Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Oregon Grape and Barberry

Hey, y'all, welcome to this week's show. First of all, I want to wish everyone a very happy Easter. I'm recording this on Good Friday. I hope you can spend time with family, friends, go to church, and you know, this is the holiest day of well, Sunday will be the holiest day of the year, and I hope you can spend it in a meaningful way, in a meaningful way. All right, let's get into the herb of the week, and it's actually gonna be two herbs. This is Oregon grape root and barbary. Now I mentioned last week that this would be, you know, very appropriate because the plant for this week is coming in a season, and yes it is Oregon grape berries will be well where I am right now, central North Carolina. They're like half ripe. They'll be ripe in another week or so, especially with the warm temps we're going to get. Oregon grape is like ubiquitous. I mean, it is so planted as a landscaping plant, and the birds scattered the seeds. Barberry it really is as well, and they're very closely relateab let's go ahead and get into this. One of the great benefits of using medicinal herbal bitters is that they're liver supportive. One of the primary herbs to stimulate action of the liver is let me try again. One of the primary herbs to stimulate action in liver deficiency is Oregon grape. The family to which Orgon grape belongs is the Berberidatier family, or barbary. The Barbary family has a long history of use in herbal bitters and herbal medicine in general. It's a lot more than just a bitter herb. I'm going to focus on Oregon grape mainly because that's the one I see most, but you may see a lot of barbary. They are absolutely interchangeable. They don't look anything alike, but they're both very well. The leaves of Oregon grape are very thorny, the stems of barbary are very thorny. You would not think they were the same plant at all, but there are actually two varieties in the same family, and they can be used interchangeably. So as the name indicates or in, grape originates America's specific Northwest, but it's really become a very popular ornamental hedge plant and it's widespread through North America now, and it's very popular in England, maritime areas of Europe, and in some areas it's actually considered an invasive weed because it does spread so easily it can. I mean, it puts out a ton of berries and the birds just scatter them everywhere. And it is an incredibly tough plant, incredibly tough plant. It roots deeply and the roots are very strong, and even if you break a root off, it'll grow right back. I mean, it's an amazing plant. I really like them, whereas a lot of people really don't, but I really like them. I actually eat the berries, even as bitter as they are, I've come to enjoy them. And you can make great jams, jellies and wines at them if you want to add a little sugar. And yeah. So it's a really underutilized as a foraging food source, but an excellent, excellent, This is one that could actually save your life. So you know, Oregon grape and barbary both grow pretty much everywhere in here. I have both in my yard. I can find them in the woods. I mean there's everywhere, and I do prefer the Oregon grape berries over the berries, but they're both okay. Now, the important thing about this plant is it contains berberine, and berberine is in well, let's see. I'll give you a description of berberin. It's an alkaloid found in many plants, most notably golden seal, barbery, oregon grape, and gold thread that's coptis. These plants have a long history of use for several health conditions. Clinical studies with isolated berberine have shown significant success in the treatment of acute diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, type two diabetes, high blood pressure, elevated blood lipids, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer. Believe it or not, That's Normal website pharmica dot com. Project Wellness. A Quick Guide to Berberan was the name of the article. Rodel's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs mentions that in ancient Egypt, a barbary syrup mixed with fennel seed was taken to prevent the plague. In Europe in the Middle Ages, medicines made from barbary were prescribed as antiseptics, purgatives, and tonic In North America, and it's prepared decoctions from the root and the bark can drank them to restore the body from general debility and to improve appetite. You may be familiar with Japanese barbary. That's one of the ones that used more ornamentally here in America. Was Chinese barbary. I cannot remember, but there are a couple of Asian varieties, and in traditional Chinese medicine, it's obviously considered bitter, but its barbary regulates chi that's sort of like the vital force in the body right and clears heat from several organs, including lung, liver, and gall bladder. It can also be used for several damp heat conditions, including dysentery, jaundice, and eczema, but it is not indicated specifically for dampness. There are about five hundred species, and Berber's vulgaris is the best known medicelli in TCM. It's trucial Chinese medicine. Only the dry crust from the roots and stems is used for medicinal properties, but other cultures also use the berries as medicine. The active substance of barbary has the following properties. Hemostatic that's good for the liver, diuretic, vasodilator, hypertensive, antibacterial, It kills bacteria and parasites, and is anti inflammatory. Diascorides wrote of barbary two thousand years ago. He said, taken in a drink or eaten, the fruit stops stomach outflows and the flows of women. That's minstrel issues. Theot brews small and applied draws out splinters and thorns. It is said that the root is able to cause abortion, so be careful with that. And it does have what we call vermifuge properties. Anything that can expel and ten worms kill intestinal parasites can definitely cause a miscarriage, So you don't want to use when pregnant. Let's see, Brother Aloish just wrote of barbary in German folk medicine. He said, European barbary, that's Berber's vulgaris used for liver and spleen, dropsy, jahn dys scurvy, fevers, and to ensure good bowel movements. Now, oddly enough, I mean, even though widely used plant and widely known, you don't find a lot of mention of it in the older British urbls miss Grieve did write of it in the nineteen thirties. She said, well, she gives them some history. There was a rust of blight that had hit them, and that maybe why they fell out of use in England for a while. But she says, barbary used to be cultivated for the sake of the fruit, which was pickled and used for garnishing dishes. I think it's a great idea. I've never even thought of pickling them, she said. The ripe berries can be made into an agreeable fresh and jelly by boiling them with an equal way to find sugar to a proper consistency, and then straining it. They were formally used as a sweetmeat and in sugar plums and comfets. It is from these berries that the delicious con features deadpan venit I don't know for which ruin is famous, are commonly prepared. My French isn't that good, even though I'm half French, I'm never you know, I can read it, but I have trouble speaking it. I don't know the roots boiled in, and that's interesting, I think. Okay, okay, if you didn't have a really good French teacher, you had to learn a lot from the books, right, So that's probably how I learned to read French but not speak French because I didn't have a very good French teacher or Spanish really and I'm horrible at both. But I can pretty much kind of read French pretty well, much better than Spanish. It was interesting, you know, X's Twitter whatever you want to call it, recently come up with a way to auto translate posts into your native language. So it was this big thing over the weekend. All these Japanese folks were on there getting in touch with Americans to talk about barbecue. And you know, I cannot resist talking about barbecue. I mean, it's been a tradition of my family for over three hundred years in North Carolina. I'm very opinionated on barbecue. And I talked barbecue, and I actually I did some instructional videos on YouTube of making traditional North Carolina barbecue, even with like really limited resources. I turned a little weber real and old tire rim into a very small barbecue cooker and showed how you can actually do it the right way, traditional way. If even that's all you have, of course, you can dig a pit, I mean, but anyway, if you want to check that out on YouTube. Just go to my channel and search for barbecue and pop right up. But it was really interesting that the Japanese folks I was talking with, they said, people are starting to ask, well, this sounds great, I want to travel to Japan. Well, I'd love to travel Japan, but I'm not going to get a real ID, which means I'll never get on an airplane again. And I guess I won't be traveling to Japan unless I get a big boat, and I might some day. I wouldn't mind a cabin cruiser. And I would really be cautious about crossing the Pacific, I mean so seriously, like from say the California coast to Japan. That would kind of freak me out, all that open water. But you know, you could go up to Alaska and kind of come around by China and down. I don't know how safe that would be, Russia and China and all that, but that would be an option. But I'll probably never go to Japan. The point is people said that if you visit Japan and you don't speak Japanese, most Japanese do not speak English, but they can read English. So bring your phone or a pen and paper, a notepad, and if you write something down, somebody is more than likely going to be able to read it and then write the answer for you. And I thought that's really cool. You know, I hadn't thought about that, but I could almost do that with French. Anyway, She said, the roots boiled in Lye would die wool yellow, and in Poland they dye leather of beautiful yellow color with the root of the bark. The inner bark and stems will also dye linen a fine yellow with the assistance of altments. See that's because berberin is yellow. It's a yellow pigment. Let's how you know you've got a plant that has berberon in the roots. She goes into some more you know stuff, and I'm gonna get into medicinal uses, and interestingly, she said, I mean for Easters and other reason. It's very relevant. She said that among the Italians, Barbary bears the name Holy Thorn because it's thought to have formed part of the crown of thorns made for our Savior. And there's two plants that could have been used, and according to legend, one says it was Barbary and the other says it was hawthorn, So it could have been a combination of both. Who knows, you know, languages change, plants are named misnamed different things in different cultures. So anyway, at least among Italians, they thought it was the Barbary so constituents. The chief constituent of Barbery is Berbering, a yellow crystalline bitter alkaloid, one of the few that occurs in plants flowing to several different natural orders. She just says it contains oxycanthene or alkaloidal manner, a little tan, et cetera. Some medicinal uses, tonic, purgative, antiseptic. Now tonic you're talking for the digestive system. Purgative means it's got some lax of properties, and of course antiseptic. And when I say this plant could save your life if you're out in the woods and you get cut or punpunctual women, a deep punctual wind can become a really big deal. I mean, it can get infected very quickly, especially if you know you fell on a dirty stick or something. You know what I mean. Find an Oregon grape plant, find or carry some with you and make a strong tea of that and uses soak wash, and you're probably not going to get an infection. It's really pretty remarkable and it has some stringite properties which can help slow bleeding with a puncture when of course you would want to take cloth soakudd it and apply pressure and you know it could save your life. I'm just gonna put it that way. And also the greatest of mouthwasher eye wash. You know, if you've got something in your eye you get to injure eye or an eye infection in the woods, that can get pretty serious pretty quickly. You don't want to lose your sight. If you've got oregon grape or any other plant that contains berberine and you can make a strong tea with that and use it as an eye wash and a compress, you're gonna be a lot better off than if you didn't have it, so, she says. As a ataseptic, it is used in the form of a liquid extract, given as a decoction, infusion, or tincture. But generally a salt of the alkaloid berberine is preferred, and that's what was used in the pharmacies at the time. If you can find alkaloid of burber as a salt, get it keep it in your first aid kit. I honestly don't know where you would buy it, but you can certainly find organ grape. It's like everywhere. As a bitter stematic tonic, it proved proves an excellent remedy for dyspepsia that's ingestion essential and functional derangement of the liver, regulating the digestive powers, and if given in larger doses, acting as a mild purgative and removing constipation. It is used in all cases of jaundice, general debility, and bilessness, and for diarrhea. It possesses febrifuge powers and used as a remedy for intermittent fevers. It also forms an excellent gargle for sore mouth, and that's why we really don't use golden seal much anymore. In early America, it was one of the most popular remedies fall. I mean, people have malarial fevers and such, and it's good for fever. People had digestive issues from bad water and bad food, and it's a go to. It helps with infections and all kinds of stuff like that. So golden seal was really over harvested and almost to the point of being endangered at points. So response wle herbalists still do not gather golden seal from the woods. You can grow in your garden strictly Medicinal Herbs has it, and you can order it grow it in your garden. Absolutely, But I'm just saying, as long as Oregon grape is like everywhere, literally, if you if you start spotting it, if you learn to identify it, you're gonna find it all over the place, there's really no need to use golden seal. Copptis is a small flower that's gold thread and you could grow it in the garden too. It's a pretty little flower, but it's you know, a little in fiddly. I mean, why wuldn't you just pull up a big root of golden seal, I mean colden seal obviously Oregon grape. I mean you can literally like back your truck up to a bush, hook a chain around it, rip it out of the ground, and take it home. Nobody's gonna mind, and I mean don't and private property ask permission. But you know, you know what I'm saying. People you know, generally have more organ grape in their yard than they want. So take it home and you're gonna have enough root for life, and it's incredible. And then Bourberon's really throughout the stems and the bark of the whole plant. I mean, there's just tons of useful medicinal material in one organ grape bush. It's that's another reason it's one of my favorites. It's just like, well, let's see what have I got to deal with? Okay, constipation, diarrhea, fever, colds, infection, appetite. Maybe had a little too good a time around Christmas in New Year, and I need a little livertonic. You know, organ grape run get it and it's always right there and it's amazing. And I love the Like I said, I love the berries. I'm really looking forward to them getting ripe, and I'm just gonna go out with a bucket and probably harvest a couple of gallons of them. And I don't know, we may try to make some orgon grape wine this time, or some jelly or just eat them. And what I do is I save the seeds, dry them and let them cold stratify every winter and next spring just go plant some more Oregon grape where it's gonna be convenient for me and such a really great I mean from a prepper's perspective, we're always looking at, you know, kind of hardening our home environment against invasion or theft or whatever. We don't want anybody coming on our property without permission. Obviously, Oregon grape makes an excellent hedge, and nobody's getting through it, and nobody's getting through it. You can plant them tight together. They grow in a tight hedge thorny, and they can get you know, fairly tall and the great to plow around windows and such where you know you want somebody lurking. Just of a wonderful many many uses. Anyway, she says a good lotion for application to cutaneous eruptions has been made from it that skin issues rashes. Essentially, the berries contain citric and malic acid and possess the stringent and anti scorre buttic properties. That means they have vitamin C that means so good for scurry. That's what anti scorbutic means. They are useful and inflammatory fevers, especially typhus, also in bills disorders and scurvy, and in the form of a jelly, are very refreshing and irritable. Sore throat for which also a syrup of barbary made with water proofs an excellent string at gargle. The Egyptians are said still to employ a diluted juice of the berries and pestilential fevers, and Simon Paul relates that he was cured of a malignant fever by drinking an infusion of the berries, sweetened with sugar and the syrup of roses. She also gives us a few recipes. Black beer, no barbery drops. It's a candy, you know, pretty much figure that out if you you know. Check out my book. Check out her book. It's a modern herbal by Maud Greave, written in nineteen thirties. It's the whole things available online, so if you want to, and it's probably also on The recipes are probably on my website too. BlackBerry, I mean, I keep saying BlackBerry when I mean barbary. Barbary. Tartlets now that I would like. I like tartlets. I'm not a big sweets person. I love pies. I love tarts. Tartlets are fantastic, you know, just got to learn to make that, pai do, But tartlets are a little easier. Well, she's got several really good comfets and jams and nice recipes. You know, we'll get into that another time. But like I said, you can get that online, so no problem. Uh. Cleverly Farm herbal Encyclopedia tells us that Oregon grape found use among Native Americans and early settlers. Says Native Americans used to cockture the bitter tasting root for appetite loss and ability. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Oregon grape was prescribed as a detoxifier and tonic. There was an important herb in the physiometicalist movement, who based their therapies on a combination of Orthodox and Native American properties, practices I should have said called the Oregon grape. In North America, barbaries were introduced to the US by Europeans and used exclusively extensively by Native Americans, who ate the berries raw and made them into a jam as well as a medicine. The root was used raw or boiled as of flavoring and stew. The wood and bark made a yellow dye or the Catawba used the herb for peptic ulcers. The Blackfeet peeled the root, dried it and made an infusion to stop rectal hemorrhage and dysentery. By adding fennel seed, the bitterness was made a little more palatable. That's interesting. Barbary often grows naturally alongside other plants called pipsisila, and that's yeah, what it does in the mountains. Both plants were used in combination to treat any acute or chronic illness. Barbary came into common use when Park Davis and Company offered the product for sale to physicians in the late nineteen hundreds. The late nineteen hundreds, I don't think something that's l like eighteen hundreds. Yeah, as a treatment for such infectious diseases as typhoid and early stage tuberculosis. In the Southwest, Spanish colonials found a variety of it called Pollo almarillo or Fremont's barbary Mahonia from Monty. It looks more like a holly tree with blueberries rather than red. Native Americans used it for tuberculotisis, rheumatism, and jaundice. Considered a cooling plant, it was used also to treat such things as fevers, hepatitis, and malaria, and Upstate New York colonists found another variety, the Canadian barbary Barbarous canadensis, which was used like other barbaries. Indeed, both of these plants were including an official medicine around nineteen hundred. King's Medical Dispensatory eighteen ninety eight, States of Oregon grape. That's a barbarous aquafolium history as well. We don't have to get the history. And they say it is native to the United States from Oregon, and I think that's true. At Cloverlyse Farm said it was introduced. I don't believe that is the case. Barbary was introduced, but Oregon grape is native, says Mahonia. Well, let's see, let me get the missile uses. They're still given the description of the plant, which, of course you can just pull it up online if you don't know what it looks like. There's six species that they knew over the time that could be used interchangeably. Yeah, well, eighteen ninety eight he actually talks about that Park Davison company preparation that was used by pharmacists and doctors. So yeah, that was they had the wrong date there in cloverly Farm. Well talked about berberin hmm, yes, it's bitter. I'm trying to get two medicinal uses. There we go action medicinal uses in DOSA. This agent has justly been extolled as an alternative and as an alternative that means brings you gradually back up to health and tonic, and has been recommended in syphilitic affections, rheumatism, psoriasis, and other cutaneous affections, as well as inn maladies supposed to be due to some malcondition of the blood. Excretion and secretion are promoted by it. Digestion and assimilation improved, the lymphatic glandular system and the Duckliss glands are stimulated, and the renal secretion somewhat augmented. It thus acts as a blood maker and is therefore a remedy to oppose depraved conditions of bodily fluids. As a tonic, it may be employed as a synonym of adrastis says you're saying you can use it like golden seal, possessing in addition to its own peculiar virtues and dyspeptic conditions, chronic mucous maladies, and in certain in feebled conditions of the system et cetera. Owing to its invigorating power over the gastric functions, it is a valuable remedy for atonic dyspepsia and more particularly if associated with hepatic torpor. Right, it's a weak liver, for which is also an excellent remedy in a serotic liver associated with gastroenteritis. It has been has benefited by it and for chronic constipation. Is a useful agent when combined with cascara segrata. That's just a laxi verb. It is said to be effectual in stomatitis. The great field for Berberus is aquifolium. Okay, it's basically saying it's good for syphilis. Yeah, yep, yep, yep. I'm just going to skip ahead on that. They got a lot of uh, you know, pharmacy pharmaceutical journal entries on how it was used for syphilis, Good for pullm troubles, it's just issues on account of its excellent results and controlling secretions of the mucous track. Good for bronchitis and different you know, congested lung issues. Uh specific indication of use syphilitic dia Diacrossier. I believe this way that's pronounced just discrossier. There we go constitutional syphilis, muscular paining, chronic skin affections, blood discrissi discrossier. Man, it's hard to say profusely secreting a tumin muscous tissue, indigestion with a panic torpor, yellow skin with marked weakness and emaciation. So yeah, good for jaundice. And then they talk about barberry and it's it's usual there, changeable, so I'm just gonna skip the head, skip the head, let's see, and the berberous cannadensis and all that. It's funny. You have to get used to the taste of oregon grape berries or barbary berries. Michael Moore of the Herbalists said it was like sucking simultaneously on a vitamin sea tablet and an aspirin. You kind of get that they are bitter in their sour, but what you get used to them, they're really actually pretty good. Oh. He explained that oregon grape root not is not nutritive to the liver. It's not a food or a vitamin. Instead, it acts as a perceived irritant. He said the role of organ grape is like to give the liver a poke to stimulate its function, and more active liver is better able to cleanse the blood, regenerate, regenerate liver tissue, and support the similar tissues of the skin and small intestine. The role of liver and skin health is why medicinal bitters contain berberin or a go to for cases of sbias, for exzma. That's the first thing. If you go to an herbalis you've got psoriasis or eczma, They're probably going to give you a bitter rb gentien, barbary something like that. So I use organ grape in my daily digestive Bitter's formula, which I've given you that forma before, and it does help my asthma. It's the stronger your liver is usually the better your allergies are plants for future gives. Current use of organ grape. Organ grape was often used by several Native North American Indian tribes treat loss of appetite and ability. Its current herbal use is mainly in the treatment of gastritis in general digestive weakness, to stimulate the kidneys and gall bladder function, and to reduce cattoral problems as congestion. The root and bark is alternative blood tonic, colagogue, diuretic, laxative, and tonic. It improves the digestion and absorption and is taken internally in the treatment of siasis, syphilis, hemorrhages, stomach complaints, and impure blood conditions. Externally, it has been used as a gargle for sore throats I'm not sure how that's external, but anyway, and as a loss for glory or bloodshot eyes. The roots of harvesting in late autumn or early spring and drive for later use. The fruit is an excellent, gentle and safe laxative. Bourberan, universally present in the rhizomes of the mahonious species, has marked antibacterial effects and is used as a bitter tonic. Since it is not appreciably absorbed into the body. It is used orally orally in the treatment of various senteric infections, especially bacterial dysentery. It should not be used with glycoisi that's licorice, because this nullifies the effect of Berberon has also shown anti tumor activity. The root and bark of best harvest in the autumn, and yeah, that's the weird thing about licorice and very bitter herbs like bourberon, Well that's a compound in organ grape, same as true of Gentien andrographis. Somehow licorice and these bitter herbs tend to like cancel each other out. Now it doesn't have I mean, it doesn't entirely nullify Gentien, but with Boerberin, yeah, it actually does. The glycriza compound in the licorice and the Boerberon compound in the organ grape just kind of nullify each other. Which is it's interesting because they both actually very good for the liver, so you don't use them at the same time. It's really best to alternate them because real licorice root take them medicinally is very strengthening to the kidneys, and what actually happens is it causes them to retain more fluid, which increases blood pressure. So you shouldn't You should never take large doses of large medicinal doses of real licorice in you know, large doses or for a long period of time. It can also cause tremors. It can cause a lot of serious issues if you have too much liquors for too long. You want to cycle on and off of that, and lickrishes of course very healing to the liver, so it's good to cycle your licorice, take some time off, take a bitter like a gentian or organ grape for a couple of months, then maybe go back to the licorice. One thing you can take with all of the above is milk thistle, and licorice and milk thistle have both shown to regenerate damaged liver tissue, so really good things to do, but you want to be careful, very careful with liquorice. Propagate. Well, we don't need to know about propagation because it pretty much takes care of itself. It does need at least three weeks of cold stratification, So if you do want to plant some seeds, put them in the freezer for a few weeks, or just sew them in the fall and let them do a natural thing over winter in the soil. So known hazards none, none, actually, and that's because the boerberin is not absorbed into the tissue in the bloodstain. It actually passes now, I would, cause you don't use it here in pregnancy obviously, So that's gonna wrap up Oregon grape and yeah, you know, maybe you're just getting into foraging. This is an easy one. It looks like a holly bush. It has very thorny leaves like a holly bush, but different. And it has this big cluster of berries that will be growing out of the top of the plant long like I think call it like racemes of berry tons of berries per plant. And they'll begin termed reddish as they ripen. Right now, they're going like from green to blue and then they'll start to redden as they ripen. And if you can get to them before the birds, be sure to pick a few. And the first one you eat, like Michael Moore said, is gonna taste like a combination between a vitam and sea tablet and an aspirin. You will develop a taste for them. They're actually quite good once you do. It's just like with dandeline greens or anything. You got to get used to that level bitterness. But if they're too strong for you, definitely take them home, cook them down with some sugar and water and make a little jam or make a little wine, make whatever you like. Syrup like really good for sore throats and such. But definitely do try to harvest some of the root at some point and keep it on hand for first aid purposes. All Right, y'all, have a great week, and I'll talk with 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 US government does not recognize the practice of verbal medicine, and there is no governing body regulating herbles. Therefore, I'm really just a guy who says IRBs. 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 Earth has been traditionally used for. I can tell you my own experience, and if I believe in herb has helped me, I cannot, nor would I tell you 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 of sensitivity and 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 read it. Be responsible for yourself, to your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever