•Why do you use alcohol? Is it safe? Are there advantages to alcohol?

•Why are full spectrum botanicals best?

•How do liquid tinctures and new liquid soft gel capsules compare to powder capsules and tablets?

•What does Certified Organic mean?

•How do you prepare BIB tinctures, soft gel capsules and skin care ingredients?

•What about standardization?

Q. Why do you use alcohol? Is it safe? Are there advantages to alcohol?

A. Alcohol is absolutely the best solvent, carrier, and preservative for the active biological ingredients of most plants. The proportions of alcohol and distilled water used by BIB vary, depending on what medicinal herb is being processed, what the herb's active ingredients /constituents are, and whether they are water soluble or alcohol soluble.

• Alcohol dehydrates the cells of plants and draws the active ingredients /botanical marker compounds into it.1,2,3,4
• Alcohol concentrates and preserves the active ingredients/botanical marker compounds.1,2,3,4
• Alcohol is stable; destroying enzymes that will break down active ingredients / constituents.1,2,3,4
• Alcohol makes the active ingredients/botanical marker compounds more absorbable by the body.1,2,3,4
• Alcohol is the safest broad-spectrum solvent available.1,2,3,4

Despite the many beneficial qualities of alcohol, some still prefer not to use products containing it. In these cases, the alcohol can be reduced by adding hot water to the liquid tincture and allowing it to sit for 5 minutes.* This will cause the alcohol to be evaporated off.

As a comparison, 2 droppers full (not just 10-30 drops!) of liquid tincture, taken 3 times per day for seven days would equal the amount of alcohol in one beer.

BIB now offers alcohol free liquid soft gel capsules.

A. Although some medicinal plants contain specific substances that clearly are responsible for specific actions (like Foxglove), most medicinal plants (including Echinacea, Goldenseal, and Ginkgo biloba) have effects that cannot be directly linked to any one single compound but rather to the synergy of the hundreds of phyto-compounds contained in that plant.

• Quality and effectiveness is linked most directly to the quality of the herb raw material and to the relationship among identified and unidentified components.1,7,8,9,10,11,12,13
• The most beneficial aspect of full spectrum botanicals is that the internal balance of the plant is not significantly altered and nature's 'buffering' compounds are present.1,7,8,9,10,11,12,13
• The effectiveness of full spectrum botanicals is based on a chemical synergism of components representing the natural internal balance of the plant.1,7,8,9,10,11,12,13
• Liquid full spectrum tinctures and now BIB liquid Soft Gel capsules are better absorbed than simple powders.1,7,8,9,10,11,12,13
• Liquid full spectrum tinctures do not contain starch, cellulose, lignin and other indigestible cell wall components and are therefore more quickly digested.1,7,8,9,10,11,12,13

With BIB tinctures and new alcohol free soft gel capsules, you can be assured there are no fillers, no adulterants, and no preservatives.

Q. How do liquid tinctures and new liquid soft gel capsules compare to powder capsules and tablets?

A. Powder capsules and tablets have a reduced effectiveness because the surfaces of herb particles are exposed to oxygen and moisture. 1,3,6,11,12,13

• One of the major advantages of liquid tinctures is that our digestive systems do not need to work at trying to break down the capsule or coating on tablets where the active ingredients are being held.1,3,6,11,12,13
• Many of the active ingredients / botanical constituents are locked up inside the cell walls and are difficult for the human digestive system to extract.1,3,6,11,12,13
• In BIB liquid tinctures and soft gelcaps, the active ingredients are already concentrated and rendered soluble so that they are quickly and efficiently absorbed.1,3,6,11,12,13
• It is estimated that over 95% of liquid extracts are absorbed into our digestive systems.1,3,6,11,12,13

Q. What does Certified Organic mean?

A. All Bowen Island Botanicals medicinal herbs are independently certified by a third party Certified Organic Association/ Agency or are ethically wildcrafted based on regionally and internationally accepted standards and guidelines.* BIB's Certified Organic Growers' audit trail enables us to trace our medicinal herbs back to the specific field and conditions of each field where the medicinal herbs were grown.1,5,6

• Organic accreditation agencies set down stringent regulations concerning all aspects of how the plants are grown, harvested, dried, and stored including strict restrictions on fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides.1,2,3,4
• Organic accreditation agencies inspect and verify 'Certified Organic' growers.1,2,3,4
• One of the requirements of the Organic Accreditation Associations is a stringent audit trail which maintains a recording and documentation system to ensure authenticity.1,2,3,4
• In the organic process, the soil is considered a living thing - it is a whole ecosystem of insects, worms, fungi, and bacteria. All BIB Certified Organic Growers grow quality medicinal herbs AND superior quality soil!

Together with the accrediting agencies, BIB guarantees that no chemicals, preservatives, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, or any irradiation techniques have been used on our medicinal herbs.

A. Bowen Island Botanicals' has well established expertise in identification and processing quality botanical products. BIB produces products based on it's independent research and development work that has been recognized by the Scientific Research & Experimental Development Program of Canada. Such recognition is based on the development of processes that result in scientific/technological advancement.

BIB's patented process results in liquid preparations that are full-spectrum and consistently higher in concentration of botanical markers when compared to similar products in the market place (independent third party laboratory results based on HPLC analysis of blinded test samples.)

BIB has also developed a proprietary process that results in unique, dose-consistent, full spectrum, alcohol free soft gel capsules.

Our liquid tinctures and softgel products are describes as "measured dose", sometimes referred to as "whole plant standardized extract", based on the identification and measurement of active constituents/marker ingredients that are guaranteed to be above the pre-established levels. The internal balance of the raw plant material is not significantly altered, therefore, the extract is also described as"full spectrum".

• BIB's Certified Organic herbs are processed in pure grain alcohol and distilled water followed by double filtration.1,3,8,9,11,12
• Our process is a system of extraction based on patented processing protocols which are designed specifically to release and concentrate significantly higher levels of the full spectrum of the botanical markers and active ingredients than can be achieved through other processes.1,3,8,9,11,12 (comparison chart)
• BIB has developed a proprietary concentration & encapsulation process that provides the superior quality and bio-availability of BIB's liquid tinctures in a dose-consistent, consumer-friendly convenient form. (softgel capsules)
• Superior levels of active ingredients /botanical markers in BIB's liquid tinctures have been established through third party analysis (Herb Research Program, University of Saskatchewan).11
• Following more than 4 years of research and product development; BIB has successfully established a proprietary 'fill formula' from the tincture base to produce hermetically sealed, soft gel capsules that contain alcohol-free concentrated full spectrum liquid tincture.

A. Standardization simply means that the level of some constituent or compound is arbitrarily manipulated to a 'pre-determined' percentage during processing.

• Ingredients /botanical compounds that are assumed to be biologically active are isolated and removed from the whole herb.
• There may be a claim that there is a standardized percentage of the active ingredient. " It is important to note that manufacturers have changed both the constituents identified, and the percentages of the constituents pre-selected, over the past 10 years as the knowledge of chemistry, botany and pharmacology of the plants has evolved.
• It is widely accepted in traditional herbal medicine that isolated herbal ingredients seldom account for an herb's medicinal properties.
• When the full spectrum of marker and active phyto-chemical ingredients within that plant are used, there is an assurance that the full health benefits of that medicinal herb will be realized.

BIB liquid tinctures and soft gelcaps are prepared as 'whole plant' or 'full spectrum' extracts. Through third party independent laboratory analysis levels of active constituents /marker compounds are detected and can be guaranteed to be above an agreed upon' level.

• The internal balance of the plant material is not significantly altered. 1,3,8,9,10,11,12,13
• Plants have many active components, some not yet identified 1,3,8,9,10,11,12,13
• Identified and unidentified plant components work together to create a synergistic effect 1,3,8,9,10,11,12,13

Based on the principles and knowledge base of traditional herbal medicine, BIB medicinal herb products are guaranteed to be full spectrum, providing maximum benefits.

1. Hobbs C. Handbook for Herbal Healing: A Concise Guide to Herbal Products. 1994. Botanica Press, Capitola CA
2. Blumenthal M. Herb Industry Members Win California Proposition 65 Case: Alcoholic Herbal Extracts Not a Health Problem. HerbalGram #54: 2002; 62-63.
3. Sweet EC. The Science & Art of Cold Percolation. 1999. Sayfer Botanicals, London, ON
4. McCaleb RS, Leigh E, Morien K. The Encyclopedia of Popular Herbs: A Guide to 40 Leading Medicinal Plants. Herb Research Foundation. Prima Health Publishing: 2000.
5. WHO Guidelines on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) for Medicinal Plants. 2003. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
6. British Columbia Certified Organic Guidebook. 1997. Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia; Victoria, B.C.
7. Herbal Remedies and Homeopathy. 2001. Geddes & Grosset, David Dale House; New Lanark, Scotland.
8. McGuffin M. Issues of Quality: Analyzing Herbal Materials and the Current Status of Methods Validation. HerbalGram #53: 2001.
9. World Health Organization. Quality Control Methods for Medicinal Plant Materials. 1998. Geneva, Switzerland
10. Crockett S, Khan I. Challenges of standardization: marker compounds in plant species related and unrelated to top-selling herbs. Journal of Herbs, Spices and Medicinal Plants 2003; '10(3):13-24
11. Barl B. Quality Analysis and Standardized Extracts of Medicinal Herbs. University of Saskatchewan: 1997. Prairie Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Conference.
12. Blumenthal M. Testing Botanicals: A Report on Developing the Scientific and Clinical Evidence to Support the Clinical Use of Heterogeneous Botanical Products. HerbalGram #40; 1997.
13. Hobbs C. Echinacea: The Immune Herb. 1990. Botanica Press, Capitola CA

• Boon H, Smith M. The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to the 50 Most Common Medicinal Herbs. The Institute of Naturopathic Education and Research (The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine) 2004, Robert Rose Inc. Toronto, ON
• Holm WR, MacGregor D. Processing Guide for Specialty Crops. 1998. The Science Council of BC - Okanagan
• Yarnell E, Abascal K. Dilemmas of traditional botanical research. HerbalGram 2002;55:46
• Brinker F. Variations in Effective Botanical Products. HerbalGram #46 Spring 1999: 36-50
• McCaleb R. Echinacea Safety Confirmed. HerbalGram #42;Spring 1998
• Hobbs C. Echinacea: A Literature Review. HerbalGram #30; 1994
• Barrett B. Echinacea: A Safety Review. HerbalGram #57; 2003
• Rogers RD. Ed. Herbal-Drug Interactions: Professional Reference Guide. 2003. Capital Health Authority, Edmonton AB. Mediscript Communications Inc.
• McGuffin M, Hobbs C, Upton R, et al, Eds. American Herbal Products Association: Botanical Safety Handbook. 1997. CRC Press; Boca Raton, FL
• Brinker F. Herb Contraindications & Drug Interactions. 1998. Eclectic Medical Publications; Sandy, OR
• Medicines & HealthCare Products Regulatory Agency of United Kingdom (MHRA). Guidance on Acceptable Sources of Evidence for Traditional Use Under the Future EU Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicine Products. HerbalGram #64. 2004