Have you ever wondered why some herbal preparations or teas don’t work?

Especially when there are hundreds, even thousands of years of experiential data suggesting that herbs are a wonderful, almost
miraculous cure and many modern clinical tests to prove that they are?

So what makes an herb potent and really efficacious compared to one that is not?

The answer lies in the quality of the seeds, soils and fertilizers, and ultimately the quality of the herbal material used in the essential oil extraction process.

Almost 4,000 metric tons of chamomile flowers are used every year in German homes alone – primarily in the form of chamomile tea. Chamomile tea has been regarded for generations as an herbal medicine to help treat infections, inflammations, stomach and digestive disorders. Rightly so, for it has been proven that true chamomile (Matricaria genus recutita) possesses substances that act as bactericides, fungicides and deodorants. Some even help heal wounds.

The question is: do the herbs sold as chamomile teas and in herbal extracts at health food stores and some pharmacies actually contain the healing properties you expect from chamomile?

Bionorica’s CEO, Professor Michael Popp, was curious. In his capacity as chairman of the Committee for Research into Natural Medicine, Professor Popp and Dr. Gudrun Abel, Director of Research at Bionorica, commissioned a scientific study into the composition of various chamomile products. Teas and extracts from various commercial sources were analyzed in the laboratory. The tests were carried out at the Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Radiochemistry, located at the Leopold Franzens University in Innsbruck, Austria. “The main focus of our interest were the constituents with medicinal value – in other words, essential oils and flavonoids," Dr. Abel explained.

German chamomile in the wild is a
common sight in Europe and North America, but commercial crops are usually cultivated

What Did They Find?

As you might have guessed, quite an extensive variation of plant quality. So much so that the substances from different sources had uniquely different constituents or “fingerprints.” In one of the chamomile extracts virtually none of the constituents normally found in the essential oil could be traced.

"This indicates that completely different raw materials were used," says Dr. Gudrun Abel, explaining that various types of plants or parts were used in preparation that are not uniquely the genus and species known as medicinal chamomile.

Moreover, when investigating the actual herbs it is clear that some of the products had been bulked up with the stalks and leaves rather than just the potent chamomile flowers. It is only the flower heads that have medicinal importance for chamomile as a medicinal substance.

In Europe, herbs sold medicinally in the pharmacies are regulated and require certain levels of medicinal plant constituents. Here in the US, there is no regulation. Lack of regulation may be a benefit for the small locally grown herb producer who cannot afford extensive testing, but that may leave the general consumer in he position of purchasing low-grade, even useless, herbal products produced by companies with low standards.

Not all chamomile
is the same. And not every product contains the most desirable amounts of effective constituents.

 

What to Do?

Investigate the company and insist that they provide information on the growing and harvesting methods for their herbs. Genuine seeds (no genetic engineering!) of the properly tested and proven genus and species are needed. The company should monitor cultivation so that the raw material used in herbal preparations is actually the correct herb. Check that you are buying the medicinally beneficial parts of the plant and not just bulk. These kinds of questions are essential and any reputable company would be pleased to answer them.

Another thing must also be kept in mind when buying herbal products, teas in particular, says Popp. "Chamomile and other herbal teas are only supportive measures." Even if the herbs or flowers have the best and most therapeutically desirable combination of active ingredients, their preparation as tea is only suitable to a certain degree as far as releasing the full potential of the plant material. Some substances evaporate or are even destroyed when over-boiled. It is estimated that about 70 percent of the essential oil is retained in a normal infusion.

Therefore, to take advantage of the full spectrum of active ingredients, one should use prepared remedies, especially those based on the special extract principles used by Bionorica.

Bionorica dictates standards for uniform raw material quality, the best scientific extraction processes, pharmacological effects and clinically proved efficacy. Quality standards worthy of nature’s own healing perfection are essential to yield safe and effective products you can trust.