Plants and their European monographs
- Bay — Laurus nobilis L., leaf
No European Medicines Agency monograph. - Cherry — Prunus cerasus L. or Prunus avium (L.) L., leaf
No European Medicines Agency monograph.
From “Before You Begin”
The book’s safety page, quoted as it stands. Read the whole page — it is free.
- Fifteen of the recipes are drunk whenever you like. Make them at whatever frequency suits you, within the limits each chapter gives.
- The cherry leaf of Chapter 18 is cyanogenic: crushing it releases benzaldehyde, which is the almond scent, and hydrogen cyanide, which comes out of the same reaction.
- At the amount Chapter 18 uses it is a flavoring, not a base to brew by the potful; wilted leaves are not to be used at all.
- Pregnancy. Twenty-six of the twenty-eight recipes here are restricted in pregnancy — most because safety has not been established rather than because harm has been shown, but the answer is the same either way. The two that carry no restriction are the rosehip brew of Chapter 26 and the sea buckthorn of Chapter 28, both of them fruits eaten as food across Europe.
The recipe is in the book
Chapter 18 gives the rest:
- the amounts and the steps
- what each plant does in the cup, and on what basis
- who should not drink it, from what age
- how much, and for how long