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For the entire month of July,
use code hawthorn at checkout
to take 20% off all our online courses!

Sussing out herb-drug interactions is complicated! In this episode we take the example of Celexa + skullcap, and demonstrate the process of investigation we’d use to sort out whether a proposed risk is real.

We start with the Botanical Safety Handbook, because it has certain features which make it significantly better than other manuals or databases. These include the varied relevant experience and skills of the editorial team, its clarity about real vs theorized reactions, and other critical data points which are directly relevant to the herbalist’s practice.

Checking one resource isn’t sufficient, though. We also need to consider the fact that ‘absence of evidence is not evidence of absence’, and remember that constitutional variations can significantly change the efficacy of a given herb for a particular person. Information outside of scientific studies – such as the popularity of an herb or the prevalence of a drug, as well as traditional practices with plants – can help us to orient ourselves more precisely.

For further education about herb-drug interactions:

• Herb-Drug Interactions & Herb Safety – our complete course on this subject teaches you all the ins & outs of identifying potential interactions, avoiding them, and conducting reality checks on information you encounter about these risks.
• The Botanical Safety Handbook – our #1 resource for this information.
• HHP 101: How Herbs Are Different From Drugs – a key episode of our podcast, these concepts are helpful when learning how HDI may occur.

Everything’s on sale in July!

All our offerings are self-paced online video courses. They all with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more!

Use code HAWTHORN at checkout to get 20% off!

If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!!

Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.

Support the show

You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

Our semi-annual 20% off Sale is active now!
For the entire month of July,
use code hawthorn at checkout
to take 20% off all our online courses!

On the top-selling herbs list for 2023 (the most recent data), the herbs in places #16-18 were saw palmetto, cinnamon, and echinacea. In today’s installment of our best-sellers series, we share our views as herbalists on the actions, benefits, and applications of these herbs. All three are long-term residents on the market report’s top 40 chart, and there’s no reason to expect that to change in the coming years.

In this series of episodes, we’re working to present you with the perspective of a practicing clinical herbalist on these very popular plants. In the form of supplements, they’re among the most-taken and most-asked-about herbal remedies for the modern population. Their presentation in the marketplace, though, is generally quite restricted and limited in comparision to both historical and contemporary herbal practices!

These herbs are “good for” more than just what’s on their packaging. Let’s break them out of their pigeon-holes and appreciate their depth & complexity together!

If you’re new to studying herbs, these episodes will armor you with protection against “herban legends” and misinformation about these plants, which is sadly very common throughout the internet of today.

If you’re already a practitioner, well, you know how valuable materia medica study has been, is, and will ever be! Because these supplements are so popular, you can expect many of your clients to be taking them already, and to ask you about them when they come to see you. Best to be prepared.

16. Saw Palmetto – Serenoa repens

• HHP 158: Saw Palmetto Doesn’t Discriminate On Gender
• The Historical Interplay of Plant Biology, Trade, and Human Interactions with Saw Palmetto, Steven Foster

17. Cinnamon – Cinnamomum spp.

• HHP 182: Herbs A-Z: Citrus & Cinnamomum
• HHP 048: Pumpkin Spice – That’s Herbalism Too!
• HHP 035: Cinnamon, Vanilla, & Cacao

18. Echinacea – Echinacea spp.

• The 3 types of echinacea: A comparison of medicinal actions, Ruth Weaver (Herbal Reality)
• Gangrene averted by Echinacea, C.S. Whitford (1908)
• The sustainability of echinacea within herbal medicine, Jonas Brab (Herbal Reality)

Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.

Support the show

You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

Bandaids are undeniably handy, and there are plenty of situations where they do the job that needs doing. But there are also lots of times when a wound is too big, too irregular, or too sensitive for a bandaid to be the best choice. That’s where bespoke bandaging comes into play! You can learn bandaging basics really quickly – yes, even through podcast audio – and that’s what today’s episode is all about.

Bandages are extremely versatile and customizable – even without getting a dozen different types of gauze and pads. Truly, a box of 2″ and 4″ roller gauze, plus some gauze pads and micropore tape, is plenty for most situations you’ll run into. For the purposes of practice, they’re all you need to get started.

When you’re practicing your bandaging technique, your big goal is to make the bandages neat, secure, and yet still allowing for a normal range of motion. The best way to get good at this is to practice. The best way to practice is to get some friends together for a “mummy party”, where everyone gets bandaged by everyone else!

We’re highlighting first aid herbalism on the podcast all month. You can use the discount code FIRSTAID during checkout for $25 off of our Herbal First Aid course for the month of June (2025)!

Our Herbal First Aid course has plenty of video showing you bandaging techniques, tips, and tricks! It also teaches you all the fundamentals of working with herbs for acute care. Wounds, burns, sprains, bites & stings, and emotional first aid needs can all be addressed with herbs!

Like all our offerings, this self-paced online video course comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more!

If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!!

Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.

Support the show

You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!