Herbal Constituents

Online Classes

Herbal Constituents &

Make Better Medicine

Comfrey & the PA Puzzle - Short Course

Learn about the different Comfrey species & cultivars, their synergistic phenolic constituents & the pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA): what they are & why they matter. Is Comfrey safe? What about leaf vs. root? What is the spectrum of PA toxicity? What are they soluble in? Can you absorb them through your skin? How does the liver metabolize them? Can they really cause liver disease? How much is too much? We'll dive into phytochemical detail to answer these questions and give you the tools you need to make a rational risk/benefit analysis of this traditional medicinal plant. Includes detailed handouts with links to resources, an illustrated PowerPoint deck, a fun self-assessment quiz, and a recorded 2-hour Q&A Webinar with Lisa Ganora & Kat Martello!

The first class in our Make Better Medicine series, Solubility & Extraction, is now available! Solubility & Extraction is the course for herbalists who want to take their medicine-making skills to the next level ... Join us to learn process based herbal pharmacy - the next step beyond a recipe based approach. Learn the how and why of your methods and how you can dial them in to Make Better Medicine by understanding solubility & extraction with Herbal Constituents! Each of the 8 lessons includes a lively video, a detailed study guide & a self-assessment quiz. Also included, a 34-page Course Booklet with more info on constituents & their solubilities, a PowerPoint deck, and an active Forum for your questions.

The second class in our Make Better Medicine series, Extraordinary Elixirs! (& Herbal Infused Honeys) is now available with upgraded audio! This in-depth class has more than 4 hours of step-by-step video, study guides, quizzes, a course booklet, recipes and more to help you make simple or complex multi-herb elixirs. Also see the Tincture & Elixir Calculator below.

Tincture & Elixir Calculator

If you make herbal products to sell or for your clients, check out this handy calculator that does the math for both multi-herb tinctures and simple or multi-herb elixirs (tincture/s & honey together). The easy way to get the final ethanol % in your formulas along with specific dose information for each herb!

Registration for Semester 2 of our Herbal Constituents course is now closed.

This comprehensive course goes in-depth to explore the nature of constituents, structure and function, solubility & extraction, synergy and variability, which plants contain which phytochemicals, how constituents contribute to the actions and energetics of Western herbs, and how to use our knowledge of them in clinical practice. If you really want to understand constituents and basic botanical chemistry, this could be the class for you: Two 12-week sessions, each with videos, study guides, PowerPoint decks, handouts, quizzes, optional assignments, a forum, and live weekly webinars. Registration for Semester 1 will open again in September, 2024.