Review: Do you believe in magic?
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 08 25, 2013
I read and reviewed "The Ultimate Guide to Witch Hazel" which is another Dynamite Books publication; and like that book, this one is filled with ambiguity, conjecture, contradiction, poor writing and a total lack of formal citations.  In my humble opinion, I don't appreciate books like this which tout numerous unproven medicinal uses for things like witch hazel or tea tree oil yet provide no background on the qualifications of the author(s), their sources or formal citations for the "studies" mentioned.  This book's witch hazel section is, for the most part, the same as "The Ultimate Guide..." book I previously reviewed.The section on tea tree oil gives warnings on the dangers associated with use of this product...thank God for that!  If you think about what you are reading here you begin to see patterns develop.  For example: statements such as, "...experiments have PROVEN that tea tree oil is effective against fungus..." make you think "okay, maybe I'll use it for that", yet six sentences later comes (paraphrasing here for brevity) tests conducted to determine  the effectiveness of tea tree oil on athlete's foot had results which were "not clear".  Now let's see, athlete's foot is caused by fungus...Hummm???  You find these types of  contradictory statements throughout the book.  The very next sentence states that "tea tree oil has often been referred to, as a healer of all ailments".  Really?  By whom?  And does "all ailments" really mean ALL???  Call me stupid, but the book states that "tea tree oil is very toxic if ingested", sooo... how is it going to help with ailments like stomach ulcers or internal medical problems if you can't ingest it?  If it "heals everything", does that mean you can cure a sty by putting it in your eye?  Can you cure intestinal cancer without ingesting it and if so, how...by rubbing it behind your ears???  Honestly, if you read the book you will see that there are many fantastic claims made, but other than casual mention there are NO FORMAL CITATIONS given for any of the "it has been proven" statements in this book.  What you really get here are anecdotes, conjecture, ambigous statements, unproven "proof", smoke and mirrors and...well I hope you get the point.Look, I use or have used all four of these "magical potions" but I'm not buyin' the miraculous claims  made in this book or others of its ilk.  Why?  Because these claims are, for the most part, unsubstantiated and unproven.  Think about it, if you have a vaginal yeast infection, are you really going to coat a tampon with vaseline, apply tea tree oil to it and insert into this very delicate area???  Are you willing to believe that "in olden times, coconut and its oil have been an effective CURE for tumors, typhoid, swelling, sypillis, toothache, tuberculosis, ulcers, upset stomach, weakness and many more diseases"?  If that is the case, why did millions die of many of these diseases before the advent of vaccinations and true antibiotics???  Insanity and ultimately death was the only proven "cure" for sypillis before true antibiotics were discovered.I'm in no way saying that none of these products have value, but the claims of proof, magical properties and cures for disases which have killed and continue to kill millions of people around the world just don't hold water for me.  In addition, writing a book which is filled with typos, omissions, misspellings, misused words and a plethora of other problems lends little to its credibility.I'm giving this one 1 1/2 stars because there are a few tidbits of information to be found here, and in this book, the author did a better job of warning the reader about potential or actual problems associated with the use of these products.  I realize that many conventional doctors are not always big proponents of alternative medicine, but you should certainly discuss the use of products like these with him/her before you begin.  After all, 100% organic grapefruit juice (for example) just has to be GREAT for you, right?  Not always.  Study the internet, Web M.D., The Mayo Clinic and other agencies both governmental and private for PROOF (with citations) about grapefruit juice's negative interaction with medicines. Just because it's "organic or natural" doesn't mean it can't hurt you.  (I'm not slamming grapefruit juice here, I'm simply using it as a verifiable example, thanks).