Constituent Analysis of Richters Dried Herbs
Answered by: Conrad Richter
Question from: No Name Given
Posted on: May 15, 2001

I’m curious to know if you folks have any information regarding the eleutherosides content of your Siberian Ginseng powder, and also the hypericin content of your standard St. John’s Wort powder?

No, we do not have analyses of our dried herb products. The reason is that we feel that there is too much emphasis on these constituents which are entirely unlikely to account for all or even much of the medicinal effect of the herbs. The medicinal effect of herbs is almost always more complicated than that which can be attributed to the one or two compounds shown on the labels of herbal products. For example, hypericin in St. Johnswort is now known to be practically irrelevant for the herb’s antidepressant effect, yet the whole herb clearly has a potent anti-depressant effect on par with Prozac. Ditto for the putative "actives" in echinacea, feverfew, and other herbs. This view, of not emphasizing constituent chemical levels, runs counter to the prevailing view among most herb experts but we believe that it is more important to emphasize whole herb quality. Is the herb pure, correctly identified, organic or wildcrafted, etc.

Thankyou again for your time! With your help I’m almost ready to make my order! =)

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