Tinctures for Microdosing

They are tinctures prepared under the method of Dr. Eugenio Martínez Bravo (1922-2003), a prominent Mexican doctor and researcher at the University of San Luis Potosí. In this method, the active ingredients are extracted from plants (even from tissues and medicines) to later use them in very diluted doses that range from a thousand to fifteen thousand times less than those normally used (although less diluted than those used in homeopathy). This microdose is applied to sensory endings, mainly on the tongue, and has shown effectiveness in treating the most diverse ailments, as well as greater safety for those who consume them (significantly reducing toxicity and adverse effects).   

Dr. Martínez Bravo was also a social activist, committed to those who have the least. He was even imprisoned for his links with Genaro Vázquez Rojas and his guerrillas. The focus of his microdose technology is on the communities themselves, with the participation of the elders and traditional doctors, so that they would have the necessary elements to use the herbal tradition with better results, at a low cost.   

However, given the little publicity that his discoveries have had, despite having been transmitted through books and by word of mouth, and the disconnection that exists in our modern urban societies with herbalism tradition, the purpose of this website, Spiritus Mundi, is to make this technology available to urban users, with tinctures made with medicinal plants from different regions of Mexico, as well as other medicinal plants from around the world.  

Many communities have used this method for over 20 years. During that time, knowledge about the effectiveness of microdoses and their mechanism of action has been developed, with scientific verification, mainly by universities in Mexico and Cuba. The following advantages have been identified in the use of this therapeutic system: 

1. By reducing doses up to five to fifteen thousand times, we approach the ideal of therapy: medication without intoxication  

2. Costs are reduced in almost the same proportion as therapeutic doses are reduced.  

3. Adverse effects, hospitalization and mortality resulting from the misuse of allopathic drugs or their intrinsic toxicity under recommended doses are reduced.   

By applying a chemical stimulus, the microdose drops in this case, repeatedly in the sensory endings of taste or in other nerve endings (hearing, smell, touch, etc.), this triggers actions through the neurohormonal pathway (hypothalamus-cortex brain-healing effector endings); this is a mechanism that had been unnoticed until now.   

Instead of using the bloodstream to carry the drug (as chemically synthesized drugs work), local sensory endings are stimulated, signals are sent to the hypothalamus and from there to the cerebral cortex, then reaching the site action of the drug administered and generating the desired curative effect.  

1. Fresh plants are preferably used, correctly identified and making sure that they have not been subjected to toxic chemicals, such as pesticides, etc., although dry plants can also be used.   

2. The herb, broken into small pieces, is placed inside a jar with dark walls (amber glass), or lined with cardboard. The plant is moderately packed to fill the jar; cane alcohol is added at 95 to 96º until filling two thirds of the bottle; the missing third part to cover the plant is drinking water, without chlorine. The jar is then tightly capped and labeled. In the case of succulent or fleshy plants such as aloe, or fruits such as papaya, with a high water content, the preparation is made almost without water (only a fifth or sixth part is added), the rest pure alcohol.  

3. The bottle is kept in a cool, dry and dark place, from time to time it is shaken. After fifteen to thirty days it is strained to separate the vegetable residue and the liquid is put back in the bottle. This is the tincture.   

"Double tinctures" can also be made: instead of using two parts alcohol and one part water, we completely cover the plant with pure alcohol and leave it to rest in a dark place for two days; after which we separate the liquid and store it in an airtight jar in the same place. To what is left of the plant we add half an amount of pure water and shake it from time to time for two more days, at the end of this time we mix the liquids and we already have the “double tincture”.  

At Spiritus Mundi we use a combined technique: the plants are left to macerate in a solution of pure alcohol for at least 28 days, then pure water is added to the residue of the plant with which the other ingredients are extracted and finally the liquids in a ratio of two-thirds alcohol to one-third water to produce a mother tincture for microdosing.  

Microdose tinctures should not be consumed directly as prepared, they should first be diluted in drinking water. 

In the case of medicinal plant tinctures, use 8 drops for every 2 ml of vehicle, the proportion of which is calculated considering the concentration of plant substances or their toxicity (consult the use and dosage of each plant).   When using essence, 2 to 3 drops are used for every 10 ml of vehicle. 

In general, two drops of each microdose are used four times a day, applied to the tongue or anywhere in the mouth. When local effects are desired as in the case of tonsillitis or gum disease (where the Sangre de Drago plant is often used), five drops will be applied to gargle before swallowing; or rubbed on the gum, four times a day.   

In the case of serious illnesses or severe acute conditions, two drops of the main drug are administered every five minutes. For instance, in case of pain, Buscopan; for infectious processes, Estafiate or Erythromycin; with a maximum limit of one hour, even when after "X" dose the patient has improved. It will be necessary to continue administering two drops of the medicine every hour, for a period of 24 hours, and then continuing four times a day.   

Numerous patients suffer from several diseases simultaneously. For them daily microdoses will be prescribed, but separating one medication from another for a minute, it can be up to 10 or 12 different microdoses.   

The treatment will last as long as the symptoms or signs of the disease exist, plus a time equal to the time it took to heal; to avoid relapses. For chronic diseases it may be necessary for treatment to last indefinitely; in case of any rejection or lack of response, an alternative medication can be administered.   

If the patient shows dislike or repulsion to a certain medication, it should be suspended, for this we must remember to administer the microdoses separately for an interval of at least one minute.