Herbs for Medicine
For thousands of years we have been using herbs for medicine but in the last few decades, science has been messing with our formulas.
Many herbal supplements have begun to use “standardized extracts”. A standardized extract simply means that the manufacturer has extracted the portion of the herb that is believed to be the active ingredient.
For thousands of years herbal medicine has used the whole herb because of the natural balanced effects it provides.
Until modern science can catch up with the years of experience provided by traditional herbal medicine, it is better to choose an herb that uses the whole herb, or includes the whole herb in addition to the extract.
See "Science of Herbs" link to the left for more on the topic of Herbs.
When reading Labels:
- Avoid synthetic Vitamins (e.g. beta-carotene, pyridoxine hydrochloride, retinol, palmitate, pteroylglutamic acid, thiamin mononitrate, thiamin hydrochloride, ascorbic acid).
Vitamins
- Look for amino acid chelated minerals (e.g. chromium chelavite, magnesium chelazome) that are easily identifiable by their suffix of chelavite, chelate or chelazome.
Chelated Minerals
- Many herbal supplements have begun to use “standardized extracts”. A standardized extract simply means that the manufacturer has extracted the portion of the herb that is believed to be the active ingredient. (This Page)
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- Look for a plant enzyme supplement and avoid pancreatic or animal enzymes. Be sure that the supplement label uses FCC units, such as LU, DU, CU rather than milligrams on the label.
Enzymes
- Probiotic supplements should include several different types of bacteria (at least eight different strains), and should list each of the individual microflora found in the supplement by their Latin name with a count of how many of these live cultures are found in each capsule or serving.
Probiotic Supplements
Return to
How to Read Supplement Labels.
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Herbs for Medicine
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