GINGER CAPSULES
The herbal capsules that line supermarket shelves are not often the best form of medicine. In order to be of use to the body, we must liberate its beneficial constituents from the plant material.
The Renaissance physician and botanist Paracelsus phrased this idea in a way I found humorous: ‘What the eyes perceive in herbs or stone or trees is not yet a remedy; the eyes see only the dross.’ It is not the visible material of the plant that is medicinal; it is the hundreds of phytochemicals that must be liberated from the plant material in order to be more available for our bodies to assimilate and process.
Swallowing an herb does not make it a remedy. For example, chewing a piece of wild cherry bark is not going to help your cough. A tincture that has extracted {and concentrated} the tannins, scopoletin and cyanogenic glycosides present in the bark, will have a medicinal benefit.
{CAPSULES}
Capsules do have a big convenience factor, however. Because they are so familiar, many of us will be comfortable taking them, while we may not be comfortable taking a vodka tincture, for example. For most of us, capsules are easy to take. You do not have to taste the herb, which is an important concern for some. They are also very transportable.
When I make my own herb capsules, I am confident of their freshness and potency, and the fact that there are no additional fillers or binding agents, as there may be in capsules or tablets on store shelves.
So although I do not often use capsules, there are herbs that work well as capsules for the treatment of short-term symptoms. {For example, mucilaginous herbs like slippery elm or marshmallow root that are best taken powdered for the topical treatment of the gastrointestinal tract.} Ginger capsules have become indispensable to my father, who takes them for the successful treatment of any nausea, indigestion or vertigo.
{MEDICINAL PROFILE}
Several studies have thoroughly demonstrated the ability of ginger to soothe nausea caused by motion sickness. Motion sickness is caused by the way your brain and intestinal tract interact. It is not fully understood how ginger works to improve symptoms; however, we do know that it relaxes the stomach and intestinal tracts. This makes it useful to treat a wide range of nausea, diarrhea, heartburn, gas, vomiting, colic, stomach cramps and stomach troubles associated with the flu.
{Note, it is sometimes recommended that pregnant women should not be taking more than one gram daily and not longer than 4 days.}
{GINGER CAPSULES}
If you are making a small number of herb capsules, it works just fine to pour a pile of the powdered herb on a plate or in a bowl. Take the capsule apart and push both sides through the herb powder to meet in the middle, and put the parts together.
Its very important to have your hands completely dry when you make capsules; the glycerin capsules will absorb moisture and swell {or even dissolve!}, making it more difficult to fit the capsules together, or causing molding if the herbs are wet inside the capsule.
If you are making any number of capsules regularly, an encapsulator, like the ‘Capsule Machine’ will quickly become considered an essential!
To make capsules with the ‘Capsule Machine,’ first place the base on its stand. Separate twenty-four empty “00” vegetable capsules, inserting the long ends into the base and the short ends into the top part. Place the base in a shallow bowl, pour powdered ginger root over the capsules, and spread the powder with a stiff card. Gently but firmly apply the tamping tool to compact the ginger powder in the capsules. Pour, spread, and tamp ginger powder until the capsules are well filled. Remove the base from the stand, replace the top part, and press down firmly until the capsules are joined and held in the top part. Press the top evenly and firmly, and the capsules will eject. This entire procedure takes less than five minutes, and repeating the procedure a few times will result in a tin or jar full of efficiently and neatly filled capsules.
Sometimes—especially with repeated uses, back to back—a few of the capsules will not join or will be dented. They may not have been placed correctly; or they may have swelled slightly from the moisture of handling, causing them to stick in the machine.
‘The Capsule Machine’ provides a very easy way to quickly fill large numbers of capsules. Children find it fascinating and love to make their own capsules {which, I imagine, would make them more likely to take the capsules willingly}.
Taking two or three ginger capsules almost immediately quells slight to moderate nausea associated with motion sickness, menstrual cramping, pregnancy, indigestion and stress.
{DISCLAIMER}
The author is not a medical doctor, nor is she a licensed medical professional. Any recommendations are to educate for consumer health awareness and should not be considered diagnosis or prescribed treatment for any medical condition. If you are experiencing symptoms that concern you, please consult your healthcare provider.
• ginger capsules •
June 20, 2014