Different herb to menstruum ratios and dosages

As odd as it may seem, going from a tincture that's 1:14 to a tincture that's 1:1 is pretty dramatic, so one drop might be a good place to start. If you think about it, you'd be going from a tincture that has 1 part herb to 14 parts menstruum (alcohol/other extractants) is quite a jump.

While you may be able to handle a larger dose, I would suggest that you go slowly into this - one drop the first few days, if no herxing, then go to 2 drops for a few days - if no herxing, go to 3 drops for a few days and so on. Sticking to whatever size dose causes mild herxing until the herxing stops, then, back to adding in one drop at a time again until you reach your fully tolerated dose.

Just my 2 cents worth, but I did study herbalism, so it does bear some thought.

yep - the maths are correct - but low and slow is always wise

high herb to menstruum ratios will not always give perfectly proportional strength though - as many constituents in plants are only partially soluble - so there will be a tendency towards lower extraction of active components with high herb to menstruum ratios - ie a 1:1 will typically be less than 5x as strong as a 1:5 ratio tincture - by exactly how much is rarely known - but i tend to go no higher than around 1:4 for this reason

there is another case to consider. sometimes when you see 1:1 tinctures it can be because they have used fresh herbs - and as a result the moisture in the herb forms a large part of the final liquid extracted ( most fresh herbs are around 80% moisture by weight ) so often you end up with something similar in strength to using 1:5 with dry herb - but with possibly a different composition and perhaps more aromatics.

regarding dosing - i typically start v low and double the dose each 3-4 days until i start to feel the effects - then once i know i am in the right ball park - i ease back on the rate of increase to much smaller increments its a kind of compromise between going super low and slow right from the off but taking a long time to get into an effective range - and going in at recommended doses but having huge herx like reactions.

as a reference - i have worked my way up to around 3.25ml 4x a day of 1:5 houttuynia leaf tincture

yep - that's the equation - you can start higher - but the risk of herx is greater - its a playoff but the method i described is the best balance i have found of getting to useful doses reasonably quickly without getting huge herx

"Thank you for your inquiry. The Houttuynia extract that goes into our product is made at a 1:14 herb to menstruum ratio."
That's the answer I got from Nutramedix helpdesk.

I just checked Woodland Essence and their Houttuynia is 1:3

Girlie said...
I just checked Woodland Essence and their Houttuynia is 1:3

yep - and made with fresh aerial parts - hence the higher than normal herb to menstruum ratio

very few herbs thin the blood to dangerous levels

unless perhaps combined with others that have that effect and in high doses
or
a person already has a medical condition requiring them to be on finely balanced blood thinning regimes - and then the herbs could indeed tip the balance in an unintended direction

everyone is different but as an example - my sida dose is around 1ml 40 drops 4x a day of 1:5 tincture - and have been at that for a few months now - taken with the same amount of Cryptolepis and alchornea

buhner recommends 20-40 drops 3x a day for bart as part of a combination with houttuynia and others - but up to doses of 15ml 6x day(8ml-60ml per day) for 60 days in resistant staph

i have seen other people recommend 5ml 3x of sida ( thats 600 drops per day ) long term - so i dont think the doses we are on are near to severe adverse effect dosage for most people

herx reactions are another matter - thats started at around 15 drops per day initially for me - and i had to work up very slowly indeed to stay functional

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