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January'08 GREEN TIPS ARCHIVE |
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Featured
Eco-friendly Product
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TIP
OF THE MONTH: Make Your Own Herbal Tinctures
If you have ever enjoyed the medicinal benefits of herbs, you may be inclined
to create your very own tinctures. If you are unfamiliar with herbal tinctures,
they are simply concentrated liquid extracts of dried or fresh herbs in either
an alcohol or vegetable glycerin base. As opposed to herbal supplements and
dried herbs in capsule form, herbal tinctures are more readily absorbed directly
into the bloodstream, due to their liquid state. They also have a longer shelf
life than dried herbs. Because of the preservative properties of alcohol, herbal
tinctures extracted with high-proof alcohol have the longest shelf life of
liquid herbal tinctures. They are also very simple to make. Depending on whether
you are using fresh or dried herb, simply steeping an herb or combination of
herbs in high-proof alcohol (preferably corn grain alcohol), will pull all of
the properties out of the herb into the alcohol. Simply strain the alcohol from
the spent herb and you will have yourself a proper herbal tincture in
concentrated form. The proper ration of herb to alcohol is 1:1 for fresh herbs
and 1:2 for dried herbs. In know it may sound strange to use more fresh herb to
get the same concentration of herbal tincture, however this is due to the fact
that there is more water and chlorophyll making up the overall mass of fresh
herbs than dried herbs. When the herbal tincture is prepared in its final state,
add anywhere from one to twenty drops to any liquid and you will get your daily
dose of medicinal herbal cure! |
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