strategies for getting herbs into kids

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

I was wondering if some of you skilled pediatric practioners on the

list would share any strategies you might have for getting herbs into

young children, especially raw herbs.

 

With my own (almost 3 y.o.) daughter, I've managed small doses of

tinctures (with the alcohol evaporated) in a beverage or (my latest

discovery) mixed with liquid vitamins. Parents of patients of mine

have reported good success with these methods as well.

 

I had heard that you could cook water-based decoctions down to further

reduce the liquid, but I usually end up burning the herbs in the

process--and the only success I've had with the end results has been

with gui zhi tang and other sweet formulas. Other formulas I've tried

this method with must have too unpleasant a taste for little

palates.(Is there some refinement to this method that I'm missing? I

usually remove the herbs and just boil down the liquid.)

 

Of course there are jouks and medicinal pastries, but I'm suspecting

these wouldn't pass the toddler taste test, if made with

bitter/cold/sour/etc. herbs, and adding sweetener would kind of defeat

the purpose?

 

TIA,

 

Sarah

 

Sarah E. Rivkin, MS, LAc, Dipl. OM

www.slopeacupuncture.com

[Guest guest]

Hi Sarah,

I have found with most of my child patients, including my eleven year daughter

who has

only ever had chinese medicine when ill, is that most of them can tollerate it

with enough

encouragment. For the smaller kids I use a medicine dropper and just squirt it

into the

back of their mouth. With the smaller ones their dose is usually a dropper full

about six or

so times a day, small dose more often. With the older ones who make more of a

fuss I give

them about a third of a cup or so to drink at a time. Three to four times a day.

I

encourage them to guzzel it fast so they are not savoring it, if you know what

I mean. For

the after taste I sometimes let them have a handfull of raisons, which seems to

help. I

don't think cooking the decoction longer is the best way, as this will just make

it taste

worse. My daughter just finished a round of herbs and this time she told me,

'Dad these

don't taste so bad any more " . Wow I was impressed and was happy that I persisted

after so

many years.

All the best,

Trevor

, " Sarah Rivkin " <saydit wrote:

>

> Hi all,

>

> I was wondering if some of you skilled pediatric practioners on the

> list would share any strategies you might have for getting herbs into

> young children, especially raw herbs.

>

> With my own (almost 3 y.o.) daughter, I've managed small doses of

> tinctures (with the alcohol evaporated) in a beverage or (my latest

> discovery) mixed with liquid vitamins. Parents of patients of mine

> have reported good success with these methods as well.

>

> I had heard that you could cook water-based decoctions down to further

> reduce the liquid, but I usually end up burning the herbs in the

> process--and the only success I've had with the end results has been

> with gui zhi tang and other sweet formulas. Other formulas I've tried

> this method with must have too unpleasant a taste for little

> palates.(Is there some refinement to this method that I'm missing? I

> usually remove the herbs and just boil down the liquid.)

>

> Of course there are jouks and medicinal pastries, but I'm suspecting

> these wouldn't pass the toddler taste test, if made with

> bitter/cold/sour/etc. herbs, and adding sweetener would kind of defeat

> the purpose?

>

> TIA,

>

> Sarah

>

> Sarah E. Rivkin, MS, LAc, Dipl. OM

> www.slopeacupuncture.com

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Sarah,

 

When I was an intern, Dr. Want had two different

methods for getting herbs into children. One was to

powder them and add them to their formula or juice.

The other was to put the powder into the mouth.

 

 

 

--- Sarah Rivkin <saydit wrote:

 

> Hi all,

>

> I was wondering if some of you skilled pediatric

> practioners on the

> list would share any strategies you might have for

> getting herbs into

> young children, especially raw herbs.

>

> With my own (almost 3 y.o.) daughter, I've managed

> small doses of

> tinctures (with the alcohol evaporated) in a

> beverage or (my latest

> discovery) mixed with liquid vitamins. Parents of

> patients of mine

> have reported good success with these methods as

> well.

>

> I had heard that you could cook water-based

> decoctions down to further

> reduce the liquid, but I usually end up burning the

> herbs in the

> process--and the only success I've had with the end

> results has been

> with gui zhi tang and other sweet formulas. Other

> formulas I've tried

> this method with must have too unpleasant a taste

> for little

> palates.(Is there some refinement to this method

> that I'm missing? I

> usually remove the herbs and just boil down the

> liquid.)

>

> Of course there are jouks and medicinal pastries,

> but I'm suspecting

> these wouldn't pass the toddler taste test, if made

> with

> bitter/cold/sour/etc. herbs, and adding sweetener

> would kind of defeat

> the purpose?

>

> TIA,

>

> Sarah

>

> Sarah E. Rivkin, MS, LAc, Dipl. OM

> www.slopeacupuncture.com

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

I have has success using granules and mixing it with chocolate soymilk. It

seems contradictory, esp. if there is phlegm-damp, but I feel that overll it is

worth it to get the herbs in the kids body. First I mix the granules with a

small amt of hot h2o, say 1/4 cup or so and mix well, then add an equal amt of

soymilk. I have also mixed evap. tinctures this way. I'm sure it would work

with raw herbs if you get the right ratio of herbs / chocolate milk to disguise

the taste, although some herbalists would argue that the bitter taste is part of

the therapeutic effect. You can also mix granules into applesauce - this works

well too. Kids also like glycerites such as blue poppy's or western

botanicals.

good luck!

 

Cynthia Splies, L.Ac., RH

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Sara,

 

One of the ways I've found to work quite nicely is to use powdered extracts

mixed with water and glycerin. It can be a thick product at times but the sweet

taste, without the sugar, of the glycerin works quite well. I have used this

method with decoctions as well but it is hard to get parents to decoction herbs

then mix them with glycerin to produce something they can give to their

children.

 

Decoctions are easily reduced using using a double boiler, but I would

recommend removing the herbs after 30-60 minutes. They are not needed at that

point anyway.

 

BTW: It is a fallacy that alcohol evaporates when you put a tincture in hot

water. The bond between alcohol and water are so strong that nearly all the

alcohol is still present even after boiling a mixture of water and tincture for

15 minutes. This strong bond is why the water often gets cloudy when you add a

tincture to it, the alcohol is dropping molecules out of suspension so it can

bond to the water.

 

Good luck,

Thomas

 

 

 

Faculty Department of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

John Burns School of Medicine University of Hawai'i Manoa

Honolulu, HI

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Andrea,

 

I'm assuming you mean powdered, as in put through a grinder, not

granules, right? Any sense, then about dosing? I recall a discussion

about powdering herbs awhile back, but I don't think pediatric dosing

was discussed.

 

TIA,

 

Sarah

 

,

< wrote:

>

> Hi Sarah,

>

> When I was an intern, Dr. Want had two different

> methods for getting herbs into children. One was to

> powder them and add them to their formula or juice.

> The other was to put the powder into the mouth.

>

>

>

> --- Sarah Rivkin <saydit wrote:

>

> > Hi all,

> >

> > I was wondering if some of you skilled pediatric

> > practioners on the

> > list would share any strategies you might have for

> > getting herbs into

> > young children, especially raw herbs.

> >

> > With my own (almost 3 y.o.) daughter, I've managed

> > small doses of

> > tinctures (with the alcohol evaporated) in a

> > beverage or (my latest

> > discovery) mixed with liquid vitamins. Parents of

> > patients of mine

> > have reported good success with these methods as

> > well.

> >

> > I had heard that you could cook water-based

> > decoctions down to further

> > reduce the liquid, but I usually end up burning the

> > herbs in the

> > process--and the only success I've had with the end

> > results has been

> > with gui zhi tang and other sweet formulas. Other

> > formulas I've tried

> > this method with must have too unpleasant a taste

> > for little

> > palates.(Is there some refinement to this method

> > that I'm missing? I

> > usually remove the herbs and just boil down the

> > liquid.)

> >

> > Of course there are jouks and medicinal pastries,

> > but I'm suspecting

> > these wouldn't pass the toddler taste test, if made

> > with

> > bitter/cold/sour/etc. herbs, and adding sweetener

> > would kind of defeat

> > the purpose?

> >

> > TIA,

> >

> > Sarah

> >

> > Sarah E. Rivkin, MS, LAc, Dipl. OM

> > www.slopeacupuncture.com

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thomas,

 

I'm assuming you mean granules here? Is there a specific rationale

behind using glycerin versus something else sweet and viscous that's

not sugar? I once in a pinch used agave syrup to get herbs into my

daughter--would something like this work? Thanks for enlightening me

about the alcohol situation. That's something I hadn't heard before.

 

Best,

 

Sarah

 

,

wrote:

>

> Hi Sara,

>

> One of the ways I've found to work quite nicely is to use powdered

extracts mixed with water and glycerin. It can be a thick product at

times but the sweet taste, without the sugar, of the glycerin works

quite well. I have used this method with decoctions as well but it is

hard to get parents to decoction herbs then mix them with glycerin to

produce something they can give to their children.

>

> Decoctions are easily reduced using using a double boiler, but I

would recommend removing the herbs after 30-60 minutes. They are not

needed at that point anyway.

>

> BTW: It is a fallacy that alcohol evaporates when you put a

tincture in hot water. The bond between alcohol and water are so

strong that nearly all the alcohol is still present even after boiling

a mixture of water and tincture for 15 minutes. This strong bond is

why the water often gets cloudy when you add a tincture to it, the

alcohol is dropping molecules out of suspension so it can bond to the

water.

>

> Good luck,

> Thomas

>

>

>

> Faculty Department of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

> John Burns School of Medicine University of Hawai'i Manoa

> Honolulu, HI

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

For my nine month old daughter, I use the raw herbs in decoction and

boil them down 'til the dose is a few mls, and then basically force her to

drink it with a dosing syringe. She gets over the indignity pretty quickly.

And for an older child it could be added to juice. In China I used to be

prescribed little vials of a gao, or syrup for my son, but once again Id

have to force him to drink it more often than not. You can do the same

thing by reducing a decoction down and then adding sugar or maltose.

(Honey not recommended for infants due to infant botulism, although if

you boiled it, it would probably be OK.) For toddler patients I prescribe

tinctures that can be added to fruit juices, and these are generally more

acceptable. (And then, happily, its up to the parents, not me!)

For my three year old, no matter what form the herbs are in, threats

and bribery generally play a part. (Its amazing what some kids will do

for a marshmallow.

Best of luck,

Lea.

 

, " Sarah Rivkin "

<saydit wrote:

>

> Hi all,

>

> I was wondering if some of you skilled pediatric practioners on the

> list would share any strategies you might have for getting herbs into

> young children, especially raw herbs.

>

> With my own (almost 3 y.o.) daughter, I've managed small doses of

> tinctures (with the alcohol evaporated) in a beverage or (my latest

> discovery) mixed with liquid vitamins. Parents of patients of mine

> have reported good success with these methods as well.

>

> I had heard that you could cook water-based decoctions down to

further

> reduce the liquid, but I usually end up burning the herbs in the

> process--and the only success I've had with the end results has been

> with gui zhi tang and other sweet formulas. Other formulas I've tried

> this method with must have too unpleasant a taste for little

> palates.(Is there some refinement to this method that I'm missing? I

> usually remove the herbs and just boil down the liquid.)

>

> Of course there are jouks and medicinal pastries, but I'm suspecting

> these wouldn't pass the toddler taste test, if made with

> bitter/cold/sour/etc. herbs, and adding sweetener would kind of defeat

> the purpose?

>

> TIA,

>

> Sarah

>

> Sarah E. Rivkin, MS, LAc, Dipl. OM

> www.slopeacupuncture.com

>

[Guest guest]

Have you considered cooking a decoction reducing 1/2 then

straining and adding to either honey or glycerin.

50% honey or glycerin should make a nice preservative as

well.

 

adding Stevia is another consideration.

It seems that adding these sweet things would change the

energy of the formula -- but that it has been recommended

that way when prescribing for children, or of giving

something sweet right after

 

I have a 3 year old and 9 year daughter.

For high fevers I use homeopathy - which they readily take

either as oral drops or tablets, no fuss and effective.

Would like to see some Chinese formula work as well.

 

Ed Kasper LAc. Santa Cruz, CA

[Guest guest]

Yes, Dr. Wang put the herbs in a grinder. I can't

give you specifics, but I saw her do this with two

formulas for one infant - Yin Qiao San and Liu Jun Zi

Tang. The amounts were quite small.

 

Andrea Beth

 

--- Sarah Rivkin <saydit wrote:

 

> Andrea,

>

> I'm assuming you mean powdered, as in put through a

> grinder, not

> granules, right? Any sense, then about dosing? I

> recall a discussion

> about powdering herbs awhile back, but I don't think

> pediatric dosing

> was discussed.

>

> TIA,

>

> Sarah

>

> , Andrea

> Beth Damsky

> < wrote:

> >

> > Hi Sarah,

> >

> > When I was an intern, Dr. Want had two different

> > methods for getting herbs into children. One was

> to

> > powder them and add them to their formula or

> juice.

> > The other was to put the powder into the mouth.

> >

> >

> >

> > --- Sarah Rivkin <saydit wrote:

> >

> > > Hi all,

> > >

> > > I was wondering if some of you skilled pediatric

> > > practioners on the

> > > list would share any strategies you might have

> for

> > > getting herbs into

> > > young children, especially raw herbs.

> > >

> > > With my own (almost 3 y.o.) daughter, I've

> managed

> > > small doses of

> > > tinctures (with the alcohol evaporated) in a

> > > beverage or (my latest

> > > discovery) mixed with liquid vitamins. Parents

> of

> > > patients of mine

> > > have reported good success with these methods as

> > > well.

> > >

> > > I had heard that you could cook water-based

> > > decoctions down to further

> > > reduce the liquid, but I usually end up burning

> the

> > > herbs in the

> > > process--and the only success I've had with the

> end

> > > results has been

> > > with gui zhi tang and other sweet formulas.

> Other

> > > formulas I've tried

> > > this method with must have too unpleasant a

> taste

> > > for little

> > > palates.(Is there some refinement to this method

> > > that I'm missing? I

> > > usually remove the herbs and just boil down the

> > > liquid.)

> > >

> > > Of course there are jouks and medicinal

> pastries,

> > > but I'm suspecting

> > > these wouldn't pass the toddler taste test, if

> made

> > > with

> > > bitter/cold/sour/etc. herbs, and adding

> sweetener

> > > would kind of defeat

> > > the purpose?

> > >

> > > TIA,

> > >

> > > Sarah

> > >

> > > Sarah E. Rivkin, MS, LAc, Dipl. OM

> > > www.slopeacupuncture.com

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Tired of spam? Mail has the best spam

> protection around

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Suprisingly to me at 1st, 50% glycerin will still ferment, but into

butanol (which can possibly be a factor in kidney, liver, thymus and

reproductive dysfunction- PMID: 16154913 ) instead of ethanol. It

takes 60% or 70% to stop fermention of the mixes I've played with.

Honey might do it @ 50%, though.

As far as tinctures go, if we don't mind miniscule amounts of (ethyl)

alcohol being ingested by kids, ethanol plus glycerin (which has a

lower glycemic index than honey) or another sweetner has a more

'rounded' taste to some palletes than just alcohol or a sweetener

alone. There is the question of whether we're awakening a latent

alcoholic's taste for liquor ... . I don't think it's a foreign taste

to in the history of medicine, though (for better or worse).

As a 10 or 11 yr. old kid I learned to take 6 or 8 medium sized pills

at once (we had daily 'supplements' for awhile) and the trick has

served me well through the decades. I see people taking one little

bee-bee sized pill at a time (with trouble) and can see why they think

taking herbs is such a pain. As most of us know though, it's the

mindset that got many of us/them where we are as well as keeping us

here. I used to play around with powdered herb balls using molasses

more for blood xu, barley, rice or cane syrup or sugar for qi xu and

honey for yin xu. I'm sure people can extrapolate variations ... .

Stevia I think is cooling (as is white over darker cane sugar) but it

needs to be a really good extract or mixed with other sweeteners not

to have the saccharine aftertaste. There are some decent lo han guo

sweetening extracts available that could work for more yin xu people

as well. These sweeteners can of course be used with granules or what

have you.

Gus Turpin

 

 

>

> Have you considered cooking a decoction reducing 1/2 then

> straining and adding to either honey or glycerin.

> 50% honey or glycerin should make a nice preservative as

> well.

>

> adding Stevia is another consideration.

> It seems that adding these sweet things would change the

> energy of the formula -- but that it has been recommended

> that way when prescribing for children, or of giving

> something sweet right after

>

> I have a 3 year old and 9 year daughter.

> For high fevers I use homeopathy - which they readily take

> either as oral drops or tablets, no fuss and effective.

> Would like to see some Chinese formula work as well.

>

> Ed Kasper LAc. Santa Cruz, CA

>

[Guest guest]

,

< wrote:

>

> Yes, Dr. Wang put the herbs in a grinder. I can't

> give you specifics, but I saw her do this with two

> formulas for one infant - Yin Qiao San and Liu Jun Zi

> Tang. The amounts were quite small.

 

Granules would be better than raw powders for infants, both in terms of

potency and hygiene. The necessary quantity to get down would be

smaller. Plus, infants don't have very well-developed immune systems

and raw herbs are not particularly clean.

 

Eric

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Eric,

 

That's a good point about cleanliness. At what age would you say you

could try ground raw herbs instead of granules? On a related note,

what about making granules into little honey pills for toddlers?

 

--Sarah

 

, " Eric " <smilinglotus

wrote:

>

> ,

> <@> wrote:

> >

> > Yes, Dr. Wang put the herbs in a grinder. I can't

> > give you specifics, but I saw her do this with two

> > formulas for one infant - Yin Qiao San and Liu Jun Zi

> > Tang. The amounts were quite small.

>

> Granules would be better than raw powders for infants, both in terms of

> potency and hygiene. The necessary quantity to get down would be

> smaller. Plus, infants don't have very well-developed immune systems

> and raw herbs are not particularly clean.

>

> Eric

>

[Guest guest]

Granules, like in the typical Kampo Formulas; HONSO

formulas, are a good option.

But if we need o make a custom formula from bulk herbs ....

 

Here is a recipe for making glyerites from Dried herbs

" Dr Edward Shook Method " from Advanced Treatise on

Herbology.

The proportions as specified are typical of a western

herbalist preparation which is much weaker than TCM

decoction. (IMO)

 

Powdered herb ............. 8 ounces

Distilled water ...............2 quarts (plus a little held

aside)

Potassium Sulphate ........1/4 ounce

Glycerin .......................8 ounces

 

Dissolve the Potassium Sulphate in water, add the powdered

herb and simmer until the liquid is reduced to one quart.

Strain, and again add enough water to just cover the herbs.

Simmer this for 10 minutes. Strain, combine the two liquids

and add glycerin, blending thoroughly. when cool bottle.

 

This is a method where one can make a formula for immediate

use versus the typical tincture that has to be aged before

use. And the remainder may be stored for latter use.

 

Maybe one can substitute Honey for Glycerin, but IMO,

especially for pediatrics I would avoid honey under the age

of 4 unless one did a pre-pasteurization (even on already

pasteurized honey).

 

live free and healthy

 

Ed Kasper L.Ac.,Santa Cruz, CA. 95060

[Guest guest]

thanks, Ed.

 

best,

 

Sarah

 

, " Ed Kasper LAc " <eddy

wrote:

>

> Granules, like in the typical Kampo Formulas; HONSO

> formulas, are a good option.

> But if we need o make a custom formula from bulk herbs ....

>

> Here is a recipe for making glyerites from Dried herbs

> " Dr Edward Shook Method " from Advanced Treatise on

> Herbology.

> The proportions as specified are typical of a western

> herbalist preparation which is much weaker than TCM

> decoction. (IMO)

>

> Powdered herb ............. 8 ounces

> Distilled water ...............2 quarts (plus a little held

> aside)

> Potassium Sulphate ........1/4 ounce

> Glycerin .......................8 ounces

>

> Dissolve the Potassium Sulphate in water, add the powdered

> herb and simmer until the liquid is reduced to one quart.

> Strain, and again add enough water to just cover the herbs.

> Simmer this for 10 minutes. Strain, combine the two liquids

> and add glycerin, blending thoroughly. when cool bottle.

>

> This is a method where one can make a formula for immediate

> use versus the typical tincture that has to be aged before

> use. And the remainder may be stored for latter use.

>

> Maybe one can substitute Honey for Glycerin, but IMO,

> especially for pediatrics I would avoid honey under the age

> of 4 unless one did a pre-pasteurization (even on already

> pasteurized honey).

>

> live free and healthy

>

> Ed Kasper L.Ac.,Santa Cruz, CA. 95060

>

[Guest guest]

, " Sarah Rivkin " <saydit

wrote:

>

> Thanks, Eric,

>

> That's a good point about cleanliness. At what age would you say you

> could try ground raw herbs instead of granules?

 

I wouldn't personally use ground raw herbs at all, except in the

context of single herbs or formulas that are traditionally given as

powders or pills. Some medicinals are best used as powders, such as

notoginseng or amber. Others are valuable and are thus rarely

decocted with the other ingredients, such as Korean ginseng or velvet

antler.

 

At the pharmacy that I used to work at, the boss would make a variety

of powder formulas. To prepare the powders, they would first sieve

the herbs with as loose of a sieve as possible (depending on the size

of the raw material). A shocking amount of dirt comes out, especially

with the fluffy, weedy stuff. Even for decoctions, they would crush

and sieve di long, because some serious filth comes out from those

little guys.

 

Anyway, after sieving the herbs with a coarse sieve to get the dirt

out, they often baked the herbs at a low temperature. This is

especially important if you need to grind sticky stuff like shu di,

but I think they did it for hygiene reasons as well (whether low-temp

baking actually works for that or not, I don't know). After that,

they'd make the powders and honey pills. One of the powders that was

often in use was a stomach powder that had hai piao xiao, ku fan,

huang lian, and high-grade hou po in it; each of these, for different

reasons (potency, proper dosing form, taste, and expense) is

well-suited to use in powders and gelcaps. Most importantly, the

overall formula was potent enough to have gelcaps deliver a meaningful

dose.

 

Personally, the thing that I WOULDN'T particularly endorse is the use

of powders as a substitute for general decoction formulas. For

example, take a case where heat-clearing, toxin-resolving medicinals

are needed. Many of these are fluffy, herby medicinals. The daily

dose of a typical formula commonly exceeds 100 grams of crude drugs

per day. Here, in order to approximate the therapeutic effect that is

the general standard of care in CM, you would need to give the patient

200 gelcaps a day, which is a serious nuisance in preparation alone,

to say nothing of the nuisance of ingestion. Anyone who has been to

China and seen the conditions of those herbs at any step, from the

field to the storage site to the marketplace, would cringe at the

thought of ingesting that much Chinese street dirt. Hopefully the

powder maker sieved it well.

 

As an aside, a good technique for getting dirt out of herbs is to dunk

the herbs in cold water, then sun-dry them or bake at a low temp. If

you like to eat straight gou qi zi, this process will give you nice

clean berries that are much more moist and tasty than eating them

right out of the bag.

 

As for what age to give powders to kids, I couldn't tell you.

Immunity and tolerance for minor contamination varies a lot depending

on whether the kid grows up in an excessively sterile household or

whether they grow up around farms and street food.

 

One final concern about just using powdered herbs is the issue of

minerals. In the formula ma xing shi gan tang, a large dose of shi

gao is decocted with ma huang, xing ren, and gan cao. However, shi

gao is not particularly water-soluble, so its primary goal in the

formula is contribution of its cold nature, rather than actually

introducing lots of gypsum into the body. If you use the same ratio

of ground herbs and eat them straight, the patient will ingest far

more shi gao and far less ma huang, xing ren, and gan cao per gram

than they would ever take in a decoction. This totally changes the

reality of what the patient is ingesting when you give them the

formula. The same problem exists in granule formulas made from single

medicinal extracts.

 

>On a related note,

> what about making granules into little honey pills for toddlers?

 

Do it! Personally, when I eat granules, I often mix them with a small

amount of honey, then down it as a giant bolus. It needs a bit of

chewing and needs some water to wash it down, but it is a good way to

ingest the herbs. You can get a big quantity down without the feeling

of mud that you get from drinking granules in water or the dry muddy

feeling of dumping powder into your mouth.

 

You mentioned gelcaps in another thread... Overall, I think that the

potency of most granules is a bit too low to take them in capsule

form. They are generally better taken in water or taken straight as a

powder, owing to the quantity of powder that must be ingested. At a

standard dose of 18 grams of granules per day, the patient would need

to ingest about 36 packed gelcaps to achieve the correct dose. This

is a bit too much for many people. The one exception I would make is

the gelcapped products that are produced by Blue Poppy. Since those

products are 10:1, the extraction is potent enough to have gelcaps

deliver a clinically responsible dose. However, for children, the

lower dose required might make normal granules like Sun-Ten or KPC

more feasible in a gelcap form. Exceptions would be relatively potent

things like xi yang shen or bitter things like huang lian (the taste

alone!).

 

My two cents,

Eric Brand