What exactly is an herbal tincture, and what are the benefits?
Have you ever wondered what a tincture is, and why herbalists use them? Whether you're a seasoned herbalist or just starting to explore the world of plant medicine, tinctures offer a lot of benefits.
What’s a Tincture?
A tincture is simply an herbal extract made by soaking herbs in alcohol (or sometimes glycerin) to draw out the active medicinal properties they contain. Tinctures are very concentrated, simple to use, and portable, making it really easy to incorporate healing herbs into your everyday life.
Why Tinctures?
Quick Absorption: Tinctures are absorbed much more quickly into the body than teas or capsules, meaning you can feel the effects faster.
Long Shelf Life: When you store them in a cool, dark place (a cabinet, for example) tinctures can last for years without losing their potency.
Convenient & Easy to Use: Just a few drops in some water or under your tongue—perfect for busy lives.
Some Tinctures You’ll Love
We carefully craft our tinctures using only the highest quality herbs, and we steep them for months before they are ready to use! Here are a few of our customer favorites:
Tulsi (Holy Basil) Tincture – Revered as the "Queen of Herbs," Tulsi helps you adapt to your unique stressors, increasing your capacity to endure life’s challenges, with special affinities for the nervous system, the adrenals, and the immune system.
Echinacea Root Tincture – Echinacea is known to strengthen the body’s natural defense mechanisms against bacterial invasion by increasing the production of immune cells like phagocytes, T-cells, and white blood cells.
Clear Head Tincture – Formulated for relief of sinus congestion or pressure, sinus infection, sinus-related headache, mucus, cough, allergy symptoms, tinnitus, ear infection and other respiratory complaints. Made from wild harvested Mullein leaf, Plantain leaf, and Ground Ivy.
Burdock Root Tincture – Burdock root helps to improve the liver’s ability to detoxify, encouraging the body to heal and resolve a wide array of chronic health conditions which are connected to a sluggish, overburdened liver - such as: inflammatory skin conditions, poor digestion, allergies, poor emotional regulation, low immunity, cardiovascular problems, arthritis and more.
Lemon Balm Tincture – A staple in any herbalist’s apothecary for its versatility and gentleness on even the most sensitive individuals. Most notably, Lemon Balm is a nervous system relaxant helpful for emotional disorders and a gentle sedative to promote restful sleep.
Mullein Tincture – Mullein leaf is revered for its ability to promote clear breathing and ease the discomfort of inflamed airways. It is an expectorant - bringing stuck, congested mucus up and out, and it is a demulcent - soothing tissues that are dry or irritated.
Anxiety & Grief Relief Tincture – A gentle but powerful blend to help soothe emotional distress, ease anxiety, and support emotional healing through challenging times. Made with organic Motherwort, organic Lemon Balm, and wild crafted Rose.
How to Use Your Tinctures?
Adults: starting dose for most is going to be around 30-60 drops (1-22 dropperfuls)
If you’re more sensitive, start with 15-30 drops (1/2 to 1 dropperful) and increase if you feel so inclined.
If you’re less sensitive/bigger/male/heavier, you could go for 3 dropperfuls.
For toddlers and children, 10-30 drops, adjusting more or less based on body weight.
Super simple, general rule I tend to follow: Divide the person’s body weight in half and give that number of drops for a starting dose.
Always start with a small amount for children, the very elderly, the weak or otherwise vulnerable.
How Often Do You Take Them?
For chronic conditions/long term daily use: 2-3x a day.
For acute conditions/short term use: start with your appropriate starting dose, then continue to give half or so of that number of drops every 15-30 minutes until you notice a change in your condition. Repeat every 3-4 hours through out the day/night.
Ready to give it a try?
If you’ve never tried tinctures before, check out our collection of carefully crafted tinctures and find the perfect herbal remedy for you.
As always, we’re here to help with any questions you have about herbal medicine. Feel free to reply to this email or connect with us on social media!
