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Herbs for Health and Healing: Choosing the Best Herbal Products

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Choosing the Best Herbal Products

Herbal preparations are only as good as the herbs themselves. Unless you are fortunate enough to have your own herb garden where you can be assured of quality, you should purchase your herbs from a reputable store or mail-order business.

As with any plant, a number of factors can influence the potency of herbs, including growing conditions, harvesting method, drying and storage processes, even the time of year and time of day when the herbs were harvested. Don't underestimate freshness—the moment an herb is picked, enzymes released in the plant begin to break down its active compounds. Light, heat and air all increase oxidation, which causes herbs to deteriorate.

Store herbs in airtight containers, preferably glass, away from heat and direct sunlight. Herbs in large pieces will keep longer than those that are finely cut or powdered. Plan on keeping leaves and flowers for at least two years, roots and barks for three years. Since there is no exact cutoff date, use an herb's color, taste and aroma as guides to tell you how much potency remains. Even after it is dried, an herb should retain its taste and color, and a fragrant plant should still have its characteristic aroma. For example, if dried chamomile looks brown instead of yellow or if you cannot detect much of peppermint's characteristic fragrance, these herbs are probably no good.

The savvy consumer needs to be open-minded to new, improved methods of extracting and preparing herbs, but wary of sales pitches that promote one product over another. One of the best ways to sort through this marketing confusion is to educate yourself and to seek out a store with knowledgeable clerks. Herbs are wondrous healers, but be realistic about their abilities. Take a hard look at products that sound too good to be true. Do not trust product literature as fact. As with other commodities, herbal advertising sometimes stretches the truth, uses tricky wording or tells only part of the story. Most herb companies claim that their products and processing techniques are the very best. They probably believe this, but that doesn't mean it's true.

Herbal Preparations: Quick Reference

PREPARATIONS TAKEN INTERNALLY
Description	Advantages	Possible Disadvantages
Food	Easy to take.	Small, often diluted doses of medicinal properties; preparation time; limited to foods and herbs that taste good.
Glycerite: Herbs extracted into glycerin. An average dose is a quarter teaspoon or half a dropperful. Dilute in water, tea or juice or it may irritate the mouth.	Quick and easy to carry, makes instant tea, sweet-tasting, easy method for taking strong-tasting herbs, does not contain alcohol, long shelf life, good base for syrup.	Not as potent as tincture, relatively expensive, small selection.
Pills (Tablets and Capsules): Powdered herbs enclosed in gelatin or vegetable-based capsules or pressed into tablets with sticky binders. The typical capsule is "00" size, roughly comparable to half a cup of tea or one-sixth of an ounce of herb. Consult the product label for dosage.	Fast, convenient, easy to carry, wide selection, no unpleasant taste, no alcohol.	More expensive than tea, can't taste bitters (which play an important role in healing), uneven quality, short storage life.
Syrup: Sweetened and thickened tea, tincture or glycerin. An average dose is one tablespoon.	Sweet taste, easy to take, transportable, makes strong-tasting herbs palatable, no alcohol, coats sore throat, lasts a year.	Herbs can be overdiluted; added sweeteners can pose problems for those who suffer from diabetes, hypoglycemia and other sugar "problems"; potential to ferment; very small selection.
Tea: Herbs extracted into water; sold chopped in bulk or in tea bags. Typical dose is one teaspoon of herb for every cup of water, one cup of tea three or four times a day.	Inexpensive, relaxing to drink, very wide selection.	Strong taste with some herbs, does not keep long, does not extract all properties of some herbs, bulky to carry.
Tincture (also called herbal extract): Herbs extracted into alcohol and water. An average dose is about a quarter teaspoon, or half a dropperful. This equals about one cup of tea. Certain tinctures are used externally, mostly as skin antiseptics (the alcohol itself is antiseptic).	Concentrated medicine, quick and easy to take even with strong-tasting herbs, makes instant tea, easily carried, pulls out most medicinal properties, quick effect on body, can take larger doses, keeps for years, good antiseptic base, wide selection.	Contains alcohol, strong alcohol taste, expensive.
Vinegar: Herbs extracted into vinegar. Dosages vary with application, but one or two teaspoons is typical.	Ideal against fungal infections and as a gargle, easy to carry, preferable for some strong-tasting herbs, no alcohol, lasts for years.	Can harm tooth enamel if not rinsed off, strong vinegar taste, not as potent as tincture, very small selection.
PREPARATIONS USED EXTERNALLY
Description	Advantages	Possible Disadvantages
Aromatic Waters: These fragrant waters are either by-products of distilling essential oils (called hydrosols), or essential oils combined with water.	Easy and pleasant to use, already diluted.	Expensive, difficult to find.
Bath: Herbs (quarter-cup), herb tea (four cups) or essential oils (a few drops) added to bath water.	Inexpensive, provides steam treatment and relaxation, can be used for hot or cold therapy to aid circulation.	Takes time and, of course, you need a bathtub.
Body Oil: Herbs extracted into vegetable oil, often olive or sesame oil. A shortcut is to add essential oils to vegetable oil. Depending upon which herbs and essential oils are used, it can be a massage oil, hot liniment, facial cream or skin lotion. These more sophisticated preparations are explained later in this book in their appropriate categories.	Beneficial to skin and complexion, can be applied directly on a skin affliction, adheres well to skin, holds in heat, can be combined with relaxing massage, quick preparation when essential oils are on hand, the base for many herbal remedies.	Must be rubbed into skin, oily, takes longer to act than internal herbal treatments, can stain clothes.
Compress: Cloth soaked in herbal water.	Quick, easy, inexpensive, very versatile; can be combined with hot or cold treatment; provides method to apply tincture, glycerite, essential oils or herb wash externally.	Must be held or tied to skin.
Poultice: Fresh, mashed herbs.	Very effective, especially for infection; no added cost.	Messy, requires fresh herbs, takes time to prepare.
Salve: Herbal oil thickened with beeswax to make it adhere to skin.	Beneficial to skin and complexion, can be applied directly on a skin affliction, adheres well to skin, versatile.	Holds in heat of burn, can stain clothes.

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