Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Ash

[00:00:00] Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. We are going to continue with our series on medicinal trees, the medicinal uses of trees I guess I should say. Most every tree has some kind

[00:00:10] of use of medicinal, actually not aware of really any that don't. I mean even like the U which is like the most poisonous of all the trees, it has some limited medicinal

[00:00:26] use. Well I'm not recommending you use it, like I said you will drop dead if you don't know what you're doing with you. But yeah I can't really think of any tree that doesn't have a medicinal use but we'll go ahead and get into today's. And it is

[00:00:40] ash, Latin name Frexinus, F-R-A-X-I-N-U-S. Now 17 varieties of ash, 17 varieties of ash have documented medicinal use. I didn't know there was actually more than one but apparently there is. There are actually four that grow in

[00:01:03] my region, white ash, Carolina ash, green ash and pumpkin ash. I'm going to have to take a lot better look at the ash trees and see what I've been missing. But there are a lot of them. There's red ash, there's a couple of Chinese

[00:01:19] varieties that have been naturalized. There's a Pennsylvania ash, you know well I mentioned the green ash that's also a Pennsylvania ash. There are two varieties of that. But anyway the bark of ash is astringent and that's pretty much

[00:01:37] something you're gonna find in most any tree. Okay when you have sore throat, diarrhea, anything you need an astringent for a wash for a rash or you know swellings. You are your tree barks are really the go-to. There's really not

[00:01:57] anything quite as useful and widespread as tree barks as an astringent. The taken as a decoction it has the effect of encouraging and increasing the menstrual flow and see that's actually unique to ash because most astringents

[00:02:15] will reduce it. So this is a good one to know. It's also good for the liver and stomach. It's a good bitternic for digestion and it's particularly good for stomach cramps. Soak in the infusion or tea of ash bark is good for cuts,

[00:02:28] scrapes, skin, and formations. Also useful for getting rid of lice. The inner bark is laxative. The leaves may be used as a poultice for sores and stings. Ash is also a property of reducing fever it's called a febriphuse. Oddly enough

[00:02:45] according to plants for future the seeds are thought to be aphrodisiac. I had no idea. Ash may also help with pain for urination and several women's issues according to folk use. See Hildegard von Bingen gave a very interesting

[00:03:02] entry on ash in her book Physica which are written around 1100 AD. So it's very old herbal. She said if anyone is troubled by the gitched, gitched in this case is cramp in the side. Now, gitched in old German comes from vergitched to get. I

[00:03:19] think I pronounced that right and it can be anything from arthritis to cramping to paralysis believe it or not. So it was a what we just called a diagnosis given for many many issues. But she said if anyone is troubled by the

[00:03:35] gitched in his side or other part of the body as if all his limbs were broken and bruised cook the leaves of ash tree and water. So this may even be for paralysis you know I mean just seems you know she's given just not a pain

[00:03:50] on the side but actual you know weakness of the limbs. She says cook the leaves of ash and water place a sick person nude in a linen cloth having poured off the water place the warm cooked leaves all around him particularly

[00:04:07] in the place where he is ailing. Do this often and he will be better. She says if you want to prepare beer from oats without hops cook it only with the grotes with as many ash leaves added the beer when drunk will purge the

[00:04:20] stomach and make the chest light and pleasant. So apparently the leaves of ash were used as a bittering agent before the use of hops in fact it was St. Hildegard who introduced hops into beer brewing as a bittering and

[00:04:34] preservative agent. In the English in the English tradition circa 1500s so Gerard said the fruit is like unto cod called of the apothecaries lingus avus birds tongue I have no idea what he means Cods okay he's obviously not

[00:04:55] talking about the fish but apparently in the apothecaries the pharmacies of England in 1500s it was known as birds tongue or sparrows tongue really odd but anyway of the uses he said the leaves embark of the ash tree are dry

[00:05:12] and moderately hot the seeds hot and dry in the second degree. The leaves of this tree are so great a virtue against serpents as that they dare not so much as touch the morning and evening shadows of the tree but shun them far off as

[00:05:27] Pliny reports now again could be just total superstition I have no idea but apparently even in 1500s England they believe that snakes did not like ash trees and wouldn't even go with the shadow of the tree fell yeah weird he's

[00:05:46] also said that Pliny said that a serpent being pinned in with the bowels of a tree would sooner run into a fire than go near the bowels of the ash well I think this bears investigation if people thought this for like from the time of

[00:06:03] Pliny the elder to the 1500s England we're talking over 2,000 years hey maybe there is something about the ash tree that snakes don't like I think we need experiments with that you know I don't have a poisonous snakes where I live up

[00:06:18] in the mountains come down the mountain we got plenty of copperheads and water moxins and rattlesnakes but not so many ash trees actually there are a lot more ash on the mountain so if you happen to have an ash tree and you happen to

[00:06:31] have maybe a pet snake or something right I wouldn't encourage you to I would ask you actually to experiment with this see if the snakes are repelled by ash and if so email me I think that would be really fascinating

[00:06:43] if we could actually prove that see he talks more about how snakes don't like ash really he believed they had a real strong aversion to it I don't know so then he goes on and says that the leaves embark or reported to stop the

[00:07:01] belly being boiled with water and vinegar they do stay vomiting if they be laid upon the stomach so just leaves boiled and water and vinegar put on the stomach he believed would help with vomiting and diarrhea the leaves

[00:07:16] embark of the ash tree boiled and wine and drunk do open the stoppings of the liver and spleen and do greatly comfort them and that is that's been proven that ash is a good bitter very very good for the liver and spleen three or

[00:07:28] four leaves of the ash tree taken in wine each morning from time to time do make those who are lean fat and keep with them feeding which do begin to wax that keep it them from feeding he means it would help skinny people gain weight and

[00:07:43] fat people lose weight the seeds of the ash tree provoke the urines with a diuretic increase the natural seed many he thought it increased its sperm and stir up bodily lust especially being powdered with nutmegs and drunk so

[00:08:00] again we're being told that somehow the seed of the ash tree is some kind of aphrodisiac he says combined with nutmeg I have no idea I'm a single guy I don't I have not had the opportunity to try that again if you have the opportunity

[00:08:18] to try it give it send me an email and tell me if you think the seeds of ash tree are an aphrodisiac I said the wood is profitable for many things and yeah it really is both as carvings but also Pliny said that the shavings of

[00:08:34] the pieces of wood being in basically infused in wine would actually be poisonous and I can't find any evidence for that but the why he said made of the ashes of the bark cureth the white scurff that's like psoriasis essentially and

[00:08:56] other roughness of the skin by a hundred years so later a cold pepper said that it is the young and tender tops with the leaves taken inwardly and some of them applied outwardly are singularly good against the biting at the viper adder or

[00:09:16] any other venous beast he thought it was a good cure for snake bites I don't know you know a lot of herbs really do help with snake bite so I'm not going

[00:09:24] to say it doesn't I just haven't had a chance to try it in fact you know you've probably heard of snake oil right snake oil is an oil that canacea it actually stimulates the production of hyaluronic acid and protects hyaluronic acid the

[00:09:40] venom of snakes breaks down hyaluronic acid so when people say all that herb you know that's just snake oil actually snake oil is a better cure for snake bite than just about anything in the modern pharmacy yeah and for

[00:09:53] bites of spiders such as black widow or brown recluse hobo spider and such as that they also have that necrotizing venom anyway he said that the water distilled there from being taken a small quantity every morning fasting is a singularly

[00:10:12] good medicine for those that are subject to drop see this edema water retention or to abate the greatness of those there are two gross or fat he thought it would help you lose weight the decoction of the leaves and white

[00:10:25] bar and the decoction of the leaves in white wine help us to break the stone and expel it and cure at the jaundice so good for kidney and bladder stones and jaundice good well we know it's good for the liver the ashes of the

[00:10:38] bark made into lee that means soaked in water essentially like you would make lie okay but we don't want to go that far if you've actually made lie it's gonna burn your skin so he's really just saying soaked in water but

[00:10:51] not as strong as lie are would help with psoriasis leprosy scabby heads etc the kernels within the husks prevail against stitches and pains in the side proceeding of wind or gas and void is the way the stone by Prado broken

[00:11:11] urine he says I can justly accept all this save only the first in other words he had used all these except the first that he mentioned and says that Bochard and Pliny had written about it so we don't need to get into that

[00:11:31] Miss Grieve getting up to more modern tradition 1930 says Ashbark has been employed as a bitter tonic and astringent and said to be valuable as an anti periodic so stop the menstrual flow on account of its astringency it

[00:11:46] has been used in decoction extensively in the treatment of intermittent fever and agu as a substitute for Peruvian bark now what does that mean for us today well we've just been through a pandemic where people were crazy to get quinine

[00:11:59] ashbark is a substitute for quinine or as they called it the Peruvian bark the decoction is odalis although the taste is fairly bitter it has been considered useful to remove obstructions of the liver and spleen and in rheumatism

[00:12:14] of an arthritic nature the leaf ashes of the bark was formerly used to curse Gabby and leprous heads we've been through that the leaves have a diuretic means you know removes excess fluids diaphoretic which means reduces fevers and purgative properties which means it'll clean you out and are

[00:12:32] employed in modern or medicine for their laxative action especially in the treatment of gouty and rheumatic complaints proving a substitute for senna but having a left griping effect so it's a good laxative distilled leaves taken every morning were considered good for dropsy and obesity as we've said

[00:12:51] the coxswain of the leaves and white wine has a reputation for dissolving stone and curing jaundice we've also mentioned that since the leaves should be gathered in June so hey that's next week so get ready to gather your ash leaves

[00:13:06] they should be well dried powdered and kept in well-corked bottles so sealed jars the keys or seed she said will keep year round of gathered ripe so she gets into a lot of really interesting war old superstitions

[00:13:25] especially for healing children such with ash and using ash to remove warts that was like an incantation basically so apparently this was especially especially good for warts caused by shrews that crept over one's body so I have

[00:13:43] never encountered a shrew if I do I hope it doesn't creep over my body if it gives me a wart I guess I'll do the incant as they said on Andy Griffith got to the incant to the ash tree I don't know I don't think we have

[00:13:56] shrews where I live thank goodness no we have some pretty unpleasant women but I think they actually means the animal alright so an Irish herbal states the leaves bark and tender buds of the ash tree open the liver provoke urine and are

[00:14:11] useful against dropsy the inward bark is given with success against fevers and the wood burnt into ashes cures scabs and ringworms so good cure for ringworm brother I'll wish us in the German folk medicine tradition said ash leaves

[00:14:25] are used medicinally the infusion is basically a tea of one half to two and a half per two cups boiling water taken two cups daily for gout or rheumatism it also acts as a purgative the decoction of the bark and young wood taken in two to

[00:14:45] three tablespoons added to two cups of wine is beneficial for blockages of liver and spleen going to America we see in resources at the southern fields and forests they mentioned the white red green blue and water ash I forgot about

[00:15:01] water ash yeah I do know that one is a different tree she said that they differ in fewer spectrum English ash so it could be used interchangeably and were used for every conceivable purpose from by the farmer woodturner

[00:15:15] cabinet maker will write in for firewood as I said ashes wonderful tree for wood good for firewood as well absolutely the bark of the tree is used for tanning calf skins or dying they could make green blue and black dies from the

[00:15:29] trunk for the bark of it the ashes of the tree are rich in potash and charcoal was made from it let's see if I can get into more medicinal uses but here again this is really interesting this is 1860s they said that in the

[00:15:51] countryside hunters and other people who travel in the woods would stuff their boots and shoes with white ash leaves as a preventative of the bite of the rattlesnake so again this is this is thousands of years later actually

[00:16:05] people said that rattlesnakes didn't want to go around ash leaves we've got to experiment on this and see about it that would I mean you know and gas preppers as people live in the country we presumably we go hunting and

[00:16:19] foraging and trapping and fishing a lot and if ash actually does repel snakes that would be really good to know I imagine there's someone can actually make a little cottage industry out of that don't you think snake repellents

[00:16:35] natural snake repellents I'd buy one alright so by 1898 Kings American dispensatory says under actions medicinal uses and dosage ashes tonic astringent tonic means steaming its appetite basically and extract of the black ash uses a plaster is very valuable in cutaneous diseases skin conditions

[00:16:58] the infusion may be used internally as a tonic and for all purposes where a combination of astringency with tonic influence is indicated the white ash is also cathartic and be found beneficial in some cases of constipation

[00:17:13] and also in drops of cool affections of sedema again and may be used in the form of a fusion in bitters the bark and white wine is said to be efficient in curing agu or enlarge fever and enlarge spleen etc etc and the seeds are said to prevent

[00:17:32] obesity Peterson Field Guide for medicinal plants tells us in modern use I'm going to go a couple modern sources now wider American ash American Indians use the inner bark tea is an emetic means it helps you throw up or

[00:17:47] strong laxative to remove bile from intestines as a tonic after childbirth and in that case it means tone of fine and to relieve stomach cramps fevers diuretic promote sweating uses a wash for sores itching lice snake bites again

[00:18:03] snake bites inner bark chewed as a poultice to source so you chew the inner bark and put on as a poultice seeds ought to be a peresiac botany adases active ashes stimulating diuretic diuretic and laxative drink a tea of

[00:18:19] the inner bark for depression or tiredness this is a new use depression or tiredness a strong tea is a laxative a tea of the bark is used to reduce fever and expel worms a tea of the leaves is used as a laxative and

[00:18:33] finally we'll go to the physician's desk reference for herbal medicine which says the main active principle is kumarin believe it or not kumarin we find it in well it's a smell of hay you know if you've ever smelled like spoil hay

[00:18:51] that has like a really vanilla scent to it that's kumarin and it can make animals very sick in humans it's generally considered safe it's not kuma din kuma din is a synthetic version of it but it does also have blood thinning

[00:19:07] properties so you never want to come combine an herb that contains kumarin with a prescription blood thinner that can be very dangerous so let's just you know put that as a caveat profession preparation operations of fresh ash

[00:19:23] bark showed an anal D G's a antioxidant anti-phlogistic action cyclo amp P phosphorous de-stir it I can't pronounce that but cyclo amp is inhibited in antioxidant radical trapping action effect was proven for scope polytine isofraxin and fraction so it's got some really good compounds

[00:19:46] preparations of ash leaf for use for arthritis gout bladder complaints as well as a laxative and diuretic in folk medicine ash leaf is used internally for fever rheumatism gout edema stones constipation stomach sensitive symptoms and worm infestation and for lower leg ulcers and wounds preparation of ash

[00:20:09] bark use for fevers and as a tonic health risks or side effects following proper administration of designated therapeutic dosages are not recorded see y'all I think I'm gonna wrap it up there

[00:20:23] ashes such a good tree to have I mean as a woodcarver it's one of my favorites it really is but and additional uses are really profound so if you don't have ash yet get some get going on your property

[00:20:35] learn to spot in the woods it's a really useful tree are y'all have a good one out on the next time the information this podcast is not intended to diagnose retreating disease or condition nothing I say or write has been evaluated or approved by the FDA

[00:20:51] I'm not a doctor US government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine and there is no governing body regulating her place therefore I'm really just a guy who studies herbs I'm not offering any advice only claim anything I write or say is accurate true

[00:21:07] I can tell you what it's been traditionally used for I can tell you my own experience if I believe in others help me I cannot know what I tell you to say if you use an herb anyone

[00:21:17] recommend you are treating yourself you take full responsibility for your health humans are individuals and no to identical what works for me may not work for you you may have an allergy sensitivity and underlying condition that no one else even shares in your new be careful health

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