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What is Herbal Health Information?
Herbal Health Information is the personal website of Linda Bostock, a qualified medical herbalist who describes running busy healing clinics for around twenty years after studying at the School of Phytotherapy in East Sussex. It is not a reference database of herbal facts and figures; the site presents one practitioner's own knowledge, views and experience of treating people with plant medicine.
What you'll find on the site
The navigation points to the main areas: a Herb List, a Health Conditions List, a clinic section, a video herb walk list, a picture gallery, and a safety warning. The stated aim is to build up readers' knowledge of medicinal plants growing in the countryside, and to show how preparations such as herbal teas, decoctions and syrups are made. Herb walks are recorded when weather allows, so the site is a work in progress rather than a finished course.
Who it suits
- People curious about identifying and using wild medicinal plants at home, who want an experienced practitioner's perspective rather than a textbook.
- Prospective patients in the Thames Valley area, where the site says consultations are offered in Reading on weekdays and Eton on Saturdays by appointment.
- Readers who prefer a warm, first-person voice over clinical neutrality.
What to weigh up
The content is explicitly personal and opinion-led, which is its appeal and its limitation: for dosage, interactions and contraindications you would want a more systematic source and, ideally, advice from a qualified practitioner who knows your history. The site itself carries a safety warning, which is worth reading before acting on anything. There is also a promoted ebook on the homepage, alongside the free material, so expect some commercial content mixed in with the herbal information.
A sensible next step is to start with the Herb List and Health Conditions List to see whether the plants and conditions you care about are covered, then check the safety warning page before trying any preparation yourself. If you are considering a consultation, the site gives a telephone number for booking rather than an online form. For broader, more formal plant monographs, Kew Gardens and NHS are useful cross-checks.
How can I book a consultation with a medical herbalist in Reading or Eton?
Book by phone. The site lists a single contact number for appointments: 0771 6013925. Linda Bostock, the medical herbalist behind the site, states she sees patients in Reading during the week and in Eton on Saturdays, so mention which location suits you when you call.
What to do next
- Call 0771 6013925 and say whether you want Reading (weekday) or Eton (Saturday).
- Have your preferred days and times ready, plus a short summary of what you want help with.
- Ask what the consultation involves, how long it lasts, and what the fee is, since the site does not publish these details.
- Ask whether a follow-up is included and what notice is needed to change an appointment.
Practical notes
The site describes the practitioner as a fully qualified Medical Herbalist with twenty years of running busy healing clinics, and it includes a safety warning page alongside condition and herb lists. A consultation is a conversation about your health history and goals, so bring a list of any medicines, supplements or diagnosed conditions. If you take prescription drugs, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are managing a serious condition, say so when you call and check with your doctor before starting herbal treatment.
For background before you ring, the site's own condition list and herb list are the natural starting points. For general safety context on herbal products, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center maintains an about-herbs database, and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health covers herb–drug interactions.
What are the key medicinal herbs and their uses according to Linda Bostock?
Linda Bostock's site presents herbs through her own clinical experience as a practising medical herbalist rather than as a reference database, so the "key" herbs are best understood as the ones she teaches, walks readers through, and uses in her Reading and Eton clinics. The site's Herb List and Herb Walk sections are the places to look for the specific plants and their uses; the homepage itself is largely a welcome and orientation page.
What the site offers on herbs and their uses
- A Herb List — an index of the plants she covers, which is the natural starting point for finding individual herbs.
- A Health Conditions List — a way in by complaint rather than by plant, useful if you are looking for what she associates with a particular condition.
- Herb Walks — identification in the field, reflecting her point that students had to learn what plants look like in the wild and where they grow.
- Preparation guidance — she describes making herbal teas, decoctions and syrups, so the site connects a plant to how you would actually take it.
How to use it
If you want one herb and its uses, start with the Herb List and read the entry alongside the corresponding condition in the Health Conditions List. If you want to recognise plants yourself, the Herb Walk material is the more practical route, since identification in the countryside is a skill she treats as separate from knowing a plant's medicinal value.
A practical caveat
Her own framing is that this is her knowledge, views and experience, not a definitive reference — she says other sites exist for "facts and figures." Treat the herb entries as one practitioner's perspective, and cross-check anything you intend to act on with a qualified herbalist or your doctor, particularly if you take medication or are pregnant. For a broader, more reference-style comparison, RHS covers plant identification and cultivation rather than medicinal use, and the NHS is the sensible place to check interactions and safety.
How do I make herbal teas, decoctions, and syrups at home?
Making herbal preparations at home comes down to matching the method to the plant part: delicate leaves and flowers steep, tough roots and barks simmer, and syrups are a preserved, sweetened version of a strong infusion or decoction. On Herbal Health Information, medical herbalist Linda Bostock says the site will show how to make "herbal teas and decoctions and syrups etc." and describes it as a work in progress built around her own clinical experience rather than a definitive reference — so treat it as one practitioner's perspective, not a complete formulary.
The three methods at a glance
| Method | Best for | Basic approach | Typical feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infusion (tea) | Leaves, flowers, soft aerial parts | Pour just-boiled water over the herb, cover, steep a few minutes, strain | Light, drink fresh, easy to repeat daily |
| Decoction | Roots, bark, seeds, woody stems | Simmer the herb gently in water, covered, then strain | Stronger, earthier, keeps a day or two refrigerated |
| Syrup | Any herb, usually a strong infusion or decoction | Concentrate the liquid, then dissolve in sugar or honey and bottle | Sweet, preserved, taken by the spoonful |
Practical steps
Tea. Use a teapot or a mug with a saucer as a lid — covering traps the aromatic oils that carry much of the effect. One to two teaspoons of dried herb per cup is a common starting point. Steep five to ten minutes for most leaves; longer for tougher material.
Decoction. Put the herb in a pan with cold water, bring to a gentle simmer, and keep it covered for roughly fifteen to thirty minutes depending on how hard the material is. Strain while warm. Because it is more concentrated, a decoction is usually taken in smaller volumes than a tea.
Syrup. Make a strong infusion or decoction, strain it, then reduce it slightly over low heat. Off the heat, stir in sugar or honey until fully dissolved — roughly two parts sweetener to one part liquid is the traditional preserving ratio, though you can adjust to taste. Bottle in a clean, sterilised glass jar, label it with the herb and date, and keep it in the fridge. Discard if it smells fermented, looks cloudy, or grows a surface film.
A concrete scenario
Suppose you want a soothing drink after a long walk. You pick a handful of fresh leaves, rinse them, and steep them covered for seven minutes — done. If instead you are working with dried root, the same leaf method wastes the material; simmer it for twenty minutes and you get something worth drinking. If you want to carry that root preparation to work all week, turn it into a syrup and dose it by the teaspoon.
Before you start
- Identify plants with certainty before using them, especially anything gathered wild. Bostock notes that students had to teach themselves what plants look like in the wild and how to identify them — that identification skill is the real prerequisite, not the recipe.
- Keep preparations in small batches. Without preservatives beyond sugar or honey, they do not keep long.
- Herbs can interact with prescription medicines, affect blood pressure or blood sugar, and are not automatically safe in pregnancy. If you take medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are treating a child, check with a qualified practitioner first.
- A syrup is still a medicine, not a cordial. Measure doses rather than pouring freely.
Next step
Pick one method and one well-known, easily identified herb, and make a single small batch this week. Note the quantities, steeping time and how it tasted and felt, then adjust next time. If you want a practitioner's guidance on specific herbs for a specific condition, Bostock offers consultations in the Thames Valley area and her site includes a herb list, a conditions list and recorded herb walks — useful for building identification and preparation skills alongside your own practice.
Is Linda Bostock's ebook 'How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse Virus' worth buying for health survival information?
Whether Linda Bostock's How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse Virus is worth buying depends on what you want from it. Herbal Health Information presents it as a 260-page illustrated ebook, priced at £4.99/$6.99, framed as health survival information that is "life changing even before the Zombie virus attack." That framing is playful rather than clinical, so treat the zombie angle as a hook, not a claim about evidence.
The site itself is Linda Bostock's personal project. She describes herself as a fully qualified Medical Herbalist with twenty years of busy healing clinics, trained at the School of Phytotherapy, and the site is explicitly her own knowledge, views and experience rather than a definitive reference. That matters for judging the ebook: it is likely to read as one practitioner's practical, passionate guide, not a systematically referenced medical text. If you want facts and figures, the site itself points you elsewhere.
Who it suits
- Readers who want an accessible, illustrated introduction to herbs and self-care, written in a personal voice.
- People who already follow Bostock's clinic work or herb walks and want more of the same in book form.
- Anyone curious about a low-cost, large-format herbal survival guide as a starting point.
Who should look elsewhere
- Anyone seeking peer-reviewed evidence, dosing tables or condition-specific clinical guidance.
- Readers who dislike the zombie-survival marketing style and want a sober reference.
- People who need current, regulated medical advice for a real health condition.
A practical decision test
Before buying, read the Amazon preview the site links to and check two things: whether the table of contents covers the herbs and situations you actually care about, and whether the writing style holds your attention for 260 pages. At this price the risk is small, but the value is in the author's experience, not in the zombie premise.
For comparison, if you want a broader, more reference-style herbal resource, look at established organisations such as RHS for plant identification or NHS for safety and interactions. If you are considering using herbs alongside medication, or you are pregnant, breastfeeding or managing a chronic condition, speak to a qualified herbalist or your GP first; a personal guide cannot replace individual assessment.
What safety warnings should I consider when using herbal medicine?
Herbal medicine deserves the same caution as any active treatment: plants contain compounds that can help, interact or harm depending on dose, preparation and the person taking them. Herbal Health Information itself carries a Safety Warning link alongside its herb list, which is a sensible signal that this material is educational rather than a substitute for individual medical advice.
Practical safety points
- Dose and preparation matter. A tea, decoction, syrup or tincture can deliver very different amounts of a plant's active compounds. More is not stronger in a useful way; it is simply more risky.
- Interactions are the big hidden risk. Herbs can change how the body handles prescription drugs, including blood thinners, diabetes medication, blood pressure drugs and psychiatric medicines. If you take any regular medication, check with a pharmacist or doctor before adding a herb.
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding and children are situations where many herbs should be avoided or used only under professional guidance.
- Existing conditions such as liver or kidney disease, heart problems, bleeding disorders or upcoming surgery change the calculation. Some herbs are best stopped well before an operation.
- Allergy and identification. If you gather plants yourself, misidentification is a genuine hazard. Only use plants you can identify with certainty, and avoid polluted roadside or sprayed areas.
- Stop and seek help if you notice new symptoms, digestive upset, rash, palpitations, unusual bleeding or worsening of the condition you were treating.
A useful decision rule
Treat herbal medicine as something to discuss, not something to self-prescribe from a list. A qualified medical herbalist can take a full history, check interactions and adjust a preparation to you. Herbal Health Information describes the site as one herbalist's personal knowledge and experience rather than a definitive reference, so use it to build understanding and questions, then verify anything you intend to take with a clinician who knows your history. For general medicines information, the NHS website is a reliable starting point.
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