More bang for your buck: herbal tinctures? or capsules?

Which one do you think actually give you more of the actual herb? the tincture or the capsules?

For instance 2 oz of Dan Shen (Buhner) tincture vs 60 caps of 500mg?

The are about the same price.

https://www.amazon.com/natures-health-miltiorrhiza-satisfaction-guarantee/dp/b00sxict28/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=dan+shen&qid=1560544670&s=gateway&sr=8-7

vs

https://www.amazon.com/alcohol-free-extract-miltiorrhiza-glycerite-supplement/dp/b01an5r4nw/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=dan%2bshen&qid=1560544670&s=gateway&sr=8-4&th=1

The cheapest way that I've found is to buy bulk powder by the pound and make the capsules yourself. It can be time consuming if you're doing most of your herbs that way or if you have a small capsule maker though.

Tinctures are my next go-to because you can sometimes get the same benefits from smaller doses and you can adjust your dose when needed.

I buy pre-made capsules when they are super cheap or I can't find it anywhere else.

https://vitalplan.com/blog/whole-herb-vs-herbal-extract-which-is-better

Post Edited (Milocat) : 6/14/2019 11:37:15 PM (GMT-6)

Buhner makes the point that generally there is no better extraction process than the human gut. No tincture, alcohol-based or not, can match that. He does make exceptions for some herbs though - not sure why.

But he also makes the point that it gets very tiring to down so many capsules. I'm a bulk powder / premade capsules / tincture guy, in that order, but I'm to the point that I tire of taking pills. I take an awful lot every day. So I've been veering toward tinctures more than before. It is a bit of a pain to carefully squeeze out the right number of drops each time (I dose 6x/day, but prepare them in two batches), but as @Milocat says, one benefit is you can adjust the dosage as needed.

Girlie said...

Cat’s claw bark (Uncaria tomentosa)

• Tincture: ¼ – ½ tsp 3x daily, OR . . .
• Tablets/capsules (Green Dragon Botanicals): 1–4 500 mg tablets/capsules 3x day.

Running the numbers, using median dosing:

tincture, Hawaii Pharm 4oz. 3/8 tsp dose:
4oz * 5.76 tsp/ounce = 23 tsp
23 / 3/8 tsp/dose = 61 doses
$30 / 61 = $.48 / per dose

capsules, Swanson 250 500mg, 2.5 capsule dose:
$16 / 250 caps = $.064 per cap
$.064 x2.5 caps = $.16 per dose

You're paying by a factor of 3 for the convenience of tincture. Prices are from Amazon.

Bulk powder should be cheaper still, but you need a machine for any quantity, plus the cost of blank capsules (about $.01 each) and it can be time consuming, tricky and messy, at least at first.

Lapis_29 said...
thanks for doing the math Paul!

Yes thanks Paul - I was too lazy at the time to do the calculations