Plants and their European monographs
- Calendula — Calendula officinalis L., flower
European Medicines Agency monograph (EMA/HMPC/437450/2017 Rev. 1): traditional use, external only, for minor inflammation of the skin and small wounds and for inflammation of the mouth and throat. - Hibiscus — Hibiscus sabdariffa L., calyx
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.
- Hibiscus stands outside that count: it has no European monograph and so nothing recognized, yet its effect on blood pressure is the best-documented clinical finding in these pages (Chapter 22).
- Hibiscus, Chapters 22 and 25, lowers blood pressure and adds to the effect of medication that does the same.
- 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 22 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