| Herbal Extracts
(Ethanol) "
Natural ethanol is an alcohol commonly distilled from grain and is
also known as neutral alcohol."
Herbal Extracts are an
herbal food, or combination of foods, diluted in liquids such as distilled
water and ethanol, that may be used as a "natural medicine." Natural
ethanol is an alcohol commonly distilled from grain and is also known as
neutral alcohol. Synthetic ethanol is made from an explosive, inflammable,
compound know as acetylene gas. It is cheap, "lifeless" and un-natural and
should not be used in making herbal extracts.
A frequently asked question
is what herbal extracts are and why do they contain a natural or neutral
alcohol. Herbal extracts are herbal plant foods that have been diluted in
a liquid that dissolves and or suspends them. They are "natural
medicines."
An herbal extract can be
made with something which allows an herb to dissolve in it. This can
include most common liquids, such as distilled water, vinegar, wine,
glycerin (sugar and fat compound most commonly derived from animal tissue)
or a neutral alcohol. When you put an herbal tea bag into a cup of hot
water, the color, taste, and aroma which dissolve into the water make an
herbal extract (or water extract). However, some parts of the herb in the
tea bag do not dissolve in water. Water will not dissolve the oily, waxy,
detergent, enzymatic or hormonal content of the herb. Vinegar, wine and
glycerin will dissolve a small amount of this.
The fact is, a combination
of distilled water and a neutral alcohol is the best fluid known for
dissolving all parts of an herb. A water and neutral alcohol extract
provide an herbal food in a "predigested" form. It should be noted that
when you get the full strength of an herbal food, a little goes a long
way. So don’t overeat. This is a "natural medicine" made from an herbal
food. The concept of moderation is the key. Extracts are intended to be
used to supplement the diet with herbal foods in an easily absorbable
form. Most people are not even aware that they may be carrying around as
much as ten pounds of rather disgusting debris coating the surfaces of
their digestive canal: stomach, small and large intestines. This debris
forms a barrier between the food which is eaten and the absorption of the
needed nutrition. This means the digestive system needs some help. When
you take a look at the digestive canal of the adult, you see a tube or
pipe about 26 feet long which is often clogged or very slow to empty due
to debris or worse yet, if not eliminated, this putrid barrier film can
itself be constantly reabsorbed back into the body. Not only is this
barrier of debris bad for absorption of commonly eaten foods, but also
herbal powders, herbal powders in capsules, herbal pills, and vitamin
tablets. An efficient method is needed to get herbal foods absorbed
through this barrier film and dissolve the barrier itself. Otherwise,
herbs will not nourish and act like the health food books say they should.
Herbal extracts solve this puzzle. Not only can they cross the debris
barrier, they do so rapidly and help to dissolve the barrier in the
process. This eliminates the problem of having to take "114 tablets and
capsules per day to finally get something through the debris barrier and
dissolve it". As a matter of fact, an herbal extract can be applied
externally right over the area where required. This, of course, would be
difficult to do with a capsule of powdered herbs or a tablet.
Depending on the quantity,
a neutral alcohol performs different functions when introduced into or put
on the body. In minute quantities (drops), it acts as a carrier for
whatever is dissolved in it. This goes so far as the alcohol content
actually showing up as reduced, when a complex is formed from the
distilled water, herbs and alcohol. These dissolved herbal food substances
are very easily absorbed by the body. In larger quantities, alcohol acts
as a stimulant. By the glassful, alcohol acts as a depressant to body
functions and an intoxicant. This constitutes abuse rather than use. A
person can tell the difference.
Dr. William Donald Kelly,
author of many books on natural ways to become more healthy, tells us that
the human pancreas (principal digestive organ of the body) actually
produces a small amount of a natural, neutral (ethanol) alcohol on a
constant basis so that we will not freeze. As a further observation, most
mouthwashes and deodorants utilize a fairly high percentage of alcohol
which acts as a carrier for mouth and breath cleansing substances or
deodorant. In many cases, these are extracts of cleansing and aromatic
substances. The alcohol acts as a carrier. If a person can use a mouthwash
or underarm deodorant, they can probably use an herbal extract without a
problem. If they cannot use them without a problem, then they should
probably use capsules, tablets or teas.
A fair question might be
how much neutral alcohol should an extract contain? Roughly, a mixture of
one-third neutral alcohol and two-thirds distilled water will dissolve
enough of the herb so that a person gets the proper nourishment in a few
drops of the extract. When you add more distilled water, then you need
more extract to do the same thing. An extract could be made with so much
distilled water that you would have to consume bottles of the extract to
achieve the same nutritional value you could get in a few drops of a
one-third neutral alcohol extract.
With kindest regards,
Dr. Eugene C. Watkins
B. S. ed., M.S., N.D.
The Center for Building
Better Health Naturally, Inc.
This paragraph contains
a brief description of the reasons for alcohol...
Key Benefits For Using
Alcohol
- " Natural ethanol is an
alcohol commonly distilled from grain and is also known as neutral
alcohol.
- Herbal extracts are
herbal plant foods that have been diluted in a liquid that dissolves and
or suspends them.
- Water will not
dissolve the oily, waxy, detergent, enzymatic or hormonal content of the
herb.
CLARITY OF
EXTRACTS
Some of our liquid herbal
extract products are naturally "cloudy" in appearance due to the character
of the herb or herbs dissolved or suspended in them. No matter how long
they set, they will never appear completely clear. Note: these dissolved
or suspended particles make the product do what it is supposed to.
Occasionally, there will be some settlement of the herb or herbs dissolved
or suspended in the liquid around the sides of the bottle or on the
pipette (eyedropper). The explanation for this is that, with some herbs or
combination of herbs, their particles float in the extract liquid during
the filtering process and later settle some. Temperature and pressure
changes can and do influence this occurrence during and after making an
extract. Also, it should be noted that herbs and good herbal extracts
contain some natural oils, and some of these oil droplets may appear on
the surface of the herbal extract. Both the particles and natural oil
droplets could be removed, but then the extract would not be as strong.
This is part of your guarantee that we put as much herb or herbs as
possible into your extracts. This same occurrence can also be observed in
natural juices where some settlement occurs. Shaking the juice or herbal
extract prepares it for use with its full taste and effect.
COLOR AND
TASTE OF HERBAL EXTRACTS
Herbs come from nature, and
just as no two apple crops from one year to the next, or even any two
apples from the same tree taste exactly the same, so it is with crops of
herbs. This is part of the endless and wonderful variety which nature
provides for you. You may, therefore, notice slight differences in color
or taste from one year to the next. It’s something like your mother’s
potato soup. She can use her recipe and the same ingredients two days in a
row and the soup is always different, but always good. Rest assured, all
of our herbal products do measure up to our known and established
standards of quality and excellence before they are approved for use. This
is so you can rely on them and have what you expect from them when you use
them.
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