it's not unreliable info, you can really do a lot, most anything, with herbs, that's how people did it before modern synthetic pills (how do you think they came up with all this stuff?)
I love shops like that. Especially the incense smells (my incense never smells like that, just like smoke, lol) I was just in Salem, MA and of course you can't throw a stone without hitting one of those shops. Some are more commercial than others. For instance, a couple came into one while we were in it asking questions about getting rid of negative energies. They guy working the shop didn't even know how to use sage; even I know more than he did and I don't know that much!
Any way, the article does seem dark only because it's such a taboo subject. It's something that most women don't talk about freely, keeping it hidden. Not to mention all the politics involved.