Herbals

What is herbal medicine?

Herbal medicine is the most ancient form of health care known to mankind. Herbs have been used in all cultures throughout history. Extensive scientific documentation now exists concerning their use for health conditions including premenstrual syndrome, indigestion, insomnia, heart disease, cancer and HIV. Herbs have always been integral to the practice of medicine. The word drug comes from the old Dutch word drogge meaning “to dry,” as pharmacists, physicians and ancient healers often dried plants for use as medicines. Today approximately 25% of all prescription drugs are still derived from plant extracts; others are synthesized to mimic a natural plant compound. Due to economic and legal restriction, drug companies will not invest in herbs.

How are herbals made?

Herbals are made through what is called the spagyric method. The word spagyric was coined by a 16th century alchemist, Paracelus, and uses two Greek words: spao (to draw out) and ageiro (to combine). This method extracts all the herb’s nutrients and properties out of the raw material for use as a medicine and results in a robust and mineral-rich extract. In the spagyric process, the raw materials are run in solution to release their active components and make the herb’s constituents more “bioavailable.” Then the herb and solution are placed in a 50,000psi press to push out all the liquid. This liquid is the extract. The fibrous residue left on the press is collected and reduced to an ash of alkaline minerals, which are then reintroduced to the liquid extract to make a “whole” balanced extract. The finished blend is a full potency, maximum performance and fast-acting liquid formula.

The End Result

The end result is not only a recombination of all the constituents to make a “complete” herb, but is actually more potent than the original because of the “bioavailability” of all of the herb’s constituents. This is why it is called spagyric. We spao (draw out) the active compounds from the herb and then we ageiro (combine) them back into a single, more potent, entity.

Herbs are known as botanical medicine, phytotherapy or phytomedicine. All these terms signify a plant that can be ingested and that has a health benefit. Herbals work much like prescription drugs but without the side effects.