Organic burdock root, organic sheep sorrel, organic rhubarb root and organic slippery elm. Comes in a bag which can reseal to keep freshness.

This is a 1 pound bag of loose, not ground, herbs for you to make your decoction of the famous Essiac Tea. I am a professional Herbalist and I would like to share with you a few facts about making this preparation as there is a lot of misinformation out there.

First, you need loose, not powdered, plant material to prepare Essiac Tea. The reason is simple, you can not make a decoction out of powdered herbs very easily. Powdered herbs are really best for capsulating. As well, when you powder roots, you loose some of their oils and you can't get that back into the root once its pressed out. Once you break it down, it looses it's life force. Also roots are not easy to extract, your digestive system can not do it by itself. So in order to keep the integrity of the plant and get the healing properties out, you must either tincture it or make a decoction. 

Second, this should be easy! There is no magical way to prepare this blend that makes it more effective other than good common sense. Good common sense herbalism is what I mentioned in my above text. Roots take a little work in order to get their healing properties released and therefore need to be boiled or made into a tincture. Dont stress, its not rocket science. If you dont think it tastes strong enough or looks too watery, then next time use more herb. If its like mud, next time use more water. Its not an exact science, its art!

Third, Essiac Tea is not a magic cure or hidden secret. It simply is a cleansing and purifying blend. It cleanses the blood, its a diuretic and it supports the liver. It helps with several channels of elimination such as the kidney, liver, colon and skin. If it were me, I personally would also add ...

Red Clover - research from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) confirms that red clover extract contains four anti-tumor compounds.

Fourth, please do not rely just on this blend. If you have a serious illness, it means what you have been doing is not working and you need a radical shift of life style. You must change your diet, change your exercise  habits, change your life style choices and also your mind! Hippocrates said "Let medicine be your food and food be your medicine", that is wise advice! Make sure everything you put in your mouth is medicine. Each food you select should be to nourish and strengthen your body. Avoid sugar, toxins, dyes, coffee, soda, alcohol, smoking, and junk food if you are not well. Eat only whole foods.

How to make a decoction

A decoction is similar to a tea, but becomes necessary when using tougher plant material like herbal roots, barks, seeds, berries.

Use 1 part herb material to 20 parts water. So for ease use 1 cup herbs to 20 cups water. This is enough for about a week if you drink several cups a day.

Place the herbs in a saucepan with the cold water. Let set an hour or two with no heat. Just let it set there. Then when your ready, turn on the heat and bring to a boil just until it steams. The second it steams,  turn down the heat to ow and simmer the mixture (covered with a lid) until the volume of the liquid has been reduced by about half. This will take about 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it does not reduce too much.

Tips:

Strain and let cool before refrigerating. Cheese cloth is a good way to strain. Once its strained, squeeze the cheese cloth to get all the good stuff out from the herbs.

Do not make more than you will drink in a week because there are no preservatives and it will go bad. You will need to remake it each week. Always keep refrigerated. You could add a bit of honey when its cool as honey (if real quality honey) has preservative qualities and will help it keep during the week.