Milk Thistle Extraction
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Why Alcohol As The Base For Milk Thistle Extraction?
We are occasionally asked why we chose Alcohol as the base for our extracts when it is thought to irritate the liver. Silymarin, the known active biochemical in Milk Thistle, is soluble only in alcohol. When taking this product correctly, by adding a few droppers of tincture to boiling water, the majority of the alcohol evaporates out. Prepared this way, the trace amounts of remaining alcohol act as a guide, taking the formula into the bloodstream and liver quickly. Alcohol has been used medicinally for over 5000 years in Traditional Chinese Medicine and its properties are very well known. It brings the herbs quickly into the bloodstream, entering the Liver, Spleen, and Gall Bladder. Its warming thermal nature helps balance out the cooling nature of the other herbs in our formula, creating a safely balanced synergy intended for balanced long term use in Integrative Medicine therapy.
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How Is This Extract Different From A Normal Tincture?
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To put it simply, our extract is triple diffused. We start the extraction process by soacking the seeds in 190 proof alcohol. This allows us to bring a much greater concentration of silymarin into the solution. Silymarin is the active ingredient in Milk Thistle, and is only soluble in alcohol. At this high concentration, alcohol is not shelf stable for over the counter sales as it is highly flammable. Because of this, we expose the milk thistle seed to a second diffusion of purified water during a supplemental soak.
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Due to the fact that the secondary soak is a different solvent, osmotic pressure is used to push the Silymarin infused alcohol out of the seed husk into solution with the water. The seeds are then removed and the two tinctures are combined creating a highly concentrated extract. Finally, the seeds are pressed under high pressure as we extract the remaining liquid. This pressed extract is then allowed to diffuse into the combined first two infusions. The final result is a triple diffused extraction which is far more potent than if the herbs had been extracted using solely traditional means.
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We are currently in the process of filing a patent with the United States and World Patent and Trade Organization for this new extraction method, which allows us to bring much greater concentrations of Silymarin into the solution without disturbing the natural balance of the herbs.
(Figure to left is a picture of the unit used to test our product for consistency and potency. We use a third party for this testing, but do not standardize our products as we believe in maintaining the natural perfect balance inherent in the herbs we produce.)
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