How to Make Herbal Preparations Re: Infusion of fresh herbs for gas

How to Make Herbal Preparations
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Infusions

When we speak of infusions we mean making a common tea.
Take an amount of herb, pour boiling water over it, and let it steep.
An infusion can be made with cold water, as a sun tea, or by using boiling water.

A basic formula for making an infusion is to use one teaspoonful of dried herb or two teaspoons of fresh herb to the cup of water. Pour the boiling water into a cup with the herbs (a tea ball may be used), cover, and let steep for 15-30 minutes. When making a cold infusion or sun tea, let the herbs remain in the water 1 to 4 hours before straining.

We use infusions with herb parts out of which the medicinal qualities are easy to extract, such as leaves and flowers (example: peppermint leaves or chamomile flowers). If we were to simmer or boil these sensitive parts of herbs, we would have their valuable healing chemicals in the air of our kitchen but not in our cup of tea.

When we want to make a tea out of the harder parts of plants, such as the twigs, branches, barks and roots, then we make a decoction.
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Decoctions

A decoction is also an herbal tea, but it is designed for the harder parts of herbs such as the barks, roots, twigs, berries, fruit, nuts, etc.
With these parts of herbs, an infusion may not extract all the medicinal properties; they are locked into the harder parts of the plants.Therefore, we need to apply more heat for a longer period of time.

A basic decoction is made by adding 1/2 to 1 ounce (1 to 4 tablespoons) of dried herb to 1 1/2 pints of cold water (the extra 1/2 pint covers the evaporation in boiling). It is best to let the herbs soak and re-hydrate in the water up to 12 hours, if you have the time, and then slowly bring it up to a boil. Let it simmer between 10 and 30 minutes.

For infusions, decoctions, and any other herbal preparations you make that require water, it is best to use the emptiest water. Your first choice would be distilled water; a very close second would be reverse osmosis, and then filtered. Mineral and spring waters are very saturated (full) with minerals and, therefore, dissolve less plant chemicals than the empty waters.
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