The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Ash

Episode Date: May 30, 2024

Today, I tell you about the medicinal uses of Ash or Fraxinus...The Spring Foraging Cook Book is available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRP63R54Or you can buy the eBook as a .pdf directly from the author (me), for $9.99:https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-spring-foraging-cookbook.htmlYou can read about the Medicinal Trees book here https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/06/paypal-safer-easier-way-to-pay-online.html or buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1005082936PS. New in the woodcraft Shop: Judson Carroll Woodcraft | SubstackRead about my new books:Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTHandConfirmation, an Autobiography of Faithhttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/confirmation-autobiography-of-faith.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNKVisit my Substack and sign up for my free newsletter: https://judsoncarroll.substack.com/Read about my new other books:Medicinal Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/11/medicinal-ferns-and-fern-allies.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMSZSJPSThe Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-omnivores-guide-to-home-cooking-for.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGKX37Q2Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6andGrowing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Elsehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/04/growing-your-survival-herb-garden-for.htmlhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4LYV9RThe Encyclopedia of Medicinal Bitter Herbs: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-encyclopedia-of-bitter-medicina.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5MYJ35RandChristian Medicine, History and Practice: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/01/christian-herbal-medicine-history-and.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09P7RNCTBHerbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture People: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/10/herbal-medicine-for-preppers.htmlAlso available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09HMWXL25Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/southern-appalachian-herbsBlog: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/Free Video Lessons: https://rumble.com/c/c-618325

Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. We are going to continue in our series on medicinal trees, the medicinal uses of trees, I guess I should say. Most every tree has some kind of use medicinally. Actually not aware of really any that don't. I mean, even like the yew, which is like the most poisonous of all the trees, it has some limited medicinal use. use well I'm not recommending you use it like I said you will drop dead if you don't know what

you're doing with you but yeah I can't really think of a tree that doesn't have a medicinal use but we'll go ahead and get into today's and it is ash. Latin name Fraxinus. F-R-A-X-I-N-U-S. Now ash, Carolina ash, green ash, and pumpkin ash. I'm going to have to take a lot better look at the ash trees and see what I've been missing. But there are a lot of them. There's red ash. There's a couple of Chinese varieties that have been naturalized. that have been naturalized. There's a Pennsylvania ash, you know, well I mentioned the green ash, that's also a Pennsylvania ash. There are two varieties of that. But anyway, the bark of ash is astringent and that's pretty much something you're going to find in most any tree, okay. When you have sore throat, diarrhea, anything you need an astringent for, a wash for a rash or, you know, swellings, your tree barks are really the go-to. There's really not anything quite as useful and widespread as tree barks as an astringent.

and widespread as tree barks as an astringent. Taken as a decoction, it has the effect of encouraging and increasing the menstrual flow. And see, that's actually unique to ash because most astringents will reduce it. So this is a good one to know. It's also good for the liver and stomach. It's a good bitter tonic for digestion. And it's particularly good for stomach cramps. Soak in the infusion or tea of ash bark is good for cuts, scrapes, skin inflammations. Also useful for getting rid of lice. The inner bark is laxative.

The leaves may be used as a poultice for sores and stings. Ash is also a property of reducing fever. It's called a febrifuge. Oddly enough, according to Plants for a Future, the seeds are thought to be aphrodisiac. I had no idea. Ash may also help with pain for urination and several women's issues, according to Folk Use. St. Hildegard von Bingen gave a very interesting entry on ash in her book Physica which are written around 1100 AD so it's very old herbal she said if anyone is troubled by the gitcht gitcht in this case is cramp in the side now gitcht in old German comes from for gitcht to get I think I pronounced that right

and it can be anything from arthritis to cramping to paralysis, believe it or not. So it was what we just call a diagnosis given for many, many issues. But she said if anyone is troubled by the gitch in his side or other part of the body, as if all his limbs were broken and bruised, cook the leaves of ash tree in water. So this may even be for paralysis, you know. I mean, this seems, you know, she's given just not a pain in the side, but actual, you know, weakness of the limbs. She says, cook the leaves of ash in water. Place a sick

person nude in a linen cloth. Having poured off the water, placed the warm cooked leaves all around him, particularly in the place where he is ailing. Do this often and he will be better. She says, if you want to prepare beer from oats without hops, cook it only with the groats with as many ash leaves added. The beer, when drunk, will purge the stomach and make the chest light and pleasant. So, apparently the leaves of ash were used as a bittering agent before the use of hops. In fact, it was St. Hildegard who introduced hops into beer brewing as a bittering and

preservative agent. In the English tradition, circa 1500 or so, Girard said the fruit is like unto cod called of the apothecaries linguist avis bird's tongue I have no idea what he means cods okay he's obviously not talking about the fish but apparently in the apothecaries the pharmacies of England in the 1500s, it was known as bird's tongue or sparrow's tongue. Really odd. But anyway, of the uses, he said, The leaves and bark of the ash tree are dry and moderately hot. The seed is hot and dry in the second degree.

The leaves of this tree are so great a virtue against serpents as that they dare not so much as touch the morning and evening shadows of the tree, but shun them far off, as Pliny reports. Now, again, it could be just total superstition. I have no idea. But apparently, even in 1500s England, they believed that snakes did not like ash trees and wouldn't even go where the shadow of the tree fell. Yeah, weird. even go where the shadow of the tree fell um yeah weird he's also said that plenty said that a

serpent being pinned in with the bowels of a tree would sooner run into a fire than go near the bowels of the ash well um i think this bears investigation um if people thought this for like from the time of planning the elder to the 1500s England, we're talking over 2000 years. Hey, maybe there is something about the ash tree that snakes don't like. I think we need to experiment with that. I don't have poisonous snakes where I live. Up in the mountains, come down the mountain, we've got plenty of copperheads and water

moccasins and rattlesnakes, but not so many ash trees. Actually, there are a lot more ash on the mountain we got plenty of copperheads and water moccasins and rattlesnakes but not so many ash trees actually there are a lot more ash on the mountain so if you happen to have an ash tree and you happen to have maybe a pet snake or something right i wouldn't i would encourage you to i would ask you actually to experiment with this see if the snakes are repelled by ash and if so email me i think that would be really fascinating if we could actually prove that. Let's see he talks more about how snakes don't like ash really he believed they had a real strong aversion to it I don't know so then he goes on and says that the leaves and bark are reported to stop the belly being boiled with water and vinegar, they do stay vomiting if they relate upon the stomach. So just leaves boiled in water and vinegar put on the stomach,

he believed, would help with vomiting and diarrhea. The leaves and bark of the ash tree boiled in wine and drunk do open the stoppings of the liver and spleen and do greatly comfort them. And that's been proven. Ash is a good bitter, very, very good for the liver and spleen and do greatly comfort them and that is that's been proven ash is a good bitter very very good for the liver and spleen three or four leaves of the ash tree taken in wine each morning from time to time do make those who are lean fat and keepeth them feeding which do begin to wax fat keepeth them from feeding he means it would help skinny people gain weight and fat people lose weight the seeds of of the ashtray provoke the urine, so it's a diuretic, increase the natural seed, meaning he thought it increases sperm, and stir up bodily lust, especially being powdered with nutmegs and drunk. So again, we're being told that somehow the seed of the ash tree is some kind of aphrodisiac, he says, combined with nutmeg.

I have no idea. I'm a single guy. I have not had the opportunity to try that. Again, if you have the opportunity to try it, send me an email and tell me if you think the seeds of ash tree are an aphrodisiac. He said the wood is profitable for many things and yeah it really is uh both as carvings but also um pliny said that the shavings of the pieces of wood being uh basically infused in um wine um would actually be poisonous and I can't find any evidence for that but the why he said made of the ashes of the bark cureth the white scurf that's like psoriasis essentially and other roughness of the skin by a hundred years

so later Culpeper said that it said that the young and tender tops with the leaves taken inwardly, and some of them applied outwardly, are singularly good against the biting of the viper, adder, or any other venomous beast. He thought it was a good cure for snakebites. I don't know. A lot of herbs really do help with snakebite. So I'm not going to say it doesn't. I just haven't had a chance to try it.

In fact, you've probably heard of snake oil. Snake oil is an oil of echinacea. It actually stimulates the production of hyaluronic acid and protects hyaluronic acid. The venom of snakes breaks down hyaluronic acid. So when people say, oh, that's just snake oil. Actually, snake oil is a better cure for snake bite than just about anything in the modern pharmacy. And for bites of spiders such as black widow or brown recluse, hobo spider and such as that, they also have that necrotizing venom.

such as that. They also have that necrotizing venom. Anyway, he said that the water distilled therefrom being taken a small quantity every morning fasting is a singularly good medicine for those that are subject to dropsy, that's edema, water retention, or to abate the greatness of those that are too gross or fat. He thought it would help you lose weight. The decoction of the leaves and white bark, the decoction of the leaves and white wine helpeth to break the stone and expel it and cure the jaundice. So good for kidney and bladder stones and jaundice. Well, we know it's good for the liver. The ashes of the bark made into lea. That means soaked in water, essentially like you would make lye. Okay, but you don't want to go that far if you've actually made lye it's gonna burn your skin So he's really just saying soaked in water, but not as strong as lye

are Would help with psoriasis leprosy scabby heads etc the kernels within the husks prevail against stitches and pains in the side proceeding of wind or gas and void is the way the stone by produce broken urine he says I can justly accept all this save only the first in other words he had used all these except the first that he mentioned, and says that both Girard and Pliny had written about it, so we don't need to get into that.

Miss Greve, getting up to a more modern tradition, 1930, says, Ash bark has been employed as a bitter tonic and astringent and is said to be valuable as an anti-periodic, so it would stop the menstrual flow. On account of its astringency, it has been used in decoction extensively in the treatment of intermittent fever and ague as a substitute for Peruvian bark. Now, what does that mean for us today? Well, we've just been through a pandemic where people were crazy to get quinine.

Ash bark is a substitute for quinine, or as they called it, the Peruvian bark. The decoction is odorlessless although the taste is fairly bitter. It has been considered useful to remove obstructions of the liver and spleen and in rheumatism of an arthritic nature. The lee of ashes of the bark was formerly used to cure scabby and leprous heads. We've been through that. The lees have a diuretic, means removes removes excess fluids diaphoretic which means reduces fevers and purgative properties which means it'll clean you out and are employed in

modern or medicine for their laxative action especially in the treatment of gouty and rheumatic complaints proving a substitute for Senna but having a left griping effect so it's a good laxative distilled leaves taken every morning were considered good for dropsy and obesity as we've said decoction of the leaves and white wine has a reputation for dissolving stone and curing jaundice we've also mentioned that since the leaves should be gathered in june so hey that's next week so get ready to gather your ash leaves they should be well dried powdered and kept in well corked bottles so sealed jars the the keys or seed she said will keep year-round if gathered ripe so she gets into a lot of really interesting war lore, old superstitions, especially for healing children and such with ash, and using ash

to remove warts. That was like an incantation, basically. So, apparently this was especially good for warts caused by shrews that crept over one's body. So, I have never encountered a shrew. If I do, I hope it doesn't creep over my body. If it gives me a wart, I guess I'll do the incant, as they said on Andy Griffith. Got to do the incant to the ash tree.

I don't know. I don't think we have shrews where I live, thank goodness. No, we have some pretty unpleasant women. But I think she actually means the animal. All right, so an Irish herbal states, the leaves, bark, and tender buds of the ash tree open the liver, provoke urine, and are useful against dropsy. The inward bark is given with success against fevers,

and the wood burnt into ashes cures scabs and ringworm. So good cure for ringworm. Brother Aloysius, in the German folk medicine tradition, said ash leaves are used medicinally. The infusion is basically a tea of one and a half to two and a half per two cups boiling water, taken two cups daily for gout or rheumatism. It also acts as a purgative. The decoction of the bark and young wood, taken in two to three tablespoons, added to two cups of wine, is beneficial for blockages of the liver and spleen.

Now, going to America, we see in resources at the Southern Fields and Forests, they mention the white, red, green, blue, and water ash. I forgot about water ash. Yeah, I do know that one is a different tree. She said that they differ in few respects from English ash, so it could be used interchangeably, and were used for every

conceivable purpose by the farmer, woodturner, cabinetmaker, wheelwright, and for firewood. As I said, ash is a wonderful tree for wood. Good for firewood as well. Absolutely. The bark of the tree is used for tanning calf skins or dyeing. They make green, blue and black dyes from the trunk for the bark of it. The ashes of the tree are rich in potash and charcoal is made from it. Let's

see if I can get into more medicinal uses. but here again, this is really interesting. This is 1860s. They said that in the countryside, hunters and other people who traveled in the woods would stuff their boots and shoes with white ash leaves as a preventative of the bite of the rattlesnake. So again, this is thousands of years later, actually. People said that rattlesnakes didn't want to go around ash leaves. We've got to experiment on this and see about it. I mean, you know, as preppers, as people who live in the country, presumably we go hunting and foraging and trapping and fishing a lot. And if ash actually does repel snakes that would be really

good to know I imagine there someone could actually make a little cottage industry out for that don't you think snake repellents natural snake repellents I'd buy one all right so by 1898 King's American dispensatory says under actions medicinal uses and dosage ash is tonic and astringent. Tonic means it stimulates appetite, basically. An extract of the black ash used as a plaster is very valuable in cutaneous diseases, skin conditions. The infusion may be used internally as a tonic, and for all purposes where a combination of astringency with tonic influence is indicated. The white ash is also cathartic and be found beneficial in some cases of constipation and

also in dropsical affections to sedema again and may be used in the form of effusion in bitters. The bark in white wine is said to be efficient in curing ague or an enlarged with fever and enlarged spleen etc etc and the seeds are said to prevent obesity Peterson field guide for medicinal plants tells us in modern use I'm going to go a couple modern sources now white or American ash American Indians use the inner bark tea as an emetic. It means it helps you throw up. Or strong laxative to remove bile from

intestines as a tonic after child birth. And in that case, it means tonifying. And to relieve stomach cramps, fevers, diuretic, promotes sweating, uses a wash for sores, itching, lice, snake bites. Again, snake bites. Inner bark chewed as a poultice to sores.

So you'd chew the inner bark and put it as a poultice. Seeds sought to be aphrodisiac. Botany and day says ash is stimulating, diaphoretic, diuretic, and laxative. Drink a tea of the inner bark for depression or tiredness. This is a new use. Depression or tiredness. A strong tea is a laxative a tea of the bark is used to reduce fever and expel worms a tea of the leaves is used as a laxative and finally we'll go to the physician's desk reference for herbal medicine which says

the main active principle is coumarin believe it or not coumarin, believe it or not. Coumarin, we find it in, well, it's a smell of hay. If you've ever smelled like spoil hay that has like a really vanilla scent to it, that's coumarin, and it can make animals very sick. In humans, it's generally considered safe. It's not coumadin. Coumadin is a synthetic version of it, but it does also have blood thinning properties. So you never want to combine an herb that contains Coumarin with a prescription blood thinner.

That can be very dangerous. So let's just put that as a caveat. Preparations of fresh ash bark showed an analgesic, antioxidant, and antiphlogistic action. Cyclo-AMP is inhibited and antioxidant radical trapping action effect was proven for scopolatine, isofrain and fraxin so it's got some really good compounds preparations of ash leaf are used for arthritis gout bladder complaints as well as a laxative and diuretic in folk medicine ash leaf is used internally for fever rheumatism gout edema stones constipation

stomach symptoms and worm infestation and for lower leg ulcers and wounds preparation of ash bark used for fevers and as a tonic health risks or side effects following proper administration of designated therapeutic dosages are not recorded so y'all I think I'm gonna wrap it up there ash is such a good tree to have. I mean, it's a woodcarver. It's one of my favorites. It really is.

But I mean, the medicinal uses are really profound. So if you don't have ash yet, get some. Get it going on your property. Learn to spot it in the woods. It's a really useful tree. All right, y'all. Have a good one, and I'll talk to you next time. The information in this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition.

Nothing I say or write has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I'm not a doctor. The U.S. government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine, and there is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore, I'm really just a guy who studies herbs. I'm not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true. I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for.

I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb has helped me. I cannot nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use an herb anyone recommends, you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy, a sensitivity, an underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health.

By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever.