Herbalist and Alchemist
50 years of American Herbalism
David has not only created amazing herbal blends for 50 years, he has also published books, magazines and maintains a podcast along with teaching ancient knowledge to a new generation.
Started by David Winston in the 1970s, the idea came to him in a dream. He was incredibly focused on how plants are transformed into the best and most effective medicines, something he had already been doing for many years. “But, when you make tinctures, oils or ointments, there's a certain volume of scale that's necessary. Tiny batches simply don’t work. I would have to make a gallon when I only needed a pint, so in 1981 I started a business to sell all the “extras”.
It wasn’t difficult to do because the quality and care with which David created his customized blends for patients was incredibly detailed compared to herbal medicine that was available at that time. Now he focuses just as much on sustainable farming, harvesting and production as he does on the blending of the remedies themselves.
The BIO-SPECIFIC™ formulation process
David has designed a unique process which is based on knowledge of the chemistry, character and energetics of each plant gained from traditional wisdom. This knowledge is combined and balanced with leading modern research and decades of clinical experience. Herbs are obtained directly from organic growers and ethical wildcrafters. Trained herbalists evaluate and validate species and remove inferior plant parts by hand instead of relying on machines. Extraction and spagyric alchemy concentrates herbal plants to maintain their effective forms. Some herbs lose activity upon drying such as Cleavers, while Astragalus needs to be simmered in water before alcohol can be added to produce a vital extract.
“We use only Certified Organic, Pharmaceutical Grade Alcohol in our herbal extracts, never industrial solvents such as hexane or benzene often used to extract standardized herbal preparations.”
