Can a tech who operates a gas chromatograph qualify as an expert in medicinal herbs because he or she can tell you how the ppm of compound X in this or that herb sample that crosses the lab bench?
For example in markers and standardization of extracts. Biochemical "markers" are required for pharmaceutical extractions of single herbs and formulas. You absolutely do not care what those compounds do pharmacologically or physiologically. They are "markers", not active ingredients, by definition. You do a chemical assay and project the three dimensional peaks onto your computer screen. You need three dimensional peaks to see if the peaks are clean and without other internal peaks in the topography. You look for overall consistency in the relative amplitudes of the peaks to assure yourself that this current batch of extract has been carried out in the same manner as all of the previous batches. There is no biological assay or clinical assay involved in any of this. The company will simply identify what is the most appropriate for them, in means of production. For example hypericum (the marker associated with hypercium) in the herb St John's Wort was "identified" as "the ingredient". The commercial interests created value by percentage of those markers. Concentrated and standardized to those markers, people in Europe who were prescribed this phyto-drug by allopathic medical doctors became sick and then tried to ban the natural herb St John's Wort as dangerous. Same as Ma Huang (ephedrine) and a host of other phyto-drugs. My answer is do what you do. mix and tincture the herbs as you outlined below. The overall effectiveness may vary season to season. Maybe need a little bit more or a little bit less, but the safety and effectiveness will be known, this knowledge can be passed on, and we can learn from our experience. just my 2 cents Ed Kasper LAc. Licensed Acupuncturist & Herbalist Santa Cruz, CA. -----Original Message----- From: Wayne Fugitt [mailto:cwfug...@fugitt.com] Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2006 7:27 AM To: silver-list@eskimo.com Subject: Re: CS>Cayenne Tincture Methods Morning Teri, >> At 08:13 AM 9/2/2006, you wrote: >Since I have 20 Habenaro plants, 6 cayenne, and 1 Caribbean red I have >plenty to make a tincture. My question is do you leave the seeds in when >you grind in the blender??? Yes, I used the seeds, core, and even the stem ends on some. Others where the stem and end looked a bit abnormal, these were cut off. The amazing thing about the hot peppers is the tissue thin walls, when compared with Bell and Banana peppers. Strange indeed. I would mix the peppers if I had the variety. Without any scientific basis, I think there are some ingredients in peppers that are good, other than the heat and the part that burns. Would like to see a chemical breakdown on peppers, if anyone has any information or links to this. I have always been a bit skeptical on most herbs because I feel they have been inadequately studied. Plus they are grown around the world in many soil types and a variety of conditions, drought, heavy rainfall, low sun, high sunlight, and you name it as to the growing conditions. Heavy rainfall will result in lower concentration of nutrients, flavors, and minerals. Low water makes greater concentrations. Poor nutrients in the soil has its effects also. Where does this leave us? Guessing as to quality. Wayne -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com Address Off-Topic messages to: silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com>
