The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Juniper

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. I hope everybody's enjoying this blazing hot July weather. I'm actually going to talk about a tree today as we continue our series, Herbal Medicine for Preppers, focusing on the trees, with a tree that actually grows in very hot climates, but is more associated, I would say, with cooler climates, and more associated I would say with cooler climates and it's juniper now in the southeast and I think throughout most at least the eastern United States we have the what's called the eastern red cedar which is not a cedar at all it's a juniper and it's juniperus virginiana, I think, or virginius. I can't remember. I could probably look that up real quick.

Starting point is 00:00:50 But, you know, it's not important. Wherever else you might be, you might have California juniper. You might have shore juniper. That's a juniper that likes, you know, coastal areas. You might have any number of ornamental junipers. Like, well, gosh, there's so many. I don't even think I could get into them. You can have everything from trees to bushes to a low ground cover. They're all in the same family. The, yeah, the juniper, the eastern red cedar, so-called, is Juniperus virginiana, and that just means it was first identified in juniper. In Europe, they have so many varieties. There are, I mean, there are

Starting point is 00:01:42 varieties of junipers that just grow in the Alps. There are varieties of juniper that grow in England and France. I mean, you can go all over the place. There are Asian junipers, the many Chinese varieties and Japanese varieties that have been brought here. The cedars of Lebanon are a closely, you know, related plant. Well, let's see. Normally normally I use juniper berries actually the the needles you know they're they're never green and they have like almost like little tiny scaly pine needles or something you know I don't know how you want to describe it those are useful as well various parts of the tree do have

Starting point is 00:02:21 uses but mainly we use the juniper berries going way back to ancient Greek medicine Galen stated that juniper berries cleanse cleanse the liver and kidneys and with thin thick and viscous juices mucus and such and actually there's certain bladder conditions which are pretty nasty that can make your urine thick this is a really serious condition and they were used for that as well he said and for this reason they are mixed in health medicines so Dioscorides wrote in Demateria Medica after describing several varieties that were known to him in ancient Greece and Rome and Egypt, his region.

Starting point is 00:03:13 He was all over. He appears to be mostly based in Greece, but he was very familiar with the herbal medicine traditions of basically the entire Middle East and Northern Africa. So either the guy really got around, you know, or that knowledge was just really being shared at the time, which is probably a little more likely. He said that he mainly used the fruit, the berries. They're not actually berries. That's one thing that can confuse you. Those little blue berries that form on a juniper bush are actually little cones, like little tiny pine cones. But they're sweet and piney, and it's what they're used to flavor gin. So if you've ever had a gin and tonic or a gin martini which I really enjoy gin martinis you know the taste of juniper and anytime you see a

Starting point is 00:04:11 juniper with berries it doesn't matter what variety they are they're delicious nutritious and medicinal don't take them in too great a quantity though because they can irritate the kidneys. They have terpenes that can just be a little tough on the kidneys and cause a little bit of inflammation in large amounts or over a large period of time. I have a little juniper berry in my bitters formula every day. It never bothered me. I eat juniper berries. I cook with juniper berries. They're absolutely fantastic with game, whether it's game birds or a fattier piece of meat like

Starting point is 00:04:53 a wild boar, wild pork of any kind. I mean, you know, we usually just call them wild boar, but you know, it's feral pigs, basically. Bear meat. I mean, you know, juniper's fantastic. So I would not overstate that irritating quality. But he said that they were sweet and a little bitter, and they are, mildly warming and astringent, good for the stomach, taken and drink for infirmities of the chest, for coughs, gaseousness, griping, and the poisonous venom of creatures so i don't know about that um it's also diuretic and as a result is good for convulsions and hernia

Starting point is 00:05:34 and those who have congested or blocked wombs it has sharp leaves and uh applied as a plaster and taken a drink so he's actually talking about like the needles now. Or the juice taken in wine. They're good for those bitten by vipers. So I sure hope I'm never bitten by a viper. But if you are, maybe a juniper poultice would help. I have no idea. The bark burned and rubbed on with water removes leprosy.

Starting point is 00:06:09 But the scraping dust of the wood, like sawdust, he said if you took it in water or something, it would kill you. So I'd be very careful with that. He talks about the cypress, not the cypress like our eastern cypress or swamp cypress, but these are more like the cedars of Lebanon and Rome. And he talks a little bit more about that. And talks about what it was called in various languages in his time and in his general region, which, like I said, he was pretty cosmopolitan. He also, interestingly, gave a recipe for juniper wine.

Starting point is 00:06:48 And I have tried this. It's very good, actually. A little odd. Tastes a little like pine salt. Smells. I've never actually tasted pine salt. But, no, it's actually pretty good. He said you could use cedar, juniper, cypress, bay, pine, or fir.

Starting point is 00:07:04 They're all the same way. You take the newly cut needles, and he actually also used the newly cut wood and would lay it in the sun or the fire so it would kind of sweat out the sap a little bit, and pound this, he said, in four and a half liters of wine. And this is just infused. I actually took the needles and boiled them in water, added some sugar, let it cool, pitched some yeast in there, and made an evergreen wine when COVID was going around. And it seemed to have some great antiviral properties. So you could go either way. Okay. viral properties so um you could go either way okay so anyway he said these medicinal wines are warming good for the urinary tract and astringent he said wine could also be made from the berries

Starting point is 00:07:54 of juniper trees as well as the fruit of the cedar which has the same effect and in my research i found a juniper beer was very popular in sc Scandinavian countries before hops came into common use. And it's still used in some craft brewers. And, yeah, I mean, having tried using cedar or juniper berries, juniper I meant to say, in different beverages, I found them to be quite pleasant, quite good, and very good for the immune system, very good for the stomach and the lungs, and really good. I don't have any problem with urinary stones, kidney stones, bladder stones, anything like that, but it's an old remedy for such as that.

Starting point is 00:08:34 So if you do, you might want to look into it. By the 1080s, St. Hildegard von Bingen said, take its fruit, the fruit of the juniper, and cook it in water. Strain this through the cloth. To this, add honey and a bit of vinegar and licorice, and a little bit of ginger and a little less ginger than the licorice, she says. She doesn't give an exact amount. Cook it again and place it in a little bag and make a spiced wine.

Starting point is 00:09:00 Drink it often, whether on an empty stomach or having eaten. It diminishes and mitigates pain in the chest, lungs, or liver. Also take the green twigs and cook them in water. Make a sauna bath with that water. Often bathe in it, and it diminishes the bad fevers in you. Of course, juniper is widely used in saunas in Scandinavian countries and such as that. Juniper has, and Russians love it. Russians go crazy over it.

Starting point is 00:09:28 Juniper has been widely used among British herbalists. Girard in the 1500s said that the fruit of juniper tree doth cleanse the liver and kidneys. And let's see what else he might say here. Good for gripings and gnawings in the stomach. And maketh the head hot. I don't know about that. It neither bindeth nor looseneth the belly, and it provoketh the urine.

Starting point is 00:09:57 He said it is most certain that a decoction of these berries is singularly good against old cough and against that which children are now and then extremely troubled called the chin cough that's actually whooping cough in which they uh used to oh is which is used to uh basically as an expectorant gets uh the congestion out and um he said it was especially good if that uh mucus had blood mixed in with it which would be a very serious condition, that a decoction of juniper berries would be especially good, he said. I don't know. Never tried it.

Starting point is 00:10:32 You know, I'll take it with a grain of salt. He said in Bohemia, so we're talking like Germany, he said they used wine and beer with the berries steeped in it and lived to a wonderful good health. This is also drunk against poisons and pescunate fevers, and is not unpleasant to drink. That's very true. The smoke of the leaves and wood driveth away serpents

Starting point is 00:10:59 and all infections and corruptions in the air. Yeah, juniper's been used as a fumigation for centuries, probably thousands of years in times of plague or anything, but apparently snakes don't like it. And there's a lot of tradition about that. Snakes don't want to go anywhere near where juniper's being burned or cedar or anything like that. I don't know if that's true, but people really used to believe it. They would actually kind of burn it in a perimeter around their campsite to keep snakes away. It said, the juice of the leaves is laid on with wine and drunk against the bitings of the viper. The ashes of the burned bark being applied with water take away the scurf and filth of the skin. That's basically anything from scabies to ps psoriasis or anything uh skin issue like that

Starting point is 00:11:47 the powder of the wood being taken inwardly is pernicious and deadly so again don't take the sawdust internally i don't know why you would so um the fume and smoke of the resin or he says the gum does stay phlegmatic humors um he's talking about congestion in the head and the lungs, the nose especially, and good for a sick stomach taken inwardly. Killeth all manner of worms in the belly. Stayeth the menses and the hemorrhoids. So it has an astringent effect. It'll stop bleeding can be used against spitting of blood used to dry ulcerated wounds and mixed with the oil of roses was particularly good for that I said there is made of this and linseed together a liquor called a varnish oh boy they made a varnish out of it. Okay, so it was used to, you know, color wood and for pictures and such, picture frames. So about 100 years later, Culpepper wrote,

Starting point is 00:12:53 it was a most, this is Juniper again, a most admirable counter poison and a great resistance of pestilence. They're excellently good against the biting of venomous beasts they provoke urine exceedingly and therefore a very good very against strangery and diaries I can't remember how to pronounce that but anyway just difficult urination and edema retaining fluids and such also a powerful remedy against the dropsy that's the retaining fluid and a lie Also, a powerful remedy against the dropsy, that's the retaining fluid, and a lye made of the ashes of the herb being drank cures the disease. Don't know about that.

Starting point is 00:13:34 I'm not going to recommend anything taken internally with lye, obviously. It's a very caustic substance. It provokes the terms. That means it actually brings on menses, as opposed to what Gerard just said is drying it up, helps the fits of the mother, strengthens the stomach exceedingly, expels the wind. Indeed, there is scarce a better remedy for wind in any part of the body or the colic than the chemical oil drawn from the berries.

Starting point is 00:14:06 drawn from the berries. Such country people as know not how to draw the chemical oil may content themselves by eating 10 or a dozen ripe berries every morning, fasting, or an empty stomach. Very old cure. We'll get more into that in a minute. Very popular in German folk medicine. They are admirably good for cough, shortness of breath, and consumption, pains in the bellies, ruptures, cramps, and convulsions. They give safe and speedy delivery to women with child. Remember, I never recommend anything like that. They strengthen the brain exceedingly, help the memory fortify the sight by strengthening the optic nerves, are excellently good for all sorts of agues or fevers, help the gout and sciatica, and strengthen the limbs of the body. The ashes of the wood is a speedy remedy to such as have the scurvy to rub their gums with

Starting point is 00:14:45 the berries stay all fluxes help the hemorrhoids or piles and kill worms and children a lie made of the ashes of the wood and the body bathed with it cures his itches itch scabs and leprosy the berries break the stones kidney and bladder stones procure appetite when it's lost they're excellently good for all palsies and falling sickness, which is epilepsy. I don't know if that's true or not, but you can see. The old herbalists swore by juniper berries. And that's, okay, you know, I mentioned like gin and tonic or gin martini. That's actually an herbal concoction of berries soaked in, steeped in,

Starting point is 00:15:26 that's what I'm trying to say, alcohol. It began as an herbal medicine and became the national drink of England, basically. Going to the Irish tradition, John Kehoe said in, I guess, the 1800s, the berries provoke urine and cure old coughss good for flatulence and colic pains the gum of the tree expels well expels worms from the body and stops excessive menstrual flow so it's actually the sap that's good for that or the gum of the tree as they said juniper is also an excellent herb to stimulate the appetite to help the liver it is a natural bitter and just thoroughly chewing a few berries before a meal

Starting point is 00:16:06 can actually be among the best helps in digestion especially for elderly and chronically ill people if you can get some juniper berries and if you've got someone's chronically ill or elderly this is just me talking now i'm not quoting anybody eating a few berries before a meal just one or two can really help digestion. But again, remember, they can irritate the kidneys in large doses, so don't overuse them. Juniper is also good for the immune system and is called a blood cleanser or spring tonic. And that's where we get into the German folk use. Father Nape wrote, father nape wrote juniper is used for fuming fumigation spreads an agreeable odor throughout the room and improves the air he said um he was really the only fumigation he thought was worth

Starting point is 00:16:58 using and he talks about how he didn't like some of the others that were uh in use at the time he said it destroys all fungi and whatever the volatile infection and disease bringer may be called. He's talking more germs than fungi, actually. Juniper works with similar effects upon the interior of the human organism. The berries fumigate, as it were, the mouth and stomach and ward off contagion. I'm getting tongue-tied here. I better get a sip of water. He says, those who are nursing patients with serious illness such as scarlet fever, smallpox,

Starting point is 00:17:36 typhus, cholera, etc., and are exposed to contagion by serving the patient or by speaking with him should always chew a few juniper berries, six to ten in a day. They give a pleasant taste in the mouth and are a good service to digestion. They burn up, as it were, the harmful miasms or germs, exhalations, etc., when those seek to enter through the mouth or nostrils. Those who are suffering from a weak stomach may try the following little course with juniper berries. Now, this is what's known as the juniper berry cure. Now, I mean, I think as far as prepper medicine, knowing this property of juniper to help prevent contagious diseases from spreading, which has been documented for thousands of years. I don't think modern science puts much credence in it, but for thousands of of years it's been used by people in many different

Starting point is 00:18:26 countries that weren't communicating with each other you know that alone should be a reason to learn to identify which is super easy it's one of the easiest trees to spot and use this herb okay so here's the famous father nape juniper berry the Spring Cure as it's often called in German folk medicine. The first day, they should begin with four berries. The second, take five. The third day, six, the fourth, seven, and so increase by one berry every day until the twelfth, on which they will take 15 berries. Then they may continue for five days longer, on which they will take 15 berries. Then they may continue for five days longer, taking each day one berry less. I know many whose stomachs filled with gases and thereby weakened have been purified and strengthened by this simple berry cure. Juniper berries have been noted since olden times as a

Starting point is 00:19:16 remedy for stone and gravel and for complaints of the kidneys and liver. Also, in all cases where foul gases, foul, watery, and slimy matter are to be removed from the body, not only the berries, but also the young shoots of juniper are made use of for tea in the first stages of dropsy and also as a purifying medicine. The oil is best bought from the chemist. Obviously, we don't really make oils of juniper in our home. We could, you know, if you get into that. The tincture can be made at the home with wine, brandy, or any other spirit. I would not praise the father or mother of a family who were certainly very careful and diligent in preserving their meat and vegetables

Starting point is 00:19:58 with berries from the juniper bush and were punctual and careful in fumigating their dwelling of the same, but who allowed their body, the dwelling of their soul, to lie in dust and dirt. They ought to apply such a fumigator as for more important dwellings at least a few times in the year. In other words, Father Knope was a wonderfully poetic writer, and he was saying that at the time in Germany, I guess it's around 1880, 1890, people were using juniper berries very commonly to preserve meat and fish. You may know like Swedish and Norwegian grovlocks where you take juniper and dill and sometimes a little vodka and preserve your fish with it. You

Starting point is 00:20:41 make that wonderful, wonderful cured salmon. I absolutely love that stuff. I could eat my weight in it daily. Okay. Juniper has these antimicrobial properties and was very much used in sausages and curing meat. And it gives a wonderful flavor. As I said, you learn to use juniper in cooking and preserving meats and fish, and you're really going to be a fan of it, as am I. Very popular in Polish food, I mean, really anywhere where the plants are common, but also was used to fumigate the house, you know, give a good scent to get bad odors out and to prevent disease and such as that, and he was saying people also ought to eat the berries because they'd be just as good for your body as the other uses. Brother Aloysius was Father Nape's protege, and I believe

Starting point is 00:21:31 he was Swiss. He wrote, the berries and young twigs are used medicinally. The berries principally have diaphoretic, warming, and wind-breaking properties and promote digestion. They are especially used for gastric weakness accompanied by wind, accumulation of mucus, etc. They are also recommended as a protection from intermittent fevers, rheumatism, and gout pain. The young twigs mixed with woodruff and wild strawberry leaves make a delicious and healthy drink and can be taken in the place of Indian tea or black tea, Chinese tea, and it

Starting point is 00:22:06 is certainly much healthier and milk and sugar can be added according to taste. One of the preparations is juniper oil, which has excellent diuretic properties. Juniper berries strengthen the nerves, cleanse the blood and the stomach, and are used for kidney lung and liver complaints gravel stones bladder cataract diarrhea and migraines the decoction of the twigs and berries is a half cup per two cups water and rumor decoction is just a strong tea kind of boiled down about a third to a half the decoction of young twigs and wood is two-thirds of one cup per two cups water and it can be taken for rheumatism, gout, syphilis, chronic cough, and congestion in the chest. Or use three tablespoons of berries ground to a powder and cooked with two tablespoons of lard is an excellent remedy for scurf and

Starting point is 00:22:56 children. And that's like psoriatic dandruff usually but it can be caused by other skin conditions. The head should be smeared with it twice a day. I think even cradle cap would fall into that category but I'd have to double check so do double check me on that. Remedy for, useful as a remedy for phlegm in the chest and for coughs. In that case three tablespoons of juniper berries should be boiled in two cups of barley water, reduced by half. Add a little sugar candy and drink this quantity throughout the day. So you're making essentially a cough syrup of juniper and rock candy, you know, the sugar candy.

Starting point is 00:23:39 Yeah, you know what rock candy is. I mean, hopefully you do. I haven't seen it in stores in, gosh, since I was a little kid. And even that would have been like, you know, like Mass General Store or something, you know, in the mountains where tourists come to see old-fashioned stuff. So I guess you can still get rock candy. If not, you can certainly make it very easy. I remember I learned to make it in school. And, yeah, I used to make mine.

Starting point is 00:24:02 So easy stuff. it in school and yeah used to make mine so easy stuff so father johan kunzl also in this same tradition wrote of um juniper and this is in the book that uh herbs and weeds father johan kunzl which i um co-wrote and translated with an austrian herbalist and if you don't have that book you may want to get it because pretty cool a pretty cool book, actually. And I'm pretty proud of that one, actually. He said the juniper, and in his language, was he Austrian or Swiss? I can't remember.

Starting point is 00:24:37 It was Reckholder. But anyway, juniper is a medicinal plant of the first rank. Everything about it is medicinal, from the woods, the needles, berries, and bark. It has the power to warm up, relieve internal colds, cleanse everything wherever it can reach. The stomach, intestines, lungs, blood, and is therefore used in all herbal mixtures, except for hot diseases such as fever. Now, he didn't like it for fever. Even stronger than common juniper is the kind found in the high Alps that creeps along the ground. Juniper baths are usually a good remedy for old rheumatisms.

Starting point is 00:25:21 I have seen old people twisted by gout become straight and healthy again through continued use of such baths. And how people who stayed in bed stiff like a piece of wood for six months were healed by washings and later bathing in juniper decoction. Of course, the green juniper twigs have to be boiled for three hours, and the patient is washed with this warm water 10 times a day all over his body until he is able to take a bath. Because the bath is very sharp and aggressive, it is advisable to mix it with fir tree or green pine tree twigs. The bath must be warm and last for a half an hour. At the end, the whole body has to be poured over with cold water. If you fail to do that, it is better not to take the bath. Otherwise, rheumatism will come back more severely. Now, in the German Fulton-Madison tradition, they're very

Starting point is 00:26:09 big on cold water baths. And whenever you take a hot bath, especially infused with herbs, you then have to take rinse in cold water. And that actually has a remarkable effect. It causes the body to burn what's called the brown fat, and in the process, that's incredibly anti-inflammatory. So you could see why he would say that'd be very good for arthritis and gout. Jolanta Wittib was the Austrian herbalist I worked with on that book, and she wrote, whenever I see a juniper with the berries or cones on my walk in the forest I collect a few juniper berries ripe whether they're black or dark blue ones and chew on them while walking I do the same thing I love them they have a Swedish and very aromatic taste and I know that they will strengthen my body and spirit father Sebastian Nape who has always

Starting point is 00:27:03 already been mentioned one more than once in this book, suggested the juniper cone therapy after a long illness, for exhaustion, after cancer treatment, etc., because juniper cones cleanse the body, cleanse the blood, and improve metabolism. They are good for rheumatism and arthritis, and they have an antibacterial effect. Besides, they are tasty and disinfect one's mouth and leave a nice flavor. I agree 100%. So now getting to the American tradition. Now here we're talking, this is resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, written by the Confederacy. They hired a French botanist to do this. And so we're mainly talking the Virginia, the Eastern Red Cedar or Virginia juniper he says the expressed oil is a very useful as an application to rheumatic pains

Starting point is 00:27:52 and swellings of the joints says putting on like a liniment essentially and he actually says how to make it so let's I'll give you the recipe but it may not be something you want to do in your own kitchen. He says, take one bushel of the dried shavings, heat it in an inverted iron vessel, and that will yield a half a pint of oil. So you can easily do this, actually. Yul Gibbons actually has a design in his book, Stalking the Helpful Herbs, of how to make a distillation still for your stovetop, but we're talking a bushel of dried shaving. So to me, that's a bit much to actually do in my kitchen. I'd have to, I don't know, get an old burn barrel or something and give it a try. A decoction of the berries promotes diaphoresis, is also beneficial

Starting point is 00:28:43 in rheumatic pain, stiff joints, etc. Remember, that's just a tea, a strong tea made of the berries promotes diaphoresis, is also beneficial in rheumatic pain, stiff joints, etc. Remember, that's just a strong T made of the berries. The leaves act very much as the shavings, being stimulant and a minigog, meaning brings on menses, and are employed in catamenial obstructions. The cedar berry is used in a popular remedy for dropsy, which is claimed by some to be highly efficacious. We can readily understand the reason that it may prove useful when we remember its close

Starting point is 00:29:13 alliance to the juniper berry. As it follows, take one handful of the seed of the cedar, the same of mullein, the same of the root of dogwood, and put in two quarts and a pint of water. Boil down to one quart. Add one gill of whiskey. That's about a teacup full of whiskey. Dose as a wine glass full morning and night. It can also be used as a salve for blisters. That was used by boiling the leaves and twice their weight of lard and adding a little wax.

Starting point is 00:29:59 It was anthelmintic, which means it gets rid of worms. We're getting a lot of the same uses here i'm gonna go on but uh interestingly he said the roots make a beautiful purple dye so that's interesting and he um said that cedar box of course you know this if you ever ever had cedar in a closet or something or if you have cedar boxes you keep cigars in humidors uh keeps bugs out um and he said that they were very popular at this time for making buckets for putting in houses to get rid of bugs and for building boats and cedar strip canoes are gorgeous I mean that's such an art in itself another wonderful use of cedar cedar baskets

Starting point is 00:30:36 are fantastic you can take the the bark and and strip it and anyway so many things you can do with cedar 1898 king's medical dispensatory says both the berries and oil are stimulating carminative and diuretic the oil is said to act like um yeah i don't know this copal copaiba i don't know but he said it's good for arresting mucous discharges especially from the urethra it is contained in a spirituous liquor called hollands so they had sort of a an infused a gin essential well yeah holland gin of course there you go you're just talking about gin one of its best forms as a diuretic so the berries employed principally as an adjunct to other diuretics found to be efficient in gonorrhea, glee, leucorrhea, cystorrhea, affections of the skin, scorbutic diseases, cystitis when chronic,

Starting point is 00:31:32 particularly in old people is relieved by the juniper. Uncomplicated renal hyperrhema is cured by it. Yeah. Okay. They've actually got a house June they actually have a recipe for a juniper pomade pomade is what you're seeing over the art though you know what a pomade is right you put in your hair and slick it back you know off but it was also used as a salve and it was juniper combined with lard for the most part there were several you can't win several different brands but it says it was good for all eczema itching good for scaled or

Starting point is 00:32:15 vesicle you know where you can see kind of reddish with the veins through it skin good for sore nipples good for the nasal cavities earaches I mean there's so many things people were using it for around 1900 and yeah it was probably quite efficacious more modern use Rodel herb book I guess it's from the 60s says juniper is considered one of the most useful medicinal plants stimulating the appetite and digestion helpful in coughs and to eliminate you could mucus it has a diuretic effect stimulating the function of the kidneys and bladder a strong tea of the berries is considered an excellent wash for bites and poisonous insects snake bites dog bites and bee stinks well see it has that antimicrobial effect it kind of helps and it's a stringent it's gonna help

Starting point is 00:33:02 pull down swelling they said it's particularly good for rheumatism arthritis bruises alters and wounds alters and wounds are said to be relieved by juniper poultices and rubs a handful of leaves in warm bath water is said to soothe aching muscles for poultices berries can be simmered in olive oil or simply mashed and applied to the sore area. American Indians simply tied the bundles of the bowels to sore limbs. Juniper tincture has been used externally on painful swellings, bruises, and sores. I mentioned this tradition of using and making beers. There's a really good book with an odd title.

Starting point is 00:33:45 It's called Sacred and healing herbal beers okay harrod bruner was one of the greatest uh buner i'm sorry was one of the greatest uh herbalists of the last uh well of the 1900s uh well he was sort of 60s through he just died like last year okay so i'm saying recently uh he um he did have some outrageous titles, but he really did great research. In his book, he said, generally, juniper is a marvelous herb to use in brewing, and the taste of juniper ale is good and very refreshing, given the many benefits of the herb as a preservative and a medicine, especially on nutrition and digestive health. As a potentially useful herb for the treatment of colds and flu, it seems an excellent herb to use in ales and beer. And that's true. You just make your ale or beer as you normally would. And instead of adding hops, put your juniper in there to steep.

Starting point is 00:34:36 And you're going to have a very different, very interesting, and very medicinal ale or beer. And it's going to preserve it just like the hops would and bitter it just like the hops would but it's going to be more aromatic so peterson field guide to eastern and central medicinal plants says eastern red cedar american indians use fruit tea for colds worms rheumatisms coughs to induce sweating chewed the fruit for canker sores, leaf smoke or steam inhaled for colds, bronchitis, purification, and rheumatism. Said to contain the anti-tumor compound podophyloxatoxin, best known from mayapple. So it may actually have some potential there, but that's more of a chemistry type of thing that's something we're going to do in kitchen medicine obviously now botany a day says of cypress now these are somewhat related plants okay

Starting point is 00:35:30 a tea of the leaves is used internally or externally to stop bleeding and for cults of juniper or red cedar juniper berries can be eaten or used in tea the bitter berries are the main ingredient in gin most people would consider them unpalatable. I don't, and he says, but I have acquired a taste for them. Juniper berries contain volatile oils and resins. They are eaten as a carminative to expel gas. I mean, it's just like sell your stomach and get rid of gas, basically. And the distilled oil is rubbed on painful joints. Additionally, juniper berries are diuretic, but may irritate the kidneys with prolonged use. They are not recommended for pregnant women at all.

Starting point is 00:36:06 Anything that says will kill worms, you don't take when you're pregnant. A boiled tea of the fruits and leaves is used as a treatment for coughs. You may be able to decrease the risk of catching a virus by keeping juniper berries in the mouth while around others who are infected. Going back to ancient use there. Also, try chewing the berries when drinking unclean water. It can help purify the water. It may not get sick. Juniper needles can be added to bath water for a stimulating effect on rheumatism. Of cedar, which also includes arborvitae. Arborvitae is much used ornamentally, especially

Starting point is 00:36:43 in the mountains where I live. I have plenty of it in my yard. It makes wonderful wooden mallets. If you're a woodworker, arborvitae makes some of the very best mallets for using gouges and chisels and such as that. But cedar contains toxic volatile oils. It is used as a diaphoretic to promote sweating, an amenagogue to promote menstruation, and as an irritant poultice to stimulate healing from rheumatic pains. In other words, it's warming. It should not be used without medicinal supervision.

Starting point is 00:37:14 It is also an expectorant. So the cedar is not as safe to use as the juniper. And finally, we will get to the physician's desk reference for herbal medicine, which says juniper has been primarily noted for its anti-inflammatory, diuretic, and dyspeptic effects. Also means help settle stomach and stop the burping. Because of its ability to inhibit, this is an odd word, okay, this is a hard one to pronounce, cyclooxygenase, I think is the way it's pronounced, C-Y-C-L-O-O-X-Y-G-E-N-A-S-E. It is useful in inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. Juniper is also used to treat chronic urinary tract, bladder, and kidney infections,

Starting point is 00:38:00 as well as herpes and flu infections. The diuretic effect is probably due to the vial to oil terpene 4-OL. In addition, the drug works to lower blood pressure and may regulate hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia means high blood sugar, so that's very good to know, especially if you have a problem with diabetes and such. So that's very good to know, especially if you have a problem with diabetes and such. And in animal experience, a hypertensive and anti-exudate, I'm going to spell it.

Starting point is 00:38:36 I'm getting tongue tied. A-N-T-I-E-X-U-D-A-T-I-V-E. Effect was proved in vitro. And an antiviral effect was also demonstrated. So modern science is proving what herbal medicine has taught throughout centuries and millennia about juniper. That it has some antiviral properties some antiseptic properties some antibiotic properties some anti-inflammatory properties good for kidney and bladder stones good for the lungs good to help get rid of excess fluid good to get rid of various skin issues and you know we can go on and on truly one of our most useful medicinal plants

Starting point is 00:39:23 one of the very easiest to identify. And because it's used so often in landscaping, like the low-lying ground one especially, very easy to find, even in urban environments. Just make sure it's not getting, you know, toxic runoff from a parking lot where people have, you know, oil and antifreeze and such dripping from their vehicles and it's getting washed in there because you know that would not be good for you but um yeah i can walk out my door pretty much anywhere in north carolina or i know like in the like the next five states surrounding me and within about 10 5 10 minutes i'm going to find an eastern red seed or a Virginia juniper.

Starting point is 00:40:07 You know, they're real easy to find. And many, many more planted ornamentally all over the place. So, y'all, like I said, one of the absolute most useful of these herbs. Hope you enjoyed this one. Have a great week, 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.

Starting point is 00:40:33 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.

Starting point is 00:41:07 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.

The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Juniper

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