Should you purchase our herbal powders or the capsules?
This post will show you the benefits and drawbacks of each.
The Benefits of Capsules
The most obvious benefit of taking capsules is the convenience of doing so. It’s easy to pop a few pills in your mouth and wash it down with any liquid.
Another aspect is that capsules allow you to bypass the taste of whatever is inside. Whether this is herbs or some other supplement, many of them have less than the best taste ever. While this is a benefit, we’ll also see that it comes with a drawback.
The Drawbacks of Capsules
Not tasting herbs may minimize benefits. For example, we have received reports from Tongkat Ali customers that the powder worked for them, but the capsules did not.
It could just be the placebo effect. But it could be that the taste helps to direct the body what to do. That’s what many ancient systems say. For example, see these details about the Chinese Five Element model and Five Tastes.
In addition, because of the large and expensive machinery used, it simply costs more to make capsules of any herb. This is then reflected in a higher retail price.
We use pullulan capsules which we feel are the best option for our herbs. See this post to learn more. I mention this to share that the veggie capsules that most companies use may not be the best option.
The Benefits of Powders
The powder is going to give you the best bang for your buck. They’re a better value because once the powder is made you can skip all the capsule steps.
As mentioned, with the taste your body may better know what to do with the herb.
In addition, if you’re taking big doses (say Pine Pollen Megadose, up to 3 Tbsp per day) then it tends to be easier to use a powder than it does with capsules. This dose is equivalent to roughly 24 capsules. Most people aren’t going to want to take that many capsules.
The Drawbacks of Powders
The taste on some herbs is going to be off-putting to some people.
Also, powders are not as convenient as capsules. At the very least you need a glass, a liquid, and a spoon or something else to stir them in. Some powders readily mix into a liquid while others clump up.
Currently, we offer Pine Pollen, Tongkat Ali, Thor’s Hammer and Phoenix Formula in capsules. More will be coming in the future.
But because of the other benefits including the value, we will not stop offering the powders on our herbs.