|
|
|||||||
|
Herb Information Index
A | B | C | D | | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M
N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Traditionally, all natural medicine, for thousands of years has
centered around taking fresh or dried herbs and making teas &/or
poultices. When herbs are used this way, the herbs release their
medicinal properties into the warm water for the body to absorb
easily and readily. Patients do not need to have a functioning
digestive system, yet they receive the fullness of the herb
regardless of how sick or stressed they might be. The patient was
urged, in most cases, to drink freely of the tea, and encouraged to
drink as much as they could to aid in their recovery.
Today, most people want convenience first. This puts quality and
cost second and third. Unfortunately, they do not take the time
compare the effects of their new choices with the effectiveness of
the old ways.
When you buy herbs in capsules you are usually paying $80 or more
per pound for a herb that would likely cost you $3-$10 per pound in
bulk. And when you are paying this much for capsules many people do
not take the amount of herb they need to receive a therapeutic
effect. Herbs are not chemicals synthesized in some pharmaceutical
laboratory. They are like food grown in the wild. In most cases, if
you make lots of tea you only make yourself healthier. Most herbs
are hard to overdose on. But you can take too little of the herb and
not see any significant improvements. With capsules this is,
unfortunately, the tendency.
Bulk herbs in general will be fresher and more potent than herbs
packaged in capsules from a commercial packager, who then sells them
to distributor who sells to a wholesaler, who sells to a
retailer. Capsules from the health food store or ordered at most
places on line, though convenient, are often made from substandard
herbs, and usually, by the time they are purchased are several years
old. They cost far more that the original fresh dried herb, and they
are lower in quality. Once ingested the capsule must first be
dissolved by digestive juices, then those digestive enzymes start in
on the herb or root that has been encapsulated. Because of the high
amount of cellulose and other non digestible fibers, only a certain
amount of the medicinal properties of the herb will actually get
digested and into the blood stream. All too soon the contents of the
small intestine are moved on into the large intestine and out of the
body. How much of those medicinal properties you receive will depend
on how healthy your body is, how efficient the digestive tract is,
and the type of herb or root you have taken.
Herbal teas or poultices, on the other hand have the medicinal
properties already extracted for you. There are no fibers or other
things to hinder digestion or hold back nutrients that your body
might need. The tea will be absorbed right into the blood stream
requiring little digestion, and will immediately have an effect.
To infuse the medicinal properties from roots (which often have the
highest concentrations of medicinal properties) you need to simmer
the roots for 20 minutes and for some roots it is best to heat them
to boiling in water, let them set and then re-boil a few hours
later, giving them time to give up their healing and helpful
nutrients. This process, though it takes a while, will make very
potent teas from the woodier parts of the plant. Now in contrast if
you take these roots by capsule much of the plant material just
passes through the system and is eliminated.
Teas made from bulk herbs (leaves) are simply made by steeping the
herbs in boiling water to infuse their medicinal properties. Usually
boiling water is poured over the leaves and left to "steep" for
15-20 minutes. These types of teas, too, are easily and quickly
absorbed with little work required by the digestive system.
There is such a small amount of herb in a capsule (measurable only
in milligrams) that you have to take quite a few capsules to get the
enough of its medicinal properties. When you make a tea from bulk
herbs you use approximately 4 tablespoons of herb for each quart of
tea you make. You would have to take a large amount of capsules to
equal 4 tablespoons of herb.
Capsules are more like taking medicines. They are convenient because you can pop them in your mouth as you rush to work. They are more acceptable because that is how most allopathic medicine is administered. Teas on the other hand require some time to make. They are more natural and more similar to drinking and eating. Many people prefer the capsule route because there is not time involved and no taste. But often times they are spending too much money and/or are not taking enough to be a therapeutic dosage, they are not getting the full food/medicinal value out of the herbs they are taking and the herbs they are taking are not freshly dried or very potent.
When you have bulk herbs on hand you can use those herbs for teas,
for salves, poultices, medicinal oils, shampoos, lip balms, and all
kinds of things. You can have your own homemade medicine chest that
is safe and very effective. We much prefer our salves and other
products to anything the drugstores or the physicians have to offer.
See our "How to use herbs" section for recipes.
If you still prefer capsules, then I would recommend that you buy a
pound of freshly dried herb, capsule filling machine and a bag of capsules
and encapsulate the herbs yourself. We do this for some herbs and
have found we often get over a thousand capsules out of one pound.
If you are taking this herb at a therapeutic dosage then you will
find this much more economical.
For those of you who still want the prepackaged capsules, we do
offer some fresh herbs in capsules here, and some good herbal
formulas in capsules here and they are probably fresher than you
will find any where else.
The Roots of Cleanses - NEW!!
New Pages |
