Why Make Your Own Capsules?
Because it’s cheaper! And because you have more control over what goes into your capsules, by growing or buying your own herbs, and choosing your own herb combinations!
The statements made on this blog have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, prescribe, recommend, or offer medical advice. Please see your health care practitioner for help regarding choices, and to avoid herb-drug interactions.
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What you need to make Capsules
You will need some kind of capsule filling machine, and some empty capsules.
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Both of these items are for size “0” capsules, which hold 500MG on average, and are exactly what I personally use to make all of our capsules. Other sizes of capsules and capsule machines are available on Amazon.
I have tried other brands of empty capsules, and ended up getting alot of cracked and split capsules with other brands. CapsuLine capsules work so much better! |
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Then you will need your powdered herbs. All of the blog posts I publish will have links to powdered herbs used in that blog post. You can also check out some of my other favorite sources for powdered herbs.
Mountain Rose Herbs is VERY popular. Their herbs are high quality, but their shipping times suffer for it. If you are able to wait 2-3 weeks for your herbs, then they are definitely the preferred seller.
Etsy also has a couple of herb sellers that I have used and had very good luck with.
Mountain Maus Remedies
Sage Hill Botanicals
And I have purchased powdered herbs from Amazon with great success. Please try to buy organic herbs whenever possible, and try to stay away from herbs that come from China, since historically they have the most contaminants in them.
Important Information About Capsule Sizes
Capsuline has this really great chart on their packaging that tells you how much herb you can get in your capsules, based on the weight of the herbs. What does this mean? Some herbs are very light and airy, like Chamomile, Artichoke and Mullein, and they don’t pack down well. This means you get less herb in your capsule. Some herbs grind up grainy, like some Seaweeds, which also doesn’t pack well, so less in your capsule. For the “0” size capsule, this could mean the difference between 400 MG per capsule and 800 MG per capsule. So please keep this in mind when figuring out your dosages.
NOTE: If you have found an herb that lists dosages as ML of prepared Tincture, then 1 ML = 200 MG of powdered herb in a capsule.
Prepare Your Herbs
The first step is to prepare your herbs. If you are making your capsules with only one single herb, you can skip this step.
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If you are combining herbs, then I have found the easiest way to figure out measurement is by using parts. In this tutorial, I am using equal parts of 2 herbs. So it doesn’t really matter what you use as your measurement, as long as that same measurement is used for each part. Here, I am using a Tablespoon. So I put into a cup 3 Tablespoons of each herb.
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In this case, the two herbs I am using are different colors. So you can clearly see they are not mixed together properly.
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Stir them up until you no longer see variations in the colors.
NOTE: These are powders that can poof back up into your face, so stir softly, but thoroughly. You may even want to wear a mask for this process, if your nose is sensitive to the powders. I do get some every once in awhile that make me sneeze. LOL. |
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Making the Capsules
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The empty capsules come in the package put together, but not snapped.
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They pull apart very easily.
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The Capsule Machine includes all the pieces in the picture below. We will go over them one at a time, as we use them.
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The largest piece in the Capsule Machine is the Base. It holds the larger part of the empty capsule.
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The thicker of the remaining two plates is the top plate which holds the smaller part of the capsule. You can see that the holes are smaller on the bottom than on the top. This keeps your capsules from falling thru the bottom.
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So now we take the capsules apart, put the larger part in the base, and the smaller part in the top plate, until all holes are filled.
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Next we put the guard on the Base piece, so the powdered herb doesn’t fall over the sides.
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Then dump in your powdered herbs.
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Use the scraper tool to push the powdered herbs around and into the empty capsules. I use a tapping motion to make sure the powder goes into the capsule. Just scraping it across the top sometimes doesn’t work well enough.
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Continue scraping and tapping until all the capsules are full and the remainder of the powder is evenly distributed across the top.
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Next we use the tamping tool to press and compact the herbs into the capsules. I know it’s impossible to tell where the capsules are, but you can just center it as best as you can, and it somehow finds its way into place.
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Press down firmly and evenly, as hard as you are able.
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Now you have new holes to fill, so grab the scraping tool and scrape and tap more powder into the capsules. Then use the tamping tool to compact everything in again. Repeat as needed.
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You will get to a point where the tamping tool just doesn’t look like it did much. Then you can move on to the next step. Sometimes it only takes a couple of scrapes and tamps, but other times it takes as many as 10-12 times. It just depends on the herbs you are working with.
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Remove the guard that was holding the herbs onto the frame.
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Dump the excess powder onto a plate. You can tap the frame lightly to help the powder fall. Tapping it too hard will cause some of the powder to come out of your capsules.
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The remaining frame piece that we haven’t yet used is the part that holds your capsule tops in when you turn it over. This piece on one side has flat holes (below left), and the other side has slightly curved holes (below right). You want to put the slightly curved holes down toward the other plate that holds the capsule tops.
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You will hear a small snap when you put the two plates together.
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Now turn the two plates over together and place them on top of the base plate which holds the capsule bottoms.
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Press down firmly and evenly until the springs are fully compressed. Please be very careful and do not press harder on one side than the other, as this is generally what causes the capsules to split down the sides.
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Remove the top two plates together and flip them over onto your work surface.
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The two plates together will hold your capsules firmly in place while you press down on the top of them to seal the capsule together. You will hear them snap when they are sealed properly.
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Now you can remove the upper plate so the completed capsules can be easily accessed.
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Put the capsules into the container of your choice. I just use ziploc baggies because they don’t take up alot of room. LOL.
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Then you can take another baggie, or container of your choice, and pour in the leftover mixed herb. You can use this leftover herb when you make your next set of capsules.
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I just put the sealed baggie right in with the capsules, so everything is in one place for the next time.
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Last but not least, and actually the most important step – MAKE A LABEL! I have forgotten this on occasion, and had to throw out the entire batch because I could not remember what it was. Make sure the label has your recipe on it as well, so you can recreate the same thing next time.
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Thanks so much for joining me! I really hope this blog post was helpful to you! If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please leave them in the comments below.
If there is a subject you would like to see covered on this blog, please let me know! I am here to help as many people as I can.
The statements made on this blog have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, prescribe, recommend, or offer medical advice. Please see your health care practitioner for help regarding choices and to avoid herb-drug interactions.