Elementals Herbs - Resources and Links of Interest

RESOURCES AND LINKS OF INTEREST...

... The internet is a place where anyone can publish so always check the source of your information. Be cautious of commercial sites with information hyped to sell products. The following links include reliable information on both current scientific research and the traditional use of herbs. They are alphabetized, but not categorized because many overlap into several categories. This list expands as I find new sites of interest, so please check back regularly.

ALTERNATIVE HEALTH NEWS ONLINE - – Interesting site set up by a journalist directing visitors to alternative medicine Web sites. You can read the latest health news from Reuters, CNN and The New York Times here.

AMERICAN BOTANICAL COUNCIL – Established in 1988, the American Botanical Council is a member supported organizations providing public education using science-based and traditional information to promote responsible use of herbal medicine. Their journal, Herbalgram, contains industry news, clinical updates, legal information, book reviews, herb profiles – it is interesting and well designed. Membership Organization.

AMERICAN HERBALISTS GUILD – AHG is a non-profit educational organization representing the goal and voices of herbalists. It is the only peer-review organization in the US for professional herbalists specializing in the medicinal use of plants. Newsletter and annual conference.

AMERICAN HERBAL PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION (AHPA) - The leading organization establishing quality-control standards for herbal medicine. Listings of online searchable databases for both traditional uses of medicinal herbs and modern day research.

FLORACOPEIA AROMATIC TREASURES – A source for high quality essential oils. Floracopeia, founded by author and herbalist David Crow, Lic. Ac., supports ecologically sustainable agriculture through the production of essential oils and traditional attars.

HEALTH WORLD ON LINE – Find a CAM practitioner In your area using this free searchable database of over 17,000 health care professionals. Information is divided into different medical practices including herbalism, nutritional medicine, acupuncture/ oriental medicine. Membership organization.

HEALING SPIRITS HERB FARM AND EDUCATION CENTER - Andrea & Matthias Reisen - They sell the highest quality, organic and wildcrafted solar dried medicinal herbs from the Finger Lakes region of NY. Wonderful people who walk their talk.

HENRIETTE'S HERBAL - Henriette Kress is an herbalist from Finland and her site includes classic herbal texts and over 7,000 botanical photos. This is one of the oldest and largest herbal reference sites on the net for both herbal medicine and culinary herb information.

HERB WORLD – Site of the Herb Growing and Marketing Network. Herbal green pages, Herbalpedia, Speakers Bureau, Herb Exchange, even Recipes – everything herbal. Membership organization

HERB CENTRAL - Information on individual Chinese herbs – many with photos. Many western herbs as well. (This site loads slowly)

THE HERB RESEARCH FOUNDATION - A leading source of science-based information on the health benefits and safety of herbs---and expertise in sustainable botanical resource development.

JEAN’S GREENS HERBAL TEA WORKS & HERBAL ESSENTIALS - A retail source for herbs, and supplies. Wide selection of products and very helpful people.

MEDICAL HERBALISM JOURNAL – PAUL BERGNER - A quarterly journal of herbal medicine with thoughtful, well researched articles on Chinese and western herbs for the herbal practitioner. The site contains the content of back issues from 1989 to 2000.You can sign up for a free electronic newsletter on this site.

MICHAEL MOORE’S SOUTH WEST SCHOOL OF BOTANICAL MEDICINE- This site was started in 1994 by Michael Moore and is jam packed with herb information, pdf's, scanned eclectic texts and other classic herbals, photos, illustrations, course manuals, lecture notes, commentary and more.

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH) OFFICE OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS – A source for research based facts on supplements. You can look up any vitamin, mineral or herb and the site will search more than 400,000 scientific abstracts.

NORTHEAST HERBAL ASSOCIATION - A membership organization dedicated to merging the ancient tradition of herbalism with the needs and developments of the modern day Herbalist.

PUB MED – A service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for articles dating back to the 1950s. Easy to use.

PHYTOCHEMICAL & ETHNOBOTANICAL DATABASES – JIM DUKE, PH.D:
Jim Duke, an ethnobotanist formerly with the USDA, maintains this extensive, easy to use database of plant chemical constituents.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HERBAL INSTITUTE TCM HERB DATA BASE - Free access, by password, to sample course materials and a database of over 290 herbs of the Chinese (TCM) materia medica.

SAGE MOUNTAIN HERBAL RETREAT CENTER AND BOTANICAL SANCTUARY - This is home to herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, one of my mentors and a prominent wise woman in the field of herbalism. Sage Mountain is one of New England’s foremost learning centers for herbs and earth awareness. This site has Information on Rosemary’s herbal apprenticeship programs.

UNITED PLANT SAVERS - Their mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come. Membership organization.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

CONNECTICUT HOLISTIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION - Membership organization for a wide range of holistic health practitioners. Local chapter meetings. CHHA promotes partnerships with conventional medicine, academia, industry and government agencies throughout Connecticut

CONNECTICUT HERB ASSOCIATION - Membership organization whose mission is to educate and share the diverse world of herbs with one another and the community.

ORGANIC WHOLE FOODS & SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION - Research and action center for the organic and fair trade movements. A free bi-weekly email newsletter, Organic Bytes, contains environmental consumer and health news.

EAT WELL GUIDE - Enter your zip code on this site for a listing of your local resources for organic and sustainable food sources. Restaurants, independent grocers, CSA’s, etc.

SLOW FOOD USA – the US connection to Slow Food International, is a non profit eco-gastronomic member supported organization that educates people about how their food choices affect the world. Meet like-minded people at one of their grassroots events and celebrate local food sources. Local chapters, known as Convivias, in this area are in Westchester County and New York City.

BETTER SCHOOL FOOD Founded by Dr Susan Rubin, a friend, colleague and former student of Chinese Herbal Medicine; this organization’s mission is to raise awareness of the connection between food and children’s health, behavior and learning. Site has lots of information

HERBAL EVENTS AND CONFERENCES

New England Women’s Herbal Conference – This conference is held in August of each year for the past 19 years. Leading women herbalists and healers come together to share their wisdom on herbs, health and healing. Contact: Katie Pickens, irisherbs@aol.com or phone 802 888 3736

Annual Green Nations Gathering – Honoring the Wisdom of Our Ancestors - Rowe, MA - Classes, emporium, demonstrations, sweat lodge, storytelling and music. Instructors include Rosemary Gladstar, David Winston, Susun Weed and many others.

Building Bridges of Integration– Annual TCM Conference- Educational forum on traditional Chinese medicine for Eastern and Western health care professionals. Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel, East Rutherford, NJ - just outside NYC. October. Contact: www.tcmconference.org for information

American Herbalists Guild Annual Conference – “Creating an Evidence Base in Clinical Botanical Medicine” - Workshops taught by some of the top clinical herbalists from the US, Canada and England. New location each year. www.americanherbalistsguild.com

June 2009: 8th International Herb Symposium, Wheaton College, Norton, MA. A wide variety of classes are offered by the world's leading experts in botanical medicine. Accommodations are comfortable and food is very good. One of the best. Contact www.sagemountain.com for information