St John's wort is very good stuff, however I think for internal use it falls into the category of items like echinacea that should not be used daily on a long-term basis. Everything in moderation in certain categories ... echinacea for instance, an herb I rely on and love, will actually boost your immune system very effectively if taken for 10 days or so, maybe a bit longer. If however you take it long-term, say for 3-4 months daily, it actually has the opposite effect since your body begins to rely on the presence of the echinacea and thus your natural immune system becomes weaker.

Herbs are powerful things and I know for sure that they do definitely work wonders. What are pharmaceuticals?. Also combinations of certain things need to be taken into consideration. Tannins for instance can be good in some instances and can also be harmful, so moderation in the powerful herb category is required. Parsley is something you can eat all you want of every day forever, but echinacea is not.

H. C. A. Vogel's 'The Nature Doctor' is an invaluable reference if you can locate it. Probably still available via the net somewhere. Full of all sorts of herbal remedies. Doesn't give much breakdown on chemical properties, just lots of firsthand experience and stories about curing ailments naturally.

I read somewhere recently that the quackwatch guys themselves were arrested or finally sued bigtime. they are in hiding last I heard.

Lemon balm is suppose to be great, it's another item I have had issues with though that may be because I was also eating feverfew at the time. Feverfew rids you of headaches btw and it works wonderfully for sure, especially fresh (take it a few times a week before the headache starts or at the first sign of one and you will not have headaches, period, much much better than aspirin, use regularly for several weeks then several weeks off, headaches will not return during time off, this is for major migraines btw, the ones that land you in bed for days)... but I may have encountered a problem with it due to heavy metals in my system. I don't want to go into details because I am not sure of what was going on (it's an anti-coagulant and who knows what else) but I can say that it is because of the feverfew (which I have stopped eating, ate it all last summer though) that I realized it wasn't actually my head hurting but it was my teeth aching that caused the headaches. Unfortunately the dentist I found to help was a hack but anyway...

they all grow happily in my flower beds.. echinacea, lemon balm, St John's wort, feverfew, they all spread like the weeds they are too so be careful... what else is in there I will have to go look... oh yea pennyroyal is much better than Off as a bug repellant and safe for the kids, don't eat it rub it on, I had to cut that stuff back the other day it is really getting out of control, no ants or fleas though (rub it on your dog or cat too for safe flea control, lasts for days smells great) and the moles hate it... what else.. I'll get back to you.