Delivery Systems | 10 Different Ways to Utilize Herbs + 2 videos!

There’s more to herbs than tea, trust me.

As a recent Western Herbalism graduate, not only did I learn 300+ medicinal herbs, I learned various ways of utilizing them! Below are the 10 most common delivery systems for herbs.
What is a delivery system? To put it short, its the way the chemistry and medicinal aspects of the herb are delivered to the body. Below I’ve listed the most common delivery systems used in traditional and modern herbalism.

Capsules

Capsules are probably closest to what you’d think of as a “pill”. This consists of ground-up dry, liquid, or freeze-dried plant matter put into gelatin or plant-based capsules.

Compress

A compress can be either hot or cold and is delivered by using a clean gauze or cotton ball soaked in a strong herbal infusion or decoction; it is used topically on a wound or irritation.

Decoction

A decoction is an extraction method made from the harder parts of the plant such as hard berries, roots, and stems by gently simmering them for a longer period of time.

Food

I talk about this all the time! All of my recipes incorporate herbs & for good reason! Mixing herbs into your food was the first way people found that plants had such profound health benefits! Most herbs are loaded with antioxidants and help with inflammation within the body when consumed. Fresh Rosemary, Oregano are spicy whereas Mint and Basil are more cooling and have a refreshing taste. Eating herbs through incorporating them into your food is an effective and delicious delivery system.

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Herbal Honey

3 words first: Raw, Organic, Local. These are the most important aspects when purchasing honey. Being plant-based, there’s a lot of controversy around honey, seeing as it is an animal by-product.
Things to consider: care about where the honey is sourced, bee handling, and the honey harvesting procedure.
Honey is too nutritious to ignore and should be shown gratitude when consumed. I love to consume my honey when it’s herbally infused! Not only do you get the nutrients of the honey, but also all the added ones from the herbs as well!
This is a great delivery system when you mix it with fresh tea!

Herbal Wine

This delivery system will not leave you drunk. Typically herbalists use port wine for this which has a low alcohol percentage compared to the alcohol used to make tinctures.
Here, you can drink up to 1/2 cup of the herbal wine as a dosage.

Win your family over with this!
It’s an incredibly effective way to delivery herbal medicine.

Infusion

An infusion is something you’d think of as a “tea” but a lot stronger. An infusion is made out of the more fragile plant parts such as the leaves and flowers; also referred to as the “ariel portions” of the plant.

Oil

Oil not only captures the smell and taste of the herbs but their medicinal properties as well. Brings a lot of flavor to the table! Like tinctures, it typically takes about 21 days to a month to really allow all of the plants’ chemistry to combine with the solvent. There are also faster ways to make herbal oil such as the double-boiler method.
Herbal Infused Oil can be applied to the skin, used for hair, or consumed with food! My favorite oil to make is rosemary-infused olive oil!

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Salve/Topical

A topical or a salve is a combination of herbs mixed with beeswax and herbal infused oils.
This can be applied topically, on top of the skin. Used mostly for healing external wounds or soothing sore muscles.

Tincture

A tincture is a more direct way of getting your plant-medicine. A tincture is an extraction using alcohol, glycerine, or both! The tinctures containing alcohol are very effective and can seep into the bloodstream within minutes. A glycerite is used for a sweeter taste and is safer for children to take. Though it costs more for glycerite, they taste delicious depending on which herbs are used in the making.