Our
Practices:
Whole
Herb Extracts or
Standardized
Plant Constituents?
As
the widespread use of herbal and natural therapies prove
themselves to be safer and more effective than orthodox
medicines, the pharmaceutical giants are becoming increasingly
anxious to tap into the financial growth of the emerging
herbal market. Standardization is a process where medical
science identifies what they feel is the active ingredient
and attempt to isolated, concentrated and regulate the
potency of the active ingredient for each herbal product.
While standardization may be useful when doing controlled
medical research when precise dosage and response is measured,
often the overall quality herbs are compromised causing
them to be chemically unbalanced. These herbs are then
potentiated to reach certain standardized constituents
making them more drug-like, without the protection of
their natural gentleness and balance. Top
quality whole herbs contain not only the one or two
active ingredients medical science has identified, but
the full range of phytochemicals, those known to science
and those yet undiscovered. One of the greatest strengths
of herbal medicine is the diversity found within each
herb. Unlike drugs, individual herbs are not disease
or condition specific. Within each herb are the cofactors,
synergists, buffers and supporting chemicals that render
the utilization of the active ingredients safe, nontoxic
and balancing to the body. Since all body parts and
systems are interrelated and disease effects more than
one body part, it makes sense to take a complete herb
that will work with each part of the problem rather
than isolated or concentrated standardized "active ingredients".
At
Western BotanicalsTM top quality and fresh
whole herbs are extracted through a tincturing process.
This process effectively extracts the full spectrum
of phytochemicals. Liquid extracts of whole herbs are
shown to be more effective than using herbs in tablet
or capsule form. Herbs grown properly and organically,
then harvested at their peak, provide whole herbs that
meet and exceed the "standardized guidelines". While
we agree that a standardized extract will be better
than using inferior quality herbs, we assert that the
very best nature offers, can only be found in whole
herbal extracts.
What
About Alcohol?
Many
of our Home Herbalist Kits require the use of alcohol.
Grain alcohol is used because it is the purest and most
effective solvent for extracting the bio-active nutrients
contained within the plant's cells, while also carrying
these bio-active nutrients into the bloodstream and across
the cell membranes quickly. Herbs tinctured in alcohol
(which is also a preservative) will stay potent and medically
active for a very long time (years & years), unlike herbs
that are powdered and put in capsules. The amount of alcohol
used in a normal adult dosage in very small. About 1/50
of a small glass of wine or dose of cough syrup. Patients
who are alcohol intolerant or have struggled with alcoholism
have not had any problems with these types of herbal tinctures.
Adding the tincture to hot tea and letting it sit until
cool enough (3 - 5 minutes) to drink will allow the alcohol
to evaporate.
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