What is the critical consideration regarding the concentration difference between hawthorn fruit and standardized extracts?
More is not necessarily better
A crucial distinction must be made between consuming hawthorn as a whole food, such as eating a handful of berries, and utilizing highly concentrated, standardized herbal extracts taken daily over extended durations. The concentration of active compounds, such as flavonoids, in a clinical-grade extract can be significantly higher than what would be naturally ingested through diet alone. This difference in potency mandates caution; the general guiding principle for any highly concentrated botanical preparation is that an escalation in dosage beyond therapeutic levels does not automatically yield greater benefits and may introduce unforeseen issues, emphasizing that 'more is not necessarily better' when dealing with potent extracts.
