The word is getting around, so do this simple test now . . . before your patients do it!

But first, A word of advice: Some practitioners buy the bargain-basement brand and then simply increase the dosage until something happens. This is a bad idea for many reasons but primarily because of this: it is not only that mass-producing a formula can cause a serious loss of potency overall, but also each herb in a formula can lose potency to varying degrees . . . Think of it this way: it would be like choosing the correct formula for a patient and then randomly changing the proportion of some herbs and eliminating others. The action of such a formula would be highly unpredictable and would not correspond to the ingredients listing on the label or to its traditional application. In fact, such a chaotic formula of herbal remnants could inhibit the positive effects of an acupuncture treatment.

NOTE: What if the most potent mass-produced formulas you find are liquid and not pill? Because educated patients are a key to clinical success and because patients greatly appreciate being given a choice, this is how to motivate a patient to take an herbal formula that they have to taste: Ms. Jones, I need to prescribe an herbal formula for you. Your first choice is these convenient pills. They are cheap and will cause you no bother. Your second choice is this liquid which is less convenient but more potent. Which do you choose?

First, wisdom: Herb companies don’t want anyone to be so self-reliant . . . but they protect their interests. Herbs are like super-potent foods; as a supplement to a sensible diet (i.e. don't eat anything advertised on TV), exercise, and all that, herbs are capable incredible things. But if you purchase weak, commercially-mass-produced herbal products, you will see little in results . . . their ads are colorful though, aren’t they? And here’s a tip you can bank on: Few vitamin store sales people do anything beyond parrot what the herb company rep. tells them. That’s why it’s up to you.

1) Choose a formula such as a manufactured formula that you prescribe. Request a free sample of the same formula from a different manufacturer.

2) Place a dose of each brand in separate cups, each containing about four ounces of water. Tablets may take a couple hours to dissolve. Clear glass cups give a view. After all have become teas again, note which brand is more vibrant with color and fragrance. Hot water will cause the fragrance to be more noticeable.

3) Consciously taste the potency, expressed in its flavors, and hold it in your mouth. Those flavors will course through your patient’s body altering the balance or challenging pathogens. Are the flavors strong or weak? This tells you if a formula is strong or weak*.

4) How close is the intensity of the flavors between the two test samples? Because flavor reflects potency, if one is weaker than the other, reason says it will be less effective. Use the strong one for better results.

With practice, you will be able to evaluate an herbal concentrate by simply dissolving it in your mouth. Try this at the next oriental medicine conference at as many vender booths as you can. Beware that a liquid with high alcohol content will irritate the tongue. This will cause the taste and smell of the herbs to seem stronger than they actually are.

*Even if you do not recall the specifics about the relationship of taste to function in traditional Chinese medicine or you don’t remember much about what particular herbs taste like, you can be sure that if an herbal pill tastes dull, stale, and lifeless, it will not do much.