Guest guest Posted July 17, 2001 Report Share Posted July 17, 2001 I am looking for some guidance on herbal pharmacy. Presently I am using Raw Bulk Herbs and make them up fresh as a decoction for my patients. There are several disadvantages to this. for instance Herbs that go bad (or are bought bad) and Lack of storage. One advantage is that I can see the quality of the herb and do not make the mistake of adding the wrong herb (as I fear is more likely in granules or powders). I m pondering the wisdom of changing to a Granular, Powder, or CMS (Liquid) Herb Pharmacy and looking for some guidance. 1. What offers the best patient compliance? 2. What are the shortfalls of granolas or powders that I should be aware of. 3. is an " all organic/wild crafted pharmacy " possible using granules/powders 4. What is the differences between powders and granular? 5. More successful or just more convenient? Personally I feel Patent Remedies do offer the highest profit (time/management wise) as well as patient compliance, but never got really into off the shelf. I guess I always liked to tinker with things. I requested similar information to the major Herbal Pharmacies and received their thoughts so now I am looking for the practitioners viewpoint. If you had the opportunity to redo your herbal pharmacy what would you do? Ed Kasper L.Ac., Acupuncturist & Medicinal Herbalist Santa Cruz, California & www.happyherbalist.com e-mail eddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 17, 2001 Report Share Posted July 17, 2001 In a message dated 7/17/01 8:50:17 PM Pacific Daylight Time, eddy writes: << I requested similar information to the major Herbal Pharmacies and received their thoughts so now I am looking for the practitioners viewpoint. If you had the opportunity to redo your herbal pharmacy what would you do? >> Ed, I would not turn in my raw herb pharmacy for anything because I feel that raw herbs work better, and I have maximum flexibility to make formulas. It is also cheaper for my patients than any other system I have looked at. On rare occasions when things go bad, it is a loss of maybe $3. I tried an experiment recently: I put a few grams of fresh (that is just received) Zi Cao in a glass of water, and older (on my shelf for at least a year) Zi Cao in a glass of water...same quantities. I left them for a few days. My hypothesis was that the newer herb would turn the water a brighter shade of red. Instead, they both colored the water red equally, but the older material allowed a thick layer of mold to develop while the newer herb did not allow one speck of mold! I repeated the experiment, with the same results. I interpret the results to mean that the older herb had lost its ability to clear damp pathogens...does anyone have any opinion on this interpretation? Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2001 Report Share Posted July 18, 2001 , Ed Kasper <eddy@h...> wrote: > 1. What offers the best patient compliance? pills, but they are ineffective for sophisticated practice > 2. What are the shortfalls of granolas or powders that I should be aware of. loss of synergy from cooking (search for synergy in our archives) > 3. is an " all organic/wild crafted pharmacy " possible using granules/powders no, but I don't think this true for bulk, either, if you want a full range of chinese herbs > 4. What is the differences between powders and granular? the critical concern is whether they are extracts or just ground bulk. extracts can be potent and effective in manageable doses > 5. More successful or just more convenient? equally successful and way more convenient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2001 Report Share Posted July 18, 2001 , juliej8@a... wrote: I interpret the results to mean that the older herb had lost its > ability to clear damp pathogens...does anyone have any opinion on this > interpretation? I think your older herb might just have been moldy. p.s. mold on herbs is not a small problem. it may be carcinogenic or immunosuppressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2001 Report Share Posted July 18, 2001 wrote: > > 2. What are the shortfalls of granolas or powders that I should be aware of. > > loss of synergy from cooking (search for synergy in our archives) Some powdered extracts are cooked together then powderized, or extracted, or precipitated. Pick a verb. So, some formulas that come in extract form were actually cooked together. But not all formulas. One of my suppliers offers a list of those that were actually cooked together versus those that are made up of simply mixing the individual powders. > > 4. What is the differences between powders and granular? > > the critical concern is whether they are extracts or just ground bulk. > extracts can be potent and effective in manageable doses One of my suppliers offers ground up bulk for herbs that would otherwise be very expensive or even less efficacious in extract form. I use Chuan Bei Mu in powdered form as well as Hu Po. Thing is, because the formula will then require a much higher percentage of the powdered raw herbs, I like to keep the number of herbs in a formula down to less than 6 or 7 when 75% of the dosage is the one powdered raw herb. > > 5. More successful or just more convenient? > > equally successful and way more convenient My sense is that the raw herbs are more potent, though a study was done in China recently that suggests that they are equally potent. That study came from one of my suppliers so it may be true, but the source has a vested interest in it, so I didn't take it too seriously. Even when I take the powders and stir them into hot water, someof the aromatic diaphoretics are lame by comparison to the raw herbs. Part of the extraction process is to add the aromatic oils back into the product, but just based on my nose, it isn't anything as strong as sticking your nose over a steaming pot of Chuan Xiong Cha Tiao San. I start patients out on encapsulated powdered extracts and if they don't work I'll send them across the courtyard to the Emperor's college pharmacy for a raw herb formula. Location location location. : ) -- Al Stone L.Ac. <AlStone http://www.BeyondWellBeing.com Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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