The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Pine
Episode Date: September 26, 2024Today, I tell you about the medicinal uses of the ubiquitous Pine. This tree can save your life.The Spring Foraging Cook Book is available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRP63R5...4Or you can buy the eBook as a .pdf directly from the author (me), for $9.99:https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-spring-foraging-cookbook.htmlYou can read about the Medicinal Trees book here https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/06/paypal-safer-easier-way-to-pay-online.html or buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1005082936PS. New in the woodcraft Shop: Judson Carroll Woodcraft | SubstackRead about my new books:Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTHandConfirmation, an Autobiography of Faithhttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/confirmation-autobiography-of-faith.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNKVisit my Substack and sign up for my free newsletter: https://judsoncarroll.substack.com/Read about my new other books:Medicinal Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/11/medicinal-ferns-and-fern-allies.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMSZSJPSThe Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-omnivores-guide-to-home-cooking-for.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGKX37Q2Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6andGrowing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Elsehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/04/growing-your-survival-herb-garden-for.htmlhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4LYV9RThe Encyclopedia of Medicinal Bitter Herbs: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-encyclopedia-of-bitter-medicina.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5MYJ35RandChristian Medicine, History and Practice: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/01/christian-herbal-medicine-history-and.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09P7RNCTBHerbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture People: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/10/herbal-medicine-for-preppers.htmlAlso available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09HMWXL25Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/southern-appalachian-herbsBlog: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/Free Video Lessons: https://rumble.com/c/c-618325
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. We're continuing our series on the medicinal uses of trees and today, as promised, we will discuss pine.
Now, I don't know if this is true of everywhere in the United States, but pine is certainly the most abundant, the most plentiful species of tree.
where I live in the Carolinas. North Carolina is known as the land of the longleaf pine, although longleaf isn't really one we have that much of. A lot of it's been planted ornamentally. It is
native to the state, but you'll see a whole lot more loblolly than you will longleaf, at least
just about everywhere I know of, even in Pinehurst and such as that but there are actually 63 varieties
of pine that have documented use in herbal medicine so I'm pretty sure just
about wherever you are you can find a pine tree I don't care if it's a long
leaf pine or a pinyon pine or one of those crazy Swiss pines that takes like
you have to it has to be like 150 years old
before it starts bearing pine nuts. I mean, there are pines in the tropics, there are pines in the
mountains, there are pines on every continent that I know of. Pine is plentiful. There are
Siberian pines. I mean, there are actually pines, there are Korean nut pines they're Korean nut pines there are big cone pines and paper prickly whatever there are a lot of pines okay only eight
are native to my region shortleaf pine longleaf pine table mountain pine which
I've never encountered even though table Mountain is just like right down from my house.
I'll have to go out and look for that one.
That's Table, yeah, that's Table Mountain.
Yeah, absolutely, right down from my house.
I can almost see it from, like, if I go up to the ridge near my house, I can look right at it.
So, yeah, I'm going to have to go see if I can find that one.
Pitch Pine.
Pitch Pine was very important, along with the loblolly in early America because of the
tar they could make from cooking basically cooking down the sap and it was used to well the wood
itself was used to build ships but that tar was used to seal ships to keep them from leaking.
Very very important. Pond pine, eastern white pine, I got one of white pine I got one of those
actually I got several of those in my yard some of them are huge but I got one
I got to cut down soon loblolly pine which is probably the most plentiful
here Virginia pine and naturalized pines include the sand pine the slash pine the
maritime pine the red pine and the japanese black
pine which i'm pretty sure i've never seen at all i've never seen a red pine or a black pine
in north carolina but apparently they're here don't ask me um taught the nc state's
the extension office about that i've never seen them anyway um the virtues of pine are just amazing i
mean there would be no carolinas well probably virginia without pine trees i mean not only was
it used for lumber not only was it used to seal ships uh so much so that uh north carolina is a tar hill state because people were cooking
down pine tar for the the king of england's navy i mean it was and then for the uh the patriots
without these trees we would not be the united states of america um
dude there's turpentine turpentine is like the essential oil of pine, which is antiseptic and really good.
I recently taught a class entitled Four Ways Pine Can Save Your Life.
My points were, one, pine is among the most edible of trees.
Every part of the pine can be eaten.
Believe it or not, even the wood.
Of course, that would take a very desperate effort but it can actually be done now that you
would want to but if in a survival situation you can eat just well you can actually eat every piece
of a pine tree just a lot of it would take more time and effort than you want to put into it none
of it's going to be very good let's just you know I think we can admit that um pie and and pine needles are full of vitamin C by the way so pine
needle tea could help prevent scurvy if nothing else pine pitch can stop
bleeding and disinfect a wound I have used pine pitch so many times okay so
I'm a woodcarver right I often cut myself you know I'm carving spoons I'm carving various
things bowls and a gouge or a knife slips and I will slice myself open like crazy right I've got
huge scars it's not something you want to do it's something most woodcarvers say you know
whenever you're watching a woodcarving tutorial on youtube or reading an article they're
like take care so you don't cut yourself you know experienced wood carvers learn not to cut
themselves you're still going to cut yourself seriously and sometimes it's going to be pretty
serious and um i mean gosh i i mean i think i i have actually mentioned this on the show i know
i did back when we were doing herbal medicine for preppers my book herbal medicine for preppers
hamsters and permaculture people i talked about when I was moving a washing machine for my mother and the dolly kicked back and split my leg open.
Just starts gushing blood, right?
And, I mean, you could seriously bleed to death.
You've got to stop that bleeding.
Pine pitch, the hard crystallized sap of pine, you break it up, it's powdered, you drop it in there, it stops stops the bleeding it disinfects the wound it's fantastic it's it's my go-to it's the first thing i reach
for i mean yeah i might wash the wound or you know whatever but i'm going to put pine pitch on it asap
if i don't have pine pitch i'm going with cayenne pepper to stop bleeding those are the two very
best things and if i didn't have either of those um when i was in the woods i'd look for a dry
puffball mushroom you know puffball that you the woods I'd look for a dry puff
ball mushroom you know puff ball that you can squeeze and it sends up a little puff that looks
like smoke it's actually the spores those spores will stop bleeding but they will also turn the
wound black and if you were to like pass out from lack of blood or something the EMTs may cut your
arm off or something because they think you've got a terrible gangrenous infection so you got to be very careful with that but those are the three best and then we
have herbs like yarrow and such which are astringent will shrink those capillaries but I'm going with
pine pitch above and beyond and even if it was if I was in the woods before I'm looking around for a
puffball mushroom or something I'm going to grab my my little hatchet my camp axe and I'm looking around for a puffball mushroom or something, I'm going to grab my little hatchet, my camp axe,
and I'm going to put a wound in a pine tree.
You know, this is a survival situation.
I don't care if I kill the tree.
Sorry, but I don't.
And that fresh sap that comes out is sticky as crazy.
I mean, it's crazy sticky.
You know this, right?
It's not only going to be used to slow.
It's not as good as the dried pitch as far as stopping bleeding.
But you can actually use that pine sap keep applying keep applying it and it will astringe the tissue it
will stop the bleeding it will disinfect but the stickiness can be used to help close the wound
you know just like you might use um you know any kind of adhesive to help close the wound so it's
super important i mean i just want to emphasize that is
like one of the go-to right pine needle tea or wine can prevent a sore throat from becoming
life-threatening if the tissue gets boggy as they say it gets so swollen you can choke essentially
suffocate from a sore throat swollen tissue in your throat that can save your life it's also antiviral and can help break a fever it's
good uh antiseptic um pine needle tea or wine which i have made both and i think i gave those
instructions in that show so go back to that show and um it will maybe i'll get into it here i
probably have too much else to tell you though um pine needleal tear wine excellent i used it to combat covet wonderful stuff
inhaling the vapors from an immature male pollen cone now this is this is something i discovered
on my own and later found some documentation that other herbalists have found the same thing when i
was a kid you know you're talking like 10 years old or something when the the pine trees are just about to put out their pollen like
again I live in North Carolina there's a ton of pine trees right on some they'll
be like little green cones on other long purple cones yeah you pick one up the
act like you're smoking a cigarette because you're 10 years old you know
actually inhaling the vapors from that cone lowers blood pressure and
heart rate and can stop an asthma attack now I'm allergic to pine pollen but I
still use that trick to this day if I'm out in the woods I'm hiking and it's
that time of year my lungs are getting tight grab one of those little pine
pollen cones the male cone and just inhale the vapors from around it like
suck the air from around it essentially can stop an asthma attack so pine can literally save your life
it's been documented oh at least as far back as ancient Greeks the Ascorides
after describing it said it is good use with the sediment of wine and what they called manna.
And this is not like the manna of the desert that God gave the Israelites or anything like that or anything else you might call manna today.
This was more along the lines of frankincense or myrrh.
It was a resin that came from a tree.
So that combination was good for chafing, dermatitis, superficial and burn taken with miracle wax we talked about miracle the bay laurel
tree the wax of the bayberry brings boils well basically brings boils to
where they could be lanced and taken care of it would bring him up to a head
pounded in small places small pieces was good for
snakebite and kind of makes sense because most snakes aren't venomous and
but most snakes will bite you and with those that are non-venomous that bites
you can cause a terrible infection due to the bacteria in their mouths so the
antiseptic qualities of pine same reason pines using
pine salt would be used for this um it was good for expelling after birth uh taken as a drink
let's see um it would stop discharges of the intestine and encourage urine so good for diarrhea
and as a diuretic leaves pounded small pieces made into a poultice lessen inflammation and keep wounds from being inflamed.
Pounded into small pieces and boiled in vinegar, they lessen toothache.
It's actually the astringent quality.
Again, it kind of tightens up the gum.
It pulls out some of the swelling.
One teaspoon of the leaves.
It's the pine needles, actually, taken as a drink with water.
And honey is
good for liver disorders bark of the cones and leaves are split and throw
split needles you that would be very difficult I guess they have thicker
needles in Greece I don't know taken as a drink good for the same purpose
actually a piece of the heartwood of the tree cut into small pieces and boiled
into cocks of vinegar held to a tooth that suffers lessons toothaches yeah it's just gonna be a
stringent property again a paste is made from them suitable for preparations for
enemas and suppositories when they're burning a soot is taken good for making
writing ink so you could actually make ink out of pine soot.
Amazing, right?
And also good, put in medicine for the eyelids.
It would reduce the swelling of eyelids.
There are certain conditions that can cause your eyelids to swell.
Also good for erosions at the corners of the eyes.
Weeping eyes and bald eyelids.
I don't know what a bald eyelid is.
My eyelids don't have any hair on them that I'm aware of. But anyway, he went into a specific
with a pitch pine. He talks about fur along with pine. We discussed fur already. So we'll move on
to the 1500s England. Gerard said the kernels of these nuts so this is actually pine nuts which
unless you're now if you're in California you probably have pine nuts if you're in the in the
Rocky Mountains the stone pine and there's another native pine that grows there that bears pine nuts
wonderful I am very jealous of you we have no pines east of the Mississippi that grow pine nuts, and that is a shame because they are fantastic, actually.
You know, I'd rather have pine nuts than almonds, but, you know, what are you going to do?
Anyway, he said it would maketh rough parts smooth,
and it was a remedy against cough and long infirmities of the chest taken by itself with honey was good for congested and inflamed inflamed lungs he said that
pine would consume away the rottenness of the lungs and help one recover
strength it nourishes and is restorative to the body.
It yieldeth a thick and good juice which nourisheth much.
Yet it is not altogether easy of digestion,
and therefore it is mixed with preserves of boiled sugar.
Actually, important point.
That's very old-fashioned, of course, that language and everything.
Let's see.
I have family in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Pinehurst is the home of golf.
This is where all the famous golf courses and the U.S. Open was held.
It was not started for golf.
It was not started at all for golf.
In fact, it was nothing but a pine barren where basically nobody lived for most of the history of the United States
until doctors decided that pines were good for people with tuberculosis.
Just breathing the air around pine trees.
I don't know that's necessarily true, but the area was actually settled for the purpose of building sanitariums or hospitals here or there, I should say, for consumptive or tubercular patients.
And railroad lines were set up, bringing them in from all over the country
and then once they were there they had nothing to do there's nothing to do to this day in pinehurst
except uh play golf and spend way too much money on lousy foods at some of the worst restaurants
in north carolina i don't care what anybody says the food absolutely sucks um shop or maybe go to a play or something right
not exactly a fun place to be so they build a golf course and that's the home
of golf in America I don't have a lot of good things to say about Moore County in
general but that's why it all comes down to pine trees being good for the lungs.
So he goes on to say the same is good for stoning the kidney.
We said it was a tea of the needles is diuretic, and it is also good for bladder infections,
scalding urine, hot or burning urine, as he was saying,
allayeth the sharpness and mitigateth the pain, which is a good thing.
Interestingly, he said that it could provoke fleshly lust.
May sound kind of far-fetched and old-fashioned.
Actually, pine pollen increases testosterone in men.
So, and you actually have to eat it, or you could take it in a tea.
If you're not
allergic to pine it actually can increase your testosterone which would
provoke ith fleshly lusts the whole cone being applied with fresh whorehound I
have no idea how you take a pine cone and apply it with fresh whorehound I'm
gonna assume you boil it down and make a decoction of it. Because he says, afterwards boiled again with a little honey.
Okay, whatever.
Anyway, he said, maketh an excellent medicine for the cleansing of the chest and lungs.
And yes, it does.
He quotes Dioscorides.
We already talked about that.
He said, good for cough and consumption of the lungs, of course.
talked about that he said good for cough and consumption of the lungs of course um a decoction made from a green pine cone good to stop the laskin bloody flux
that is bloody diarrhea also provokes urine um getting up to more modern use uh miss grieve
1930 says that pine was expectorant means bringing some mucus out of the lungs,
demulsant or softening to tissues, diuretic, means gets rid of excess fluid,
as a useful remedy in coughs and colds, having a beneficial effect on the bladders and kidneys.
Absolutely true.
And she mentions, as I was just about to do, I would caution, that pine can irritate the kidneys with prolonged use in large amounts, same as juniper, which we've discussed, and spruce, and
and all that. In the Irish tradition, the bark, leaves, and cones, and again the leaves and the
needles, are of a dry and astringent nature, very true. They stop diarrhea and dysentery and provoke
urine, boiled in vinegar. The leaves alleviate toothache.
The kernels of the pine are, well, again, this is pine nuts.
The kernels of the pineapples are beneficial for the lungs, kidney, liver, and spleen.
I tell you, it's like, you know, almost everything grows where I live.
And it like galls me to no end that I can't grow a pine that will produce pine nuts.
Even if I did live in an area, it wouldn't be my lifetime.
I'd be growing them for my grandchildren.
And considering that I'm 47 and unmarried, yeah, that ain't likely to happen, is it?
I'd try everything I could to meet the right woman and get married,
but God never brought her into my life, so I have to accept that.
Anyway, pine nuts loosen phlegm and are good for consumptive cough.
You have to admit, it would be nice for me to have someone to leave all this knowledge
to, but I don't anyway.
Moving on, Father Nape of the German folk medicine tradition, we're talking about 1890s,
recommended a bath of pine.
He would use pine sprigs, like basically the tips of the branches with a fresh new growth of pine
needles. The sprigs, the fresher the better, small branches of and even very resinous pine cones,
all kind of pieces thrown into hot water, and boiled for half an hour.
The bath, too, and then added to a bath.
The bath, too, is of good effect against disease of the kidneys and bladder, but not so strong as the bath of oat straw.
It was all about baths.
That's what Father Nape is remembered for.
He was the bath guy.
Its chief effect is on the skin, which is brought to activity by it.
In other words, increases circulation.
It helps with many skin disorders.
It also helps soften the skin so much.
And the interior vessels, which it strengthens. This fragrant and strengthening bath is the proper bath for more aged people.
Helps tighten the tissue.
Helps with varicose veins.
Helps with hemorrhoids.
A lot of different things.
And actually very good for the skin brother aloysius his protoche wrote specifically of the
larch pine which uh larch or lark i don't know how to pronounce it he was from switzerland and that's
the one that grows there there's actually a specific fungus that grows on that specific tree
grows on that specific tree and that fungus I'm thinking is basically more like a oh what's that word I'm not a moss a lichen yes a lichen is very useful in curbing excessive perspiration
of consumptives that's people with tuberculosis if given evening, and has a purgative action.
So, also a laxative quality.
So, mid-1800s, United States resources, southern fields and forests, talks a great deal about pine, as anyone would if they live in the south.
We have a freaking lot of pine.
I am not kidding you.
south we have a freaking lot of pine i am not kidding you but he's one of the first people that says the odor of the tree contains a certain modification of ozone an allotropic condition of
oxygen according to faraday and are severally esteemed to modify the atmosphere and diminish the effects of malaria.
Okay, this is actually true.
Pine trees do put off a certain gas.
That's what was thought to be good for people with tuberculosis.
We also know it's disinfectant.
It was useful against malaria and certain other viruses.
Actually, in the 1980ss President Reagan said something about trees
producing carbon dioxide and were probably a bigger issue for the ozone layer than like cows
and cars. He was right and it's specifically pine trees and other evergreens. So this has been long
documented. Anyway he he just this writer i cannot remember portrait
with a portrait i can't remember his name um he was a french botanist said they create a mechanical
barrier to the ingress of malaria hence the pineland residences though condemned for their
sterile aspect such as the sand hills of north carolina i.e. Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Fayetteville,
places I consider to be just close to being hell on earth, especially Fayetteville and Lumberton and such as that,
though condemned for their sterile aspect have proved a blessing to Southern planters in need of comparative safe refuge
from the unhealthy emanations of their neighboring plantations. In other words, the pine would help
keep them from getting malaria. There is something to that, and it would help, again, with the
tuberculosis. I'm going to skip a lot of what else he says.
He talks a lot about how it can be used as wood,
and the pitch used, and the turpentine used.
But it was used at the time, 1860s,
very much for both human issues
and also for wounds and punctures in cattle,
covering broken horns,
given internally to horses as a remedy for cough,
and as a local remedy for scaly and disruptive diseases of the skin.
He talks about how the pitch could be used on posts to keep them from rotting in the ground.
I mean, he's got like a million uses, obviously, for pine, because, you know, obviously.
We had a lot of it as I keep saying let's get more modern look at the 1960s uh yule gibbons remember yule gibbons he used to do the
grape nuts commercials very cool guy um kind of a commie but other than that uh very cool guy
he wrote five excellent books on foraging. Anyway, he talked about white pine.
And in the mid-1960s, well, late 1960s, when he wrote this,
he said dried white pine bark is still a valuable ingredient in cough remedies.
Unfortunately, it's not anymore.
Almost everything you buy from a drugstore is synthetic.
But in the 1960s, it was still made from actual pine and when
I worked in the pharmacy as a kid they did compounding there in the pharmacy
and there were some plant extracts and syrups and the oil pine would have been
used in this exact same way essentially he's saying the dried pine bark but you
know similar properties.
He says it is an official drug in the U.S. pharmacopoeia,
so it was for the 60s,
the National Formulatory, and the U.S. Dispensatory.
Its medicinal properties are expectorant and direct.
It is most often prescribed in the title role of compound white pine syrup.
And, yes, that was still requested and available when i
worked as a in a pharmacy in the 90s not anymore as far as i know uh there were some really
interesting cough syrups and it's bad you know especially those are like cody of them and such
you know these those guys that did compounding could really get creative with them. Anyway, they had fun on the weekends.
Let's just put it that way.
Pine syrup, as a doctor would write it on your prescription,
a syrupy, P-I-N-I, pine albae compositus.
In other words, syrup of white pine compositus, composed, compounded.
Yeah.
This is a real herbal mixture and a good illustration of the fact that modern medicine does not disdain remedies if they are effective.
Well, they do now because everything's patented by drug companies and there's no money to be made in selling herbal remedies.
There's tons of money to be made in selling pills.
This compound contains not only the white pine bark but wild cherry we've discussed wild cherry
wild cherry suppresses cough it's antitussive spikenard poplar buds
you know spike is a good expectorant pop Poplar buds contain natural aspirin, salicin.
Bloodroot, which is not used, it's become a very rare plant.
It grows barely in the mountains, but it's in the same family as the poppy.
And so it has the antispasmodic properties of an opiate in small amounts.
It's the same reason you put
codeine in cough syrup and sassafras root bark which is now illegal to be
sold in the United States I guess it was the 80s when the federal government
decided that sassafras would be made illegal because some scientists gave
like the equivalent of 50,000 gallons of it a day as a strong tea to a mouse and a mouse got
cancer. The moral of that story is don't give sassafras tea to your mice or don't drink 50,000
gallons of it a day, but I think it's perfectly safe. You'll have to make your own decision.
And amaranth. Amaranth being, well, we have probably discussed amaranth herbs it's certainly
in my my foraging books my books on wild foods amaranth is a popular ornamental
in gardens you may have seen love lies bleeding that's a or one of those like
red dreadlocks or something is the seeds if you can get a ton of seeds off of it
it's very actually
useful grain that was very important to Native Americans. The leaves and, well, probably the
root too, but I'm thinking mostly the leaves in this case have a certain astringent quality,
sort of like dock or sorrel. And so they would help kind of reduce the swelling of the bronchioles. So very common sense cough syrup that would be illegal to sell now thanks to having sassafras in it.
now it's kind of gotten a little rare may not be may just be state to state but unfortunately uh while you'll give him his statement was true when he wrote stalking the healthful herbs in 1966
uh this is no longer available in your drugstore pharmacists rarely compound medicine these days
pharmaceutical industry has become super powerful and influential and
You know they used to be able to make just about everything in-house now everything's patented and made in China. Isn't that nice?
It's certainly chemicals dangerous chemicals have replaced what are now called crude drugs meaning
Plant-based Ridiculous just you know don't even get me started I guess I'm already
down that trail though I'm gonna pull up plants for the future says of loblolly pitch pine
prickle pine pond pine scrub pine shortleaf pine so about half of those we have in North Carolina
the turpentine obtained for the resin of all pine trees is antiseptic,
diuretic, rubifacient, that means reddens the skin, can bring up veins, can help with
sore joints. It's like putting a liniment on. And vermifuge. Vermifuge means it gets rid of
intestinal parasites. It is a valuable remedy used internally in the treatment of kidney and bladder
complaints and is also used internally as a rub and steam bath in the treatment of kidney and bladder complaints and is also used internally
as a rub and steam bath in the treatment of rheumatic affections. That means arthritis. It is
also very beneficial to the respiratory system and so is useful in treating diseases of the mucus
membranes and respiratory complaints such as coughs, colds, influenza, and tuberculosis.
Externally, it is very beneficial for a variety
of skin complaints, including wounds, sores, burns, boils, etc., and used in the form of
liniments and plasters, pulsuses, herbal steam baths, and inhalers. Now, we actually have a
longer entry on white pine because white pine is considered to be the strongest of the pine trees.
because white pine is considered to be the strongest of the pine trees.
You know, I'll find out.
Like I said, there's a white pine in my front yard that's got to go.
It's getting too tall and it might fall on the house, so I'm going to cut a white pine, well, if not this fall, next fall, and we'll see.
Usually we're going to harvest pine, though, in the spring.
You know, we want to get the bark with a lot of sap in it. So I guess I will try to harvest it next spring. So not when I usually
cut a tree, but maybe it'd be a good, good idea. Medicinal use of white pine. White pine was
employed medicinally by several native North American Indian tribes who valued it especially
for its antiseptic and vulnernery qualities. Vulnery means
wound healing. Using it extensively in the treatment of skin complaints, wounds, burns,
boils, etc. It is also very beneficial to the respiratory system and so was used in treating
coughs, colds, influenza, and so on. The turpentine obtained from the resin of all pine trees is
antiseptic, diuretic, rubefacient, and vermifuge.
It is a valuable remedy used internally in the treatment of kidney and bladder
complaints and is used both internally and as a rub and a steam bath in the
treatment of rheumatic or arthritic conditions.
It is also very beneficial to the respiratory system
it is useful in treating diseases of the mucous membranes and respiratory complaints such as
coughs colds influenza and tuberculosis externally is very beneficial for the variety of skin
complaints such as wounds sores burns boils etc is used in the form of liniments, plasters, poultices, herbal steam baths,
and inhalants. A poultice of the pitch is used to draw out toxins from boils and to reduce the pain.
The dried inner bark is demulcent or softening, diuretic and expectorant. An infusion was used
as a treatment for coughs and colds and is still an ingredient in commercial cough syrups
where it serves to promote the expulsion of phlegm.
Maybe the case in England.
I have not seen a single commercial cough syrup in which it is still used in the United
States and I did work in a pharmacy so, you know, but who knows.
Maybe someone's come up, there are these, you know, these new companies that come up
with natural this and natural that.
Maybe there it is.
That'd be cool if it is.
A poultice made for the pounded inner bark is used
to treat cuts sores and wounds the wetted inner bark can be used as a poultice on the chest and
treating strong colds the dried inner bark contains 10 percent tannin some mucilage oleoresin glycoside
and volatile oil a tea made from the young needles is used to treat sore throats is a very good source of vitamin c and is also effect and so is effective against scurvy and infusion of the young twigs has been
used in the treatment of kidney disorders and pulmonary complaints the powdered wood has been
used as a dressing on babies chafed skin sores and improperly healed navels wow so that would
definitely come in handy in a grid down situation
got a lot more information i'm probably not going to get into it a lot um stephen here
buehner gave a great uh recipe for a pine needle beer definitely if you want to look up his book
sacred healing herbal beers uh definitely worth looking at that's kind
of where I got my idea to do a pine needle wine let's see yeah I kind of
give you that just you know but other than that he doesn't give any uses we
haven't discussed before Peterson field Field Guide Central Medicinal Plants, shortleaf pine
says American Indians use the inner bark tea to induce vomiting and a tea of
the buds to expel worms. It also uses a laxative and tuberculosis and all that long leaf pine turpentine from the sap used for colic chronic diarrhea
worms to rest bleeding from two sockets so like if you'd had a tooth pulled it
would help stop the bleeding folk really for abnormal tumors white pine we have
covered very well botany a day says but additionally the pines are quite
resinous and aromatic tea is useful as expectorant but can irritate
the kidneys pine needles can cause abortion in cattle so don't let your
cows eat pine externally the resin has a disinfectant quality just like pine saw
the bark of some species contains powerful antioxidants. That is true.
You may remember the fad in the 90s and early 2000s of pycnogenol.
It was supposed to be the antioxidant compound that was going to save everybody from cancer.
Well, it didn't, but it is quite antioxidant and very good.
We'll just finish up here with a physician's desk reference for herbal medicine.
So this is what your doctor is going to look at, right?
Pine shoots. Now, this is just the shoots yeah you could probably walk
through any woods and collect as many of these as you want the springtime so
they're just you know it comes right up out of the ground approved by Commission
E that means still approved in in Western medicine for blood pressure
problems common cold cough and bronchitis fevers and colds
inflammation of the mouth and pharynx neuralgia tendency to infection pine shoots are used
internally for cataract congestion conditions of the upper lower respiratory tract externally
is used for mild muscular pain and neuralgia coughs and acute bronchitis
bronchial diseases and topically for nasal congestion and hoarseness
pine oil approved by commission e is used for the common cold cost bronchitis fevers and colds
inflammation of the mouth and pharynx neuralgias rheumatism tendency to infection essential oil
is used internally and externally for congestive diseases of the upper respiratory tract. Remember, don't use essential oils internally unless an expert tells you to.
And always cut them with a neutral oil because they will burn you.
It's true with pine.
Externally used for rheumatic and neuralgic complaints.
Turpentine oil, if you can still find it, it's wonderful stuff.
Approved by Commission E for cost bronchitis, inflammation of the mouth, and pharynx rheumatism.
Purified turpentine oil is used internally and externally for chronic diseases of the bronchi
with profuse secretions is used externally for rheumatic and neurologic ailments.
used externally for rheumatic and neuralgic ailments.
Unproven uses.
Folk medicine use includes bladder, cataract congestion, gallstones, and phosphorus poisoning.
So I hope you are never poisoned by phosphorus, but if you are, get yourself some turpentine.
I don't know how that works.
Never heard of that before. And that's the only source I have that mentions that, by the way.
But it is a physician's desk reference for herbal medicine. right y'all i'm going to wrap it up there
uh have a great week and i'll talk to you next time the information this podcast is not intended
to diagnose or treat any disease or condition nothing i say or write has been evaluated or
approved by the fda I'm not a doctor.
The U.S. government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine,
and there is no governing body regulating herbalists.
Therefore, I'm really just a guy who studies herbs.
I'm not offering any advice.
I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true.
I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for.
I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb has helped me.
I cannot nor would I tell you to do the same.
If you use an herb anyone recommends, you are treating yourself.
You take full responsibility for your health.
Humans are individuals and no two are identical.
What works for me may not work for you.
You may have an allergy, a sensitivity, an underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about.
Be careful with your health.
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.