The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Oak

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. I hope everyone is as pleased with the election results as I am. I guess you know, a huge Trump supporter. We did okay on the federal level in North Carolina. Not real good on the state level. We've now got an incredibly liberal, you know, openly gay, radical for a governor. you know openly gay radical for a governor and lost most of the council state because the media did such an effective job of smearing Mark Roberts I was really hoping Mark Robinson would win and oh gosh damn Bishop and Hal Weatherman and everybody that was running but yeahnn absolutely stuck a knife in him and he is suing so you know hopefully he'll win a few

Starting point is 00:00:49 million dollars from cnn and come around and stop little josh stein uh next time but we'll see i mean that was that was a hit job and a half i mean he says what they said about him wasn't true. You'll have to make up your own mind. I like him. Frankly, he could have said what he said and had a conversion, a change of heart, but he says it wasn't true. Either way, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. I think he's pretty awesome, actually. But I am thrilled about Donald Trump. Absolutely thrilled about Donald Trump. And that we've taken the lead in the Senate. It looks like we're going to hold the House. Why does this matter?

Starting point is 00:01:30 Why does federal politics even matter? Well, as you know, we're still recovering from a hurricane up here in western North Carolina. And the government has not been giving us much help, regardless of what some people say. You know, this is the most Republican part of the state of North Carolina, and the Appalachians, I guess the five states that were affected, are basically the most conservative spot in the country. I mean, yeah, they might say Mississippi has a few more registered Republicans per capita, but, you know, these are Scots-Irott cyrus independent tough people for the most part now i'm not talking about ashland boone the hippie towns but you know for the most part

Starting point is 00:02:12 and the government doesn't care about us i told you last week we finally got a fema inspection uh they can't finally came back took another week came back and said i'm approved for like 2,500 bucks to fix my house i was sitting here with like $20,000 to $40,000 worth of damage and they're going to give me $2,500. Hey, I'm thrilled. That's great. That'll buy a lot of lumber, but I'm going to have to do all the work myself. They gave me a little more on what they call miscellaneous items.

Starting point is 00:02:41 When they turned the power back on, I had a power surge that blew the refrigerator and stuff like that. That's cool. I'm going to have to have a lot of plumbing work done and I may actually have to hire some help for that. I can do plumbing. I just don't know that I have time to do everything. I don't know if...

Starting point is 00:03:01 You know what I mean. I got to do it all myself. I got no brothers, no uncles, no nothing, nobody going to help me. And anybody that neighbor or something I could call on is tied up with their own damage. So we'll see how it goes. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to give it, I got 60 days to appeal. So I'm going to give it a couple of weeks and then have an appraisal and submit that appeal.

Starting point is 00:03:29 And God willing, the new administration will be in there. And Trump has said he's going to help the people of Western North Carolina. I think he cares about us a whole lot more than Biden ever did. So, yeah, it does matter who's in D.C. It matters a lot. So yeah, it does matter who's in D.C. It matters a lot. You got to remember, the federal government can legally take your money or control your life at the point of a gun.

Starting point is 00:03:58 That's what it always comes down to. You know, if Bob down the street comes and points a gun at you and says, give me all your money or do what I tell you to do. He's doing it by threat of force, right? The IRS, any regulatory agency, they do the same thing. Because at the end of the day, it's still threat of force. You will still, whether they do it legally through the court system or just come gun you down like they did at say old ruby ridge um boy was that a formative experience in my life i'll never forget i was a teenager when ruby riggs rich happened totally changed my outlook on life and politics in the united states

Starting point is 00:04:39 without a doubt without a doubt or you know don't forget what they did to my old friend, Popcorn Sutton, the famous moonshiner. I mean, the same cops who were buying moonshine from him just weeks earlier when he became a celebrity and made them look bad. The feds were like, why aren't you enforcing liquor laws in your county? They set him up with an illegal gun. It's my belief. It's what I've been told. Now, can I prove they set him up with an illegal gun and he did not purchase an illegal firearm without their knowledge? And then they caught him later.

Starting point is 00:05:19 No, I cannot prove that. But I can tell you what everybody in the community thinks. prove that but I can tell you what everybody in the community thinks and you know here's a guy up in years a chronic alcoholic I mean he was drinking probably a gallon a day for years the withdrawals alone would have killed him okay he didn't weigh more than 90 pounds he was a little crazy little guy good friend of mine and you know he shot himself rather than go to prison and he would not survive prison so um yeah it does actually matter who's in office and what the culture of the government is are they serving you or are they serving themselves or their superiors i think it's so ridiculous when uh people say that um say like the u.. Army will never turn on its own citizens. I'm sorry, did you forget about the Civil War? First of all, I mean, you know, it was a peaceful secession down in South

Starting point is 00:06:13 Carolina and then federal troops invaded and started burning down homes and raping women and slaughtering everybody in sight. Black, white, it didn't matter, okay I mean you know think about I mean sure maybe your buddy down the street who's enlisted you know I got a neighbor who's enlisted I don't think he's gonna turn on me but you know at the end of the day one they have families to feed they cannot refuse orders without losing their salaries and being court-martialed, being punished, being put in prison themselves, dishonorably discharged, losing their benefits. And two, they're really trained to follow orders.

Starting point is 00:06:59 I mean, one, it's a huge psychological barrier for them to just refuse orders and so doing they're turning against their their friends their brothers and sisters i guess that are in the service right um and that's rarely happens i mean within a group people rarely will turn on each other when they work together and serve together and have a loyalty to each other. Especially if it means like the guy who was your best buddy is now pointing a gun at you because you refused orders. But three, they have to provide for their families just like everybody else. And a lot of their benefits are tied to their service. And yeah, always remember what happened at Ruby Ridge. Always remember what happened with the Branch Davidians and all that.

Starting point is 00:07:52 Don't tell me that, I mean we see it all the time with local cops. Your local cop may be your buddy. He'll follow orders and put your butt in jail and if you resist, he's going to beat the crap out of you at best. And he not gonna hesitate that's his job that's what he's trained to do I mean I've seen some of the best cops do some of the worst stuff and it's not to slam cops I mean again some of my best friends are police officers and soldiers and all that you know but it is the culture and it is the way things are when um if they're looking at you know doing you a favor or putting food on their table

Starting point is 00:08:35 and paying for their family's medical bills and the roof over their head you know what human nature dictates yeah i mean in the civil war it was brother against brother i mean people in the same family cousins turned on each other never forget that never forget that but anyway let's get on with the show and today we are talking about one of the most useful and widespread of trees. This is probably second only to pine in availability and use and it's oak, Quercus. There are 69 varieties of oak with documentation, documented use in herbal medicine. 69, okay?

Starting point is 00:09:20 In basically every part of the world. In basically every culture. Native to my region, I'm not even going to try to list them all. I mean, there's a reason why my area is called the cradle of forestry in America. I mean, the symbol of the American South is the angel oak down in South Carolina, where the South seceded. I's a big old live oak tree it's actually only cover my book it's a beautiful and old tree but you know plenty of white oak I got a white oak down in my yard right now and busting my back trying to cut it up white oak is hard let me tell you why dick, if not the hardest, I think maybe almost second only to ironwood as far as hardness. Great for making tool handles. Now, sometimes you might want a little more spring in the handle.

Starting point is 00:10:13 Like certain axes, you know, you might want to have a little more flexibility. In that case, hickory is the perfect alternative. But white oak is just phenomenal for furniture for tool handles for such as that and I mean I started on a section of the tree you know I had to go kind of well just the way it was leaning I couldn't start at one end or the other I had to go kind of toward the middle and but where there wasn't too much pressure on it you know to cause the saw to bind and so I'm looking at I don't know a diameter or maybe a foot so not too big that's where i started cutting and i got my chainsaw and i and it's good and sharp and it's

Starting point is 00:10:50 good to go and i'm just sawing and sawing and sawing like 10 minutes later uh you know it's smoking there's a smoke coming up white oak is hard seriously but um yeah we got burr oak um swamp white oak spanish oak southern red oak georgia oak sand laurel oak that's that's a interesting one actually um blackjack oak that's that's want to see a lot around here chinkapin oak water oak um willow oak so many so so many actually but let's get into uses been documented in herbal medicine for thousands of years uh deus corides wrote in ancient greece that each part of the oak is astringent but the film that lies between the bark and the stock similar to that under the cup of an eighth corn is most therapeutic for the bowels and you may know that oak barking and especially the

Starting point is 00:11:45 galls actually where a wasp will make a little nest there or a wound that's been used for tanning leather for centuries it's one of the most tannic substances in nature he says a decoction of this is given for colic or intense intestinal complaints they don't mean like colic babies get basically they're really talking like cramping and diarrhea and such. Dysentery and to blood spitters. Pounded into small pieces, it is put in suppository for women troubled with excessive discharges of the womb. Acorns are also diuretic. He says, eaten as a meat, they can cause headache and are wind-inducing.

Starting point is 00:12:21 Well, think with acorns. The reason squirrels bury acorns in ground is to leach out those tannins we can take our acorns and shell them and put them in a cloth bag or a mesh bag and put them in a creek and that'll take the tannins out you can also put them in the toilet tank you know of your toilet and as the water back there is clean believe it or not and as you flush and flush it will soak those tannins out. And then they can be eaten like nuts or ground into flour to make bread or whatever. Of course, there's no gluten to them, so you usually want to mix them with a little all-purpose flour.

Starting point is 00:12:54 They're really quite tasty. And some acorns are what you call a noble acorn. They have fewer tannins, and they're usually larger. And you can just eat those raw, just right out of hand. And they're more like they have fewer tannins and they're usually larger and you can just eat those raw just right out of hand and they're very nice he talks about the oak galls and how that's those were you know really tannic you know they're being used to tan leather thousands of years ago he said with the acorns he says that a coction of them and their bark taken as a drink with cow's milk helps with poisoning i don't know how that is but he said it unripe ones pounded small and

Starting point is 00:13:33 placed as a poultice relieve inflammation with salted swine's grease they are good for malignant calluses and injurious ulcers um gosh so many many so many uses but you know that really astringent gall they used a lot for hemorrhoids prep prolapse uterus various discharges anything where you really needed to tighten and pull the inflammation swelling and excessive fluids out of the tissue. Can't beat the oak gall, really. 1500s England, Gerard said, The leaves, bark, and acorn cups and the acorns themselves do mightily bind and dry to the third degree, being somewhat cold. All that means is, again, astringent. The best of them saith Galen, his thin skin which is under the bark of the tree.

Starting point is 00:14:26 Acorns, if they be eaten, are hardly concocted. They yield no nourishments to a man's body. That's actually not true. They're actually quite nutritious. Good source of proteins and fats in a survival situation. But you do have to leach out those tannins. Or you could be dealing with another issue like chronic constipation. Swine fatted herewith by feeding hereon have their flesh hard and sound.

Starting point is 00:14:52 Very true. If you've got pigs and you can raise them under acorns, you'll have really nice pork. That's one of the best. Acorns provoke urine and are good against all venom and poison. So, okay, we're talking a diuretic effect. That's what he meant. It would help carry the toxins out through the fluid. But they are not of such a stopping quality or as binding as the leaves and bark.

Starting point is 00:15:19 Oak apples, which are the galls, he said, were good against fluxes and bloody lasks. Boiled in red wine. That would be very astringent. The decoction of oaks stayeth the women's diseases. He means excessive menstruation or vaginal discharge, essentially. And again, uterine prolapse. And he actually made a freckle tonic. The English were just obsessed with getting rid of freckles they didn't want anybody to think they

Starting point is 00:15:48 actually worked in the sunlight you know so yeah I have a cure of oak with white vinegar and sulfur and all that and it would bleach the skin. About 600, about 100 years later in the 1600s, Culpepper, Nicholas Culpepper, wrote about the inner bark of the tree again, and the skin that covers the acorn, said it was very useful to stay the splitting of blood, like from tuberculosis, and the bloody flux, so that's bloody diarrhea or anything like that.

Starting point is 00:16:24 Decoction of the bark and powder of the cups do stay vomiting suspicions of blood bleeding at the mouth or other fluxes of blood in men or women lasks also and nocturnal involuntary flux of men uh that actually means like wet dreams that was another thing they were kind of That actually means like wet dreams. That was another thing they were kind of obsessed with at the time. But, well, we may not worry too much about that now. It's also important to know that that's astringent. So do you also tone the bladder and urinary passages and can help with bedwetting as well. And incontinence, of course, you know, anything like that.

Starting point is 00:17:07 But do you remember it is diure, and he says it provokes urine. So, you know, you want to make sure you don't drink a bunch of water before you go to bed if you're trying to use it for that purpose. Let's see. He said the acorn powder taken in wine provokes urine and resists the poisons of venomous creatures. Again, still. of venomous creatures again still decoction the acorn and bark in milk would help the bladder and avoid and voids bloody urine interestingly he said distilled water of the oak buds before they break out into leaves is good used either inwardly or outwardly to assuage inflammation and to stop all manner of fluxes the same is good in pest pestilential and hot burning fevers

Starting point is 00:17:47 and resists the force of infection, allays heat, cools the heat of the liver, breaking the stone of the kidneys. It's good for bladder and kidney stones. Stays women's courses. Decoction of the leaves works to the same effect. Getting up to more modern use, we'll see what Ms. Greve was using it for in the 30s. She gives a lot of interesting history. There's tons of ancient British and,

Starting point is 00:18:13 of course, Irish folklore having to do with oak trees. I mean, you know, the Druids were just like crazy over oak, so there's tons of history. The oak was very important to the ancient Romans, but we don't need to get into all that folklore right now even though it really is fascinating if you're a plant geek it's always fun to see the ancient beliefs and cult customs and religious practices that used you know certain plants even if we don't put a store by them now but you know know in the romans it was considered a sacred tree dedicated to jupiter and and the druids also had religious uh ideas about it and it's just

Starting point is 00:18:55 because it's such a big strong tree i mean you know these things can grow like well like i said the angel oak uh down in near charleston that's that's like a 400 or 500 year, it may even be like a 700 year old tree. I mean, there are oaks that are just massive. I remember when I was at the University of Georgia, there's just giant oaks on North Campus, the old campus, all the buildings with the beautiful white columns where, you know, all the Confederate generals went to school and debated each other. generals went to school and debated each other and you know back when people actually took academics and debate and such uh really seriously and um one you know one year of storm actually knocked one down and this thing i mean this is like you know a three four hundred foot tall tree

Starting point is 00:19:38 i mean as big around as a king-size bed i mean it's just massive and when it fell on the ground i mean it ripped a hole out of there I mean everybody was just nobody could believe literally how huge this tree was once it was you know laying on the ground you saw the roots pulled up honestly just I mean I used you know I mean of course you see trees in the woods after a hurricane or something but this was one you know just a grass lawn so it just went pulled out of the ground and just left this massive hole and all kinds of things that have been buried there over the years you know like people do that you know whether it's a time capsule or a memento or

Starting point is 00:20:19 whatever you know UGA is the oldest land-grant University in the United States it's a been around since 1700s and I mean there's just all kinds of cool stuff. They found it. It's pretty cool But anyway and The I think I guess it was the English believe that being buried by a an oak tree was good And they actually had these oak trees throughout England, this was true in early America too, before church buildings were established. They would call them holy trees or gospel trees,

Starting point is 00:20:52 hallowed trees. It actually goes back to like a Druid pagan tradition, but they used it to spread Christianity in the British Isles by preaching the gospel, reading the Bible to the people under an oak tree because they already recognized that as a special place, essentially. But anyway, we'll get back to the medicinal uses and actions, as she puts it. The astringent effects of oak were well known to the ancients

Starting point is 00:21:22 by whom different parts of the tree were used. But it is the bark which is now employed in medicine it's actually slightly tonic and that means stimulating to the digestion i think in this case strongly astringent and antiseptic and i made that differentiation here because tonic can also mean tonifying the tissue but she said strongly astringent and slightly tonic. That's my interpretation of what she said. It has a strong astringent bitter taste, and its qualities are extracted both by water and spirit or alcohol. And the odor is slightly aromatic, and it is. I like the smell of oak. Like other astringents, it has been recommended in agus, it's fevers, and hemorrhages,

Starting point is 00:22:05 and is a good substitute for quinine and intermittent fever, especially when given with chamomile flowers. Yes, this is what people used before they had quinine. So, you know, I mean, we've all talked about quinine and hydroxychloroquine and all that for the past, what, four years now? In Europe, before quinine was discovered in Peru this is what they use they use oak bark with chamomile flowers since it's quite effective actually it's just not as strong but it's also a little easier on the system quinine can actually cause trembles and trembling and such it can kind of upset the stomach if you're taking too long in large doses.

Starting point is 00:22:46 She said it is useful in chronic diarrhea and dysentery, either alone or in conjunction with aromatics. Add coction made from one ounce of the bark and a quart of water, boiled down to a pint, and taken in wine glassful doses. And back then they had very small wine glasses. Don't think of like your, you know, your wife's favorite big wine glass.

Starting point is 00:23:04 You know, think of more like a little, those little cherry glasses. Don't think of like your wife's favorite big wine glass. Think of more like those little sherry glasses. There's a pair of teeths or there's actually a word for them, but those little fluted glasses that you take sherry or poured or something like that in. Externally, the decoction has been used advantageously, employed as a gargle in chronic sore throat with a relaxed uvula, swollen or relaxed uvula, and also as a fomentation. It is also serviceable as an injection for leucorrhea and has been applied locally to bleeding gums and piles, piles being chemroids. Irish herbal.

Starting point is 00:23:42 You would think John Kehoe would go on and on about the history of oak. He was the only Irishman without the gift of gab. I guess he never found the Blarney stone. He says only all parts of the oak have a binding nature and therefore are useful against diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhages, and all kinds of flows. The bark can be used in gargles for dropped uvula. The bark can be used in gargles for dropped uvula. Turning to the German tradition, Father Nape said, Are we then to use even the bark of oak as medicine?

Starting point is 00:24:15 Certainly, be it fresh from the tree or dried. Young bark of oak, boiled for about a half hour, gives a sanative decoction or cleansing. A small towel is dipped into it and tied as a bandage around the neck, such bandages give great health to people afflicted with thick throats and even with a wren on the throat if it has not yet grown too large and firm. The decoction operates as a most effective and harmless remedy. Complaints of the glands are removed just as thoroughly by these bandages. Whoever is troubled with prolapse of the rectum may often take sitting baths with a decoction of oak bark and also from time to time an enema or diluted decoction. The troublesome and often dangerous fistulas of the rectum are dissolved and healed by this decoction. Also, hard tumors,

Starting point is 00:25:06 if they are not inflamed, may be treated and dissolved in the same way. Tea made of oak bark operates like resin in a strengthening way on the inner vessels. In other words, the astringent quality again. His protege, Brother Aloysius, wrote, the acorns together with the bark and leaves are used medicinally. The acorns are gathered in autumn and burned and ground into a powder. So they made essentially a charcoal out of them. And when steeped in boiling water, they are used to make an acorn coffee. So, okay, not a charcoal.

Starting point is 00:25:38 He just roasted them. He said burned and ground into a powder, so I saw it the wrong way. They are highly recommended for scrofula and many indispositions which to stem from it such as diarrhea and abdominal swelling anemia and leucorrhea scrofula is a inflamed glands infected glands in the neck use one sugar spoon powdered acorn and a cup of water the bark can be removed from two or three year old branches and that's true. Whenever you harvest oak bark, unless you're actually cutting down the whole tree for firewood,

Starting point is 00:26:09 harvest the branches. Don't take the bark off the trunk. You can really, well, you can kill the tree. I mean, if you took too much or it can get diseased. It has no smell, but an astringent taste and is used externally in the form of compresses, baths, wash, syringes, gargles, etc. We said two teaspoons of powdered bark should be taken in syrup or honey to control heavy menstrual bleeding, blood spitting, and blood in stools. Also used in the form of compress for lupus or soft, rotten, ulcers, sores, etc. So that's very good to know. Excellent remedy for leukorrhea is for a handful the oak bark for

Starting point is 00:26:47 15 minutes and 4 cups of water strange this and use it with a syringe every evening one cup of oak bark daily for blood spitting heavy bleeding painful bleeding urinary incontinence chronic dysentery and excessive mucus still used very much in the german tradition got a whole entry in it in the herbs and weeds of father johann kunzel um jolana went to the austrian herbalist over with mentions that oak bark is one of the strongest anti-inflammatory and antiseptic kind of medicines um and it is it's really good also used it for sweaty feet yes you can take a foot bath with oak bark decoction if your feet sweat too much actually father Kunzel was a big proponent of sweaty feet he thought it

Starting point is 00:27:38 was very good for your sweat out toxins for your feet but if it gets too bad you could do that he would not approve though and oak bark for severe diarrhea I've actually done that before it does work just a little oak bark tea can really get you back to normal pretty quickly it's it's great actually and she mentions that the tannins of the oak leaves are really good in making pickles. You know, if you ever home ferment cucumber pickles, they can get soft and we all want a crunchy pickle. Well, the way to get around that, well, you can use a little plain kombucha, which is what I do, or you can put an oak leaf in the jar or a tea leaf, even a bay leaf, but that will give you more of the bay flavor. Oak is pretty neutral and it works really well you can use a grape leaf

Starting point is 00:28:26 just that the tannins just help keep the cucumbers crisp that's really nice uh yeah i do that a lot actually like i said i usually use plain kombucha but there's several we talked about japanese maple leaves different leaves you can put in with your pickles and they give them a little bit of a flavor uh they give them more crunch and also they can look really pretty in the jar if you you know have them on a shelf you know they're gonna look nice especially when the light hits them you know what I mean herbal remedies and remedies of the Lumbee Indians tells us that they used red oak says a handful of red oak bark was boiled until the water became a deep

Starting point is 00:29:04 red this wash was used by the water became a deep red. This wash was used by Lumbee healers to rub on the skin of people affected by poison oak. Again, that's the astringent property. It's going to pull out some of the inflammation, help with itching. It's also good for sunburn, by the way. Lumbee also used red oak externally to bathe as a bath in the treatment of chills and fevers. So at that time, they mean a hot bath. Tea made from red oak was used by many Lumbee healers to aid the system, especially after long fevers. The bark was also used as an astringent tonic and as an antiseptic.

Starting point is 00:29:39 Tea was also drank to serve as an emetic. A lot of it can make you throw up. He was also drank to serve as an emetic and treat indigestion, chronic dysentery, asthma, and debility of the system. Bark used externally was applied to sore chapped skin. And let's give a big shout out to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, 50,000 members strong, who endorsed Donald Trump for president twice in a row now. I love my Lumbee brothers and sisters, all the Locklears and Lowries and Hunts. You know, it's a city I grew up in.

Starting point is 00:30:15 I got friends and family all through the Lumbee tribe. They're wonderful people, wonderful people. Very much like mountain people, like hillbillies. You can either be your best friend or your worst enemy, you know. It just depends on how you interact with people and and uh who you who you cross or not resources of the southern fields and forest states black oak powerful and valuable astringent possessed of purgative properties in which respect it has an advantage not met with inquinine They both have been efficacious in leukorrhea, menorrhea, chronic hysteria, diarrhea, rheumatism,

Starting point is 00:30:52 pulmonary consumption, tonsillitis, asthma. Oak balls or galls produce powerful astringents that are employed in many cases requiring such remedies such as in diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhages of the skin. This is written in 1860s botanists employed by the Confederacy and dysentery killed more people than bullets and so the oak saved many many lives many many lives she said it says that uh let's see one doctor who is this Dr. Cullen? Oh, what's he talking about? It's tonic, constringing effect is a gargle and inflammation and prolapse of the uvula. And also used it with wonderful success in the cure of reducible hernias applied topically.

Starting point is 00:31:39 And to rotting sores or ulcers, another thing that soldiers died of a lot. Gangrene was, you know, pretty horrible and, yeah, pretty untreatable back then, especially in the field. You know, if you were near a city and could get to a hospital, they'd just go ahead and cut your leg off or your arm off. But if you're in the field, again, oak teas, used topically, probably saved a lot of lives. He said of white oak, the bark is official. That means it was the one actually prescribed in medicine by doctors and pharmacists. Used in similar cases of the above. Preferred in some because it doesn't act on the bowels.

Starting point is 00:32:24 White oak, you remember the black oak was listed as purgative. Apparently, it could actually be used as a laxative in certain dosages, whereas the white oak would not. He says the decoction used as an, employed an injection of leucorrhea and gonorrhea. It was also used a lot for gonorrhea, which was also very, very common among soldiers in the Civil War. The bark containing tannin, gallic acid, bitter extractive bark is official, but the young bark being preferable.

Starting point is 00:32:56 The white bark and delicate and finely lobed leaves served to distinguish it from other varieties of oak. Once you get to know a white oak, you can spot a white oak. My family actually lived in a community called White Oak, so I'm very familiar with white oak trees. King's American Dispensatory of 1898 tells us, oak bark is slightly tonic, powerfully astringent and antiseptic. It is used internally in chronic diseases, chronic mucus discharge, passive hemorrhages, and wherever an internal astringent is required.

Starting point is 00:33:32 It can be combined with lime water to induce sweating. However, it is generally used in a decoction as an external agent and is an excellent gargle for relaxed uvula, sore throat. Good stimulating astringent lotion for ulcers, especially with spongy granulation. And astringent injection for leukorrhea, prolapsus, hemorrhoids, etc. Ground bark made to a poultice is proved useful in gangrenous and mortified conditions. So it was actually official medicine in gangrene at the time. In sickly, debilitated children and severe diarrheas,

Starting point is 00:34:10 especially when the result of fevers, the decoction is given internally and used as a bath to the body and limbs two to three times a day and has been found very efficient. When given for diarrhea or dysentery, it should be combined with aromatics and sometimes with castor oil. So obviously you would be using as a laxative at that point. Probably not good for diarrhea or dysentery, but as a laxative, yeah. A bath is often advantageous with some cutaneous diseases.

Starting point is 00:34:39 The green bark of elder and white oak bruised together or in strong decoction forms a very useful and valuable application to abrasions specific indications and uses relax relaxation of mucous membranes with unhealthy discharge ulcerations and spongy spongy granulations it's a little difficult to say today so modern use plants for future um yeah day list i don't even know how many probably all 60 or whatever i said 100 different oaks i'm just going to look at white oak because they said that was official medicine you know in the dispensatories they said white oak was often used medicinally by several north american indian tribes who valued it especially for its antiseptic and astringent properties

Starting point is 00:35:25 and used it in the treatment of many complaints. It is little if at all used in modern herbalism. I disagree. I actually use it. It's one of my go-tos, actually. Pine and oak, those are my two trees that I run out and use if I need them. Pine usually stop bleeding

Starting point is 00:35:43 and oak to stop if there's actually severe diarrhea, which doesn't happen often. But when it does, if you've ever had it bad, the kind where, you know, the overly counter tablets don't work and the Pepto-Bismol doesn't work. And you're looking at either, you know, you've had it for like six or seven days and you're so weak, you're thinking, can I even make it to the doctor to get a prescription oak? Well, actually, I can't give official medical advice, but I can say in my experience, that happened to me one time, and it was really awful, really awful, and still don't know what caused it. Probably something I ate. You know, I'm an adventurous eater. But when maybe twice since it started to feel like that again ran and got some oak bark just fine just fine just made a tea of oak bark a decoction you know you just reduce put in water

Starting point is 00:36:32 boil it down reduce it by half and works as well as the prescription that i was given that one time 30 years ago or so and hopefully you will never have to experience anything like that again not pleasant says the bark is let's see where was it the inner bark contains six to eleven percent tannin it has a powerful antiseptic and astringent properties and also an expectorant and tonic the bark is boiled and the liquid drunk and the treatment of bleeding and in diarrhea, for piles, intermittent fevers, coughs and colds, consumption, asthma, loss of voice, etc. The bark has been chewed as a treatment for mouth sores. Externally, it is used as a wash for skin eruptions, burns, rashes, bruises, ulcers, and as a vaginal douche. It has also been used as a wash for muscular pains. The bark is best collected in the spring.

Starting point is 00:37:24 Any galls produced in the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of hemorrhages, chronic diarrhea, dysentery, etc. Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Central Medicinal Plants sells this of white oak. Astringent bark tea, inner bark tea, once used for chronic diarrhea, dysentery, chronic mucus discharge, bleeding, anal prolapse, piles, as a gargle for sore throats and a wash for skin eruptions, poison, IV rashes, burns, as a hemostatic, is a full cancer remedy, contains tannins, experimentally tannic acid, is antiviral, antiseptic, antitumor, and carcinogenic.

Starting point is 00:38:02 Warning, tannic acid is potentially toxic. If you had it in large amounts, it certainly could be. Botany in a Day states that the oaks are astringent due to their tan, and bark also contains quercin, a compound similar to salicin, like aspirin. So that explains why it was so good for muscle soreness. You've got an astringent bringing down swelling, and you've got the quercin, which is like aspirin, which is analgesic. The astringency is used internally for gum inflammation sore throat and diarrhea externally is used for first and second degree

Starting point is 00:38:30 burns yes it's very good for burns the tan let's see it's used for inflammation sore throats diarrhea we just said that tan and binds to proteins and amino acids sealing off burns from weeping wounds and also from bacterial infections the leaves can be chewed into a mash and used as a stringent poultice oak galls have a high tanning content as much as 60 to 70 percent in the galls we'll end up we'll just end here with a physician's desk reference verbal medicine this is what your doctor would be looking at. Indications and Usages, approved by Commission E. That's the commission in modern medicine that says what herbs do. Good for Cough, Bronchitis, Diarrhea, Inflammation of the Mouth, and Fairnex Inflammation of the Skin. Oak is used internally for nonspecific diarrhea.

Starting point is 00:39:23 In smaller doses, it is used as a stomach tonic. The drug is used extensively for inflammatory skin diseases and inflammation of the mouth and throat. In folk medicine, oak is used for the inflammation of genital and anal areas, separating eczema, hyperhidrosis, and as an adjuvant treatment in chill blinds, oak is also used in folk medicine internally for hemorrhage, hemorrhagic stools, non-menstrual uterine bleeding, hematopsis, and chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. External uses include hemorrhoidal bleeding, varicose veins, uterine bleeding, vaginal discharge, rashes, chronic itching,

Starting point is 00:40:05 scaling and separating eczema and eye inflammations. Oak galls. The astringent quality of the drug can be explained by the tannins that it contains. The dry exhibits analgesic, hypoglycemic, and sedative hypnotic efficacy. I've never noticed that. It could be because of the hypoglycemic properties, lowering blood sugar. But I have not noticed any sedative hypnotic efficacy. That means put you to sleep. That never happened for me. Unproven uses include treatments of inflammation of the skin and frostbite as an adjuvant in treating infectious

Starting point is 00:40:46 skin conditions. Oak gall is used externally for chilblains and gingivitis for which efficacy appears plausible but has not yet been sufficiently documented. All right that's that's going to wrap it up for oak. Certainly one of our most useful trees in terms of furniture and tools and all that great firewood I usually burn about equal parts oak to hickory when I make barbecue oak doesn't have a lot of flavor but it has nice coals and really that the secret in North Carolina barbecue which is very specific. It is only pork salted and cooked over live wood coals. Okay? It's not cooked over gas.

Starting point is 00:41:30 It's not cooked over electric. It doesn't have all kinds of weird rubs and sugar and all kinds of mess on it. Okay? The fat drips down on the live coals and burns. That is half of the flavor of the barbecue. You got the smoke from the wood and you got the smoke from the fat and that's the reason you can only make real north carolina barbecue in a barbecue pit over live coals any kind of offset smoke or anything like that does not give you the flavor

Starting point is 00:41:57 of real north carolina barbecue there's also no such thing as north carolina pulled pork i'm sorry i hate to bust that myth for you. That is a modern marketing term. The only time we pull pork in North Carolina is at a pig picking, where you go up to a whole cooked pig and grab a piece you want and tear it off in a chunk. There are no such thing as North Carolina style ribs. In North Carolina, the old joke is pigs don't have ribs. You either have meat pulled by hand off the bone and chopped with cleavers, which is fictitiously called pulled pork. It's not. You don't even have to pull it off by hand. You can just chop it off with a cleaver and then just start hacking on it, okay?

Starting point is 00:42:37 Or you have sliced pork. And my grandfather loved the sliced pork sandwiches. I do usually pork shoulders over oak and hickory. Sometimes I'll use cherry or apple or another fruit wood, but always oak and. So anyway, remember, if you find an oak tree that has good acorns that don't have to be, have the tannins leached out on them before eating, save those acorns, replant those acorns, before eating save those acorns replant those acorns that you may have a noble tree and you just definitely have a good source of survival food but those trees can be incredibly valuable people pay tens of thousands of dollars for like a bur oak white oaks actually one that falls in that category they usually have nice big acorns without a lot of tannin, but you have to try them from each tree If you find a good one, you've got a very valuable tree actually

Starting point is 00:43:29 You got just from a survival perspective, but people actually You know you need to stratify those acorns and you can grow them into seedlings You can sell those things for a lot of money if you can prove to somebody that you have good edible acorns Especially in England and Western Europe. They go nuts over them. It's really an underutilized resource here in the United States. So, yeah, remember that. Anyway, y'all, I encourage you to go to YouTube, look for a song called Trump Won, and you know it. You're going to get a real big kick out of that.

Starting point is 00:44:00 I know I did. There are two versions, one from last time where they're saying he really did win the election, and then one this time where they say he won it again. The first scene is him driving the garbage truck. So anyway, 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 00:44:32 The U.S. government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine, and there is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore, I'm really just a guy who studies herbs. I'm not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true. I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for. I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb has helped me. I cannot nor would I tell you to do the same.

Starting point is 00:44:55 If you use an herb anyone recommends, you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy, a sensitivity, an underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever. Thank you.

The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Oak

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