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| Understanding Herbal Extracts | |
Understanding Herbal Extracts
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VitaNet Staff | 05/13/05 |
Date:
May 13, 2005 10:24 AM
Author: VitaNet Staff
(support@vitanet.net)
Subject: Understanding Herbal Extracts
Understanding Herbal Extracts
Herbalists have traditionally felt that herbs should be used in their whole form to get the benefits of the natural healing substances in them. Others point out that, since herbs do vary from batch to batch in the amounts of these substances they contain, you can never know exactly what you're getting when using an herb as it is picked in the wild or cultivated. Depending on where the herb is grown, and the time of year when it is collected, it may contain widely varying amounts of its important active ingredients.
A new kind of herbal preparation called the 'standardized extract,' solves this problem. Standardized extracts, widely used in Europe, are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. The standardized extract gives a uniform, consistent amount of the key active ingredients contained in an herb, while still retaining the virtues of the whole plant.
The process used to make standardized extracts also allows the active herbal ingredients to be concentrated. Concentrating the active ingredients, for many herbs, gives a major advantage–you get significant benefits without having to consume large amounts of the crude herb. An example of this is Ginkgo biloba extract. Ginkgo extract is fifty-to-one concentrate, meaning fifty pounds of Ginkgo biloba leaves are required to produce just one pound of extract. Ginkgo biloba extract is standardized for a 24 percent content of flavonglycosides and 6 percent lactones. These active ingredients give Ginkgo biloba extract its clinically proven benefits for circulation and memory. Because of this high concentration, Ginkgo biloba extract costs more than crude Ginkgo leaf. But the benefits far outweigh the price difference.
Standardized extracts are "Guaranteed Potency" extracts-the consumer is guaranteed to receive a meaningful amount of the herb's active ingredients in each serving, along with the desired benefits.
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Understanding Herbal Extracts
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