The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Hyssop

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

Today, I tell you about the medicinal and edible use of Hyssop.  This herb was once considered a veritable cure-all and was also used culinarily.  It is a good one to re-discover.Also, I am back on Youtube Please subscribe to my channel: @judsoncarroll5902   Judson Carroll - YouTubeNew today in my Woodcraft shop:Toasted Holly Cooking Spoonhttps://judsoncarrollwoodcraft.substack.com/p/toasted-holly-cooking-spoonEmail: [e-mail] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/southern-appalachian-herbs--4697544/supportRead about The Spring Foraging Cookbook: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-spring-foraging-cookbook.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRP63R54Medicinal 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: Herbal Medicine 101 - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7QS6b0lQqEclaO9AB-kOkkvlHr4tqAbsGet Prepared with Our Incredible Sponsors! Survival Bags, kits, gear www.limatangosurvival.comEMP Proof Shipping Containers www.fardaycontainers.comThe Prepper's Medical Handbook Build Your Medical Cache – Welcome PBN FamilyPack Fresh USA www.packfreshusa.comSupport PBN with a Donation https://bit.ly/3SICxEq

Hey y'all. Welcome to this week's show. Today we're going to talk about an herb that isn't used as much anymore, but it's historically been considered basically an ancient cure-all. I mean, very few herbs are as frequently mentioned or held such high esteem by ancient writers as Hyssop. And that's Hyssop aficionalis. Hissop, Hissop, that's H-Y-S-O-P, was mentioned as being a part of the purification rights of the ancient Egyptians and Hebrews. Although there is some speculation that those references were to wild oregano, so we can't be absolutely sure of that. Hissop has tremendous religious significance in the Bible, being the herb used with the blood of the Passover lamb to identify a Hebrew home when the angel of death passed through Egypt. Of course, that would kill the firstborn, and so Hyssop was what they applied the blood with. It was used in sacrifices. It was used to offer vinegar and to Christ when he was thirsty during the crucifixion. It's really one of the few herbs really mentioned in the Bible, actually. In the ancient world, Hissop was not only of great

religious significance, but it was one of the primary herbs used medicinally. I mean, Pliny the Elder, one of the great ancient Greek writers, mentioned more than 200 remedies, he attributed to Hissop. 200 remedies, so I'm not going to repeat all those. Dias Quarty's was a bit more succinct. He said, he mentioned two types of Hissop, and one could very well be the wild oregano. Excuse me, but he said, at least I'm going to try to use the one that I think is Hissop. officinalis. He says it is able to reduce the intensity of symptoms, the intensity of symptoms

and warms. He was trying to say it was good for fevers. Boil with figs, water, honey, and rue. It has taken as a drink to help with pneumonia, asthma, coughs, mucus, a specific type of asthma. Also to kill worms. And that's why we don't use hyssop a whole lot anymore. It's a very powerful vermofuge. It could be very dangerous. Never use hissom. up during pregnancy, but in, uh, and rue falls in the same category, but you don't need to be scared of them either. I mean, rue was used in just about every recipe in ancient rum. I mean, in the in Apicius's cookbook, they like to use root. Now, if you have too much rue, it can make you very sick and it could really cause a problem, especially if you're pregnant. Hissop's going to fall

into the same, um, same classification, to me at least. He said, uh, combined with honey, it was good, uh, a decoction taken with, uh, as, uh, a drink with vinegar and honey it would expel the thick fluid of the bowels eaten with green figs that are pounded as small pieces it's good for emptying the intestines but it purges more forcibly when mixed with cardam iris and yes iris is very much a purgative you want to be very careful with it as well it causes good color it was good for the spleen and for dropsy that's edema mixed with wine for inflammation applied topically with warm water it helped

with bruises and a decoction of his figs, he says, was an excellent gargle for an abscess throat, boiled with vinegar and uses a lotion, it would sue the toothache. With smoke being inhaled, would help clear, he called it, windiness around the ears, like, you know, ringing in the ears, basically. And, well, he gets into some of the identification, and this was the Hissopum of Rome, so we can be pretty sure that is the officinalis. But interestingly, it was also called Cassia, which is totally different plant. Anyway, the Middle Ages, St. Hildegard von Bingen wrote of it, von Bingen, I should say, or the Germans are going to get mad at me.

It was part of the officina. That was the monastic apothecary. You know, the church spread throughout Europe by building free hospitals, orphanages, schools, etc. And they were the doctors of the time, and they grew their own herbs and used them. And those herbs are called a fish an alice or something along those lines because they were in the officina, which was essentially their apothecary or a little drugstore. St. Hildegard said, it is such a great strength that even a stone is not able to withstand it.

And it grows wherever it is sown. Eaton often it purges the weak and stinking. foam of all humors just as heat boiling a pot throws off foam it is useful in all foods yeah so it was used as a culinary herb which we really don't do anymore because of it's you know being potentially dangerous so in small amounts I wouldn't be hesitant to use it at all but again I would warn during pregnancy obviously it is better cooked than raw she said when it is eaten the liver becomes lively and it clinked

cleanses the lungs somewhat one who coughs and has pain in the liver or one who suffers from congestion the lungs or who suffers from both conditions should eat hyssop with meat or lard and he would be better anyone who eats hyssop with only wine or water is harmed more by it than helped one who ails in his liver and lungs should take licorice and cinnamon a little more cinnamon than licorice and more hyssop than the other two and a little more fennel than all the other three and cook this in a pot with sufficient honey to overcome the bitterness of the herbs. He should cook this vigorously. He should keep the herbs in the pot for nine days and as many nights, then strain it

through a cloth and drink it. If he has great pain in his liver or his lungs, he should drink it every day for nine days. Before drinking in the morning, he should eat a little something, then drink. He may eat a sufficient amount at night, and when he goes to bed, he may drink some of it. If, however, he has moderate pain in his liver and lungs, he may do the same for three days. him do this often and he would be cured unless God does not wish it. You have to remember she was a nun, a very religious person. She said, but if the liver is sick because of the person's sadness before the infirmity abounds in him, and let's put it this way, the ancient world definitely believed that anger could affect the liver, sadness could affect the liver, people could die of a

broken heart. There's a lot of truth to that, actually. the emotional states do affect bile and, of course, the rhythm of the heart and all that. So don't just dismiss it. She said, if the liver is sick because of the person's sadness, before the infirmity abounds in him, he should cook young chickens with hyssop and frequently eat the hyssop as well as the chicken. Also, he should chew raw hyssop as well as the chicken. And he should also chew raw hyssop as well as the chicken.

He should also chew raw hyssop that has been placed in wine and drink that same wine. The hyssop is more useful to him for that illness than the one who has pain in the lungs. Good liver herb, and it's interesting that you can combine it with licorice, because there are a lot of liver herbs, especially ginsion, which ginsion and licorice kind of cancel each other out. So you can get the benefits of licorice, which is very good for the lungs and the kidneys, as well as the liver, with also a good bitter liver herb. So it's a good, you know, interesting.

Brother Alwish is also in the monastic line of medicine, but writing closer to about 1920, said that Hissop, and this is Hissopophilusianalis, is used for chronic catarer or congestion, humid asthma, abdominal pain, lucreia, green sickness. It's another menstrual disorder. Fever, lack of appetite, stomach cramp to strengthen the brain as a diuretic, a stomatic, to strengthen the heart, for fatty degeneration of the heart.

intestinal blockage, epilepsy, cold urine, suppress menstruation, asthma, and chronic cough. Sophie Hodderwick's Nab says that in the Polish tradition, tradition, Hissop was said to be by an ancient herbalist of the 16th century, an excellent herb, and scarce is the person who does not have it in his garden. Well, now it's scarce the person who does have it as garden, at least in America. Maybe it's still popular in Poland. I don't know. She said it appeared in Poland in the 16th century when spread by the Benedictian sisters and monks who grew it in the monastery gardens. Older Polish women often pressed fresh branches of hyssop between the pages of their prayer books.

Hissop was known as a cleansing herb and a tea was made from it to strengthen the lungs in the stomach. It was also found to be an effective gargle for an inflamed throat. The young new shoots were fried in fat and were supposed to be an effective treatment for the stomach. for abnormal sweating of the feet, a mix of hyssop, oak bark, horsetail, and yara was found to be helpful. She says in Polish folk medicine, hyssop has been used chiefly to encourage a failing appetite and by drinking a hot tea made from seeping one teaspoon of the dried herb and a glass of boiling water.

Speaking of which, I need a sip of water. I'm about a cough here. All right. So, returning to a bit more ancient time, 1500s England, Gerard said, the decoction of hyssop made with figs, gargoyed in the mouth and throat, ripeneth and breaketh the tumors and in posthumes of the mouth and throat, and easeth the difficulty of swallowing. The same made with figs, water, honey, and rue, drunken,

helpeth the inflammation of the lungs, the old cough, and shortness of breath and obstructions and stoppings of the breast. The syrup or juice of hyssop taking with a syrup of vinegar purgeth the stool and the tough, clammy, phlegm, and driveth forth worms, especially if it be eaten with figs. Interesting. I wonder why figs, I guess, just adding more fiber, maybe more bulk fiber. That's probably it. All right, so about 100 years later, Cole Pepper wrote,

but it strengthens all parts of the body. Let's see, I'll skip ahead a little bit. He liked to get into a lot of astrological stuff, which isn't really applied to us. And he quotes deus Corridis. We've already discussed that. Let's see, there's anything else. He said it was good for jaundice,

so again, good for the liver. Helps with dropsy and the spleen. Boiled with wine, good with, to wash inflammations, takes away black and blue spots that come from bruises and falls. Yeah, good for the Quincy, swall your throats, gargle, being bruised and salt, honey, and cumin seed put to it. It helps those that are stung by serpents. I don't know. Worth a try.

Hopefully you never get bitten by a poisonous snake. the oil of thereof the head being annoyed kills lice and takes away the itching of the head it helps those that have falling sickness it's epilepsy and that would usually be more seizures caused by water retention actually it's a good diuretic and a lot of diuretic herbs were used in that way not necessarily for what we would call epilepsy these days it helps to expector a tough phlegm and is effectual and cold grease briefs and diseases of the chest or lungs being taken as syrup or licking medicine. That means you could make a cough drop essentially out of it.

The green herb bruised and a little sugar put there too doth quickly heal any cut or green wound being there unto applied. Huh, I wonder what the sugar did. Maybe just help keep it together as a poultice. I don't know. But in the Irish tradition, of course, John Kehoe is always very brief. Written in the around 1800, he says very beneficial for most asthma. and will open the phlegmatic obstructions of the lungs, a decoction in vinegar, if held in the mouth,

eases toothache. It dissolves congealed blood, black and blue marks, cures itchiness, scurf and mange, if the skin is washed therein, it is also good for diseases of the head and nerves, and it's specifically good for disorders of the lungs. Now, getting up to modern time, or more modern, 1930. Ms. Grieve gives a very interesting history of the herb, but we'll skip ahead to medicinal actions and uses. She said, it is expected. Right, of course, it means brings up the mucus from the lungs. Diaphoretic means it helps break a fever. Stimulant, that's probably for digestion. I'm not entirely sure. Pectoral means good for a chest condition. Carmenative means it steles the stomach. The healing virtues of the plant are due to a particular volatile

oil, which is stimulative, carminative, and pseudorific means it can help you sleep. It admirably promotes expectoration, and in chronic catterer or congestion, it's diaphoretic and stimulant properties combined a remit of a special value. So that means the stimulant she means is actually, I don't even know, stimulating respiratory system, I guess. yeah it is usually given as a warm infusion taken frequently and mixed with horhound very very common old use horhound is a member of the mint family which is extremely bitter and excellent for the lungs it's mainly replaced hyssop in modern herbal medicine because of the you know potential toxicity of hyssop

the reason horhound candy was so popular among our like our grandparents and great-grandparents time was because it was a common cough drop or a stick candy used for a cough and you had to put in so much sugar in there to counter the bitterness of the whorehound that kids began to like it and it became a candy it's one of America's first and most popular candies in the 17-1800s but combined with hyssop I could see how it'd be very good and you again you'd probably want to make a syrup with that you want to counter that very there's bitter herbs with some sugar the hyssop tea is also a a grateful drink well adapted to improve the tone of a feeble stomach,

being brewed with the green tops of the herb, which are sometimes boiled in soup to be given for asthma. An American infusion of the leaves is used externally for the relief of muscular rheumatism and also for bruises and discolored contusions. The green herb bruised and applied will hill cuts promptly. This is a good herb to have on hand, you know, in a bad situation. She said the infusion has agreeable flavor and is used by herbless and pulmonary. diseases so she thought the tea was pretty nice i have not actually had pure hyssop tea i you know i'm not

a tea guy that much i usually go with tinctures but you know i'll give it a try she said it was much once employed as a carminative and flatulent and hysterical complaints and uh the tea drunk several time daily is one of the old-fashioned remedies for rheumatism that is still employed and hyssop bass have also been recommended as part of the cure so um um Plants for Future, this is modern. She warns absolutely that it should not be used by pregnant women. They say Hissop has a long history of medicinal use and was so highly esteemed in the past that it was considered to be a virtual cure-all.

Currently, it is an undervalued herb. It is often used as a household remedy, particularly as an expectant and stomach tonic. It has a positive effect when used to treat bronchitis and respiratory infections, especially where there is excessive mucus production. Hissop can irritate the mucus membrane, so it is best given after an infection is peaked when the herb's tonic action encourages a general recovery. The plant should not be used by pregnant women,

however, since in large quantities it can induce miscarriage. The leaves and flowering tops are antiseptic, antitussive, that means stops a cough, antistringent, let's try that again, as stringent means it tightens tissue, carmenative, diaphoretic, aminaugnese, it brings on minces, I've already defined the other terms, expect from a pectoral, sedative, stimulant, stomatic, tonic, and a vase of dilator. It actually does dilate the blood vessels and can help with circulation and blood pressure because of that.

The plant can be harvested when full flour and dried for later use. Tea made for the leaves used the treatment of flageolence, stomach aches, upper respiratory tract infections, coughs and children, et cetera. Pult is made of the fresh herbs used to heal wounds. The essential oils used in an aromatherapy, but can be quite toxic. So do not take internally at all. That's one of those that could kill you.

So there you go. I mean, Hissop was one of the most esteemed herbs in history, and you're probably not going to find it in many modern herbals. I like it, you know, I don't use it enough as much as I should, really. I have it in a couple of formulas, especially for asthma and such as that, congestion, bronchitis, that kind of thing. I need to experiment with it a little more culinaryly. I have begun to use some of the old ancient Roman recipes, found them to be absolutely delicious, but you're not going to go a grocery store and buy Hissop and Roo.

You're going to have to grow those yourself. Yarrow is a nice herb used in just a small amounts culinary, bitter and peppery. These are flavors that our ancestors really enjoyed. Usually balanced, they would take these bitter herbs and they would put them in a dish with some honey and vinegar and black pepper. and that was

yeah and onions and you would end up with this like sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, peppery,

savory, all the flavors and if you think that sounds a lot like Chinese food you'd be amazed how much ancient Roman cooking tastes

like Chinese food. It's like you found a whole different variety of like really high quality Chinese food

and except for a few ingredients that we really can't get anymore like sylphium which is a plant that was thought to be extinct but they think they found a couple still surviving they're trying to breed them out you couldn't get that you could get they used asafedita a lot which you can get it from an Indian grocery store I would just leave it out it's really stinky stuff actually I'm not a fan of asafedita but um Yeah, and they used garum, just like the Chinese would use soy sauce, or the Thai folks would, or in Koreans would use a fish sauce. Garum is actually a firm, excuse me, a fermented fish sauce, cooked with a lot of wine and vinegar. And, I mean, you would think, you know, given our modern concepts of cooking, that ancient Rome would have food that was somewhere between, say, ancient Greece, Greece, which also uses a lot of nice herbs, and, you know, modern Italian cooking, but you could not be more wrong. You could not be more wrong. They didn't eat pasta for one thing. They didn't have tomatoes at all. Tomatoes come from the new world. I mean, their tomatoes come from what? Peru originally. They didn't have potatoes, so no yokey, nothing like that.

They didn't have corn, so there was no polenta. There was no tomato sauces whatsoever. So what was going on their pizzas really probably was more like onions and anchovies and maybe a little like a feta type cheese as opposed to what we think of as a modern pizza you know um but it's actually really really delicious you really actually find the ancient roman uh influence in cooking more in french cooking than you do in italian cooking i mean the sauces you know the classical french food they're just crazy about sauces well that was ancient rum and anyway yeah these bitter herbs balanced with a little sweet and a little sour and a little savory and peppery they were really into their peppery spices they actually had

several varieties of black pepper and such you know again before hot peppers were introduced from the new world that's also a new world plant so yeah interesting if you ever want to look into that I write for In the Homestead magazine, and so once a month I do a historical food article. They actually hired me as an herbalist, and we got talking food, and they're like, you know what, we got a couple people that can write on medicinal herbs. Why don't you write on historical recipes? And I'll pull something from, you know, well, ancient Rome or Greece or colonial America or a depression area dish.

and I really have fun with that. I mean, if you've read my cookbook, you probably would know I would. The omnivores guy into home cooking is the strangest cookbook, probably since George Herder wrote the Bull Cook. But, yeah, I have a good time with it, and check that out, you know, if you're interested. Anyway, y'all, have a great week. 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 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 it. Be careful with your health. By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself to your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever.

Thank you.