Customer Reviews

Tyler's Honest Herbal: A Sensible Guide to the Use of Herbs and Related Remedies

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4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Varro Tyler is not the kind of herbalist who recommends apanoply of plant materials to cure every ill. On the contrary -- hewill warn you away from a number of dangerous herbs you'll find trumpeted on the Internet or sitting temptingly on the health food store shelves, and explain why others, while not unsafe, will not do what they ads claim.

Tyler's monographs are interesting as well as informative. In a few concise paragraphs he gives the history of each herb, from its earliest uses right up to what is claimed for it now. He explains the pharmacology of each one in detailed but clearly understandable terms. He tells you what to be careful of -- if you have a certain condition, or take certain pharmaceutical drugs, for example. And, most important, he tells you whether or not it's safe and whether or not he thinks it will work.

Tyler is quite conservative. He cites scientific studies (all meticulously referenced) as evidence for everything he says. He tells you whether the studies were well-crafted or poorly done. He explains why "if it's natural, it must be safe" is not true. But if Tyler says it's safe and probably does what you need, it's worth trying.

With all of the claims for herbs we're bombarded with these days, this is a book I wouldn't be without. Check it before you buy anything, and you'll avoid both putting yourself in harms way, and wasting your money.

I enjoy Mr. Tyler's monthly column in Prevention magazine and expected this book to be similar in scope and format. I was disappointed to find that it wasn't; much of it is written in medical terms but I can't imagine it being detailed enough for use by a physician or phamacist. I found the book I was looking for in "The American Pharmaceutical Assocation's Practical Guide to Herbal Health" (don't let the title scare you, it's straight-forward) by Andrea Piece. I do appreciate Mr Tyler honest assessments concerning the use of herbs; however, for me at least, this could also have been a much better book than it turned out to be. I will continuous to enjoy his magazine articles though.

In writing "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain" I used several references along with literature searches to document pros and cons of various so-called "smart drugs" or "nootropics", many of which included herbal preparations. Tylers reference was by far the most well-documented and most concise review of herbals that I perused. It is a no-nonsense alphabetical guide that everyone who walks into a pharmacy or health food store to buy these preparations should own. May I recommend "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain" as a companion...Ken Giuffre MD

Tylers books seem to try to keep people from trusting in herbs, God's intended healers..... He considers such mild herbs, such as catnip, toxic. He uses a stupid example for it, to. Fermented catnip tea and raisins.... Stay away from this book, unless you are against herbs....

This man hates the use of herbs for health reason and this book is nothing but rubbish. If you are actually interested in the use of herbs then I would suggest you look into another book. If you are interested in spreading hate about herbalists then this is the book for you.

The title is definately false advertising. Honest and "anti" opinionated is not the same thing.

This book will appeal only to people who have vested interest in playing down the effectiveness of herbal products - such as pharmaceutical companies, physicians and others who wouldn't make any money if people didn't need their services any more and were able to heal themselves or maintain good health naturally through the use of herbs.

The title of the book is a misnomer. Tyler doesn't offer any information on how to use the herbs - as a matter of fact, from the way he describes them, you'd be sure he never ever touched, or tasted any herb. If you're read this book, you'll discover that there's no point in using any herbs because there are only two categories for herbs in this book: they either fall in the category of worthless or deadly.

Tyler does his best to downplay or completely disparage the effectiveness of every single herb mentioned, and when he is unable to prove that the particular herb is ineffective, then he states that even though the herb was empirically effective, there is no sufficient research to back it up.

The book is basically loaded with information on why you should not bother using any of the herbs listed in this book - either because in Tyler's opinion they are ineffective or they could be dangerous. And for the herbs that have been proven effective and were in use for centuries, Tyler states how "pharmaceutical industry" lost interest in these herbs. Of course they lost interest - how would they have interest in herbs if they cannot patent that are available everywhere? On the other hand, because of people's interest in herbs, you'll find shelves at your drug store loaded with natural supplements. Some people just don't want to poison themselves with pharmaceutical products (for that matter, you may want to check out compenium of pharamceutical products to find out how deadly side-effects of those can be).

If pharmaceutical industry can not make money, why would they still be interested? And to state that this book is free of commercialism, just "honest" herbal - what a joke!

For burdock, which is a blood purifier, Tyler further states "in spite of its long use as a folkloric remedy, no solid evidence existst that burdock exhibits any useful therapeutic activity." (Burdock happens to be one of the four herbs which have proven very effective in helping people heal innumerable diseases, cancer being one of them, because it does help to detoxify the body.)

About Chickweed, Tyler writes: "Despite the fact that it is prominently listed in almost every catalog of herbs currently available and also that many writers describe it as a valuable herb, I can think of no good reason to allow space to this worthless weed. ... Let's not waste any more time and space on the imagined medicinal value of this ineffective herb." (On a personal note, chickweed is a popular herbal supplement for weight loss...)

And, well, I can only suggest that you invest your money in some other, decent and honest, herbal that actually offers some useful information regarding the use of herbs. Do consult a genuine herbalist who is truly interested in helping people. Tyler's heart only beats for pharmaceutical industry.

People really need to investigate other herbal sources before holding this one in high regard. It seems like Tyler is more determined to be anti-herb than anything else, shunning even herbs that have been shown to be safe in numerous studies and years of use. He even goes as far as to be smugly insulting toward modern herbalists with some of his comments. Countless errors decorate the pages - or should I say soil them? - and there's really nothing I can say about this book that would get this taste out of my mouth. [...]
It's true we need to get the word out about this book, but not as a recommended read.

I just read a 5 star review by "A Customer" that was written very thoroughly and hadn't planned on adding one of my own until I grazed through the 1 star ratings filled with way too much emotions to be taken seriously. I'm a RD and a college professor highly recommended this author stating he was studying herbs long before their popularity. Although he was viewed as a bit odd for his choice of studies back then, now he is highly respected by the medical community.

Mr Tyler states numerous times that the potentially beneficial chemical compounds of these herbs are best found in the fresh plants and are lost (or their preservation cannot be assured) during the process of making pills. It's just like the whole foods notion. Less processing means more nutrients/benefits.