Throughout the ages, humans have stewarded plants and their properties for whole-body health. One of the best ways to incorporate herbal wisdom into your home medicine cabinet is by utilizing extracts and tinctures.
Boasting a long shelf life and quick, full-spectrum absorption, herbal extracts are a wonderful way to harness the healing power of plants. Offering support in hormonal balance, breastfeeding, general immunity, stress relief, and far beyond, the botanical apothecary all around us is one of God's many gifts meant for our well-being.
Why use an herbal extract over dried herbs?
Teas, capsules, and other herbal modalities will always have their place in a holistic approach to health. That said, herbal extracts are particularly potent and easily harnessed by the body. While herbal capsules and dried herbal teas lose efficacy with storage and take time for our body to process, tinctures and herbal extracts retain potency for up to several years, absorbing speedily so your body can reap the benefits right away.
What's the difference between an herbal extract and a tincture?
In herbalism, a tincture is an herbal extraction using alcohol as a solvent.
The term herbal extract refers to an infusion of botanicals (seeds, stems, leaves, roots, etc) in a solvent, crafted with the intention of extracting benefits and properties from plant matter. The most common solvents are glycerin, water, or vinegar. If an herbal extract uses alcohol as its solvent, it is generally referred to as a tincture.
A bit confusing at first! I like to remember it this way: not all herbal extracts are tinctures, but all tinctures are herbal extracts.
Which is better?
There isn't an across-the-board consensus about tinctures and extracts in regards to their efficacy, because there are different approaches and schools of thought when it comes to herbal constituents and their applications. For example: while tinctures typically have a lower concentration of plant material than other extracts, they're often considered to be more potent than water or glycerin based solutions. However, there are many variables at play in the world of plants, and lower potency extracts are not necessarily less effective. By understanding the strength of various herbs and their proper dosages, skilled herbalists can adjust their approach accordingly. Ultimately, the best herbal extracts to use are ones that have been crafted by trustworthy sources, using plants that were harvested with care.
What are the risks?
Certain herbs carry risks and potential interactions, so it's always important to read up on your crafter's dosage instructions as well as the nature of the botanicals you're hoping to incorporate. That said, our bodies are made to soak in the healing properties of herbs, and a quality tincture is far safer and more nourishing than the synthetic, side-effect-ridden concoctions found in the modern pharmaceutical industry.
I hope this encourages you to explore the benefits of herbal medicine!
To heal, we return to the roots.