In the natural alternative world there are many choices. Two of the main choices are herbal tinctures and homeopathy. If this is the first time you are diving into the world of natural alternatives, then you might wonder what these are tinctures and homeopathy and when to use them.
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Tinctures
Herbal tinctures are herbal extracts that are more concentrated. They are made from soaking berries, roots, leaves, and/or bark in usually alcohol or vegetable glycerin. By soaking them the alcohol or vegetable glycerin, pulls the active ingredients out of the plant parts. Generally the plant parts have to soak for an average of six to eight weeks. Some may take longer depending on how strong the concentration you need, the solvent used or the type of plant.
This is not medical advice. Please seek care and advice from a trusted healthcare professional. This is only meant to be educational.
The liquid is then strained and put into a dark glass amber bottle, this can help protect the tincture from the sun. Alcohol based tinctures tend to have a more strong taste, or as our kids say “spicy”. These types of tinctures either we mix them with a glycerin based tincture or we mix it into their juice. Glycerin based tinctures tend to be a little sweeter.
Most of the herbal tinctures we purchase and keep in our homes are from Earthley Wellness and Mary Ruth’s Organics.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is also made from plants, as well as minerals, or even animals. It operates under the “like cures like” principle. Homeopathy medicine is actually micro doses and the risk is considerably low for any adverse reactions.
Homeopathy can be traced back 200 years in Germany. It derives from the Greek words homeo, meaning “similar,” and pathos, meaning “suffering”.
Homeopathic medicines come in a variety of dosage forms such as gels, ointments, creams, syrups, eye drops, pellets, and suppositories. The most popular way we have used homeopathic medicines are in pellets, liquid and gels (mostly the Arnica gel). The pellets are usually made with sugar which then a drop of the prepared liquid homeopathic is placed on it and allowed to evaporate.
It is advised not to touch the pellets with your fingers, as the oils on your hands can cause the homeopathic medicine to start to dispense then causing the active medicine to go inactive.
The strength of homeopathic medicine is usually marked with a number and then a letter (X, C, M or CM). The letters refer to roman numerals and describe the ratio in which the substance is diluted. The higher the number the higher the potency.
With homeopathy since “like cures like”, you have to be specific in which symptoms you have to match them to the right homeopathic medicine.
In our household, the only company we have used thus far is Boiron and we are building our homeopathy home kit. We have seen great results when using the correct homeopathic remedy for the symptoms.
We hope this has been helpful, and to read more on homeopathy and tinctures for cold/flu symptoms check out this post.
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