Q : The label of the liquid now lists citric acid?

A :  Citric acid was always in the bottle of the liquid product.  To comply with the new NHP guidelines, it must be listed.

 

Q: What is the calcium content of the liquid? 

A:  60 mgs per liter of the liquid tea. 60 mgs in 1,000 mls = 0.6 mgs in 10 mls = 1.8 mgs in 30 mls. Very small amount

 

Q: What are the levels of Potassium and Phosphorus contained in the liquid?

A: Phosphorus: 50 ppm X 120 ml per day = 6 mg per day
     Potassium: 550 ppm X 120 ml per day = 66 mg per day

 

Q: What is the isoflavone content of Flor•Essence?

A: 10-12 ppm

 

Q: Turkish Rhubarb is not native to NA, how did the Indians get it?

A:  There are two correct types of rhubarb, and both can be used interchangeably:  Turkish rhubarb (rheum palmatum), and Indian rhubarb (rheum officinale).  The words 'Turkish' and 'Indian' refer to the routes by which these herbs came from China to the Western world.  How the North American Indians got them is probably the same way many other non indigenous herbs, which have since naturalized here, came to North America,– by the immigrants from Europe over the centuries. 

 

The 8 original herbs with which Rene started, may have included a plant now on the endangered species list, so Rene and Dr Brusch substituted either of these, because the actions were very similar.

 

Q: Oxalic acid in Flor•Essence?

A:  To the best of our knowledge, the oxalic acid level in Flor•Essence is too low to have a detrimental effect on the body.   Cautionsin herbal books, refer to large amounts of the herb, whether fresh or dried.
Less than 1 oz (21g) of the blend of 8 herbs in Flor•Essence is used to produce 32 ozs (1 liter) of a concentrated liquid, which then is further diluted 1:1 with water before consumption. Even though the burdock may be the largest part of that 21 g, there is not enough to have any concern about oxalic acid.   The only serious caution I have is for a person whohas anaphylactic shock reaction to a substance,  For instance, people with this type of response to iodine cannot take Flor•Essence, because it has a small amount of kelp in it. 

 

Q: What are some signs that may indicate an overload of toxins?

A: Nerves:

- Tingling in hands and feet, muscle spasms, and mood alterations - including anxiety, aggression, and even depression.

  
Immune system:

- An over stimulated system may lead to new allergies or the aggravation of existing ones.

 

- An under-active system will lead to infections: coughs, colds, flus with greater frequency and severity.

Hormones:
- Blood sugar imbalances due to insulin insensitivity.  This may cause weight gain, especially the so-called "spare tire" around the middle of the body.

- PMS, premature menopause, and the male equivalent - andropause.

- Adrenal stress, caused in part by toxic overload, can lead to an inability to handle physical and emotional stress, as well as a dependence on caffeinated sodas and coffee to keep energy levels up. - May contribute to thyroid dysfunction, which can often cause cold hands and feet, heat intolerance, lack of energy, dry skin, weight gain, constipation, and depression.

 

Q: Is it okay to brew the tea with half the amount of water per pouch to make it more concentrated?

A: The reason for the 5 cups of water per pouch is so that the max amount of the active ingredients will be pulled out of the herbal material.  Half the amount might mean that the liquid would be fully saturated with the active ingredients before all of them were out of the plant material, and therefore some of the potency would be lost.

Q: How long does one box of dry Flor•Essence last?

A: One box makes a total of 96 ozs or 3 liters of the concentrate from 3 pouches.

 

Infant amount:	1 oz/day	= 96 days
Children amount:	1.5-2 ozs/day	= 64-48 days
Low maintenance amount:	1 oz/day	= 96 days
High maintenance amount:	2 ozs/day	= 48 days
Cleansing and detoxifying:	2 ozs 2x day	= 24 days
Higher amounts:	2 ozs 3x day	= 16 days
For Serious Problems	3 ozs 3x day	= 10 days
For Serious Problems	3 ozs 4x day	=  8 days

 

Q: Water - hot/cold?

A: The liquid concentrate is stored in the fridge, so it is cold.  When the amount to be taken is poured into a glass or cup, and hot water added to it, it will be warmed approx. to body temperature. Many medicinal ingredients in liquids are better absorbed by the body when diluted with hot water. 

 

Q: Water - non-fluoridated?

A: Fluoride does not interfere with the absorption of Flor•Essence, but the added fluoride in municipal water is not beneficial to the body.  It is best to use spring or distilled water in the brewing procedure.

 

Q: Small points about Flor•Essence:
 

A: - NEVER store the Flor•Essence in plastic.  An undesirable reaction occurs between the plastic and acidic qualities in the Flor•Essence.

- Sometimes the concentrate can be quite glutinous.  This is a natural property of the Slippery Elm and the Burdock.  It will dissolve and dissipate when hot water is added to the cold concentrate when the dosage is diluted before consumption.

- There are no preservatives in the concentrate made at home.  Please make sure bottles are sterile, and the liquid, once prepared, is kept in the refrigerator.

- DO NOT FREEZE THE LIQUID.  This will negate all the active properties.

 

Q: The package does not produce 32 ozs or 1 liter of the tea in brewing.  What can be done?

A: Three possible causes for the lack of ozs:

1) A shallow pot: Stainless steel "soup stock pots" have the depth needed for the steam to re-condense and return to the boiling liquid.  A 16 quart pot, available at WalMart for less than $30, is large enough to brew up 2 BOXES at a time. Two boxes require 30 cups of water, and this only fills the 16 quart pot halfway, leaving enough head room for the steam to cool, re-condense, and fall back into the liquid again.

2) The lid must be left on the pot during the boiling time.  The moment the liquid starts boiling, steam will push out under the lid, indicating that the burner can be turned down to medium.  This is the moment to turn the timer on for 10-12 minutes.  Doing this prevents the boiling liquid from overflowing the top of the pot, and from creating and losing too much steam.

3) Every single drop of liquid from the big pot needs to be strained, including the sediment.  The liquid sediment will of course plug the strainer, and it needs to be stirred with a teaspoon, until as much of the liquid as possible has gone through.  Obviously, some of the very fine sediment will get into the bottle, during the stirring.  Let it settle out in the bottom of the jar, and when taking the tea, just pour the liquid off the top. When the sediment is reached, discard it.

NOTE:  The sediment can be consumed if desired.  Just shake the jar before pouring out the amount to take.

 

 

 

Q: Flor•Essence sizes?

A: Flor•Essence is available as a liquid concentrate in a 500 ml bottle (17 ozs), which is very convenient and quick. It is also available as a box of dry herbs.  The box contains 3 foil pouches, each will make 1 liter (32) ozs of the concentrated liquid.  This is much more economical.

 

Q: Can Flor•Essence be brewed like a regular tea?

A: No, it needs to go through a boiling, and lengthy steeping procedure to extract the ingredients from the herbs.

 

Q: How long to take Flor•Essence?

A: Flor•Essence can be taken on an ongoing basis, regardless of the level being consumed. It is not habit forming, nor does the body get used to the action and make it less effective. People dealing with active illnesses, and/or undergoing the regular treatments need to take Flor•Essence for at least one year after their very last treatment date, to help rid the body of all the toxic wastes created by the treatments.

 

Q: Flor•Essence and traveling?

A: Purchase a small hard plastic "Igloo" type cooler.  Big enough to hold a '6-pack' and ice, the bottles of Flor•Essence will substitute for the cans. Surround them with ice.  When destination is reached, replace the ice, or refrigerate the bottles.

 

Q: Injections?

A: Rene Caisse, in her capacity as a researcher during the early decades of her involvement with this herbal tea, tried many ways to use the formula, one of which was by intramuscular injection.  Only one of the herbs was ever injected at a time, the rest still were taken by mouth.  When she and Dr. Charles Brusch were partners from 1959 to 1978, they perfected the 8-herb formula so injections were no longer necessary.

 

Intravenous injections should NEVER be done with this liquid, it is not a sterile blood product.

 

Q: Microwave reheating?

A: DO NOT ever reheat the Flor•Essence in the microwave oven.  Even heating the water to dilute it that way is not a very good idea.  I do not know what microwaves do to food, but it is not a "natural" way to heat things.  Use a stainless steel kettle to heat the water, take the cold concentrate from the fridge, pour it into a glass and add the hot water from the kettle. This will warm it to a very pleasant drinking temperature.

 

Q: Dilution and consumption of the tea?

A: Always dilute the tea, whether you buy the pre-prepared liquid concentrate in the bottle, or prepare the concentrate from the dry herbal blend.  The dilution should be done with HOT water, as the medicinal qualities appear to be better absorbed when they are warm. SIP the hot liquid when you take it, and swirl each sip around in your mouth when you first take it in.  This helps the absorption process, because it begins with the tissues lining the mouth.

 

 

 

Q: Side Effects?

A: There are no known side effects from taking the Flor•Essence. Sometimes minor difficulties, ie: stomach upsets, can be caused by the illness itself. 

 

People may have difficulty in taking the diluted concentrate for the  following reasons:

- they are very sensitive to environmental toxins.

- they take too much Flor•Essence

- they have never done this kind of a detox before, are not familiar with detoxification signs, which can include: mild diarrhea, nausea, or an itchy skin rash. 

 

There are a few other things that can be done to alleviate this:

- Drink more water.  A daily intake of at 6-8 eight oz glasses of water is needed to help flush out wastes, toxins, and poisons.

- Dilute the Flor•Essence with a little more water when it is taken.  Use 120 mls of water instead of 60 mls, and sip the diluted liquid over approx 5 mins.

- If the discomfort is still there, stop taking the Flor•Essence, and drink lots of water. When the discomfort is gone, start again, but at a lesser amount.  The body may just be so overloaded with toxins, that even the smallest amount of cleansing creates discomforts.

 

Low grade fever, headaches, muscle aches, or other flu-like symptoms can also be signs of a "cleansing crisis", which can occur 3-6 weeks into the detoxification process.  All of these discomforts indicate that the beverage is working, but it may working too efficiently.

 

Q: Who should not take Flor•Essence?

A: - Pregnant and nursing women

- People with an anaphylactic shock reaction to iodine

- People who have had an organ transplant:  lung, liver, heart, kidney or other organ, because Flor•Essence may interfere with the anti-rejection drugs.

- Bone marrow transplants, when the origin of the marrow is from the patient, and the patient is not on anti-rejection drugs do fine.

- People who are very environmentally sensitive should start with much lesser amounts and build up to the higher ones on a very gradual basis.

 

Q: Iodine sensitivity:  How much iodine is in the liquid?

A: The RDA (Canada) is 150 mcg/day. According to research, the upper intake limit for adults is 1,100 mcg (1.1mg/day)
Our maximum standard is > 1.5 mcg/ml.  The average of all the lots we have tested is > 1.2 mcg/ml
This means the daily intake of iodine is as follows:
At 1 oz 2x day (60 ml) = 72 mcg/day
At 2 ozs 2x day (120 ml) = 144 mcg/day

 

Q: Kidney dialysis:  What are the phosphorus and potassium levels in FE liquid?

 

A: Phosphorus: 3.10 mg / 60 ml  (2 oz)
    Potassium:   33.1 mg / 60 ml  (2 oz)

 

Phosphorous: 50 ppm X 120 ml = 6 mg per daily amount of 4 ozs
Potassium:   550 ppm X 120 ml = 66 mg per daily amount of 4 ozs

 

For someone on kidney dialysis - is this too much?

 

Only you and your doctor can determine if this is too much for your situation and kidney dialysis.
The average American's daily diet contains between 2000 mg to 6000 mg of potassium.

 

Q: Contra-indications?

A: Although for most people there are no problems, nonetheless, caution should be exercised.  If dealing with severe health issues such as: kidney dialysis, because of the levels of potassium and phosphorus; or severe blood pressure problems. Since the tea can help rid the body of the substances that may be causing this problem, it is always best to let your doctor know what you are doing.  This liquid may reduce some of the causative factors of illnesses, so the need for medications may be reduced, and health care providers need to be aware of what is being done.

 

Q: Chemo and Radiation?

A: Flor•Essence can safely be taken during chemotherapy or radiation, and should be, since it can help the patient deal with many of the side effects of these therapies.  In a sense it helps the immune system identify cells and cellular masses that are foreign to the body.  Chemo drugs, as such, do not have a cellular structure, neither does radiation, so essentially this liquid will not interfere. However, these treatments do produce waste material, and Flor•Essence will target these.   Chemo and radiation add toxins to the body, producing more wastes, making a longer cleansing time, but this liquid will not interfere with the chemo and radiation.

 

Q: Conflict with other drugs?

A: There is no known contraindication for using Flor-Essence with any other medical therapy or drug.  To the best of our knowledge, Flor•Essence does not interfere with any allopathic treatment, nor with any alternative treatment. The liquid goes after toxic, poisonous, diseased, mutated and otherwise abnormal cells or cellular waste resulting from regular metabolism. Any natural therapy will, of course, work quickest and best going into a body that is free of as many drugs as possible, but if drug therapy is being used, Flor•Essence will bring the all the systems of the body back into balance, and repair any damaged tissue. To the best of our knowledge, it can be taken safely with any other form of treatment. The secrets with this herbal treatment are perseverance and patience.

 

Q: Flor•Essence and blood thinning medications?

A: Although the herbs in Flor•Essence, might in their fresh form, contain Vit K, the liquid concentrate has been tested for Vit K content, and it is not detectable.  Also to be considered is that only 21 gr (less than 1 oz) of the blend of 8 different herbs goes into the production of 32 ozs of the liquid concentrate.  This is then further diluted with water when consumed.  Apart from this, the amount of the concentrate that is consumed, at any given moment, is only 2-3 ozs.

 

There are many people on blood thinning medications who are taking the Flor•Essence with no problems whatsoever.

 

Q: Flor•Essence and auto-immune diseases?

A: According to users, this tonic works more as a cleanser and a detoxifier than anything else.  In essence this means that it decreases the load of toxins and poisons that the immune system would have to deal with, helping it to function properly again.  According to Chinese traditions the actions of the different herbs are purging, dissolving, and removing in their nature.  Therefore Flor•Essence may positively affect auto immune disorders.

 

Q: Watercress and kidneys?

 

A: The information on watercress and related kidney problems usually refers to fresh, raw watercress  Aside from this, there are 21 g (less than 1 oz) of the 8 herb blend that go into the making of 32 ozs of the concentrated liquid, which must be diluted further still before taking.  Of this 21 g, watercress is a very minor ingredient. The four main herbs: burdock, sheep sorrel, slippery elm, and turkish rhubarb make up the bulk of the 21 g of dried herbs.

 

Q: Does Flor•Essence interfere with, or is it contraindicated with Cordonopsis?

A: Cordonopsis is a herb that is similar to Panax ginseng, but not as strong. It does not appear to be contraindicated, but Cordonopsis is a tonic herb, and Flor•Essence is a laxative tonic. Taking them together may reduce the effect of Cordonopsis.   If both are used, it should be done at different times. Take Flor•Essence ½ hour before meals and Cordonopsis with a meal, because it helps absorb the nutrients.

 

 

 

Q: How many pouches in one box?

A: There are 3 pouches and each one has enough herbs to make 32 oz of the liquid concentrate.

 

Q: How do you get pets to take the tea?

A: Give them the Flor•Essence on their favorite food:  Put a small amount of the food on a plate, and add the undiluted Flor•Essence.  When that is eaten, give a little more food as a reward.

 

Q: Will Flor•Essence be available in tablet form?

A: Flor•Essence never has been available in tablet form, but that may change.  If it does, it would be the actual herbs in powder form in a capsule.  There has been no date set for such a product development as of this writing.

 

Q: Pregnancy and nursing mothers:

A: One of the herbs in Flor•Essence, Burdock root, is understood to be a uterine muscle stimulant, and the possibility exists that it might cause a spontaneous discharge.  We have NO documentation that this has ever occurred with Flor•Essence, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Nursing mothers need to understand that the body will use the quickest means available to get rid of toxic substances and waste products.  The possibility exists that it could use the mother's milk.  Therefore although Flor•Essence itself can be taken by infants, it is not recommended for nursing mothers.  The tea is a very efficient detoxifier, and the body will always work with something that is trying to cleanse it, however these wastes should not go to the new-born.

 

Q: Swelling of the legs and feet:

A: One of the causes of the swelling of feet and legs is that toxic fluids in the tissues have no way of being removed without the pumping action of the large muscles of the legs.  The lymphatic system, which is the primary way for these fluids to be removed, has no pump or system of valves in its circulation system like the blood circulatory system, which has the heart.  The lymphatic system circulates the fluid by exercise - walking especially. 

 

The other cause is not drinking enough good, clean water.  To flush out the wastes, the body needs about 2 quarts (liters) per day.

 

The swelling can also sometimes be helped by doing a set of massages.

 

Q: Proof in testimonials?

A: There are over 1,500 testimonials in this office from people who have been helped by Flor•Essence.  The people who send us the testimonials are the ones who make the claims, we have never and will never claim that this tea is a cure. Unfortunately we cannot send out testimonial information, since Flor•Essence is a herbal tea, and legally no claims of medicinal properties can be made at the moment.

 

Q: What is the Pro•Essence all about?

A: There is a difference between Flor•Essence and Pro•Essence.

 

Pro•Essence was originally formulated to act as a booster to the Flor•Essence. The herbs stimulate the urinary tract, making it function more efficiently.   It was found to be very helpful for men and women with different difficulties in the urinary tract.  It is also for men who are dealing with problems in the prostate. 

 

Important:  It is absolutely imperative to consume at least eight 8 oz glasses per day with this product, as water is essential to the proper functioning of its cleansing action.

Q: Quality control of herbs?

A: The first level of control is to purchase direct from the grower.  This ensures that organic or at the most biological controls methods are used, or that the herbs are wild crafted. We do not purchase herbs from any other source.  We have contract farmers, who are independently certified,  growing for Flora only, but because of the demand for these herbs, at the moment, the search for suppliers must go world-wide. 

 

Flora uses herbs from around the world. At the moment, Canada does not have an irradiation policy for plant materials, so these herbs are not treated in this way when they come into the country. 

 

The quality control tests the herbs go through in the production plant are second to none.  Flora is certified to GMP (Good Manufacturing Procedures) Standards.

 

Flora only buys dried herbs, and because the suppliers are reputable and oriented towards organic farming, their drying processes are the best available for the individual herbs. 

 

The quality control in the production department is extremely stringent.  Tests and samples are taken at every step of the processing procedure, so that the dry blend is packaged in the best and quickest way possible, and the liquid concentrate is prepared in the cleanest and safest way possible.