's Guide to Herbs

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HOMEOPATHIC DOSES

Even though homeopathic products are often found right next to herbal products on store shelves, homeopathy is a healing system entirely different from herbal medicine.

On homeopathic product labels, a product’s strength is expressed as a combination of a number and a letter, such as 1x or 1c. The strength refers to the dilution of the original substance in water or ethyl alcohol. For example, if 1 part of the original substance is added to 9 parts of water or ethyl alcohol, this is called a 1x (decimal) dilution, or 1 part in 10. Dilutions are also made on a centesimal scale, or 1 part in 100, yielding 1c, 2c, and so on.

Both forms of dilutions, also known as potencies, can be repeated many times. The higher the number on the bottle, the stronger the homeopathic product. Low potencies (1x to 30x, or 1c to 15c) are sufficient for most ailments.

Herbalists prescribe therapeutic doses of herbs to stimulate healing, somewhat like taking an aspirin for a headache. Homeopathy is based on the idea of “like cures like,” the belief that minute amounts of a substance can eliminate the symptoms that large amounts of the substance create.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM AN HERBALIST

Seeing an herbalist is a lot like seeing a doctor—a doctor fifty years ago, that is.

Many herbalists liken their approach to that of physicians of the past: Herbalists listen patiently and try to determine symptoms, and they use time-honored diagnostic techniques such as checking reflexes, ­palpating the ­abdomen, feeling the pulse, and looking at the tongue.

Herbalists also review their patient’s ­medical history and determine any potentially problematic herb-drug interactions. If a patient wishes to replace a pharmaceutical drug with herbs, the herbalist can help devise a safe ­program to phase out the drug, preferably in co-operation with the ­patient’s doctor.

The first consultation with an herbalist takes at least an hour; follow-up visits take about twenty ­minutes. Generally, herbalists will want to see a ­patient soon after the first visit to check on progress, and then every four to six weeks for about three months. If the patient has a more chronic condition, such as lupus or chronic fatigue syndrome, the treatment will continue longer.

Source: Ody, Penelope. The Complete Medicinal Herbal.
New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1993.

BUY THE BEST FUNCTIONAL FOODS

You’ll find a wide array of products containing herbs at health-food stores today. Everything from sodas to cereals to nutrition bars is touted as “memory promoting” or “stress reducing.” But how much of the herbs are actually in these products? How many bowls of ginseng cereal would you need to eat to get the amount of ginseng that’s in one capsule? Here are some tips to keep in mind.

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