Commercial formulation practices, Was:decocting versus raw

[Guest guest]

As far as how various companies compound their products, I can tell you that

the last one I worked for, Min Tong, had a pretty amazing process. (I don't

work for them now and I'm not plugging them) The herbs were boiled in a

sealed recurrent cooker, which means that the steam was collected into coiled

tubing and the important aromatics, essential oils, etc, were returned into

the distillation. The traditional Chinese clay herb cooker pot works the same

way, the steam rolls up the inside of the dome and drips the aromatics/oils

back into the brew. That's why, I believe, the spout is lower down at the

side.

 

Second, because the now superconcentrated herb teas cooled down become sticky

thick syrups, it is sprayed into a " flow-coater. " That is a machine that

shoots a fine cloud of yam starch powder (called " dextrose " I believe) into a

chamber that the herbal extract is sprayed on, coating the individual

particles of starch into the easily dissolvable granules that are then sold

by companies like Min Tong and Brion, I believe, which then may be the source

of supply for other companies.

 

The important clinical consideration of that method of formulation is that it

is the closest to actually making the tea/soup/Tang (ah, its been a while,

hope Tang is the right term). Certainly grinding up most herbs and just

putting them into a capsule doesn't adhere to the traditions of formulation

and prescription that they evolved to in China, and their bio-availability is

suspect comparatively. (God, that sounded wordy...bear with me, it's been a

while since I have written anything to anyone about anything other than how

cute my baby daughter is and how long it's been since I got a good night's

sleep...)

 

Tincturing herbs into alcohol of course brings out a whole different spectrum

of active biochemical ingredients, and perhaps makes any formula more

constitutionally heating, though perhaps it delivers herbs to the liver more

effectively. In Ayurvedic herbology small amounts of poisons are added to

formulas to take the herbs " deeper " into the body/organs. Personally, I have

felt good about taking a few formulas prepared that way, and alcohol based

formulas such as Shou Wu Chih are popular and generally regarded as

beneficial. But I don't know the answer to the question of it adhering to

Chinese medicinal standards and expectations of treatment and outcome.

 

Thanks for letting me think about something meaningful I have some arcane

knowledge about! I have been out of the commercial end of the field for a

while now, and I care passionately about the issues of nutritional product

formulation and efficacy from a consumer advocate point of view.

 

Sincerely,

Don St.Clair, LMT

Healing Resources, International

Eugene, Oregon