Coincidence Re:[FAQ] Tincture Measures: Working File Thread

Good post, Willow!

Would you believe that I just compiled the following the other day, after reading "suggested dosages" for some herbs I plan to tincture.

Suppose the suggested dose for an herb called "Bala" (Sida Cordifolia) is 5-10 ml daily (may be split into 2-3 "servings."

How many drops/dropperfulls? If one dropperful is about 35 drops, as I recall. OK, I just checked and my self-consciously extra-hard squeeze yielded 38 drops. So let us hold to 35 drops per average squeeze.

So how do I get ML from the dropper?

Here's what I calculated using info obtained via Google.
10 ml = 0.33 fl. oz. (1/3 oz) or 160 drops = 4.5 dropperfulls daily.
Just note the following, which holds a slight discrepancy.

-------DROPS--ML--OZ--ETC----------------
How much is one drop?

1 drop = 1/480 fl. oz. ("they" say)
So...
480 drops for fl. oz and 1 fl. oz = 480 drops

1 drop = 0.05 ml. ("they" say)
35 drops = 1.75 ml (the math checks)
20 drops per ml. (the math checks)

10 ml = 0.33 fl. oz. (1/3 oz) ("they" say)
or 160 drops = 5.71 dropperfulls daily.

But Note: that there are different sized "drops"; and that 160 drops was only 8 ml± of another sized drop.
From the above figures you'd have 200 drops per ml or 5.71 dropperfuls daily.

Not rocket science, 'tis said; and especially when you use "drops."

I also found: 24 drops = 1/4 tsp.
So three (3) 35-drop "droppersfull" is close enough to 1 tsp.

--------------------------------------------------

So what?

And what about the "Bala" herb? (Sida Cordifolia)
A friend gave me some if I'd make her a tincture, so I made one for myself.

After ingesting one dropperful on Sunday morning, in the late afternoon I worked up a new garlic bed about 6x15, skinning off the grass and reclaiming most of the soil beneath the grass clods using 1/2" chicken wire on frame of 2x4's. I was hardly tired!

Monday evening, I tried one dropperful in the morning. Then in the evening, I took another, just before I did an uphill bicycle ride that I haven't taken in three years. I fully expected it to totally wipe me out, but though I was winded for a while, and felt it in my calves the next day, the ride was not especially unpleasant.

Both doses are far below the recommended daily limit.

I think I'll take up biking again.

And I think I'll try tincturing the Horny Goat Weed in the front yard (Epimedium grandiflorum); 3 ml - 10 ml, recommended daily dosage. That's "about" 2-6 droppersfull, folks!

Disclaimer: I am not recommending that anyone else use either of the two herbs mentioned above. If you catch any math mistakes, don't hesitate to let us know. AND, are there any herbs where single drops may be important? Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) is recommended at 5-7 DROPS, and I've never used more than 7.

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