A - Z of Home Remedies & Cures

Dry Herbal Preparations - Capsules and Teas

Dry Herbal Preparations: Most herbs are sold in dried and powdered form. The two most common methods of taking powdered herbs are in capsules and in teas.

To make a tea with powdered herbs simply mix a teaspoon of the herb with a little honey or water and make a smooth paste in a mug or cup. Fill the mug or cup with boiling water and stir thoroughly. When the liquid is cool enough you can drink it all.

To take herbs as capsules it is recommended that you use commercially prepared vegetarian herb capsules. If preparing at home, you must obtain empty vegetarian capsules and fill them with the herb. To do this, pour the powdered herb into a saucer or plate, next scoop up the herb into each half of the vegetarian capsule, making sure that both halves are full. Push the halves of the vegetarian capsules together and close. Store in a dark glass jar in a cool place.

As a rule: four vegetarian capsules equals one teaspoon of the herb. Size 00 vegetarian capsules hold 200-250mg of powdered herb.

The advantage of capsules is that they can be mobile and can be consumed anywhere. The disadvantage of capsules is that the herbs are harder to assimilate into the body than preparations made with hot water or alcohol. Secondly, selecting the correct size of vegetarian capsule and controlling the amount/weight of herbs in the vegetarian capsules is quite complicated, if being carried out at home.