FULL EXTRACTS VS. STANDARDIZED EXTRACTS

The most important factors in producing a good herbal extract are to use the best quality raw herb and highly skilled extraction technique, and to alter as little possible the quality and ratio of the herb's natural chemical profile. A standardized herbal extract is not superior quality because it's label lists a specific quantity of one (out of hundreds) of the herb's chemical constituents, nor does it have superior healing and health promoting potential because it is "stronger". The superior extract is the "balanced" extract that most fully represents the original herb from which it is made, but in a more concentrated and optimally assimilated form.

Full herbal extracts (a.k.a. crude or simple extracts) are extracted in order to assure the finished extract contain the broadest spectrum of an herb's chemical constituents in a similar ratio to the crude herb itself. Full extracts are produced using grain or fruit alcohol, water and/or vegetable glycerin which are biodegradable and environmentally and body friendly.

Standardized herbal extracts are extracted in order to assure that the finished extract contains a specific amount of one or a limited group of so-called "active" constituents. The herb is selectively extracted in order to concentrate and quantify its active constituent(s), and quite often its "inert" constituents are removed or reduced. Standardized extracts are often extracted with acetone, benzene, methyl alcohol, butyl alcohol, carbon tetrachloride, and other synthetic chemicals that, although removed from the finished product (but not always), can be harmful to the environment and the human body.

Medicinal herbs contain a large complex of natural chemical constituents and the therapeutic effects of an herb depends on the interaction of a number of these chemicals and not just one "active" constituent. So called "inert" constituents, while having no direct action on their own, may potentiate or moderate the therapeutic effect of an "active" constituent by enhancing its stability or solubility, thus facilitating its absorption, transport, and utilization. Scientists frequently disagree on the "active" constituent(s) of an herb (e.g. is it valerian's valeric acid, isovaleric acid or valepotriates?) and often today's "inert" constituent is tomorrow's "active" constituent (e.g. Echinacea's immuno-activating caffeic acid and isobutylamides were once considered "inert".).

Today's herbal extract buyer should purchase their extracts based upon the extract manufacture's professional mastery and integrity and not whether the extract is standardized or not. If we are promoting herbs as a "natural" and "wholesome" form of healthcare, then the herbal extracts we sell should be natural and whole.

- Laura S. Brown - Proprietor & Herbalist, Purple Shutter Herbs