Understanding Our Herbal Methods

Whole Herbal Concentrates vs. Standardized Extracts

Liquid Herbal Extraction Methods

Real Herbal Teas

About Our Herbal Concentrates

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, for example, the circulatory 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 components too. The result is more of the targeted chemical component, but without the synergistic and complementary factors which haven't been tested, studied or isolated, and resulting in a more 'phyto-pharmaceutical' compound. We prefer the wholistic method.

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.

Liquid Herbal Extraction Methods

Our liquid herbal concentrates were made using the traditional alcohol tincturing method. Pure organic (non-GMO) grain alcohol is an effective solvent for extracting and preserving medicinal properties in herbs. Alcohol-based tinctures stay chemically active for many years.

Liquid herbal concentrates in a few drops of alcohol also make an efficient way for the medicinal properties to rapidly absorb into the bloodstream. If taken under the tongue, the absorption time is almost immediately. The amount of alcohol in a normal dose of our concentrates is minimal, comparable to 1/50 of a dose of cough syrup.

If preferred, you can add the concentrate to hot tea and stir, and in a few minutes some of the alcohol will evaporate off. Or pour 2 oz of boiling water into a cup containing the droppersful. Some alcohol will also evaporate for the most part, when you stir it in room temperature water for a minute or two.

Real Herbal Teas

We offer herbal teas with similar ingredients to many of our concentrates because water extraction brings out different properties than alcohol tinctures. These are usually milder properties, so a good way to get maximum benefit is to take both, by putting a few drops of the concentrate into a cup of tea.

Our teas are not powdered and bagged. They are the potent roots, leaves, berries and stems of the plants which you can see, whole chunks retaining their properties until you soak and simmer them. This means they are strong and have a more powerful effect than many processed, packaged teas, and also can be re-used to make more than one pot of tea.

About Our Herbal Concentrates

The combinations of herbs in our concentrates work together to best benefit specific parts or systems of the body, such as the immune system or female hormone system. You can make formulas that include everything but the kitchen sink, but that doesn't mean it's more effective! A formula with 15 different herbs can sound great but some of them can have effects opposite to what you need, or which counteract each other.

For example, some herbal ingredients should be taken with food, while others work best on an empty stomach. Mixing these together isn't effective. A probiotic which should colonize your system is a needless extra cost in an herbal formula intended to enhance stomach enzyme production or clean out the intestinal system. That's why we offer a variety of herbal formulas, to help you focus where you want to experience benefits the most. Our products and cleansing packages are designed to help with different health goals, from naturally boosting energy to achieving a thorough liver cleanse.

We understand that herbal properties vary depending on which part of the plant you are using. For example, the berries of the Hawthorne plant are used in our heart tonic formulas because they have the most benefit to the heart out of the whole plant. There are small amounts of the same properties in the leaves, roots and stem but you don't have to include the whole plant to experience these benefits. Focusing on the most medicinally active part of the plant leaves room for us to include other herbs that create balanced high quality formulas.

Many of our herbal combinations were based originally on formulas by the late Dr. Christopher, a pioneer in the Art of Natural Healing who taught many of the modern herbalists. His theories and successful uses of herbal preparations and tinctures have been utilized for decades.

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