Hildegarde of Bingen's Holistic Health Secrets: Natural Remedies from the Visionary Pioneer of Herbal Medicine

by Mélanie Schmidt-Ulmann

A twelfth-century German Benedictine abbess, Hildegard of Bingen is widely regarded as one of the true pioneers of holistic medicine and natural healing, developing concepts that were ahead of their time. This practical book introduces her 10 key principles, including preventative health advice, fasting, the mind-body connection, meditation, and ecological considerations, and brings her original authentic remedies to a modern audience. Discover the healing benefits of key plants and foods―and which ones to avoid―along with recipes for plant-based balms and elixirs. There’s also targeted advice for alleviating common ailments, such as digestive disorders, insomnia, migraines, skin problems, stress, and more.

144 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2019

Reviews

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guess I’m ordering spelt in all its forms now.

[Deborah Makarios · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has a lot of modern alternative health ideas in it, some of which are in some way connected to Hildegarde of Bingen, some of which are asserted as being something Hildegarde would be in favour of (e.g. Bach flower remedies - the author is a practitioner), and some of which aren't connected with Hildegarde at all (e.g. the chapter on healing crystals, which does not even mention her).

There are also a number of assertions which seem highly unlikely if not blatantly incorrect, e.g. identifying citrus fruit such as lemons as being alkaline not acidic, or the idea that Hildegarde of Bingen promoted soy milk - which was invented a couple of centuries after she died.

Despite the title suggesting a "holistic" approach focussing on what we can learn from Hildegarde of Bingen, there is not a single mention in this book of the God she devoted her life (and many of her writings) to. Instead, her rich spirituality is replaced with a bland meditation that is less challenging to the modern palate.

Hildegarde of Bingen was a fascinating woman of many talents and interests, and I'm sure there are some great books out there about what we can learn from her today. This is not one of them.

[Rosemary]

Such a pretty book. Unfortunately there is minimal historical detail and this is more a wellness guide loosely based on Hildegard von Bingen's writings, which is not what I was looking for.

[Georgia Browning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy one sitting read-a few good things to take from it but doesn’t really go into the why and seems very limiting! Beautiful book, but not a huge amount of historical reference more of a how to book