A Review of Herbal Medicine for Modern Life by Ruth A. Blanding
Thanks for the gifted book to Penguin Random House.
I had a chance to review Herbal Medicine for Modern Life: Traditional Folk Remedies for Everyday Health and Well-Being by Ruth A. Blanding.
Blanding is a modern herbalist, wellness practitioner, and birth worker deeply connected to her multicultural African and Native American ancestry. She blends ancestral “grandmother wisdom” and nature-based practices with evidence-based, whole-being care, seeing herself as an intuitive conduit for the knowledge of the Universe, Elders, and Ancestors.
With 16 years of practice and a lineage of healers, shamans, and medicine people, Blanding combines ancient traditions with her expertise in herbal healing, hands-on care, and meditative practices. She believes everyone can heal and grow, aiming to support, educate, and guide others toward their highest purpose.
Herbal Medicine for Modern Life is a reference book divided into three parts:
Part I: Understanding Herbal Remedies
Part II: Medicinal Plants for Modern Life
Part III: Herbal Folk Remedies for Modern Ailments
Part I — Understanding Herbal Remedies
Part I is an excellent introduction for those new to herbal medicine. As someone who has always found the practice overwhelming (with questions like How many herbs exist? What distinguishes herbalism from herbal medicine? What exactly is a tincture? How long do herbs stay effective in storage?), this section provides a solid foundation. While the book isn’t a replacement for a formal course, it offers enough context to help you create basic remedies.
Though not strictly a “witchy” book, Blanding acknowledges folk beliefs and emphasizes respect for plants sacred to specific cultures. She advises against using certain plants if you are not part of those cultures, highlighting examples like cedar, sage, sweetgrass, and tobacco (sacred to Indigenous Americans); boneset, cotton root, and mullein (sacred to the African Diaspora); and ashoka, bilva, peepal, sandalwood, and tulsi (sacred to Ayurvedic practices).
Blanding covers essential topics, such as sourcing herbs responsibly, understanding terms like fair trade, sustainable, tinctures, and extracts, proper storage, connecting with local herbal communities, and general best practices. She also discusses key ingredients, their benefits and drawbacks, dosages, protocols, and substitutions.
She also explains her selection of ailments, focusing on remedies for the stressors of modern life. Given the turbulent start to 2025, this book feels particularly timely and relevant.
Part II — Medicinal Plants for Modern Life
Part II features profiles of over 30 plants and herbal allies designed to support health and grounding. These herbs are also used in the recipes found in Part III of the book.
Many of them are common kitchen staples, such as black pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, clove, chamomile, ginger, lavender, parsley, and turmeric.
Others, like arnica, echinacea, nettle, pine, raspberry leaf, and skullcap, may be less familiar to casual cooks or tea drinkers but are still relatively easy to find.
The accessibility of these herbs is a major advantage for me. Knowing that an ingredient is already in my kitchen makes me much more likely to try making a remedy.
Part III — Herbal Folk Remedies for Modern Ailments
When selecting remedies for this book, Blanding had a simple criteria:
Remedies needed to address conditions associated with modern living
Remedies needed to be easy enough for anyone to craft them with minimal time and effort
Recipes needed to be accessible and culturally respectful
Remedies needed to inspire curiosity and exploration of folk remedies from their ancestry
I’d say that she was successful.
Here are some of the sections I was most excited about. These are not the only sections or the only subsections. There are seven sections in all.
Protecting Against Environmental Lifestyle Stressors:
Unhealthy Air Quality
Excessive Sitting and Standing
Digital Fatigue
Environmental Toxin Exposure
Managing Respiratory Illnesses and Allergies
Asthma and Wheezing
Coronavirus/COVID (Including Long COVID)
Supporting Sexual and Reproductive Health
Menstrual Disorders
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Uterine Lining Dysfunction
Infertility
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Decreased Sex Drive
Erectile Dysfunction
Menopause/Andropause
These sections and subsections offer a wide variety of recipes, including teas, eye washes, tinctures, balms, capsules, sprays, creams, syrups, infusions, and even lattes. Each recipe comes with clear, easy-to-follow instructions, suggested uses, dosages, and necessary warnings.
While I’ll be skipping the Fertili-Tea on page 179, I’m eager to try the hormone-balancing tea for PMS on page 174. And though I don’t drink often, I’ve been known to underestimate a strong margarita. Thankfully, the Hangover Ease and Liver Support Tincture on page 142 has me covered. For my friend with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), I’ll be sharing the IBS-Ease Tea recipe from page 200.
I was thrilled to receive this book in the mail. It earned a permanent spot on my kitchen counter alongside my other recipe books. The diverse recipes address the realities of modern life, from digital fatigue and prolonged sitting to smoke inhalation. I highly recommend checking it out!
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