Plants and their European monographs
- Chicory — Cichorium intybus L., root
European Medicines Agency monograph (EMA/HMPC/121816/2010): traditional use for mild digestive disorders and temporary loss of appetite. - Ginger — Zingiber officinale Roscoe, rhizome
European Medicines Agency monograph (EMA/HMPC/885789/2022 Rev. 1): well-established use for the prevention of nausea and vomiting in motion sickness; traditional use for motion sickness, mild spasmodic gastrointestinal complaints, temporary loss of appetite, minor joint pain and symptoms of the common cold — all for the powdered root or tinctures; the monograph has no tea. - Ginseng — Panax ginseng C.A.Mey., root
European Medicines Agency monograph (EMA/HMPC/27744/2023 Rev. 1): traditional use for asthenia, meaning fatigue and weakness.
From “Before You Begin”
The book’s safety page, quoted as it stands. Read the whole page — it is free.
- Seven recipes are remedies, taken on a course. Nothing is gained by drinking them for pleasure.
- Ginseng, Chapters 34 and 38, is the one case where the monograph reports no interaction and the literature is not settled: it has been studied repeatedly alongside anticoagulants and diabetes medication, and if you take either, ask a doctor before making it a regular drink.
- 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 38 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