~INTERNAL PREPARATIONS~

From a holistic perspective, the best way of using herbs is to take them internally, since it is from within that healing takes place. The ways of preparing internal remedies are numerous, but with all of them it is essential to take care with the process to ensure you end up with what you want. There are three basic kinds of preparations that can be taken internally: Water-based, alcohol-based, and fresh or dried herbs.

There are two ways to prepare water-based extracts: Infusions and decoctions. When the herbs to be used contain any hard, woody material, decoctions are used; otherwise infusions are used.

Infusion If you know how to make tea, you know how to make an infusion. It is perhaps the most simple and common method of taking a herb and fresh or dried herbs can be used to prepare it. However, where one part of dried herbs is prescribed, it can be replaced with three parts of the fresh herb, the difference being due to the higher water content of the fresh herb.

Infusions are most appropriate for plant parts such as leaves, flowers or green stems, where the substances wanted are easily accessible. If you also want to infuse bark, root, seeds or resin, it is best to powder them first, to break down some of their cell walls and make them more accessible to the water. Seeds, should be slightly bruised before being used in an infusion to release the volatile oils from the cells. Any aromatic herb should be infused in a pot that has a well-sealing lid, to ensure that only a minimum of the volatile oil is lost through the process of evaporation.

When you are working with herbs that are very sensitive to heat, either because they contain highly volatile oils or because their constituents break down at high temperature, you can also make a cold infusion. The proportion of herb to water is the same but in this case the infusion should be left for six to twelve hours in a well-sealed earthenware pot. When the liquid is ready, strain and use it.

As an alternative, cold milk can also be used as a base for a cold infusion. Milk contains fats and oils which aid the dossolution of the oily constituents of plants. These milk infusions can also be used for compressed and poultices, adding the soothing action of milk to that of the herbs. There is however one contra-indication for the use of milk in an infusion: If there is any evidence of an internal reaction to milk in the form of over-sensitivity or allergy, or if the skin becomes irritated when it is applied externally, then avoid such infusions.

1. In a china or glass teapot that has been warmed put one teaspoonful if dried herb or herb misture into it for each cup of tea that you intend to brew.
2. Pour a cup of boiling water in for each teaspoonful of herb that is already in the pot and then pu the lid on. Leave to steep for ten to fifteen minutes.

Decoction Whenever the herb to be used is hard and woody, it is better to to make a decoction rather than an infusion to ensure that the soluble contents of the herbs actually reach the water. Roots, rhizomes, wood, bark, nuts and some seeds are hard and their cell walls are very strong, so to ensure that the active constituents are transferred to the water, more heat is needed than for infusions and the herb has to be boiled in the water.

A decoction can be used in the same way as an infusion. When preparing a mixture containing soft and woody herbs, it is best to prepare and infusion and a decoction separately to ensure that the more sensitive herbs are treated accordingly. When using a woody herb which contains a lot of volitile oils, it is best to make sure that it is powdered as finely as possible and then used in an infusion rather than a decoction, to ensure that the oils do not boil away.

1. Put one teaspoonful of dried herb or three teaspoonfuls of fresh material for each cup of water into a pot or saucepan. Dried herbs should be powdered or broken into small pieces, while fresh material should be cut into small pieces. The container should be glass, ceramic or earthenware. If using metal it should be enamelled. Never use aluminium.
2. Add the appropriate amount of water to the herbs in the pan.
3. Bring to a boil and simmer for the ten to fifteen minutes. If the herb contains volatile oils, put a lid on the pan.
4. Strain the tea while it is still hot.

In general, alcohol is a better solvent than water for the plant constituents. Mixtures of alcolhol and water dissolve nearly all the relevant ingredients of a herba and at the same time act as a preservative. Alcohol preparations are called tinctures, an expression that is occasionally aslo used for preparations based on glycerine or vinegar.

Alcohol-based Tinctures We can use tinctures in a variety of ways. They can be taken straight or mixed with a little water, or they can be added to a cup of hot water. If this is done, the alcohol will partly evaporate and leave most of the extract in the water, which with some herbs will make the water cloudy, as resins and other constituents not soluble in water will precipitate. Some dorps of the tincture can be added to a bath or footbath, or used in a compressor mixed with oil and fat to make an ointment.

1. Put 4oz of finely chopped or ground dried herbs into a container that can be tightly closed. If fresh herbs are used, twice the amount should be taken.
2. Pour 1pt of 60 proof vodka on the herbs and then close the container tightly.
3. Keep the container in a warm place for two weeks and shake it well twice every day.
4. After decanting the bulk of the liquid, pour the residue into a muslin cloth suspended in a bowl.
5. Wring out all the liquid. The residue makes excellent garden compost.
6. Pour the tincture into a dark bottle. Keep it well stoppered.

Vinegar-Based Tincture Tinctures can also be made using vinegar, which contains acetic acid that acts as a solvent and preservative in a way similar to alcohol Whenever you make a vinegar tincture, it is best to use apple cider vinegar, as it has in itself excellent helth-augmenting properties. Synthetic chemical vinegar should not be used. The method is the same as for alcoholic tinctures and if you steep spices or aromatic herbs in vinegar, the resulting fragrant vinegar will be excellent for cooking.

Glycerine-Based Tincture Tinctures based on glycerine have the advantage of being milder on the digestive tract than alcoholic tinctures, but they have the disadvantage of not dissolving resinous or oily materials quite as well. As a solvent, glycerine is generally better than water but not as good as alcohol.

1. Make up 1pt of a mixture consisting of one part glycerine and one part water.
2. Add 4oz of the dried, ground herb and leave it in a well-stoppered container for two weeks, shaking it daily.
3. After two weeks, strain and press or wring the residue as with the alcoholic tinctures.
4. For fresh herbs, due to their greater water content, put 8oz into a mixture of 75% glycerine and 25% water.

• On to External Preparations
• Back to Herbal How To...
• Back to Helpful Herbals
• Back Home
  
  Top of Page