Sunday, November 29, 2009

Earth Shall Blossom or Complete Natural Medicine Guide to the 50 Most Common Medicinal Herbs

Earth Shall Blossom: Shaker Herbs and Gardening

Author: Galen Beal

The Shakers endlessly fascinate us; they seem always to offer something new. We are drawn again and again to their philosophy of simple, resourceful living, to their artifacts, and to their architecture, music, furniture, and agriculture. This book explores the Shakers' herb gardening heritage. It combines colorful history, practical growing and harvesting advice, and a guide to existing Shaker gardens. You will learn here how to plan and plant you own Shaker garden-a garden you will enjoy all the more by understanding its links to a tradition that began in 1774.

"The Earth Shall Blossom" provides:
* Designs for your own color, fragrance, tea, culinary, or medicinal gardens
* Gardening tips from the 19th-century Shakers' Manual as well as up-to-date advice on growing and preserving herbs
* Descriptions of restored Shaker gardens from Maine to Kentucky
* Shaker herbal recipes for kitchen, bath, and medicinal use
* Over 60 illustrations, including period prints

All of this is woven in with the entertaining and engaging history of the Shakers' agrarian life and their pioneering herb and herbal remedy business.



New interesting book: The New Rules of Marketing and PR or Making It All Work

Complete Natural Medicine Guide to the 50 Most Common Medicinal Herbs

Author: Heather Boon


The most current scientific information from the world's leading medical journals.

Although there is growing consumer awareness of alternative and complementary medicine, there is a lack of comprehensive information available on herbal products. While pharmacists, physicians and other health care professionals sometimes offer advice, their patients want more information.

The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to the 50 Most Common Medicinal Herbs is a comprehensive, fully-illustrated reference to the 50 most commonly prescribed herbs.

A complete description of each herb is featured along with its other common names, possible adverse effects, therapeutic uses for treating illness and disease as well as potential drug interactions.

Some of the herbs included are:


  • Aloe Vera

  • Evening Primrose

  • Goldenseal

  • Scullcap

  • Burdock

  • Tumeric

  • Tea Tree Oil

  • Meadowsweet



This guide is written by professional pharmacists, one a naturopathic doctor, using the most current research and clinical testing.

The authors' easy-to-understand text, combined with the latest findings and clear directions for safe dosages, makes this practical reference on medicinal herbs a primary resource of data.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer: Robert E Burke, MSN, MPS, BSN (Pace University)
Description: This book provides students, healthcare professionals and the lay public with easy access to a wealth of information regarding the proper use and application of medicinal herbs. This is an update of The Botanical Pharmacy: The Pharmacology of 47 Common Herbs, by the same authors (Quarry Press, 1999).
Purpose: The authors intend for this book to provide a foundation of knowledge about botanical products to ensure their proper use and safe application. This objective is realistic and is achieved through a comprehensive review of each of the 50 herbs.
Audience: The book is written for healthcare professionals, patients, and consumers. It is intended to provide healthcare professionals with the necessary information needed to counsel their patients about the proper use and safe application of herbal products and it provides patients and consumers with basic knowledge of the subject and acts as a catalyst for posing informed questions to their healthcare providers. It is also a valuable reference for students of the allied health professions who have an interest in herbal medicine. Dr. Boon is a licensed pharmacist and an assistant professor at the faculty of pharmacy, University of Toronto. She is a contributing author to the homeopathy section of I>Non-Prescription Drugs: A Health Professional's Reference and Herbs: Everyday Reference for Health Care Practitioners, by Chandler (Canadian Pharmacists Association, 2000). Dr. Smith is a licensed pharmacist, a naturopathic doctor and head of Botanical Sciences at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. He is involved in continuing education programs for healthcare providers and advises a number of national charities, government departments, and media agencies on matters related to complementary and alternative health care in Canada.
Features: The book reviews 50 commonly used herbs in the United States and Canada. Each section provides a thumbnail sketch about the herb, followed by a detailed description of it, the parts used, and its traditional and current medicinal use. In addition, relevant research based on active constituents and biological effects, adverse effects, cautions/contraindications, drug interactions and dosing regimens are provided. The introduction provides a nice review of the legislation regarding herbal medicines in the U.S. and Canada. An overview of the various forms in which herbal medicines are prepared is also provided along with a section regarding safety issues, a glossary of botanical medicine terms, and a table matching medicinal herbs for specific health conditions. The thumbnail sketch preceding each herbal section is unique and very helpful, providing the highlights regarding the herb. This book is incomplete in that the content is limited to herbal medicines alone. It does not provide any information about commonly used minerals, vitamins, amino acids, probiotics, enzymes, over-the-counter hormones, or other dietary supplements.
Assessment: This is an affordable and useful guide to a majority of the commonly used herbs in the United States and Canada. The information is concise and efficiently organized. This will be a useful reference for students, healthcare professions and/or the lay public who are interested in gaining an understanding of the proper use and application of medicinal herbs. This book compares favorably to The Complete German Commission E Monographs, Blumenthal, et al. (American Botanical Council, 1998), Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, 4th edition, Jellin, et al. (Therapeutic Research Faculty, 2002), and The 5-Minute Herb & Dietary Supplement Consult, Fugh-Berman ( Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2003).

Rating

3 Stars from Doody




Table of Contents:

Foreword

Introduction

  • Legislation (Canada and US)

  • Botanical Dosage Forms

  • Caveat Emptor

  • Format of Reviews

Glossary

Medicinal Herbs for Health Conditions

Alfalfa

AloeVera

Astragalus

Black Cohosh

Calendula

Capsicum

Cat's Claw

Chamomile (German)

Chaste Tree

Cranberry

Dandelion

Devil's Claw

Dong Quai (Angelica)

Echinacea

Elder

Evening Primrose

Feverfew

Garlic

Ginger

Ginkgo

Ginseng (Asian and American/Canadian)

Ginseng (Siberian)

Goldenseal

Hawthorn

Hops

Horsechestnut

Juniper

Kava

Lemon Balm

Licorice

Lobelia

Ma Huang (Ephedra)

Meadowsweet

Milk Thistle

Nettle

Passionflower

Peppermint

Red Raspberry

Saw Palmetto

Scullcap

Slippery Elm

St. John's Wort

Tea Tree Oil

Thyme

Turmeric

Uva-Ursi (Bearberry)

Valerian

Wild Yam

Willow

References

Index

Saturday, November 28, 2009

3 Fat Chicks on a Diet or Low Fat Low Carb Southwest Cookbook

3 Fat Chicks on a Diet: Because We're All in It Together

Author: Suzanne Barnett

Filled with the sassy attitude and sage advice of three lovable sisters from the South who have been fighting the battle of the bulge for most of their lives, 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet tells everyone who has ever wanted to lose a few pounds how to find dieting success. Because every dieter will try most of the popular diets at some point in a weight-loss struggle, the sisters give you the real scoop—as well as anecdotes and wisdom from scores of their online community of women—on the favorites, from South Beach to the Mediterranean Diet, Atkins to the Zone, and celebrity-driven weight-loss programs to Ediets.

You’ll get so much more than just coffee-klatch gossip:

* The pros and cons of each diet
* Guilt-free ways to snack and still stay with the program
* Straight talk for making the diets work for every meal of the day
* Menu suggestions when dining out
* Delicious recipes to try at home
* And much more!

Best of all, the book offers a fool-proof support system of love and encouragement from women just like you who are trying to win the war with their waistlines.

Just when you think you’re bogged down by calorie counting, the 3 Fat Chicks diet community takes you on a humorous romp through their battles with everything from slimming slippers and fat-away soap to cabbage soup and grapefruit diets. Get the real-world facts that you need to embark on your personal journey to change your weight and your life.

“My weakness has always been food and men—in that order.” –Dolly Parton

“My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four unless there are three otherpeople.” –Orson Welles

“I have gained the same ten pounds so many times over and over again, my cellulite must have déjà vu.” –Jane Wagner

On their lifelong quest to lose weight, Suzanne, Jennifer and Amy Barnett, three delightful sisters from Tennessee, have tried every popular diet. They’ve busted sugar, cut carbs, flushed fat, counted calories, and gorged on grapefruit. They kept hitting roadblocks on the road to skinny until they realized that what they needed didn’t come in a magic pill but in one another.

They started 3fatchicks.com as a way to track their weight-loss progress and found a community of dieters who were also at war with their waistlines and ready to support and encourage them every step of the way. Join the ride as Suzanne, Jennifer and Amy gather up chicks from around the world—from stay-at-home moms to biker-chicks, to sweet-sixteens to high-powered executives—to share their ups and downs of dieting. Here’s what some of them had to say:

From the bedroom:
“Has anyone else noticed a low-carb sex surge? Since I started on Atkins two months ago, my sex drive has gone through the roof, and I have much stronger orgasms!” –Lustful in Louisiana

From the bank:
”If I continue with the LA Weight Loss Plan, I’m going to have to tap into my kids’ college fund to pay for the LA Lites bars! Are there any cheaper options?” –Gina Going for Broke

From the gym:
“I’m on the Total Body Makeover plan, but the word aerobics gives me traumatic flashbacks to the 80s, and I get visions of pink tights and frantic dance movements in time to the soundtrack of Footloose. Can I lose weight without relieving these unpleasant memories?” –Not so Jane Fonda

Library Journal

Barnett is joined by sisters Jennifer and Amy in a frank discussion of keeping off the pounds. With a seven-city tour. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.



Book review: Little Red Book of Selling or Learning to See

Low-Fat, Low-Carb Southwest Cookbook

Author: Anne Greer McCann

This new book reinvents Anne McCann's award-winning and nationally renowned Southwest dishes. Her expert and detailed advice, make this a cookbook especially reader-friendly.



Table of Contents:
Forewordix
The Basics1
Salsas and Dips27
Appetizers and Snacks47
Salads68
Soups, Stews, and Chili88
Main Dishes100
Tortilla Specialties139
Accompaniments168
Desserts184
Index201