The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II Quotes

“Valerian, hops, cramp bark, catnip, and lobelia are all acrid; boneset, blessed thistle, wild lettuce, and blue vervain are nauseant bitters.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“Energetics are cultural; tastes and pharmacology are physical.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“elecampane is a remedy for children who swallow mucus and get an upset stomach—the bitters help digestion.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“The less specific a prescription the more substance it takes to move the organism, the less efficient the herb or formula, and the more likely we are to force the organism to change, rather than gently stimulating it to renewed self-governance.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“The capstone to the entire edifice of herbal medicine is the effective use of herbs, no matter what models we are using to understand the organism.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“When the kidneys are weak there is less stamina and staying power and the person is weakened by any loss of fluids. Therefore, exertion (producing sweat), diarrhea, and sex (fluid secretion) are weakening. There may be excessive menstrual bleeding with weakness after the period.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“In old age the blood can become cold, low, slow, and thick. This results in varicose veins, prolapse of tissues, less blood to the head, dizziness, mental vacuity, decline of mental and physical energy, arthritis, diabetes, stroke, vascular disease, or heart attack.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“the blood in fall and winter is thick, low, and slow. Thick blood slows down and remains deeper in the body. It cannot flow through the small capillaries as efficiently, so the extremities are colder.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“Pungent, spicy herbs stimulate a response through the nasal scent glands that mimics a taste reaction. True acridity, on the other hand, is the sensation caused by bile in the back of the throat. It is the only completely unpleasant taste.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“Hence the alteratives are those agents that promote metabolism. In folk medicine these were traditionally called “blood purifiers” because a poorly burning metabolism often causes toxins that work their way to the surface to cause skin lesions”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“Thus, the depressed tissue state is (1) likely to invite bacterial and parasitic invasion and (2) likely to be encouraged by that invasion. Actual poisons, bug and snake venoms, and unhealthy foods and drinks can also cause putrefaction.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“Stimulants are remedies that increase activity, function, and energy in the tissues and cells of the body.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“In other words, the pungent or spicy flavor is not felt on the tongue but is due to volatile oils stimulating the nose.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“The change from herbalism to commercial drugs is not founded upon “science,” but upon a complex commercial and political plaform supporting a materialistic vision of human life. There is no proof that “herbs do not work.” They are simply ignored and ridiculed. Studies are invented, not to try to show that they work, but designed to demonstrate that they do not.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants

“Vast quantities of government money went into research and development of drugs and food founded on chemistry and mass production. Regulations changed to support corporations and eliminate herbs. At the same time, there was a fundamental change in medicine. Drugs became molecularly specific weapons directed against germs or specific molecular lesions. Herbs, suited to general physiological imbalances, no longer fit the prevailing view of the human body.”
― Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal, Volume II: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants