Books are the most reliable source of information. They cannot lie, opinionate or alter information in any way. Because the purpose of those who have spent hours and hours writing is precisely to share something useful and true. That is why when I first became interested in healing herbs, I immediately wondered where I could find good herbal books.
Books that illustrated the information in a clear and concise manner that could be understood even without any previous study.
Thanks to some herbalists on the internet, I was able to make a list of the best Herbal books available on the market.
Best Herbal books for learning how to use healing herbs
For each book I will give you a short summary so that you can see which one is right for you.
1. Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use
by Rosemary Gladstar
With this book you can feel safe and follow her advice blindly, for the author is an experienced herbalist who has been involved in natural medicine for years. If you type in ‘rosemary gladstar’ you will also find many of her videos in which she instructs you on healing plants. It is a resource not to be missed, especially for beginners.
The pages contain several photos of each plant with a description of what it is and how it can be used for medicinal purposes. It tells you exactly what to do to consume them in a healthy and effective way.
It is very easy to find your way around the book, there is an index with which you can immediately find the remedy you are looking for. It is very clear and excellent for beginners. It contains a lot of plants and each one has written next to it the benefits and which parts of the plants you can use.
2. Making Plant Medicine
by Richo Cech
This book on medicinal herbs is a classic, giving excellent general advice on how to treat the plants at your disposal.
The uniqueness of this medicinal book lies in explaining things through precise mathematical formulas so that you know exactly how to weigh your plants and the precise amount to use in each recipe. Which is great for if you overdo the ingredients, you risk unwanted effects.
And I take this moment to remind you of something important.
Herbalists study medicine for years before they can sell their natural medicine. That is why these books are used by millions of people and are great to start trying and learning about the plants around you. But remember that whatever you ingest or put on your body, it is not a game so always use your logical sense so as not to risk harming yourself.
I certainly don’t want to make you anxious but I felt it was only fair to remind you to pay attention. .
This book is not only great for beginners but also for those who already have a knowledge base. It explains the differences in the benefits of a plant depending on how you use and cut it. It reads like a real book of magic potions straight out of Hogwarts.
3. Botanical Skin Care Recipe Book
by The Herbal Academy
Often with healing medicine, the focus is more on treating bodily illnesses and sometimes we talk about herbs that help calm the mind. Few times we talk about how to use the available medicinal herbs in skin care.
Tons of people spend hundreds of dollars every year to maintain a young, moisturised and glowing skin. How much more could they possibly get the same effects, if not more, from herbs in the garden.
This book tells you exactly how to start your journey into natural skin care. And most of the ingredients used are very easy to find.
The instructions are clear and simple and there is a solution for whatever you may need.
Best of all, it even teaches you how to create 100% natural cosmetics. Eyeshadow, lipstick, foundation, there is everything. If you are a herbalist with a passion for skincare, this is truly a must-have book.
4. Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients into Foods and Remedies That Heal
by Rosalee De La Foret
The perfect book for lovers of natural cooking. Unfortunately, we are constantly surrounded by ready-made, unhealthy food and because of this, many people ruin their health just to have more ‘time’ which they eventually waste on social media anyway.
Our preference for less healthy options is now a social problem that we must be able to solve if we don’t want to run into serious health problems. The biggest difference between a healthy, energetic body and one that feels sick if it walks 1 km lies in what is on our plates on a daily basis.
Food is our source of energy and life and we must take care of it, lazy or not. This book is a great start to doing just that. It tells you how to use the ingredients at your disposal to create healthy dishes that meet your daily energy needs.
Besides being able to create delicious dishes, this book also gives you great recipes for skincare and mental health. To be healthy inside and out.
5. Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science
by Enrique Salmón
“Iwígara means the kinship of plants and people.”
It is well known that American Indians have always been very close to nature around them, and it is certainly no surprise that they have created excellent recipes for whatever they might need for medicine.
The writer grew up with his mother and grandmother, experts in this type of medicine, who used plants for everything on a daily basis. That is why he decided to give his knowledge to those who were not as fortunate as he was.
The book is filled with many plants and their benefits, illustrated by clear pictures. The plants used are readily available and he also explains their cultivation. In addition to telling you whatever technical things you need to know, he tells you the history of plants and how American Indians referred to them.
6. The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual
by James Green, Ajana Green (Illustrator)
This book focuses less on giving remedies and much more on the different ways in which plants can be prepared. How to make lotions, tinctures and herbal teas. Great if you need to know how to extract essential oils from your plants and more.
How to cut them, which parts of the plant you can use and for what. And at what point in the year you can harvest them.
The book has no pictures to show you in detail what plant you are talking about. Therefore, it is not enough for you to just have this book to start using healing plants in your home, but it is still a great book to have in your library, because it has information that you are unlikely to find in other books.
7. Body into Balance: An Herbal Guide to Holistic Self-Care
by Maria Noel Groves
As I have already reminded you above, you have complete responsibility for keeping your body healthy. This book teaches you how to do just that. This one is not like the others I have presented to you so far.
It is not divided by ‘diseases’ and how to treat them, but instead is developed by body systems. In this way you are able to learn how your body works. And above all, how problems arise and how to solve them with herbs.
It contains many photos to show which plant you need for each remedy. The concept of ‘Body into Balance’ is one of my favourites because it starts from a basis of thought with which I have always agreed. In fact, contemporary medicine has always seemed useless to me.
For goodness sake I am not saying it is not effective, I know it saves thousands of lives every day. But for years I have seen my relatives, and sometimes even myself, take huge amounts of painkillers.
Only to see the same problem recur after a few days.
And I think the same of the much-hated menstrual pill. These things solve the pain, what is manifested, but not the cause. They don’t heal, they only make you believe that they do.
This is precisely why I approached natural medicine, because I realised that it actually goes after the problem and solves it from the source. And if you want to maintain health in the long run, that is what you need.
8. Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine: 550 Herbs and Remedies for Common Ailments
by Andrew Chevallier
This book has a special place in my heart. It is the first one I have read on healing medicine and is perfect for beginners.
The book starts by explaining how medicinal plants work and what their use in medicine originates from. It is good for a general education because it explains the herbal traditions of the various countries of the world. It tells you whatever information you may need. It explains how to grow, harvest and process them to prepare them for use.
It tells you which parts of plants are used in healing, how they are used and the complete recipe. Each page contains multiple pictures with the aim of making it clear what plant is being talked about and to help you memorise its benefits. Each plant is dedicated two or more pages where you will find its history and how to use it.
9. Medical Herbalism: The Science Principles and Practices Of Herbal Medicine
by David Hoffmann (1988-05-04)
This article is a brick but is justified because of the enormous amount of information it contains. First, it introduces us in detail to the various types of medicine.
Then it tells us about all the systems of the body (digestive, cardiovascular, reproductive etc.) and all the problems they can have.
For each of these problems he shows us how to address them using healing herbs. In addition, a section is dedicated to skin health. There is a remedy for everything.
Finally, to make it even more complete, he explains the history of the plants, the pharmaceutical terms, but above all, how to measure them and how to convert measurements.
It costs quite a bit compared to the others, but all the essential material it contains makes it an excellent investment.
10. Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places
by Steve Brill, Evelyn Dean
This latest book shows you natural remedies using more than five hundred different plants.
The forests that surround us contain gold mines in terms of health and every day miraculous plants are trampled on by those who do not know how to recognise them and make use of their principles.
Few people fall into the category of those who do, but you are in luck, because the writer knows and has decided to share all his knowledge in this 300-page manual. And by reading, you too can use his resources.
This book is a little less recent than the others, in fact it was published in 1994. Instead of photos, it contains detailed drawings of the plants, so you can still easily recognise and memorise them.
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