How To Make And Use Herb Preparations

Since the effectiveness and the value of most herbs are greatest when the plants are fresh, the best preparations are usually those you make yourself from freshly gathered herbs. And what a satisfying feeling to be able to identify your remedy in the field and to extract nature's healing elements and put them to use, all through your own efforts) (Some plants, however, should be used only dried or in professional preparations to avoid or minimize detrimental effects. Next best are preparations made from herbs which have been well preserved by proper drying and storage.

But even the best plant materials can be ruined if you use the wrong kind of process in preparing your remedies. The choice depends primarily on the identity of the plant, the plant parts being used, the elements to be extracted (if any), the form in which the remedy will be taken or applied, and the effect to be achieved. Although most of the descriptions in the herb pages include individual instructions for preparing remedies, there are standard methods that you can use in many cases. Wherever the description on the herb page includes no method of preparation (except in the case of poisonous plants), you can use the methods described in this section. A little experimentation will soon indicate the adjustments that need to be made to suit your needs or someone else's.

Don't be impatient, though, if you don't get immediate results from these preparations. Herbs are not one-shot wonder drugs in the modem sense; rather, their effectiveness is based on gradual action to restore the natural balance of bodily functions that constitutes, health. Very few plant remedies produce lasting beneficial effects after only one or a few doses; most treatments involve taking the remedy daily for at least several weeks. Their effectiveness is also greatly helped or hindered by your overall life style, especially your diet. A healthful diet and sufficient exercise to keep your body in good condition are valuable both for preventing much illness and for helping to overcome it when it does strike.

The only prepared remedies that can be kept for any length of time are ointments and those made with alcohol. The alcohol will preserve the latter, and a little gum benzoin or tincture or benzoin (a drop per ounce of fat) will preserve salves or ointments made with a perishable base.. Make infusions, decoctions, cold extracts, juice, poultices, and fomentation fresh each time. Whenever you do store any plant preparations, sterilize the containers before putting,the-preparations in them.
The following types of preparations are those most commonly and conveniently used in herbal medicine. The doses given are for average adult use and must be adjusted for age and condition. For children and weak or elderly people (or when using very potent plants), use one-third to two-thirds the adult dose.

Herbal teas and decoctions

Herbal decoctions and herbal teas can be used on their own or as ingredients in water-based applications (creams, lotions, skin toners, after-shave spritzes, and body mists).

Making your own herbal decoctions and teas is very simple. Choose the herb or combination of herbs based on application and skin type, and proceed as follows:

Infusion

An infusion is a beverage made like tea, by combining boiling water with the plants (usually the green parts or the flowers) and steeping to extract their active ingredients. The relatively short exposure to heat in this method of preparation minimizes the loss of volatile elements.

Herbal tea

Most often the water is poured over the plants, but some recipes require that the plants be added to boiling water, the pot then being immediately removed from the heat.

• Bring to the boil two cups of distilled or purified water in a stainless steel or heat resistant glass/ceramic jug.
  
• Add 1 or 2 teaspoon of herb.
  
• Allow to steep for 3 to 5 minutes.
  
• Strain and pour directly into a sterile glass bottle (if you are planning to use this tea as is), or into a suitable sterile container if you are using the tea for a more complex application.

The usual amounts are about ½ to 1 oz. to a pint of water. Use an enamel, porcelain, or glass pot to steep the plants for about 10 minutes; then cover the pot with a tightfitting lid to minimize evaporation. For drinking, strain the infusion into a cup or glass. Sometimes sugar or honey is added to. improve the taste. For most purposes; take the infusion lukewarm or cool; but to induce sweating and to break up a cold or a cough, take it hot. Most herb teas are taken over a period of time in small, regular doses ranging from a teaspoon to a mouthful. The cumulative daily dose usually ranges from 1 to 4 cups, depending on the severity of the problem and the potency of the plant.

Herbal teas will keep up to 3 days if kept refrigerated. If you wish to add herbal teas to your skin care applications, you might need to add appropriate preservatives and/or anti-oxidants.

Herbal decoction

When you want to extract primarily the mineral salts and bitter principles of plants, rather than vitamins and volatile ingredients, decoction is your method of preparation. Hard materials, such as roots, wood, bark, and seeds, also generally require boiling to extract their active ingredients.

• Add 1 to 3 tablespoons (15ml) of fresh or dried herbs to 2 to 4 cups of distilled or purified water.
  
• llow to steep in cool water for a few minutes.
  
• Bring to a slow boil and simmer on very low heat for 10 to 30 minutes.
  
• Strain and pour directly into a sterile glass bottle (if you are planning to use this decoction as is), or into a suitable sterile container if you are using the tea for a more complex application.

Boil about a half ounce plant parts per cup of water in an enamelled or nonmetallic pot. Green plant parts can be added to cold water, brought to a boil, and boiled for 3 to 4 minutes; or they can be added to boiling water and then boiled for the same time. The mixture then steeps with a cover on the pot for 2 to 3. minutes. Hard materials need boiling for about 10 minutes and longer steeping to extract their ingredients. Strain out the plant parts before drinking or using the decoction. Directions for taking decoctions are the same as for infusions.

Herbal decoctions will keep up to 3 days if kept refrigerated. If you wish to add herbal teas to your skin care applications, you might need to add appropriate preservatives and/or anti-oxidants.

Infused oils are similar to essential oils, in that they have many of the same properties, and can also retain the benefits of other plant constituents that are not present in essential oils. Herbal infused oils can effectively replace essential oils when the herb or plant materials have a very low yield in volatile constituents, and would therefore be too expensive for the production of essential oils. Another advantage of herbal infused oils is that they can be easily prepared at home, and do not require any special equipment. Also, because they are not as concentrated as essential oils are, infused oils can often be used without further dilution.

As the water content in fresh herbs might encourage the growth of fungi (mould) and bacteria, infused oils are best prepared from fully dried plant materials.

After choosing the herb or combination of herbs based on application and skin type, prepare your herbal infused oils as follows:

• Half-fill a mason jar (a heat resistant glass jar, with an air-tight cap) with well dried plant material. The plant material should be crushed or crumbled, but not powdered.
• Add to the jar with the herbs a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar for every cup of oil that you're going to use. As with the plant material amount, this is based on the volume of the jar.
• Place the lid on and shake vigorously to distribute the vinegar. Shake the jar several times, over a few hours. Vinegar acts as a mild solvent, and helps release constituents that are not oil-soluble.
• Fill the jar with a cold pressed oil that has good keeping (shelf life) qualities. Jojoba, macadamia and high-oleic sunflower oil are all suitable for herbal infused oils.
• Firmly fasten the cap, and keep the jar with the oil infusion in a warm place (45ºC / 113ºF) for at least 24 hours.
• *Gentle heat and a sufficiently long steeping time are fundamental to extract from the plant material its beneficial properties without losing the most volatile constituents, which would evaporate if the infusion is exposed to high temperatures. You can for instance keep your jar on a sunny windowsill, or place it in an "incubation box" heated by a reading lamp, or use a crockpot on the appropriate setting (remember, the temperature should never go above 50ºC / 122º F).
• At the end of the steeping period, filter the oil through a sieve and then through a cheesecloth.
• If you want to keep your oil as a "single infusion", squeeze well the cheesecloth to reclaim as much oil as possible.
• Double and triple strength infused oils are made by adding the infused oil to a new batch of plant material, and repeating the process.
  

Cold Extract

Preparation with cold water will effectively preserve the most volatile ingredients and extract only minor amounts of mineral salts and bitter principles. Add about double the amount of plant material used for an infusion to cold water h an enamelled or nonmetallic pot. Let the mixture stand for 8 to 12 hours, strain, and the drink is ready. Directions for taking are the same as for infusions.

Juice

Chop fresh plants or plant parts up into small pieces and press to squeeze out the juice. Add a little water to the
pressed material and press again to get the rest. This is a good method for extracting water-soluble constituents, especially those sensitive to heat. It is excellent for getting vitamins and minerals from the plant; but the juice must be taken within a short time after pressing, since the vitamin content declines rapidly and fermentation sets in.

Powder

Grind dried plant parts with a mortar and pestle or other implements until you have a powder. Powder can be taken with water, milk, or soup; sprinkled on food; or swallowed in gelatin capsules. A No. 0 capsule holds about 10 grains; No. 00 holds about 15 grains. The most common dose for powders is the amount that you can pick up on the tip of a dinner knife.

Syrup

A basic syrup to which you can add medicinal ingredients can be made by simply boiling 3 lb. raw or brown sugar in a pint of water until it reaches the right consistency. Or you can boil the plant materials in honey or store-bought syrup and then strain through cheesecloth. Syrup is especially useful for administering medicines to children.

Tincture

Combine 1 to 4 oz. powdered herb (the amount depending on the plant's potency) with 8 to 12 oz. alcohol: Add water to make a 50% alcohol solution (you have to know what percent alcohol you started with). Let stand for two weeks, shaking once or twice a day; then strain and pour the liquid into a bottle suitable for storage.

Like other alcoholic extracts, tinctures will keep for a long time. Homeopaths use very dilute tinctures as their basic medicinal preparations.

Dissolve an ounce of the herb's essential oil in a pint of alcohol. This is a good way to preserve the volatile essential oils of many plants, which are generally not soluble in water.

Poultice

The poultice (or cataplasm) is used to apply a remedy to a skin area with moist heat. To prepare, bruise or crush the medicinal parts of the plant to a pulpy mass and heat. If using dried plants (or if needed even with fresh plants), moisten the materials by mixing with a hot, soft, adhesive substance, such as moist flower or corn meal, or a mixture of bread and milk. Apply directly to the skin.

A good way is to spread the paste or pulp on a wet, hot cloth, apply, and wrap the cloth around to help retain moisture and heat. Moisten the cloth with hot water periodically as necessary. Where irritant plants are involved (as in a mustard "plaster"), keep the paste between two pieces of cloth to prevent direct contact with the skin; after removing the poultice, wash the area well with water or herb tea (especially camomile or mugwort) to remove any residue that may have got on the skin.

You can use a poultice to soothe; to irritate, or to draw impurities from body, depending on which plant or plants you use.

Fomentation

Soak a cloth or towel in an infusion or decoction, wring out the excess, and apply as hot as possible to the affected area. A fomentation has about the same applications as a poultice but is generally less active in its effect.

Cold Compress

Soak a cloth or towel in an infusion or decoction that has been cooled, wring out the excess, and apply to the affected area. Leave on until it is warmed by body heat, usually. 15 to 20 minutes. Repeat application with a fresh cool compress. Continue until relieved.

In a wide sense, skin balms are general purpose cosmetic applications, designed to soften and nourish the skin. Typically made from oils that have superior emollient, soothing and nourishing properties, they are ideal for hands, feet and elbows, and to soothe extra dry, chapped skin.

Being anhydrous (waterless), these applications are absorbed slowlier than creams, and offer therefore the best choice for those skin, muscular and joint conditions that benefit from long, slow massage. Simple skin balms, made from healing oils (such as avocado, virgin coconut, corn, sweet almond, apricot kernel, rice bran, and mango or shea butter) are a great way to restore suppleness and softhess to tired feet, hands that suffer from contact with irritating substances, chapped elbows or rough knees.

The mechanical action of massage and the friction of the massaging hands on the skin generate extra heat, which contributes to opening the pores and making the skin more receptive to absorbe into its deepest layers the active principles contained in the wax-and-oil blend. For this reason, skin balms are typically used as bases for healing salves and therapeutical ointments and pomades.

When healing herbs are infused in one of the base oils, the nourishing and warming action is combined with the benefits of the chosen herbs reaching the deepest layers of the skin. It is important to keep in mind that, since possible skin problems would be magnified by these "deep reaching" preparations, synthetic fragrances and herbs that might cause skin irritation should always be avoided when preparing salves and ointments.

A simpler alternative to infusing herbs is adding, at the end of the process and just before pouring the base balm into storage containers, a few drops of one or more essential oils, chosen depending on skin type and desired effects.

Preparing a skin balm base

The ingredients in a skin balm are basically two: one or more liquid oils, and some beeswax or vegetable wax (such as macadamia wax). Skin balms, salves, ointments and pomades are relatively soft and easy to spread, and require 4 to 7 parts of liquid oil(s) for each part of beeswax.

• Measure out the ingredients by weight into your chosen melting pot.
• Place this container into the double boiler, half-filled with water, and heat until the beeswax is melted.
• Remove from the heat and let cool for several hours.
• Once the balm is set, check its consistency and "feel". If the balm is too hard or feels "waxy", add an extra part of liquid oil, and remelt it in the double boiler.
• Repeat the previous step until your balm reaches the desired consistency. Remember to take notes, which will guide you when you wish to replicate the same recipe.
• When the desired consistency has been reached, melt down the balm once more if you would like to add any essential oils or Vitamin E.
• If essential oils or Vitamin E are used, mix well before pouring into individual storage containers.

Ointment

Another ointment recipe is to mix well one part of the remedy in powdered form with four parts hot petroleum jelly, lard, or similar substance. For purists, an old method is to boil the ingredients in water until the desired properties are extracted. Strain the liquid, add the decoction to olive or other vegetable oil, and simmer until the water has completely evaporated. Add beeswax as needed to get a firm consistency. Melt the mixture by heating slowly, and stir until completely blended. As pointed out above, a little gum benzoin or a drop of tincture of benzoin per ounce of fat (when a perishable fat is used as a base) will help to preserve the ointment.