Dosage Guidelines for Granule Products

At Legendary Herbs, we help our customers provide ethical and effective herbal medicine by providing transparent and clear information on concentration ratios, excipients, and dosage.  Most of our products are 5:1 extracts, which means that one gram of the finished product is equivalent to five grams of the dried raw medicinal.

FDA law requires manufacturers to list one specific dose on the label.  However, the dosage on the label generally has little relevance for health care professionals because herbalists tend to use customized doses for each individual patient.  Dosage depends on many factors, such as the constitution of the patient, the severity of the illness, the potency of the individual herbs used, and the clinical training of the practitioner.

If one is mixing a formula from single herb extracts, a total target dose of around 12-18 grams per day is usually considered suitable for most cases. The dosage of each individual medicinal tends to vary based on its potency and nature. Most single medicinals tend to be used at a dose range of 0.5 to 3.0 grams per day (about 1-1.5g/day for most average items seems to work well).

If one is prescribing a classical formula without modification, around 8-15 grams per day is generally appropriate, depending on the number of ingredients within the formula and the clinical presentation of the patient.

Often, this dose range is mathematically a bit lower than the corresponding raw herbal dosage, but the increased efficiency of extraction that a controlled setting provides generally allows for a slight reduction in overall raw material weight. Additionally, other factors play a major role in determining dosage, such as the intensity of the case and the number of ingredients in the formula, as well as the potency of the herbs and the relative emphasis of their principles.

Just like when using raw medicinals by decoction, each item has its own dose range when prescribed as a granule extract. It can be useful to group the items into low, middle, and high dose ranges, though one’s thinking should always be flexible in response to the case.

Items that are potent by weight and have a lower standard dose range are often prescribed in doses of 0.5 g/day or even 0.3g/day; examples include items such as Rou Gui or Wu Zhu Yu.

Average items are often used at a dose of 1.0-1.5 g/day; examples include Bai Shao, Bai Zhu, and Fu Ling.

Medicinals that are weak by weight require larger doses, often 2-3 grams per day or even more; examples include Yi Yi Ren and Shan Yao.

Items that cannot be concentrated

Some items cannot be concentrated. Although many of these items are stocked by granule suppliers, virtually all of the companies sell a ground powder rather than a concentrate. The reason that an item cannot be concentrated varies depending on the medicinal, and its dosage in granule preparations always depends on the traditional method and dosage of the substance itself.

When prescribing these medicinals, one must generally choose whether or not to preserve their traditional dosage in the granule form. Many of these items have been known to be less effective in decoctions for a long time, so they were traditionally taken as a powder. Since most of them have a moderate dose range of 1-3 grams, they can easily be taken at this same traditional dose along with other granules.

For items that were traditionally used at higher doses, such as gelatins, one has to make a choice. One can either increase the size of the total granule prescription dramatically to accommodate the traditional dose, or one can use a lower than normal dose of the non-concentrated item. The latter choice is often used when cost is a factor in the treatment; this is sometimes an outside constraint that complicates the decision-making process.

Allow us to consider some examples of items that are not concentrated:

San Qi has delicate constituents that are damaged by heat, so prolonged cooking negatively impacts its blood-stanching ability. However, it is traditionally considered best when taken as a powder, so actually the dosage used is the same.

Chuan Bei Mu is too expensive in its authentic form to make a granule extract affordable. Various products from related species (thought to have similar actions but reduced efficacy) are often used as substitutes when preparing concentrates. However, most companies simply supply authentic Chuan Bei Mu as a 1:1 (non-concentrated) product rather than an extract.

Xi Yang Shen is the same as Chuan Bei Mu, sold as a 1:1 powder because of its expense (it also has delicate constituents). Like Chuan Bei Mu, Xi Yang Shen was traditionally taken as a powder rather than by decoction anyway.

E Jiao, Gui Ban Jiao, Lu Jiao Jiao, and Bei Jia Jiao are animal gelatin products, and they cannot be concentrated because they are effectively already concentrates. Further boiling just causes them to stick like glue in the machines, and their traditional use was as a powder that is mixed into warm wine or a decoction.

Chen Xiang is often not concentrated, due to its rarity and expense. Ge Jie is also very rarely seen as a concentrate because of its expense.

Xue jie and hu po are generally unable to be concentrated, and they are also traditionally taken as a powder.

Ru Xiang and Mo Yao are not very water-soluble, so they are sold as ground powders or concentrated by using alcohol as a solvent. Wine was traditionally used to dissolve these two products, so this practice is not too far from tradition.

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