Why "Liquid" Extracts?

Liquid Herbal Extracts – Your most effective herbal solution!!
After 30-plus years of manufacturing quality herbal medicines, Herb Pharm continues to produce primarily liquid herbal extracts. While we do manufacture a number of topical products, along with our Super Echinacea® capsules and Pharma Kava® capsules (both of which are made from the dried liquid extract), Herb Pharm remains the leading manufacturer of liquid herbal extracts in the United States. Tens of thousands of educated herb consumers around the country recognize the advantages of taking their medicines as liquids. Medical professionals trained in the use of herbal medicines also prescribe their medicines primarily as liquid extracts. Why?

To help you appreciate the merits of why this simple yet sophisticated method of taking herbal medicines is far superior to taking most capsules and tablets, the following discussion is offered.

Your Body Absorbs Liquids Better
One of the primary benefits of using liquid herbal extracts is that they do not require digestion. You don’t need to extract what is medicinal from the plant cellulose before it can be absorbed – this has already been done for you. As you would expect, liquid herbal extracts are of particular benefit to those individuals who possess impaired digestive function. In many situations where digestion is not optimally functioning, it simply makes little sense to give a medicine in any form, other than liquid.

Tasting the Herb Can Aid Effectiveness
There are five primary tastes in our universe – sweet, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent. Unfortunately, western medical science has mainly researched sweet, salty, and bitter. In each instance, however, science has shown that when a taste is perceived by a taste receptor on the tongue, neurotransmitters are released into nervous tissue fibers that result in signaling the medulla of the brain. In the case of the ‘bitter experience’, once this initial signal from the tongue reaches the medulla, a nerve impulse is then initiated which results in an increase in gastric, pancreatic, gallbladder, and liver secretion. Simply by tasting something bitter you’re able to fortify a myriad of digestive functions.

Fresh from the Field Extraction
Some plants must be extracted in their fresh state, while others must be extracted dried to produce a medicine of any worth. By producing liquid extracts Herb Pharm is able to extract the herb fresh or dried, selecting whichever produces the best medicine. Of course, this is impossible to achieve with crude, dried herb capsules and tablets.

Liquid Extracts Last Longer
Most liquid herbal extracts have an excellent shelf life. This is an important consideration for any individual who stores extracts for personal use, sale, or prescription. As a general rule, liquid extracts containing alcohol have an expected shelf life of 5 years, while those containing no alcohol (glycerites) are best used within 3 years. While the shelf life of many extracts will certainly surpass these estimates, for the safe and effective use of liquid herbal extracts these approximations are best adhered to. In contrast to the excellent shelf-life of liquid herbal extracts, studies indicate that crude, dried Echinacea capsules lose approximately 90% of their activity in a little more than a year from their manufacture date.

Dosing with Drops is Simple & Flexible
The sophistication of liquid extract delivery is no more apparent than when it comes to dosage flexibility. For example, when using liquid herbal extracts a pediatrician is able to give a small child a fraction of a single drop simply by placing one drop of the extract in one ounce of water or juice and administering the appropriate fraction of the solution. You simply cannot do this with any other delivery system.