Whole Herbal Concentrates vs. Standardized Extracts

We follow traditional herbal wisdom and trust the natural intelligence of plants. Our herbal concentrates focus on supporting whole systems of the body, like the circulatory system or respiratory system.

Standardized herbal extracts isolate certain chemicals in plants, leaving out the other beneficial properties. The process used to make standardized herbal extracts is a refining process that isolates certain studied chemicals in the herb, then processes the whole plant to get more of this, instead of using the part which is richest in the desired property that also has complementary components. The berry of a certain herb may have the most potent effects on the heart, but to make an standardized extract, the leaves and stems will also be used for their smaller amounts of it, although they may have non-beneficial or even toxic components too. The result is more of the targeted chemical component, but without the synergistic and complementary factors which haven't been tested, studied and isolated, making a 'phytopharmaceutical' drug.

When you include the entire phytonutrient-rich part of the plant instead of just taking out certain chemicals, you keep the natural balance. This is a safer way to make herbal products because modern science still does not fully understand how individual chemicals in plants work in the body. If you isolate a specific chemical that is safe in its natural form, it can have a dangerous effect when not balanced by other chemicals in the plant. This gives the impression certain plants are not safe, when it's the isolated extract that is out of balance.

Standardized herbal extracts make more sense for controlled medical studies than as herbal remedies. When used as herbal remedies, standardized herbal extracts are chemically unbalanced and similar to pharmaceutical drugs. The whole parts of organic herbs we use for our formulas have active ingredients found in standardized extracts along with all the other beneficial properties in the plant.

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