The Cheyne family is well known for their extensive knowledge of the remarkable medicinal plants of the world. The family’s remedies have been handed down for decades, and has proved themselves through generations. At the core is a mantra that has survived and inspired for ages:
“Let nature take care of it”
A wealth of wisdom has been handed down through Cheyne generations and with it, the wisdom of how to “Let Nature Take Care Of things”
The success of the remedies lies with the realisation that Nature does know best and that, given the correct resources, the human body can heal itself. Today, this tradition lives on as a family legacy.
The herbs are no longer grown in the back garden, the Pelargonium no longer flowers in front of granny’s window, and we no longer pick olive leaves from grandpa’s tree to make tea. Those days are long gone, but the wisdom lives on, benefiting people every day.
Now we use modern laboratory techniques to verify that the plant we use to make an extract from, is in fact, the correct plant. Why is this needed you may wonder?
Well, take for instance one of our key ingredients, Pelargonium. We use a specific plant called Pelargonium sidoides in our remedies, but in fact there are between 200 - 280 Pelargonium species, all with different properties! With Cheyne’s certified raw material, you know you are getting the correct species of plant, every time.
Cheyne use natural and certified organic plant material in the plant extract remedies. Why would you risk taking a non-organic plant extract in a medicinal product, and risk ingesting pesticides or heavy metals!?
That’s not all. Cheyne’s final extracts are tested after extraction to VERIFY that it contains the active ingredients what we expect - making the remedy effective every time you take it.
Many manufacturers of natural medicine will, for instance make an extract of Olive leaf, and bottle it, hoping that that what you get from the extract is in fact the active ingredients, like elenolic acid and oleuropein. At our laboratory we have analysed many extracts and found very few brands actually contain noticeable amounts of these two most important active ingredients. Taking these are pointless when you are trying to overcome a cold!
Cheyne’s remedies are super concentrated. Our final extract is in a ratio of 1 part plant to 3-4 parts alcohol - depending on the remedy. Most other manufacturers use dilutions of 1 part plant to 10 parts alcohol - making the remedy less expensive, but also less effective.
For granny, making a remedy was like composing a harmonious symphony. She would pick the leaves, fetch water from the spring, start the tea and slowly brew it to perfection for her patient.
When a tincture was called for, she would get some vodka or gin and put the herbs in there. It would stand for days, shaken daily until it was ready. She would then strain the mixture, separating the herbs from the extract. The herb would then be dried until it was sufficiently dried, she would incinerate and keep the ash.
This always fascinated me when I was a youngster. Later I realised that she added the ash back in the tincture. She explained that she returned the “soul” of the plant to the remedy. Today we know that the minerals in the plant plays a major role in how the remedy works and that some of the acids only develop when the minerals are added back into the tincture. This is called a spagyric tincture.
Hardly any manufacturer use this meticulous time consuming method of making a remedy - at Cheyne’s, we believe perfection takes time. We believe you deserve an effective natural remedy that works every time. We believe Nature knows best how to take care of illness.
We are very proud to say that we use only natural remedies, and as such it is not classified as medicine, and we make no medical claims to cure disease. Therefore none of our remedies has been evaluated by the medical control council of South Africa.