Tales from the Medicine Trail: Tracking Down the Health Secrets of Shamans, Herbalists, Mystics, Yogis, and Other Healers - Hardcover

Kilham, Christopher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1579541852 ISBN 13: 9781579541859

Publisher: Rodale/Reach, 2000

Synopsis

A unique combination of adventure, anthropology, and advice on achieving natural health chronicles a quest to uncover the lost wisdom of healers, shamans and medicine men from a variety of cultures and offers information on natural remedies, including Macca, nature's Viagra. $100,000 ad/promo.

About this title

Review:

More than 5.1 billion people--85 percent of the world's population--depend on herbs as their primary medicines. "Herbs can be used to cleanse the bowels, open congested sinuses, help mend broken bones, stimulate the brain, increase libido, ease pain, aid digestion, and for a thousand other purposes," writes Chris Kilham. Kilham is a medicine hunter: he "walks the medicine trail" around the world researching traditional medicines, specifically beneficial plants.

Many other books give the benefits and uses of herbs, but this one is unique because it's a combination travel-herb book: the author takes the reader with him as he travels. We experience the storms, flesh-feeding insects (including wasps, swarms of gnats, flies, and ants) of his storm-tossed journey to the Amazon River and rain forest ("a medicine-hunter's mecca") seeking sex-enhancing remedies that could be marketed in the United States, particularly catuaba and muirapuama. We travel to Bangalore, India, learning about Ayurvedic remedies and methods; Churin, Peru, pursuing maca (a plant reputed to increase strength, energy, stamina, libido, and sexual function); and a remote area of Hawaii for kava ("nature's Valium without the side effects"). We also get to know the people, foods, healing arts, and legends of each region. This is a terrific book for someone who is interested in the healing powers of herbs and who yearns to travel to remote regions (even if vicariously from an armchair). --Joan Price

From the Back Cover:

TALES from the MEDICINE TRAIL In Tales from the Medicine Trail, you are invited to join author Chris Kilham on a quest for the best natural healing remedies, both new and ancient, from the forgotten corners of the Earth. A gifted storyteller and herbal expert, Kilham skillfully combines adventure, history, and anthropology with the latest discoveries in natural medicine. Along the way, he teaches you how to put these discoveries to use--right now--in your personal health program. Kilham's ability to communicate with, earn the trust of, and interpret the healing practices of indigenous people has earned him honor and respect throughout the world. Now, with the Medicine Hunter as your guide through the world's most remote areas, you can harvest today's most potent healing information.

"Tales from the Medicine Trail is a fascinating look at the relationship between indigenous peoples and their medicinal plants, through the eyes of a well-known botanical explorer and raconteur. His style enables the reader to join with him in his many interesting journeys." --Michael Balick, Ph.D. Director of Economic Botany The New York Botanical Garden

"Engaging, yet relaxing and pleasant reading; makes me homesick for the rain forest, a treasure house of undiscovered medicine and great peoples experienced in these treasures." --James A. Duke, Ph.D. Author of The Green Pharmacy and Dr. Duke's Essential Herbs

About this edition

• Publisher: Rodale/Reach
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1579541852
• ISBN 13: 9781579541859
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 292