Plants and their European monographs
- Hawthorn — Crataegus monogyna Jacq. or Crataegus laevigata (Poir.) DC., leaf with flower
European Medicines Agency monograph (EMA/HMPC/159075/2014): traditional use, as a tea, for temporary nervous cardiac complaints such as palpitations; mild mental stress and sleep are recognized for other preparations only. - Rosehip — Rosa canina L., hip
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.
- Seven recipes are remedies, taken on a course. Nothing is gained by drinking them for pleasure.
- Hawthorn, Chapter 27, should not be taken alongside prescribed heart or blood pressure medication without advice.
- 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 27 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