Created thousands of years ago by our herbal ancestors who originally crafted extracts by batching plant material with water; liquid herbal extracts have found an almost permanent place to call home within our cupboards. Among the advantages of herbal extracts are their ability to preserve the active constituents, ease of use and their long shelf life. From here we can effortlessly and conveniently add herbal extracts to our water, tea, juice, or they can be taken directly.
This is a great way to administer the healing power of plants to our seemingly excited and aggravated lives. If you live a time sensitive lifestyle and are unable to find the leisure to make your own preparations, then liquid herbal extracts are the most practical products for you.
Single Herbal Extracts- Tinctures manufactured from just one herb. These are commonly used as a supplement to your daily diet.
Combination Herbal Extracts- Tinctures manufactured with a combination of herbs specifically formulated to assist with particular ailments.
Glycerites- An alcohol free extract manufactured with vegetable glycerine as the base. This form of herbal extract is best suited for children, animals, and those with alcohol intake sensitivities.
Benefits of Tinctures
In our pill-popping world, capsules, soft gels and tablets are very popular. Tinctures, however, have many advantages over these modes of delivery. The bio-availability of tinctures is very high in comparison, because unlike pills tinctures don't rely on digestion to break them down. Tinctures are readily absorbed by the body, beginning their work in the bloodstream almost as soon as they enter the mouth. Which is a very significant benefit. Note also that:
* Tinctures can be applied externally as well as internally.
* Tinctures can be stored for long periods of time, even years, without loss of effectiveness.
* Tinctures can be taken relatively accurately because they are administered in drops.
Why are tinctures alcohol based?
Not only is the alcohol in our tinctures indispensable for extracting the active ingredients of an herb, it is also needed to stabilize and preserve them. As well as limiting microbial activity, alcohol has the ability to inhibit enzymatic or hydrolytic reactions in plant extracts.
Alcohol plays the role of a carrier substance conveying active ingredients within the body. Beyond that, it has been scientifically proven that small amounts of alcohol actually enhance the immune system and its defenses.
The amount of alcohol taken in an average dose of tincture, you'll be surprised to learn, is about the same as what you'd find in an overly ripe banana!
Should one desire, however, the alcohol in a tincture can be almost completely removed by simply adding the required drops to some water that has been brought to a boil. Because alcohol evaporates very easily, almost all of the alcohol will be removed by this method without harm to the medicinal properties of the tinctured herbs. The resulting mixture can be taken as soon as it cools enough to be consumed.
Why do tinctures taste bad?
Many people comment on the sometimes unpleasant taste of tinctures. This is a result of the herbs themselves, which can have a sharp, robust flavour. Often it seems that the stronger and more effective the herbal tincture is, the more pronounced the taste will be. Sometimes the best way to take the recommended dose of a tincture is to put the drops in a bit of water and gulp the whole thing down quickly.
In fact, the taste of a tincture is an important factor in its overall efficacy as the body learns to associate the taste with the healing effects specific to the remedy. It does not take long for the body to register a remedy's taste, which in turn triggers a response in the body, predisposing it and making it receptive to the positive healing properties of the remedy, whether it is a single herb or synergistic combination of herbs. Understanding this process may make taking tinctures a little easier to get used to!
Many tinctures may add to the efficacy of a herbal tea, and this provides a very pleasant way to take a herbal tinctures. For example, in order to enjoy the benefits of a herbal tea a person must often consume rather a lot of it, sometimes five or six cups! However, a dose of Lemon Balm Single Tincture in a cup of Lemon Balm tea boosts the effectiveness of the tea.
