Herb Remedies Tips

Manufactured versus Raw Herbs (#58)

Nearly all of my videos on Youtube are about Chinese raw herbs. This one is devoted to manufactured herbs. In the dictionary, you can find about 1000 different raw herbs. On the other hand, there exist countless manufactured herbs in the form of tablets, capsules, powder, bottled drinks, tinctures, and ointments.

Westerners like to call manufactured herbs patented herbs, thinking that they are like Western drugs approved by government. They are not. Anybody can make and sell manufactured herbs in the marketplace. There are no strict government regulations. Consumers have to find out for themselves about the herbs effects and safety.

Manufacture Methods
Manufactured herbs are made from raw herbs using two basic methods. First, some selected raw herbs are put together in the right quantity. A pulverizing machine turns the mixture into fine powder. Powder herbs are rgularly sold in the marketplace, to be taken when mixing with water. To add more value, the powder herb mixture is molded into tablets. The tablets are packaged into bottles to be marketed to the consumers. Powder herbs are also put into gel capsules to be bottled and marketed.

Second, raw herbs are distilled into a concentrated solution to be made into herbal drinks, tinctures, or ointments. A simple distillation method is to boil the herbs in water to extract their essence into a solution. Flavors and scents are then added. The liquid herbal products are then bottled and marketed.

Convenience
The trend is that manufactured herbs are becoming more popular because of the convenience of use. Like Western drugs, you just pop a few tablets or capsules into your mouth. Unlike the raw herbs, you dont have to go through the hassle of brewing the mixture to make a tea. Neither you have to put up with the bitter taste of the herbal solution.

As for the tinctures and ointment, you can easily apply externally to a local affected area to relieve a problem. You cannot do this with raw herbs for they are normally taken orally for fixing a problem.

Manufactured herbs are also convenient for those herbalists who dont know or are too lazy to write a personalized prescription of raw herbs for their patients. All they need is to find out the symptoms, and prescribe some manufactured herbs according to the labels on the bottles.

Marketing
Manufactured herbs are packaged into nice bottles or containers. They can be easily marketed on TV and newspapers. In contrary, raw herbs with their natural looks in the form of roots, leaves, flowers or seeds are difficult to market. They look natural but not as nice or hip as manufactured herbs.

Effectiveness
How can you tell if a manufactured herb is effective? Like any medicine, you have to take it to find out. For Western drugs, they have been tested in the lab on a small sample of patients or animals. For Chinese herbs, the long history of real-life usage is good testimony to substitute for lab tests.

Manufactured herbs are pre-fabricated in large quantities. The contents cannot be changed, only the dosage. Each manufactured herb brand is made for some specific symptoms for everybody in the world.

On the contrary, raw herbs are put together by an herbalist in a package containing specified quantities of different herbs. If the package does not work for the first time, the herbalist modifies the original prescription by changing the quantities, adding, or subtracting some herbs from the package.

Safety
Due to their gentle nature, Chinese herbs seldom kill unless you overdose for a long time. However, manufactured herbs have no bitter taste because you just swallow them with water. Thus consumers have to be careful not to overdose everyday.

As for the raw herbs, there is lesser tendency for overdose. Why? The raw herbs have some natural inherent prevention against overdose. First, people have to overcome the trouble of brewing the herb tea, so they tend to take less. Second, raw herbs taste bitter and terrible, thus less chance for overdose.

www.herbsandtea.com
September 2009

Duration : 0:10:17

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