by Sharol Tilgner, N.D., Published by Wise Acres Publishing, P.O. Box 1168, Creswell, OR 97426 or www.herbaltransitions.com

This is the best recently published book on Naturopathic Herbal Medicine that is in print. Dr. Sharol Tilgner is an accomplished herbalist and naturopathic physician working in Oregon. There are many wonderful things about the book but most importantly it is well written, thorough and highly practical.

As a Planetary herbalist, I welcome a much needed presentation of the practice of current western herbalism. It is something I feel great about consulting when I want to reference the 170 most commonly used herbs used by an outstanding western naturopath both clinically as well as in my writing and teaching.

The current highest standard of Western herbalism treats according to body systems and Sharol has organized herbs and formulas according to body systems. She also has detailed description of medicine making including the usual tinctures, oils and salves but also dry plant extracts, suppositories and clear calculations for measuring the potency and strength of the final product. This latter bit is hardly available in any western herb book.

She has a detailed description and chart of dosing and a full two pages listing the best ratio of alcohol to water for making tinctures and extracts. There is a chart for harvesting various plants, and dictionaries of herbal properties, actions and preparations.

Sharol’s book is endorsed by Christiane Northrup, M.D., Dr. Jill Stansbury N.D., Dr. Jim Duke and Rosemary Gladstar and of course “unofficially” by myself. The cost is a modest $29.95 but it is one of the best investments anyone who has a serious interest in herbal medicine can make in a book. Sharol also has a beautiful video tape series entitled “Edible and Medicinal Herbs.”

— Michael Tierra L.Ac., O.M.D.