The plant sap is the living matrix. Each plant has a different “juice.” For example, a succulent like aloe vera has a skin over a gel while pine trees exude pine sap that can be picked from the tree. If you were to place the picked pine sap in a cup of water, you would find a little oil, a small amount of sugar & a lot of resin sitting on the bottom of the cup. If you take the water & drink it, you do not have the sap. If you add a sufficient amount of alcohol to dissolve the resin, you now have the complete pine sap represented in liquid form.

Scientists have calculated which amount of solvent dissolve & represent the full spectrum of plant sap matrix.

A tincture separates the sap (blood) from the plant leaving behind the indigestible plant material – cellulose, fiber, etc. This allows for immediate absorption from mouth to stomach. The body does not need to make an effort as it would with capsules.

The origin of Herbal & Natural Medicine were gods, demigods, rishis, emperors, immortals, ancestors & other exalted beings.

This is true for Egyptian, Greek, Ayurvedic, Chinese, Native North American, Native South American, African & other traditional medicine systems.

From these origins all traditional medicine developed in oral & literate traditions along to present times.

Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) is a form of empirical knowledge based medicine that places a template of conditions to validate or invalidate traditional knowledge. As EBM is lacking a basic energetic understanding of plants it can never explain most traditional knowledge and must eliminate from its purview that set of understanding.

In other words, EBM can only explain material phenomena and metabolic pathways that can be measured by machines & chemistry labs.

No machine can find acupuncture points or meridians, measure Qi, prana nor Vis and yet this universal life energy is the foundation of holistic herbal medicine.

Standardized extracts are pharmacological products. They imply that the material presence of specific molecules are the only requirement to activate tissue receptors or molecular pathways in order to achieve the healing process. This is how drugs work.

Our tinctures are full spectrum plant products representing the whole plant or whole plant parts (ie: root, seed, leaf, flower). Historically, all plant medicines have been whole plant/plant part medicines. The part only has meaning when it is in the context of the whole.

The Vis (or Viriditas) of the plant is conveyed in wholeness not in fractioning.

Holistic medicine is based on this understanding.

Standard conventional farming allows for petrochemicals & other toxic compounds which ultimately degrades the soil, reduces the value of the plant and can become poisonous to the farmer and the user of the plant. The soil becomes dead and the plants are essentially living on artificial life support. It is an unsustainable practice.

There are NO GMO components in any of our products.

Organic farming promotes soil development and more completely represents the correct natural habitat. Living soil microorganisms like mycelia & bacteria define natural habitats. Organic farming does not use potentially toxic compounds that would destroy the soil. This creates a net benefit for the plant, the patient & our Earth itself.

Organic farming is often certified by a third party to guarantee the validity of the purity claim.

Wildcrafting/Wild harvesting of plants is often considered superior because the plants are growing in their natural habitat and are exposed to all of the forces of nature before they are harvested.

However, improper harvesting in wild habitats have endangered entire ecosystems to satisfy the needs of a few. Our Earth now suffers such stress that wise herbalists out of respect choose organically farmed plants.

Ethical wildcrafting for personal use requires personal knowledge of the habitat and the growth habits of the plants therein. There are some plants that cannot be farmed and can ONLY be purchased from ethical wildcrafters, such as: UPS (United Plant Savers) Registered Pickers.

As a compounding facility we are required to have GMP conditions. What is on our label is what is in the bottle. No more, no less. We are small and make all batches by hand.

Cross contamination is not an issue as all equipment is cleaned with solvents and soap. There will be no herb residue on anything after it is made and after it is bottled. Food factories that use large grinders often run productions in sequence and discard the “transition” material. They spread contamination by their lower standards. Lastly, most allergies to nuts is really allergies to the mould that travels with nuts. Many patients do not respond to isolated proteins of nuts like they do to whole foods. Hope this helps to assure you.

You are charged extra when you add herbs to a compound. When choosing herbs, the ones with an asterisk (*) beside their names may have fluctuating pricing and be more costly. We carry these plants as they are premium in their efficacy.

Here are some examples:

Hydrastis canadensis : There are only a few organic growers in North America. We will not wildcraft the herb, as it is endangered.

Panax ginseng : Historically expensive, and needs to be 5 years old at minimum to harvest.
Very expensive to grow.

Panax notoginseng : Same issues as P. ginseng.

Panax quinquefolius : Same issues as P. ginseng.

Quassia : Requires the harvesting of the entire tree and has become endangered.

Oplopanax : Wildcrafted in Western Canada. Only a limited amount can be ethically harvested per year.

Agathosma betulina : Only grown on plantations in South Africa. There is a limited
supply in the world.

Codonopsis : Crop failures have made this herb limited, and like P. ginseng, requires 5 years to mature before harvesting.

Echinacea : We only use angustifolia roots, as they are the most potent.

The Vipers bugloss, Borage and Coltsfoot all have saturated alkaloids, which are not harmful.
It is the unsaturated alkaloids that are more harmful and present in some species of Comfrey.

We do not use organic alcohol. However, the alcohol we use is pharmaceutical grade purity, gluten free and chemical free. The glycerine used in our products is organic from a coconut source.

We use mostly organic herbs – even most of our Chinese herbs are also organic and some are wildcrafted. The organic certified herbs have also had third party testing.

The formulas are proprietary and the herbs are shown on the label from greatest to least and the majority of our tinctures are one to five (1:5).

The formulas are compounded by John Redden RH, who has over 40 years experience.

We do not make glycerites, as they have a short shelf life and glycerine does not make a very good solvent. We do use glycerine to maintain tannins and alkaloids in a stable solution.

For most of our tinctures, the amount of alcohol in a single dose equals the same amount present in a ripe banana. The amount of alcohol a child will receive is in proportion and falls within safety guidelines.

1:5 is the Mass to Volume ratio. For every 5mL of liquid, there is 1g of herb.

The liquid can be either Alcohol, Reverse Osmosis water, Apple Cider Vinegar, organic vegetable-based Glycerine or a combination.

The percentage listed (often 33%), is the percentage of alcohol in the tincture. This can be any number between 25-95, as different herbs require different alcohol percentages for extraction.

Our alcohol is pharmaceutical-grade, from grain. It is free of GMOs, and the final distillate contains NO other material substances. (Besides alcohol of course!) It will not invoke any allergic reactions, unless you or your patient is sensitive to alcohol.

NOTE: In a therapeutic dose, there is as much alcohol present as there is in a ripe banana.

Learn how to properly build combinations here : 

We use 500mL and 1L stock boittles because most of the dispensing rate of 5mL TID is approximately 100mL per week. The standard dosing for a 1:5 tincure in the Eclectic Medical tradition.

A 500mL bottle is 5  weeks which is often the least amount of time to know that the product will work. It may take several rounds of 5 weeks to transform the patient’s condition.

Formulas for acute conditions can be dispensed by the practitoner in 100mL or 250mL bottles in their office. We have graduated cylinders & small empty bottles for practitioners to order so that they may also compund & dispense tinctures in their officers. 

You will notice that our single herbal products have numbers & letters assigned to them corresponding to Warnings & Interactions. Read our post here to learn more about their meanings. Or go to our resources and search “Warnings & Interactions”