Why We Do Not Use Herbal (Alcohol-Based) Tinctures
1. The Perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine
From the perspective of TCM, alcohol inherently introduces Heat and Dampness into the body. Alcohol may have a short-term application in cases of external Wind-Cold invasion affecting the superficial layers, where the therapeutic goal is to induce sweating and warming. However, this is an acute and temporary intervention.
For long-term use, alcohol is not considered appropriate because it:
- promotes the formation of Dampness and Heat
- may aggravate Qi stagnation, which can transform into Heat over time
- disturbs the Shen (Spirit)
- contributes to internal imbalance
In modern clinical reality, many adults already carry some form of internal Heat — whether constitutional or resulting from prolonged stagnation. In such cases, alcohol often acts as “adding fuel to the fire.”
2. Alcohol and Children
Alcohol is generally contraindicated in children.
The child’s organism is naturally more Yang in nature and tends to generate Heat and Dampness more easily. This may manifest as:
- hyperactivity
- ADHD
- insomnia
- irritability
- recurrent infections
Introducing alcohol into such a terrain can further aggravate these tendencies rather than harmonize them.
3. The Myth of “Boiling Off” Alcohol
A common argument is that alcohol can be removed by pouring hot water over the tincture or by briefly heating it.
From a chemical standpoint, this assumption is incorrect.
“Boiling off” alcohol is essentially a simple form of distillation, a separation technique based on differences in boiling points. However, ethanol (boiling point 78°C) and water (boiling point 100°C) have boiling points that are too close to allow complete separation through simple heating.
Even theoretically reducing alcohol content from approximately 10% to 0.5% would require evaporating roughly one-third of the liquid volume — meaning that from 100 ml, only about 66 ml would remain. With typical tincture concentrations around 45% alcohol, the required time, temperature, and volume loss would be substantially greater.
Importantly:
- Alcohol cannot be completely removed by simple boiling.
- A residual amount will always remain unless the entire liquid is evaporated.
4. Pharmaceutical and Safety Considerations
According to phytopharmaceutical experts Dr. Anthony Booker, PhD, and Drs. Edwin Lipperts (source: maciocia.com), herbal tinctures are usually alcohol extracts with alcohol concentrations ranging from 20–80%, most commonly around 45%.
An herb extracted in high-concentration alcohol is chemically different from the same herb used in traditional decoction or granule form. High-alcohol extraction can alter:
- the strength of primary effects
- the profile of secondary effects
- the safety margin
- the side-effect potential
The historical and clinical evaluation of high-alcohol herbal extracts within traditional Chinese medicine remains limited. Therefore, such preparations should not automatically be considered equivalent to traditional forms and may not be suitable for routine clinical practice.
5. Common Sense Perspective
In TCM, there is no strict separation between food and herbs — both influence the body energetically. However, herbs exert stronger and more targeted effects.
If cooling foods such as cucumber or lettuce were extracted in alcohol, their original cooling nature would be fundamentally altered by the warming and drying properties of alcohol itself.
The medium matters.
Our TCM Conclusion
For these reasons, we do not consider alcohol-based herbal tinctures to be an optimal form for long-term therapeutic use within TCM.
Instead, we prefer traditional and clinically established dosage forms that preserve the energetic integrity of the herbs without introducing unnecessary Heat and Dampness into the organism.