The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Medicinal Trees - Buckeye

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all, welcome to today's show. We're going to continue our discussion about the medicinal uses of various trees. This is all from my book, The, what is it, Look Up? Let me get to the full title. You know, I am awful at remembering the titles of my books. Let's see here. The Medicinal Trees of the American south mid-atlantic region full title is look up the medicinal trees of american south the mid-atlantic region and i titled it that of course because most people don't think of trees as herbs it really surprises people when you tell them that among the most useful and powerful herbs are

Starting point is 00:00:45 actually the trees that are all around them all the time easy to identify and you know people just you know kind of take them for granted but today we're going to talk about one that people really take for granted and it's the Buckeye Latin name Aesculus A-E-S-C-U-U-S. Now, I don't know about where y'all live, but I mean, I guess it's a pretty popular tree in Ohio. But in North Carolina, most people consider it sort of a nuisance tree, a weedy tree. I don't know why. They're very hard to kill. You can absolutely cut them down and they'll keep coming back and back and back.

Starting point is 00:01:25 And that's not a bad thing, actually. If you look up coppicing or pollarding, those are the ways people used to grow trees for firewood. And for, well, actually carving stuff like spindles for chairs and such, you know, all kinds of stuff. They would, there are certain trees, black locust is another one that's very good. Willow can be coppiced. I think elm, yeah, elm's good. There's probably a list of them somewhere. You can cut the trees down and you cut it down to, you know, a stump, essentially. And it'll put out, you know, from one to some of them even put out 12 little shoots of new trees coming from that one stump. You let them grow another couple of years and then you go back and you cut them for whatever you need and they grow back.

Starting point is 00:02:15 And you can manage a woodlot like that rather than clear cutting it, rather than having to continually plant new trees or go in and selectively take out a large tree. You can grow a great deal of fuel. I mean, really, England, I mean, they, their fuel for their fires for hundreds of years until they basically banned fireplaces, I guess in what, the 80s, was coppice trees. And those trees were used for fences. They were used for, oh, everything. Like I said, furniture making, basket weaving, fence making, wattles. That's a type of temporary fencing they would do for like, you know, pigs and such. they would do for like, you know, pigs and such. Yeah, I mean, super useful and something almost unknown to Americans. I mean, you know, I've known a lot of people in the forestry industry, and they really have no idea about coppicing or pollarding. It's really something that, I don't know, I guess when our ancestors came to America, we just had such abundant forest,

Starting point is 00:03:24 they didn't really have to think about managing the forest very much. In fact, what they call the cradle of American forestry is actually the Pisgah National Forest, where I live. It was essentially bought by the Vanderbilts to be managed for the timber they needed for their industries. That's why, you know, Biltmore's over in Asheville. The Vanderbilts loved the Appalachian Mountains. I think, well, I mean, that was certainly good. And now Pisgah's a national forest, and I take full advantage of it. So that's one of the few good things the Vanderbilts ever did.

Starting point is 00:04:00 They were also very influential, especially the wife, in championing the folk arts of the Appalachians. You know, the carpenters, the carvers, the potters, the John Campbell Folk School. There were a couple of them that were totally funded. Southern Highlands Craft Guild. I mean, you know, quilters, weavers, all that great stuff that, you know, traditional folks in Appalachia did, the stuff I grew up with, probably would have died out in the Industrial Revolution had it not been for the money at the Vanderbilt. So they did that. That's great.

Starting point is 00:04:38 Turns out they were also Satan worshipers. Yeah, Satanists, seriously. And I mean, really not, yeah. So I don't know. To me, there's a darkness about Asheville, North Carolina. There are a lot of witches over there, a lot of pagans and new age types. But apparently, you know, the Vanderbilts did have a huge influence in a lot of aspects over there. And I don't know. To me, there's a darkness about the town. Vanderbilt's did have a huge influence in a lot of aspects over there. And I don't know. To me, there's a darkness about the town.

Starting point is 00:05:12 There's just a negative feeling, not a good place to be. Now, I know other people love it. But I've been in and out there all, you know, all my life. And there are some very beautiful areas and some of the best restaurants in the entire country. But, you know, they call it the San Francisco of the South for a reason. You've got thousands of homeless people living on the streets, crapping on the sidewalk, using drugs in public, you know. And there's a, I don't know, there's a dark spirit to me. Again, that's just my personal opinion about Asheville, North Carolina.

Starting point is 00:05:44 And I've had some very good times there And I've had some very good times there. I've had some very good friends there. But when I think about the city of Asheville, I don't have a good feeling about it whatsoever. And I just wonder, was that the influence of the Vanderbilts with their Satan worship and such? And the various buildings they designed that seemed know seem to have some occult elements to the design of the of the buildings i don't know i don't know at all but anyway naturally gorgeous area buncombe county is one of the prettiest places on the face of the earth and as i said um you know some of the best restaurants, there's a guy over there that

Starting point is 00:06:27 weighs baskets that went to the University of Georgia, same school I went to, and he's great. Some of their, you know, galleries are really, really nice, but you know, sunset comes and like 10,000 hippies and witches take over the town and have a drum circle till all hours of the night, taking all kinds of hallucinogens and who knows what they're up to. If they're conjuring evil spirits, I have no idea. But definitely politically far to the left. Now, if you listen to the show and you live in Asheville and you think it's great, just understand, I grew up in Boone. I'm not putting Asheville down just because it's a liberal hippie town.

Starting point is 00:07:03 understand I grew up in Boone I'm not putting Nashville down just because it's a liberal hippie town to me there actually is something it just doesn't feel right about the place you know but again that's just me so now let's talk about the Aesculus the Buckeye you will probably be really surprised about this this tree 10 varieties of Buckeyes have been used medicinally. That's the California buckeye, the sweet buckeye, the Ohio buckeye, the horse chestnut, which is I think the one we mainly have in our area. Yeah, I think it's probably the most common. The Chinese horse chestnut, the Indian horse chestnut, the red buckeye, and the Japanese horse nut, and another one called a red horse nut, which is actually a hybrid, Aesculus excarnea, which means it was crossed with something else. You know, it's funny, again, in my area, people try to eradicate them. They don't want

Starting point is 00:08:01 them on their property, and here's someone who's actually breeding one in Japan. So, try to eradicate them. They don't want them on their property and here's someone who's actually breeding one in Japan. So of all the above, only three are native to my region. Aeschylus flava, which I didn't even mention, which is yellow buckeye, you know we do have a lot of those, and the red buckeye and the painted buckeye with one naturalized, that being the horse chestnut, which is really the one I see most often. That's actually Aeschylus hippocastum. But, you know, honestly, I say most often probably the yellow buckeye is at least as common, you know, in the mountains where I live. Like I said, they are remarkably tough trees. You will have a very hard time killing a buckeye.

Starting point is 00:08:47 remarkably tough trees, you will have a very hard time killing a buckeye. The way you actually do it is something I do not recommend you ever do to a tree unless you really want to kill this tree. And what it is, is you cut a, there's a word for it, you cut a circle of bark off of the trunk. You know, all the wood of the tree is essentially not, what do we say, it's, hmm, how do I put this? There's actually a word, and I am blanking on this, and I mean, I did okay in forestry classes. Phylum, gosh, I cannot remember. Anyway, most of the circulatory aspect of a tree, the capillary action of the tree, that actually brings water up from the roots into the tree and takes the sunlight, the energy down to the roots and makes the tree grow, happens in the layer of wood just underneath the bark. If you cut into that and circle you ring the tree

Starting point is 00:09:47 is what they call it. So you cut the bark off on all sides in a ring circle around the tree, the tree will die. That is the surest way to kill a tree. If you actually have to kill a tree that is the way to do it. Like I said if you just cut it off as a stump next next year it's going to grow right back. I mean, they're really tough trees. So, their fruit does look like a chestnut, but it's inedible for humans. That's why it's called a horse chestnut. They're great for firewood. Like I said, they're great to be coppiced. They're pretty good for carving, actually really good for carving. They're pretty good for carving, actually really good for carving.

Starting point is 00:10:25 You can make chairs out of them. Look at the old, you know, Windsor chair. You can absolutely make that out of a coppiced Buckeye. And, you know, that is extreme talent. I mean, yeah, I can make a ladder back. A Windsor is like, wow, okay. Or look up what they call Welsh stick chairs, same kind of thing. They were made from coppiced wood the Welsh were historically very poor they couldn't just take a whole tree and cut it down

Starting point is 00:10:50 and turn it into wood in fact that tree probably belonged to an English landowner you know so they could not by law cut the tree you know the Welsh have been very poorly treated by the English for hundreds of years. But they could take coppiced wood, and they made what was called stick chairs, and they're absolutely beautiful. They're incredible works of craftsmanship that you cannot buy in a store these days. You know, this is not pressed pine saw crap from China. saw crap from China. So useful parts of the buckeye are the peeled seed or the live inner bark that I was just explaining to you. The bark can be taken from pruned branches and it is very useful for poor circulation and what's

Starting point is 00:11:40 called a claudication or swelling of the ankles, also known as edema these days. You know, fluid retention of the ankles. It improves the charge of venous capillaries and veins. Blood rising from the legs is thick, and when you stand a lot, the fluid pools in the feet and ankles. That's what causes varicose veins. Essentially, that thick blood is hard to pump up. It stretches out the veins and makes the tissue boggy. Buckeye is good for venous congestion in the legs. Spidery veins can be used

Starting point is 00:12:19 topically and internally. Buckeye can be used as a tea with witch hazel or hyssop and is best combined with butcher's broom. Now, should those have a little toxicity? While you can use small amounts internally as a bath or a soak, it's really good. Caution should be used with any internal use of Buckeye. Very small amounts in tinctures may be used for spasmodic coughs or bronchial tightness. The infusion or tea, I would really just use it externally, even though it does have historic folk use, especially among the Cherokee and such, as a tea. But externally, Buckeye used for varicose veins, hemorrhoids, and arthritis is fantastic. It helps with circulation and it shrinks the tissue. So really, really good. Now, if you're going to use it internally,

Starting point is 00:13:13 there's actually a homeopathic remedy using Buckeye for varicose veins. That would be the way I'd go. Homeopathic remedies are not toxic. Essentially, the substance is so diluted that it's no longer toxic, but it still works. Buckeye or horse chestnut has been long used as an astringent and anti-inflammatory herb. It is analgesic and diuretic, so it actually reduces pain and gets rid of the extra fluid. It's hemostatic, means it's good for the liver, and vasoconstrictive, which means it tonifies and tightens the vein tissue. The root may be useful for chest pains. Going back to, let's see, Ms. Greave said the bark has a tonic, narcotic, and febrifuge property.

Starting point is 00:13:58 Now, what she means by narcotic is just it lowers heart rate and respiration. It has been used in intermittent fevers, that's usually malaria, given an infusion of one ounce to the pint. Okay, so when you make a tea of a tree, a woody thing, a root of any kind really, an infusion, as we say, we call it a decoction. And what that means is you put it in with say, I don't know, a quart, two quarts, half a gallon, whatever of water, say, I don't know, a quart, two quarts, half a gallon, whatever of water, and you boil it until it's reduced by half. That's a decoction. So one ounce of the herb was boiled down to make the decoction and then was given in a tablespoon full dose. So a very small amount. And even then, internal use is a little dangerous, but you know, if you learn to work with it, I work with a lot of dangerous herbs.

Starting point is 00:14:47 I take risks. You shouldn't, but I do. Using just a little bit at a time, not like drinking a whole cup of the stuff. As an external application to ulcers, this infusion has also been used with success. So again, using it topically. The fruits, that's the nuts, the buckeye fruit, have been employed in the treatment of rheumatism and neuralgia, and also in rectal complaints and for hemorrhoids. Again, tightens the tissue and helps actually as an analgesic effect.

Starting point is 00:15:20 It helps with the pain. Brother Aloysius, who I believe was Swiss, said horse chestnuts and flowers are used medicinally the fresh plucked flowers steeped in 75 alcohol are an excellent remedy for rheumatic pain the affected area should be rubbed twice a day twice daily with this tincture so he essentially made a liniment out of it chestnut powder carried in a linen bag over the heart is to be recommended for cramps. Now, you know, this is old folk medicine. Usually they're actually talking like angina, you know, like the chest pains that you get. They call them like cramps of the heart, essentially. Very finely powdered chestnut is an excellent snuff the powder is most efficaciously taken for

Starting point is 00:16:05 colic and cramps again you know I'm cautious about internal use and back then snuff was a powder taking up the nose and you know I tried that once with some tobacco snuff real dried out like, the way they used to do it in England, and that was remarkably unpleasant. So I don't think snorting powdered horse chestnuts is going to be a very good idea, to put it bluntly. There's a reason why our ancestors figured out it was a lot more pleasant to put tobacco in their mouth than up their nose. The dose is two to three pinches a day. Chestnut powder mixed with vinegar and barley meal cures hardened breasts and dissolves clotted milk that's in nursing mothers, I meant to say. The powder alone is an excellent remedy for headaches and eye complaints and should be sniffed up the nose. Again, probably not the most pleasant way to use

Starting point is 00:17:10 it or the safest way to use it. But Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, which is like my favorite American book about plants of all time. Not sure if I mentioned this one before on this show. I've talked about it a lot on my Southern Appalachian Herbs podcast. mentioned this one before on this show i've talked about a lot of my southern appalachian herbs podcast in the civil war the north blockaded the south and the south was not able to get anything it had relied on as an import they hired a french botanist to find medicinal or food or fabric or industrial uses you name it for every single native plant known in the American South. It is huge. And, of course, this is my backyard.

Starting point is 00:17:54 And so it's like the most valuable book to me. It's called Resources of the Southern Fields and Forest. He said of a buckeye, that was Aesch was a scula spavi I think it's a red Buckeye that he had found in Greenville South Carolina Fairfield and Charleston let's see North Carolina in the mountains it's all over the place yeah so he mean he found all over the place fruit the size of small lemon and a beautiful polished mahogany color externally they are pretty actually you know the nuts it contains a great deal of starch dr woodhouse

Starting point is 00:18:32 prepared half a pint from the nuts which retained its color for two years and is superior to the famous portland starch now we don't need to know about that that was about using as a dye it is said that washing from this is narcotic and poisonous. Dr. McDowell tried the powder of the rind and states that 10 grains were the equivalent of three of opium. So just putting that out there. Remember Ms. Greaves said it was narcotic? You know, in an emergency situation, maybe this is something we want to know about. A strong decoction is recommended as a lotion to gangrenous ulcers. So it can help with gangrene, so seriously infected sores.

Starting point is 00:19:17 A strong decoction of the root is said to relieve toothache when laid in the mouth. The fresh kernels macerated in water mixed with wheat flour into a paste and thrown into pools of standing water and intoxicate fish. Yes, it's an old Native American use as a fish poison, which is completely illegal now, but in a survival situation, it interferes with the fish ability to absorb oxygen through their gills. Many plants do that. Yucca root. Oh, so many, actually. It would be hard for me to list them all. And yeah, you can get a lot of fish that way in a survival situation, which is why it's illegal. He says they float to the surface and may be taken. But the buckeye actually doesn't seem to hurt them very much. He says they revived when placed in fresh water.

Starting point is 00:20:06 I am informed that large quantities were formerly caught this way in the swamps along the Santee River. That's where a lot of my family's from, so yeah, that's probably why I know of it so well. The roots are preferred even to soap for washing and whitening woolens, so they have saponin in them. Used in dyeing cottons etc found to be a color fixative in st john's berkeley county south carolina yeah a lot of family history there too uh let's see

Starting point is 00:20:39 king's american dispensatory 1898 This is when it was used as official medicine. It tells us, The agent influences the nervous and circulatory systems, having a selective affinity for the portal circulation. In overdoses, it affects the cerebrospinal system, dizziness, fixation of the eyes, impairment of the vision, vomiting, let's see, stupor. You really wouldn't want to mess with

Starting point is 00:21:06 this. This is why I really caution about it internally. I am not recommending it taken internally. The dried powder of the nut inhaled causes violent sneezing. Another reason I wouldn't want to put it up my nose. Oh, he said with the overdose, coma and finally death. So again, don't take it internally. Really good as a bath or a soak for varicose veins, hemorrhoids, etc., etc. Arthritis, but not internally in my opinion. The action of the buckeye is similar to but more powerful than the horse chestnut. That's a hippocastanum, which is native to europe it though some think it less powerful than the latter and affects upon portal circulation it probably acts more powerfully on the spine than upon the

Starting point is 00:21:53 sympathetic nerve the spinal than upon the sympathetic nerves we're getting really into the weeds here let me see if i can get just a specific indication and uses. Used for a sensation of grasping or constriction in the post-manubrial space or the suprastinal notch, cough of a spasmodic character, that's pretty common folk use, but with little expectoration. Asthma, yep, long use for asthma, but again again I don't think internally it's a good idea let's see tightness in the chest about the heart bronchial irritation and constriction sense of constriction tightness or uneasiness in the rectum accompanied with or not with hemorrhoids intestinal irritation constriction colicky pains near the umbilicus so yeah yeah, again, I don't really think you should use it in any way

Starting point is 00:22:47 internally. I think I've said that enough and we'll just take that for granted now. My friend Jolanta in Austria uses their native horse chestnut. She says, I use the seeds of horse chestnut. It is my home medicine, my laundry liquid, my dishwasher, and material for creative activities with children and grandchildren. As a home medicine, I make a tincture from the fresh horse chestnut seeds, filling one-third of a jar with chopped chestnut seeds and adding a high percentage of alcohol, keeping it tightly closed for at least two weeks and shaking it daily. I then strain the liquid and pour it into a dark bottle for storage and i use it for varicose veins my father and mother suffered from varicose veins so i'm so far i'm very lucky and i've had no

Starting point is 00:23:36 problem at all and i think it is thanks to the the tincture or to my habit to sit with legs up whenever I have a chance. She says that for her laundry detergent she uses the horse nest that she seeds and also the leaves of green ivy that's English ivy, Hedera species. And yeah, the saponins, they work pretty well. And let's see, Peterson Field Guy said, Ohio Buckeye, traditionally powdered nut in minute doses for spasmodic cough, asthma and tight chest, intestinal irritations, external tea or ointment used for rheumatism in piles, that's hemorrhoids. American Indians put the nuts in streams to superfy fish, etc., etc. The red buckeye, the hippocastonum, I believe is the right one.

Starting point is 00:24:44 The peeled roasted nuts of this tree brewed into a tea for diarrhea, prostate ailments, thought to increase blood circulation. In Europe, preparation of the seeds are believed to prevent thrombosis and used to treat varicose veins and hemorrhoids. Thought to help strengthen the weak veins and arteries, also used in gastritis and gastroenteritis. Leaf tea used for fevers. Flower tincture used for rheumatic joints. Bark tea is astringent. Also used in malaria, dysentery, externally for lupus and skin ulcers. Warning, they say of this one, the outer husks are poisonous, but all parts can be toxic,

Starting point is 00:25:26 obviously. Physician's desk reference for herbal medicine. This is actually what doctors look at to see if an herb is safe or not, or if it's contraindicated with medicine. It says that health risks or side effects following the proper administration of designated therapeutic doses are not recorded. So believe it or not, the physician's desk reference for herbal medicine says that there's, you know, they haven't found any evidence that it's dangerous, but it cautions that horse chestnut slash buckeye may interact negatively with persons taking warfarin, obviously, salicylates or other drugs with anticoagulant properties, blood thinners essentially, and that the intake of larger quantities of horse chestnut seeds in one case of a child who ate five seeds, that's a lot, can bring about vomiting, diarrhea, severe thirst, reddening of the face, enlargement of the pupils, vision and consciousness disorders. So, not sure why that kid would eat five buckeyes, but they did and apparently didn't die. So, you know, maybe the warnings are a bit overblown,

Starting point is 00:26:34 but, you know, I want to treat things with caution. So, that's it, y'all. That's it for this week. I'll talk to you next week. Have a good one. 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 00:26:55 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 00:27:27 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 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: Medicinal Trees - Buckeye

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