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People everywhere are hungry for clear, practical, scientifically-validated information about how to make safe and simple use of herbs in their day to day lives. I too was once hungry for this kind of information. I discovered that working (and playing) with herbs did not need to be complex and confusing. It could be sheer pleasure. For me it was like walking down a path where a wonderful surprise is revealed at every turn. |
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In health food stores, pharmacies, and mail order catalogues – these days even in many supermarkets - you will find a confusing array of capsules, pills, tablets, extracts, tinctures and ‘whole herbs’ or ‘bulk herbs’. Here is a rough-guide to finding your way through the confusion.
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BUYING HERBS First find yourself a reputable supplier. I have listed a few under Leslie Recommends but you may have a good local supplier who is even better. Personally, I am wary of buying herbs in health food stores or pharmacies unless they are from a manufacturer or supplier I know. With a supplier you trust and with whom you can discuss your needs you can be sure you are getting a good potency and that the herbs have not been sitting in a cupboard somewhere for years. |
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BULK/DRIED/WHOLE HERBS What you are buying is a bag or box of a specific weight of dried herb, either in its whole form, crushed or powdered. This is the best way to purchase herbs if you want to make teas (infusions), decoctions, or your own capsules, or if you want to use them in pot pourris and sachets. It is also about the cheapest way to buy dried herbs. |
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TINCTURES A tincture uses alcohol diluted in water to draw out the plant’s chemical constituents which dissolve in alcohol and then to preserve them. You can buy tinctures by the bottle. They are pretty potent. Take roughly ½ - 1 teaspoon of an average strength tincture in a little water at a time. Tinctures are best bought from a reputable supplier. You can make them yourself but the process is less accurate than when they are professionally produced. I buy many herbs in tincture form as I find them so convenient. You will sometimes find a figure such as 1:4 written on a bottle of tincture. This gives you the ratio of the weight of the herb – in this instance 1 part of herb – to alcohol/water mix – in this case 4 parts. A herbalist may suggest you take a specific ratio in which case your supplier can advise, but for general usage you shouldn’t need to know the ratio. |
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FLUID EXTRACTS Extracts are sometimes confused with tinctures. Yet they are far more concentrated. They aim to contain all the active chemicals of the plant, not only those that will dissolve in alcohol. Extraction processes vary from pressure rolling to heat treatment to vacuum extraction. They are best left to the experts. Extracts have a limited shelf life too. They should be kept in the fridge. Herbalists often prescribe extracts during an illness rather than using them for prevention. Extracts are also useful to add to a cream or salve for external use: mix ¼ extract into ¾ base. They are pretty strong in their action. |
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SOLID EXTRACTS A solid extract is a fluid extract which has had all of the solvent removed. The solid that is left is then dried and powdered and made into tablets or put into capsules. In solid extracts the measurement 4:1 would mean that 4 parts of the whole herb were used to make 1 part of solid extract. The more parts whole herb that are used to make one part of solid extract, the stronger it will be – 10:1 is therefore twice as strong as 5:1. |
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TABLETS, PILLS & CAPSULES Tablets pills and capsules are available in health food stores and chemists, often more readily than the loose dried herbs themselves. Tablets, pills and capsules usually contain the whole herb, not just the constituents extracted in a tincture or infusion. Therefore in taking them you are making use of the synergy in action between all the constituents of each plant. Choose those from a reputable manufacturer/supplier. Tablets are made from dried plant material - leaves, roots, bark and/or flowers - mixed with a base, sometimes lactose, both to help you hold them in your hand to take them and to aid absorption in the stomach. Pills are, basically, tablets with a coating. If the plant is sticky, smelly, tastes dreadful - or all three - it is more likely to come in pill form than tablet as the protein or sugar coating disguises less pleasant aspects of the plant. Capsules, made of gelatin or a vegetarian equivalent, are filled with dried herbs - even the stickier, smellier ones. They need to be stored in a cool, dry place, but preserve herbs well. You can buy gelatin capsules from a chemist and fill them yourself either with herbs you have dried yourself or with dried herbs you have bought in bulk. The standard 00 size capsule holds about ½ gram (500mg) of herb. Make sure the herb is ground into as fine a powder as possible before filling so that it can be easily absorbed by the body. |
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The classic definition of a herb is a non-woody plant which dies down to its roots each winter. This definition is far too limiting. It was probably made up by 19th Century European botanists who had never seen the rainforest in which, of course there is no winter to die back in. Neither had they ever heard of woody trees and shrubs such as hawthorn and ginko and elder which are some of the best selling herbs on the market these days. I define a herb as a medicinal plant. It can come from any climate and be a leaf, a bark, a flower or a root. It can be home-grown or wild, a weed, a spice, a plant which is used for its healing or culinary or beautifying properties. Once you discover the power of herbs it is easy to become so enthusiastic about them you go overboard trying to use them for everything. It is not wise to take lots of different plants all at the same time. Or you might start to think that since a small amount of something is good for you, taking twice or three times that amount will be even better. It isn’t. If you want safe and sane herbal help here are a few guidelines to follow:
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