Certainly worth studying, the Commission E monographs detail which herbs are approved or disapproved, along with their uses, dosages, contraindications, adverse effects, drug interactions, and pharmacologic actions. The therapeutic, taxonomic, and chemical indexes are helpful, as is the glossary. While the real Holy Grail was said to have disappeared because its keepers were impure, the fact that 49 phytopharmaceutical companies sponsored preparation of this text does not seem to have tainted its contents. Toxic side effects, however, are less extensively documented here than in The Lawrence Review of Natural Products or Ellenhorn's Medical Toxicology . Thus, no matter how this book excels, it is not the final source.
Many monographs are briefer than terse.
All lack literature references, which denudes their value as believable wisdom. No reason is given, let alone a reference, for this counterintuitive statement. Also missing is exactly which brands were tested an important detail when a monograph warns readers, eg, regarding Ginkgo biloba leaf extract, that the extrapolation of experimental results to extracts other than those investigated might not be valid. Fortunately, the US editors have corrected some deficiencies. There is no evidence that ginger causes harm to the mother or fetus.