Our search tool – the confidence index

A confidence index is generally understood as a way to anticipate the evolution of economic growth. More specifically, the index is a “calculated value that helps to predict future consumption by households or businesses by assessing their confidence in the state of the economy” (wiki).

I can reassure you right away, I am not venturing into this field, my confidence index will have a completely different purpose than to predict your future consumption.

While the aim of the project is to maintain objectivity over time (in fact I am not giving my opinion on plants, I am simply following the guidelines of authors who are highly specialized in their field), I still want to establish trust, in other words additional insurance, to calm and comfort the person in choosing plants for a given ailment.

Trust, trust… it’s a big word!

Indeed, you can never be sure of anything, which is why giving as much certainty as possible about the choice of plants seems to me to be at the heart of priorities.

Let’s take the example of hemorrhoids. I think everyone knows what a hemorrhoid is, but just in case, it is a “varicose vein that forms in the anus and rectum” (Le Robert). It can be extremely painful. So, as I was saying, let’s take the example of hemorrhoids.

Of the few plants already entered in Phyto-info, I have two that are proposed for this small annoyance: yarrow and wild garlic. Suppose you only have one of the two plants available, no worries, you can use it to alleviate this condition, that’s not me saying it but experts in herbal medicine. And if you had these two plants at hand, which would be more effective? The most recommended? How do you know? Well, with the confidence index!

A little bit of math…

• Out of 9 books counted, 9 of them recommend yarrow
• Out of 9 books counted, only 1 of them recommends wild garlic

On a scale of 5, that gives us:

• 9 / 9 = 1 x 5 = 5
• 1 / 9 = 0.11 x 5 = 0.55 rounded up to the next unit = 1

To conclude, we get:

• a confidence index of 5 out of 5 (🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩) for yarrow
• a confidence index of 1 out of 5 (🟩 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜) for wild garlic

The image in this post illustrates the search result. To help you make your choice, the plants are ranked according to the confidence index, the highest at the first position, which should not prevent you from scrolling down the page to show all the options in case you do not have the plant with the best ranking in terms of index at hand.

This clue tells us that if you have a choice of plants, it is better to prefer yarrow since it is mentioned by all authors. On the contrary, if we only have wild garlic available, we know that the plant, even if it is not the most appropriate for this condition (in fact, in the current state of our search tool it is only named once to relieve hemorrhoids), it can still help us: as they say, in the absence of thrush, we eat blackbirds. To summarize, wild garlic is better than no yarrow while waiting for your doctor’s appointment if necessary.

See you very soon for the next phyto-info newsletter!

sylvie