• How to Enjoy •
• take 2 ounces (1/4 cup) 1-3 times daily
Dilute with hot or cold water to taste, or take directly from bottle. You can measure out your tea using a 1/4 measuring cup or your shot glass if working from a Brewer's Pack. Our labeled bottles also have a measuring line on the right side that you can use to gauge how much tea is remaining.
• Raw honey, lemon, & cinnamon impart a nice flavor
The tart, earthy taste of essiac can be an acquired taste for newcomers, so in addition to diluting it in hot or cold water, it can be helpful to add some healthy, natural flavoring. Raw honey has numerous health benefits in addition to sweetening your tea, and many of our customers use lemon or cinnamon as well. My absolute favorite way in taking the tea is to fill my coffee mug 1/2 way with boiled water and then add my essiac to it. This makes it into a great hot cup of tea.
NOTE: Do not use artificial sweeteners or refined sugars with essiac.
• take on an empty stomach
Make sure to consume essiac at least 1 hour after and at least 10 minutes before any food or medications. If you've already eaten and still feel like taking it, that's totally fine, but we believe optimal absorption is achieved on an empty stomach wherever possible.
• Establish a routine
We recommend taking it in the mornings 10 minutes before breakfast or any medications, and in the evenings an hour after dinner or a snack (make sure to then wait 10 minutes before taking any night time medications). Essiac is caffeine-free, so don't worry about it buzzing you back awake.
• Stick with it
Essiac is best taken steadily over time to truly see its benefits. We don't say this as a way to maintain your patronage or for profit-- it's just a fact of herbal remedies that they must be consumed in the long term to really affect the body, unlike quick-acting medications. Our customers who have benefited the most from essiac have taken it for months to years to even decades. Every year, we have a handful of new patrons who take a single bottle and, after not being completely wowed by the results, give up on it. But even though everyone's physiology is different, we encourage them to keep going, and those who do are invariably impressed.
• take a walk
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to exercise your body. Not only does moving warm up the circuits, but it enables your body to expel toxins and absorb nutrients more readily, a key factor when using essiac. Plus, it releases those happy endorphins.
• shake your bottle well & keep refrigerated after opening
The slippery elm bark mucus in your essiac settles to the bottom and must be shaken to reincorporate before each pour. There are no preservatives added to your essiac, so it must be refrigerated one the cap's vacuum seal is broken.
NOTE: If you notice 'floaters,' or any foreign materials on your essiac, dispose of the whole bottle immediately as it has spoiled.
• Do not microwave essiac
We don't know if microwaves affect essiac's composition or burn out any nutrients, so it's best to be safe. If you're in a hurry and want hot essiac, a common alternative is to microwave a cup of water and then add essiac to it afterwards.
• Use purified, distilled, or filtered water & not tap
In addition to brewing your essiac with these types of water, it is best to drink it with them as well (if diluting). Tap can have high mineral content and other chemicals that may affect essiac's composition, so if you're a purist like us, it's best to use a purer water. Having a Brita filter or the like on hand is always a good idea. We don't encourage folks to go out and buy big plastic jugs of distilled water unless you're sure they can make it to the recycling stream.
• reduce, reuse, recycle
One of the reasons we use amber glass bottles is that they are more durable and can be reused again and again, and we encourage you to keep reusing yours! Use them to brew another batch of tea, store a different drink, or even hold some flowers. If you're finished with them, make sure to place them in a recycling bin with their caps removed. The caps, unfortunately, have to be thrown away.
• vacuum-seal caps are a one-time seal for shelf storage
If you're bottling with our vacuum-seal caps, note that if you plan on reusing them for another batch of essiac, then we can't guarantee they will be able to form a second seal, and thus should be destined for the fridge, just in case.
• do not use any of our products if a seal is broken
You never know if tampering might have occurred in the wild on the way from our kitchen to you, so always make sure your essiac bottle's clear plastic cap band is intact and the bottle makes a soft hiss when opened (vacuum seal releasing). For dry herb packets, make sure the circular sticker seal on the top lid is undamaged and that the vacuum-sealed packet inside has not been compromised. If any of these safeties are broken, take a picture and send us a message with details on where you purchased our product (so we can let the vendor know too), and then dispose of the product. We will then send you a replacement free of charge.
• Dry herb packet wet yield may vary
Depending on your equipment, elevation, how much essiac is allowed to evaporate, and how much is spilled during the bottling process, you may finish with more or less than the packet's yield estimate. We apologize for the variability, but if brewed properly, it should hopefully be negligible.
• Be kind to yourself
It's an indisputable fact (and not just cheesy sentiment) that love lengthens life. The less you bedraggle yourself and others, the more you grow into a spring of happiness in both your life and the lives of those you cherish. So no matter if you take essiac or not, please be kind to yourself. You're worth it.
