The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Camphor

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. Now today's herb that we're gonna focus on is one that's really especially useful for, well I'd say for preppers really, for anyone that lives in the country where you might have mice that come in in the wintertime or squirrels, you know, I'm constantly battling the flying squirrels where I live. It is a yearly battle

Starting point is 00:00:27 First hard freeze the flying squirrels try to get in my attic and they are as tenacious as field mice I am pretty sure they can get through any crack of any size even if you even if sunlight can't get through it They're just there's a complete nuisance but get through it. They're just, there's a complete nuisance, but there are various varmints, you know, that we have to deal with, but especially, you know, if you're in a camping out, if you're in some kind of survival situation, animals getting into your food, getting around your camp, getting near you where they can bite you or insect sting you or such as that, you really have to prioritize that aspect.

Starting point is 00:01:10 I mean, I guess in recent years, it's, I guess, probably what, since the 80s, I mean, it's become just like everybody carries with them some kind of like frozen, I mean, freeze dried, sealed, dehydrated. You never take fresh meat obviously in the camp. And you know, that's really different. I mean, from the 1950s and before, no hunter would go out at least without bacon. I mean, you at least took bacon with you.

Starting point is 00:01:46 Maybe fresh meat it depends or you were hunting and trapping while you're in camp. Fish can be difficult because raccoons right possums various animals bears are attracted to the scent of that meat. So I mean you know growing up I learned that when you're camping out you take your bacon and your butter and any meat you have some pork chops or whatever you might happen to have with you and you can hang it in a bag from a tree and you put like a um empty tuna can on the line right so like even the acrobat of the night, the raccoon tries to climb down that line,

Starting point is 00:02:30 he can't get around the can to get to your meat. It's up away from bears, they can't get to it. One thing you absolutely never do is put in the tent with you. I was talking to a friend of mine recently and she said like her first camping trip was the scariest experience of her life Because she and her friend had a tent And they had donuts with them a box of crispy creams and no

Starting point is 00:02:55 There's fear. I love crispy creams I will not fault the raccoon in this instance whatsoever because I would go to great lengths to get a good crispy cream donut That's like my weakness. I mean, I know I don't have a big sweet tooth. Most of the stuff that people live on, I don't care about it all, but a hot and ready, crispy cream donut, just regular old original glaze, man, I am telling you with a cup of coffee that is like, that is like it for me, you know, or, um, when it comes to the field donuts, the lemon cream or the custard with chocolate on top I

Starting point is 00:03:29 mean those things are amazing and then if you you know I'm sorry if y'all grew up with like Dunkin Donuts or something like that no comparison no comparison whatsoever crispy cream is made with a sour dough. It is leavened. It's fried. It is just like the most brilliant, wonderful, absolutely, right? So she and her friend had a box of Krispy Kreme donuts and they had a few left over and they put them in the tent.

Starting point is 00:03:59 And about one in the morning, she awakens to the sound of something scratching and suddenly something rips open the side of her tent and a little black hand reaches in and grabs the doughnuts and that of course is a raccoon. So you you learn very quickly in the wilderness you do not put food inside your tent. Could have been a bear. Had it been a bear or a coyote. She could have been in a much worse situation. Hanging the food, like I said,

Starting point is 00:04:31 that's what we were taught in scouts and such. And that's what it shows in the old books. One of the best things I saw really in an old book from I guess maybe 1910 or something, and this is one I employed quite a bit, was a milk crate. Now what do you do with a milk crate in the woods? Well if you have meat and this is much easier in our time than it was in 1910 when all they had was like butcher paper and such you can take your fresh meat or your bacon you can take your

Starting point is 00:05:00 eggs you can take cheese you can take milk you can take whatever you want to the woods believe it or not if it's as long as you can pack it in if it's not too heavy you can take your eggs, you can take cheese, you can take milk, you can take whatever you want to the woods, believe it or not. As long as you can pack it in, if it's not too heavy, you can take it. You do not have to live on crappy, horrible MREs or disgusting dehydrated food that they sell to campers and preppers. I'm sorry, I probably, you know, if there was somebody looking to sponsor me, you know, I probably just lost them, but that crap is disgusting. Okay? There's no need for it. You can, and you don't have to have Mylar bags, but sure, go for it.

Starting point is 00:05:34 You do not have to have, what, desiccants and oxygen removers. If you want to do that, hey, more power to you. You don't have to do any of that. You can literally just get a couple pounds of bacon and some eggs and cheese and a couple of steaks and some pork chops Maybe a chicken Seriously put them in Ziploc bags. Okay long as you're washed on the outside Animals really shouldn't smell what's inside a Ziploc bag now some Possibly can but it's not supposed to work that way. You can do extra precautions. You can wrap them in foil. You can, you know, whatever you want to do.

Starting point is 00:06:12 You can vacuum seal them. It doesn't matter to me, right? But you also have the aspect of you got to keep your meat cold. Well, that's what goes back to that milk crate. Your meat sealed off in Ziploc bags, and I mean I'm talking bacon especially, because I mean to me that's just an absolute necessity. You got protein, you got fat to cook something in, it's cured, it's not gonna spoil, it'll keep for a couple of weeks out on the trail, no problem, right?

Starting point is 00:06:39 So take your meat, your eggs even, whatever you want, you wanna keep it cold, your dairy, butter. I like to carry butter. I'm not a big fan of margarine. If I can't carry that, I'll carry a little olive oil. You know, you got to have something to cook in. People go out on these like survival shows and like, we're just going to live on what we catch and cook. Well, you know what? After a few days, they start getting really weak and they don't have the energy to do what they need and the main reason

Starting point is 00:07:06 Is they're not getting enough fat when you grill things over a fire or cook something on a stick the fat drips off You know I get the fat Carbs are good carbs are important I don't see why if you can take some coffee or some salt into a situation you can't take some rice or some cornmeal I mean, you know, it's just stupid in my opinion. I mean, you know, these guys make a big deal if we're going out for 30 days and we're going to eat what we catch and cook.

Starting point is 00:07:33 Meanwhile, they bring their like spice mixes and coffee and salt. I mean, it's, you know, really contrived convoluted. I mean, you know, look at Ot or Utsi or however you want to pronounce it the Bog Man from what 10 like almost 10 000 years ago people say I kind of look a lot like him actually so I like to read up about him in his pack he had what he needed to survive he had food he had herbal medicine he had medicinal mushrooms he had dried meat he had herbal medicine, he had medicinal mushrooms, he had dried meat, he had I think some meal of some sort, some grains. Why can't you carry that into the wilderness if you're a bushcrafter as they call it?

Starting point is 00:08:18 I got a problem with that term as well. I mean for like a couple hundred years we called it woodcraft and Then suddenly in the 80s these guys from like Australia and England started calling it bushcraft and now everybody calls it bushcraft I mean, I got woods around here. I don't got a little frickin bushes. I mean what I mean go squatting the bushes for a night You know, maybe if you're in the outback and you're gonna go eat some bush tucker you wanna Come on really we got freaking trees here We got big ass trees big old. I mean this is wood Woodlands we don't live in the bush the bushes your hedge in your backyard No, I so anyway. Yeah, I get it, and you know I'll probably have to use that term for marketing at some point But to me, It's just stupid

Starting point is 00:09:05 I mean you know Bradford Angier and George Herter and all those guys that were writing back in the 20s and 30s and 40s They call it woodcraft why in the world have we started talking like we're from friggin England or something I'm not from England or Canada. Sorry Canadians. I mean, you know, we have woods and actually you have woods in Canada So why are you talking like an Australian? I mean Sorry, we don't live in the bush. We live in the woods. But anyway woodcraft I Don't see why you can't do like Otzi and take with you a few things you need to eat

Starting point is 00:09:43 We're human beings after all. Now someone might say to me, well, you know, what if you had to survive in that situation? And I'm like, okay, so what do I have? You've got your knife and a fire starter. Like, well, how did I get a knife and a fire starter? Did somebody kidnap me and take everything I've got, but they were so nice to me,

Starting point is 00:10:01 they handed me a knife and a ferro rod? It doesn't make any sense. Seriouslyro rod doesn't make any sense seriously that doesn't make any sense is it a hurricane situation I can't what grab a bag of beans before I leave the house some tuna am I going camping I just got lost or I went for a hike I mean that is actually happened to me before I was going to planning on going for a hike for an hour or two and ended up longer than I thought I would be. But again, that's

Starting point is 00:10:31 lack of planning on my part. They say, well you may be in a plane crash. Well they don't allow you to take a knife on an airplane anymore. They're certainly not going to allow you to take a fire starter. But even then, I don't fly. If I travel it's by vehicle or boat. I, you know, I learned to fly as a kid. My great uncle had an airplane. He taught me to fly. I do not fly commercial. I don't trust it. I don't like it. I do not like the regulations and the TSA. I will not fly. Sorry. If I can't drive or I can't take a boat, I'm just freaking not going. But what situation would put me out there with only a knife and a ferro rod,

Starting point is 00:11:13 or a magnifying lens, like a Fresno lens to start a fire, or whatever, a bow drill, maybe even just a knife? Did I not plan? You know, that's my fault. Was I in a boat wreck? Well, if the boat sinks and all I get off of there, you know, get out of there, is what's on my body. Shouldn't I still have a little first aid kit, a little fishing kit? I mean, you know, I carry things in my pockets. Well, you know, I'm a human being. A being can plan ahead and I'm gonna take a little food I mean I'm going into the woods in a situation where I'm gonna spend more than a

Starting point is 00:11:52 few hours without taking a little bit of beef jerky a little bit of Maybe some lentils and rice. I mean, I'm gonna have a little food on me I mean, I don't get it. So anyway, but anyway if you do have to store meat in the woods one of the best ways to do it is to put it in ziplock bags get everything sealed off water can't get in there you know fish can't get into it animals can't get into it unless they chewed through it but here's how you prevent that put it in that milk crate or a mesh bag which is actually what I use because I don't carry a milk crate into the

Starting point is 00:12:30 woods like people would in 1910 or 1920. Good it's just very useful item but a little mesh bag is so convenient and dig a little hole in the creek pull the rocks back dig a hole in the creek pull the rocks back do dig a hole in the creek put your food that's all sealed up and waterproof into the hole pile rocks on top of it now it's underwater it's cold that creeks gonna stay most likely under 40 degrees unless it's really heat of summer and you're in the south and the mountains where I live that creeks can probably be about 38 to 42, so like a refrigerator. Fish can't get into it,

Starting point is 00:13:09 raccoons can't get into it, nothing can smell it. Crawfish can be an issue, but if you really pile it up with rocks and get it good and sealed up, crawfish aren't going to find it either. That's really the only critter I've ever had a problem with was crawfish, but that's like really long-term. You're gonna have to leave it down there for a couple of days before they really get to it. The exception would be if you get to the coast and you're like the saltwater

Starting point is 00:13:37 dividing line, crabs will tear into anything. Crabs are just tenacious. They will rip anything apart. So that's like maybe the one place it wouldn't work. But for 95% of North America, there is no reason not to take some bacon with you into the woods. We don't have to live on garbage, freeze-dried, nasty-ass food. I'm sorry, we don't.

Starting point is 00:14:01 And it's expensive. A pound of lentils, a pound or two of rice Maybe two or three ounces of olive oil an onion What eight ounces of bacon adds hardly any weight to your pack cost I Mean the bacon is gonna be the most expensive thing and right now even in these times even after Biden's inflation I can get bacon on sale for 3.99 for some pretty decent bacon at least eight or 12 ounces. That's a couple days worth of bacon I can throw in there maybe a can of tuna or sardines.

Starting point is 00:14:37 I mean we're human beings why how people got this idea of like going out in the woods means how people got this idea of like going out in the woods means if you're a you know if you're a bushcrafter i'm not a bushcrafter i'm a woodsman well if you're a survivalist well i'm not actually a survivalist you know i'm not a caveman and even cavemen and like otzi they carried with them provisions i i can put up a tarp and i can sleep on the ground and I can build a fire with 15 different ways and just about anything. I can forage, I can hunt and I can trap and I can catch fish and all that. You know, it's a little convoluted. These shows, you know, Naked and Afraid and all that garbage. They're not realistic scenarios. Let's just put it that way I mean if you were in that situation where someone is just taking you away from

Starting point is 00:15:30 your home they're not gonna hand you a knife and a ferro rod they're just not gonna do it we have you know call us preppers call us whatever you want but we got a bug-out bag right you got a first aid kit you got your little fishing kit maybe two or three of them of different sizes if you know some survival snares there's absolutely no reason not to take some fat and some carbs and protein with you some food and literally a couple potatoes and an onion or two don't take up much space and don't weigh more than a pound I mean really anyway I could go on about this for a while I love a lot of these guys you know Greg Ovens I'm a big fan of his oh what's the

Starting point is 00:16:14 dude he was on that alone show with Greg I watch his stuff all the time something makers and mischief he's got a great YouTube channel the cool guys really enjoy their stuff pick up a lot of tips from them but this idea of like we're going out for 30 days and the only thing we're gonna eat is what we catch what you know Aussie didn't do that why are you? I mean you're putting yourself in an unnatural situation human beings have the ability to plan ahead.

Starting point is 00:16:46 When my friend in Ukraine, we were talking, my dearly departed friend in Ukraine, before the war, she knew the Russians were going to be attacking every day. She was planning on storing food and storing water and storing up medical supplies. We're human beings. And we live in a modern time where we pretty much can guess. I mean, like James Gregory always said,

Starting point is 00:17:12 there's no such thing as a fast moving hurricane. I mean, that hurricane's coming at you. The newsman is gonna be on the television every night saying, hurricane's gonna be here at 11 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. Hurricane's gonna be here at 11 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. Hurricane's gonna be here at 11 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, day after day after day. If you don't get some batteries and flashlights

Starting point is 00:17:30 and candles and Sterno and propane and whatever you need, that's your own damn fault. I just, I don't get a lot of that stuff. But if you for some reason do not have any of these items that I have just mentioned, and you were in an outdoor situation, or you were in a base camp, or you were in your own home, and mice are coming in, one thing you can use to protect your food from insects, rodents, and just about everything else is camp fur. Campfer has been used by a man for thousands of years in its natural state it is a resin from a tree. 99% of the campfer we find

Starting point is 00:18:14 on the market now is synthetic. It's what you might find in mothballs. That is a synthetic product. It is not good for you. Do not get it on your hands. Do not try not to inhale it. It can kill your brain cells. Do not ingest it for any means whatsoever. So that's like I want to point out we're not talking about mothballs. Now you can take mothballs and you can crush them down. You can mix them with like I guess wood ashes and Vaseline or something like that and you can smear it on the outside containers of your food Whatever bags or containers you're using and

Starting point is 00:19:00 Nothing's coming near Okay, bugs are you say out of it you can use as a mosquito repellent you can use as a snake repellent You can keep ants away with it. You keep bears away with it. It's nasty nasty nasty stuff mothballs basically like pounded kind of mixed and cooked down with a petroleum base and Like basically some wood ashes to make it a paste. I'm sure there are other things you could use I haven't really looked into it, but you can you could smear that on just about anything You can do it as a perimeter around your tent around your camp

Starting point is 00:19:35 It smells horrible you're not gonna like it any more than the critters But in a survival situation a bag of moss mothballs, which don't cost more than about, what, 250, could really keep the mice out of your food, and it's a good thing. So, that distinction being made, here we are 20 minutes into the show, I'm gonna tell you about the actual real camphor, the stuff that can be used medicinally.

Starting point is 00:20:02 And it's actually, natural camphor is not recommended to be taken internally, but it's actually a component of many traditional formulas. In fact, it's included in the Swedish bitters, which, you know, I love the Swedish bitters. It's aromatic, it can open the sinuses. It's sort of like Vicks Vaporub, you know, uses Camphor and Eucalyptus. I think Camphor is still in the recipe it used to be. It does, is potentially toxic. Most traditionally has been used as a deterrent to rodents and moths and other

Starting point is 00:20:41 bugs, but has some really good medicinal use. Plants for Future says that camphor has a long history of herbal use in the Orient, that's the East, oddly enough they used to call the West the Occident and the East the Orient. I have no idea what that is, but if you ever hear the word Occidental, it basically means Western Europe. Yeah, just an odd term and we don't really use Orient much anymore either but you know for a few thousand years that's what it was called. Everything like west of the Mediterranean was Occidental and everything east of the Mediterranean was Oriental which is is I think, I don't know. I think orient actually does mean something to do like in Latin to the word east.

Starting point is 00:21:32 So anyway, neither here nor there, but it says it has a wide range of uses. It has been used occasionally in the treatment of hysteria, but in modern day herbalism, it is mainly used as essential oil and internal use is not advised. I agree, unless you have the natural form, you really don't want to be taking this internally. Except in the Swedish bitters. Yeah, it is in the natural form there. The wood and leaves are analgesic, means helps with pain, antispasmodic, rubifacient stimulant. Rubifacient means reddening or warming to the skin. The plant is more commonly used to the form of the essential oil which can be obtained by distillation of the chip branches, trunk and wood from the tree from the leaves

Starting point is 00:22:17 and stems. The trees normally have to be about 24 to 40 years old. So this is the one you're going to be growing. The essential oil is anthelmintic, which means it gets rid of intestinal parasites. Anti-rheumatic, helps with arthritis and swollen joints. Antispasmodic, that means spasms and cramps. Oh, what else? More big words. Cardiotonic, it means helps with heart discomfort.

Starting point is 00:22:43 Carminative, that means like helps with burping and upset stomach. Diaphoretic helps break a fever. Sedative and Tonic. It is used externally in liniments for treating joint and muscle pain, balms for chillblains, chaplics, cold sores, skin diseases, and as an inhalant, fibrocular congestion. Some cautious advice, excessive use can cause vomiting, palpitations, convulsions, and death. So, yeah, don't take the essential oil internally.

Starting point is 00:23:16 I'm just saying, I mean, seriously. It says that it excess doses, like the essential oil could even be absorbed through skin enough to make you sick. Rodale's illustrated encyclopedia of herbs. Liscampra has a yellow oil that permeates the tree. It is antiseptic and anthalmitic and is used in lotions to relieve pain and itching. Now, okay, we're getting to some much more interesting information here from Miss Grieve. She gives a long,

Starting point is 00:23:51 remember this book's written in the 1930s, a modern herbal, she tells about how the crystalline substance, which we know as camphor, is derived from the cinnamon tree, cinnamomium camphora. The camphor only comes from the camphora, which is a little bit different than the cinnamon

Starting point is 00:24:11 that we use in spice, but they're very closely related. At her time, 1930s, most of it was coming from Borneo. Before then, it was coming from Egypt, Formosa, Madagascar. I mean it's fairly exotic. This isn't one we're going to grow. She gets into a lot of history about how the Japanese really developed the essential oil technique. But I'm going to skip a lot of that.

Starting point is 00:24:38 You can find in my book, Encyclopedia of Medicinal Herbs herbs if you're interested. It has a long use of being used in funeral rites, embalming, perfuming a body before burial, a lot of times used in different incenses and such in religious ceremonies. But for medicinal actions and uses, She says that camphor has a strong penetrating fragrant odor a bitter pungent taste it is slightly cold to the touch like menthol. Locally it is an irritant it numbs the peripheral sensory nerves and is slightly antiseptic. It is not readily absorbed by the mucous membrane but it is easily absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue.

Starting point is 00:25:25 It combines in the body with glucuronic acid and in this condition is voided by urine. So even if you do take it medicinally, if you don't, I mean internally, if you don't take enough to kill you, you're going to pee it out eventually. Experiments on frogs show a depressant action to the spinal column. It means this actually has like some narcotic effect. It could cause a slow but increasing paralysis. In mankind it causes convulsions from the effect it has on the motor tract of the brain. It stimulates the intellectual centers.

Starting point is 00:26:00 Now that's interesting. Actually, this long-use sniffing, just the camphor, natural camphor, does seem to make the brain a little sharper. Helps with memory. Helps with alertness. It's a very long use. Thousands of years people have used it for that reason. And it can actually be used to prevent narcotic drugs from taking effect for the same reason. So it was used often as an antidote for morphine overdoses and such. Not probably the most effective but better than nothing obviously. So was cinnamon by the way. Cinnamon taken internally often was used for help against overdoses, because it's got that stimulant effect. Cayenne pepper also works very much the same way. Let's see, in case of nervous excitement,

Starting point is 00:26:52 it has a soothing and quieting result. Authorities vary as to its effect on blood pressure. Some think it raises it, while others take the opposite view. It has been used as a valuable excitant in cases of heart failure. In other words, just like cayenne pepper tincture, just like sprayed in the back of the throat when someone's going into shock, camphor can actually help kind of jump start the heart back up. It just like wakes the body up. Pretty interesting and really very useful these herbs not as useful as you

Starting point is 00:27:26 know what's that needle they shoot into somebody when they're going into heart failure is it epinephrine probably it's not gonna be anything like that but again better than nothing says circulation, prevents the growth of pneumococci, has been used against typhoid and pneumonia, medicinally used for its calming effect in hysteria, nervousness, neuralgia, serious diarrhea, and externally is a counter-irritant rheumatism, warming, reddening, kind of helps soothe the joints and such. For sprains and bronchitis and inflammatory conditions, used sometimes in conjunction with menthol and phenol for heart failure.

Starting point is 00:28:14 Actually was given hypodermically. I'm not even going to get into that, but could be used for heart failure. So I mean, like as an emergency thing. Now, um, camphor as we mentioned actually comes to European herbal tradition from Asia and it was essentially the Chinese would trade to the Arabs. The Arabs would trade to the Europeans. Uh, it's got a much longer use actually in Chinese medicine. Uh, it's known as Jiang now in a Chinese medicine. It's known as Zhang Dao in Chinese medicine. Specifically effective on the heart and spleen. It was actually used to help try to get aroused people out of an unconscious

Starting point is 00:28:56 state. It says coma, but they're actually talking an unconscious state. So like smelling salts almost unconscious state so like smelling salts almost. Used for scabies, skin infections, trauma even again that kind of like shock aspect. Toothache, it can help numb a sore tooth. Used for vomiting, diarrhea, chest pain, abdominal pain, stomach dyspepsia, abdominal distending pain, used for injuries, pains, and swellings, ringworms, itching, and sores. Yeah, so really good. Let me get more, let's see if I can get some more to modern use. So the Camper was oil was popular in mainstream medicine.

Starting point is 00:29:49 You know, you get this from your drug store, your doctor would prescribe it in America until really not that long ago, probably 30 years, 40 years ago, and maybe not even that long. Several instances occurred in which children were fed camp for oil by parents and like I said do not take camp for oil internally and but they have mistaken it for castor oil and can't

Starting point is 00:30:18 for oil being toxic poison them so instead of just like better labeling the two like putting a big old label on there saying this is camp royal and this is cast royal, they pulled it from the market. So kind of a weird overreaction. I'm not sure what was really behind that. But before then it was used by doctors as antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, that means it's basically burping and indigestion, cells of stomach. Cardiac stimulant, respiratory aid, and anthelmintic, which again means is rid of intestinal parasites. Used for congestive problems such as bronchitis, emphysema. Actually was used in several food products to enhance the flavors of vanilla and peppermint. So I mean, you know, it's not super dangerous, but in that, you know, essential oil state can be quite toxic. But even going back to what, 1500, 1400? No, before then, probably 1200s, it was popular in European herbal medicine in Germany. It was being imported from Asia and the Arab countries. And Paracelsus, the great controversial Paracelsus theophrastus

Starting point is 00:31:41 bombastus von Hohenheim, one of the most colorful characters in medical history included in his formulas. And that's probably how it made it into the Swedish bitters. King's Medical Dispensatory of 1898 says in large doses, Camper is narcotic and irritant. So dangerous. In small doses, it's sedative, anodyne, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, and anthelmintic. Very small doses stimulate and large doses depress. Used for esophageal and gastric pain, vomiting, slow and enfeebled intermittent pulse, dizziness, drowsiness, deminus of sight,

Starting point is 00:32:23 pallid cold skin, muscular weakness, spasms, muscular rigidity, and convulsions. But then they go on, this 1898 says several deaths have resulted from people taking the oil internally. So we want to really be very careful about that. Never use it during pregnancy of course. You know we'll wrap it up. Let's see specific indications and uses. Useful for insomnia and restlessness interestingly. Pulse being soft and the tongue moist for diarrhea. Low grades of

Starting point is 00:32:59 inflammation, fevers, particularly typhoid with great restlessness. This is still King's medical dispense story by the way. This is what a doctor would have looked at in 1898. Muttering delirium. Useful for muttering delirium. Don't even know what that would be caused by, but it certainly doesn't sound pleasant, nor does morbid watchfulness. I guess it's sort of some kind of paranoia. I have no idea. But anyway, for dry skin, quick irritable pulse, strangulation, water retention, not able to urinate or too frequent urination. Again, has a different effect in large and small doses.

Starting point is 00:33:42 Specific use and in very minute doses for burning pain in the stomach, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, weak and husky voice and cold extremities. So in the end, camper is a very important herb, but one to be used with caution. It is a major component of the Swedish bitters. When you get a fresh batch of Swedish bitters You know I order mine from Germany. They're called Schweden Balsam. I guess it's the way you pronounce them Because it's their ingredients like camper that I can't grow myself a Lot of the herbs I can but that's that's the one formula I pay for about six months

Starting point is 00:34:22 Every six months. I'll pay about 30 bucks for a six months worth of Swedish bitters and I think it's well worth it I mean I really do like it quite a bit antiviral good for all kinds of stuff good for the stomach good for the lungs I just I like my Swedish bitters just a little sip each morning so when you first get the package and you open it up, it's this big, I mean like quart size plastic bag of herbs and there's like, I don't know, 27 different herbs in there. You open it up, that can't forget you like a punch in the face. I mean it's like opening a old fashioned bottle of Vicks Vapor the face i mean it's like opening up alone old-fashioned bottle of big snake rubb images like not in the face right

Starting point is 00:35:10 the other words of course they're gonna hit you the warm one the ginger all is bitter and you smell the sentiment you smell the ginger in their images really interesting even just a smell sweetish bitters is is kinda fascinating they asked they put actually put actually to counter the camp for,

Starting point is 00:35:29 they put in a small amount of rock candy, old fashioned sugar rock candy, right? So when you first make it up, you dump that into a jar, you pour in like a half gallon of vodka and it turns like tar black. I mean, all the oils and compounds from these really strong herbs it turns like tar black and really for the first until things balance out really the first few weeks the camphor is hitting you like crazy

Starting point is 00:35:58 and I'll tell you it opens your sinuses it clears the lungs it declares congestion I really like the stuff. I wish we could grow camphor and cinnamon, you know, it's cousin here, but they're readily available and fairly inexpensive. So you know, it's a bit of a mystery. I mean, you know, everything you'll read is that don't use for internal use. And there it is. And the Swedish bitters which have been

Starting point is 00:36:25 around for hundreds of years probably formulated by old Paracelsus himself the Interesting character as I've mentioned I've gone into his history before I mean he sees a fascinating dude really. I mean I Mean he was a total rebel in medicine I mean, he was a total rebel in medicine. He could cure illnesses and diseases that no one else could. And instead of the doctors learning from him, the doctors and pharmacists of his time, they tried to have him killed. And so he was fleeing for his life, from one country to another, usually like going to some like Bavarian province to help a dying

Starting point is 00:37:07 prince with some incurable illness and then he would and then everybody tried to kill him so he'd flee to Austria and again you know the medical industry has not really changed very much in several hundred years but anyway y'all I hope you enjoyed this show I wondered far afield afield, but I'm, you know, I think it was cogent. I think it was cogent. I think, you know, maybe as preppers, I know we like to do our like survival thing

Starting point is 00:37:38 and our primitive skills camps and all that, but you know, let's keep in mind, you know, Otzi took with him what he needed. He was not not all I'm gonna eat is what I catch and cook you know no not at all we're human beings we have brains we can think and maybe we want to back away a little bit from that like stereotype you, each one of us fancies ourself as Jeremiah Johnson or some kind of Sasquatch. You know, that's not what our ancestors did. That's not at all. I mean, you know, back up a few hundred years and with the pilgrims came here, they brought over tons of food. And the only reason they stopped at Plymouth Rock is because they ran out of beer. You know, you can go back before then.

Starting point is 00:38:27 The Polynesians and the Siberians that first populated America brought tons of food with them. And not just meat, but plants and grains and seeds and what they had and medicine. And yeah, I mean, human beings can think, we can foresee the future and we can plan for the future. And we don't have to act like, I don't wanna disparage anyone,

Starting point is 00:38:54 because like I said, a lot of these guys really like, but a lot of the TV shows are just idiotic. I mean, I don't care. Offer me a million dollars going naked and afraid. I'm gonna tell you to stick it up your ass. I mean seriously. I think it's just absolutely stupid. But hey, if that's your thing, you know, go for it. You know, anyway. Anyway y'all, have a great week. I will talk to you next time. y'all have a great week. 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

Starting point is 00:39:55 experience and if I believe in herbs help 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.

Starting point is 00:40:21 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.

Your Ad Here

The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Camphor

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.