Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Safflower

Hey, y'all, welcome this week's show. Today, we're going to talk about another herb is really going to surprise you. This is one that a lot of people were familiar with but really know little about. It's called sin up. So we'll get into that in just a minute. First of all, I want to give a quick shout out to a distillery here in North Carolina called Liberty and Plenty. Almost forgot the name for some reason. Liberty and Plenty. They're right outside of Durham, North Carolina. Went into local ABC store today to get some vodkin and make some tinctures, and there was a representative from the company doing tasting. And there's a lady that works at the store who really is She's a really sweet lady and she has asked me about herbs and all that over time, and she said, you've got to talk to this guy. You know, this company is doing a lot of things with medicinal herbs in there in their liquors. And I was like, yeah, great. You know, whenever introduced myself and tried a couple of samples, they do an excellent bourbon that's really the only one I tried that he had there. They had a rum and a vodka, and you know, I'm really more of a bourbon drinker than it's just about anything else. But he was telling me about the they're doing a line of bitters, and they're doing a line of a Maris and that's an herbal infused liquor and really really good stuff. And they're doing an Absent and I just said, oh, well, I haven't Absent in years, you know, not since I was down in Georgia. And as you know, I remember really liking it, so very aromatic with the herbs, and so yeah, we just kind of started talking shop for a few minutes. You know. Apparently these people are really serious about what they're doing, and they're there are a couple of really good distilleries in North Carolina right now, but this one, uh, you know, I figured i'd come back another day when I had some more cash on me, you know, because these are craft spirits, they're not cheap, and try the Absent. And as I'm leaving, the lady calls me over and says, I got you a present. I'm like, what's that? She bought me a bottle of Absent and I said, oh, you can't do that really, But she's wanted to and she's on my Christmas list. Let's just put it that way. But anyway, Liberty and Plenty Distillery, this is a true craft absent. I'm not being paid endorses, not any way whatsoever. I have poured one drink. It has lasted me over an hour. It's strong stuff. It's sixty percent alcohol, it's one hundred and twenty proof. It is so floral. It's not just wormwood in there their bay leaves. I'm really picking up on the bay. There's hissip. They use finnyl, and I mean this is really nice, very strong, very very bold and assertive. If you're not really into bitter herbs, you might want to try another one of their products first. This would absolutely be a fantastic pair of tief and appetite stimulant, something to settle an upset stomach. Medicinally, this is just full of anti viral properties, expectorant properties. Oh gosh, I mean, I'm really extremely impressed. I mean back, I mean when I was down in Athens, they had just legalized absynthe in America again after it had been wrongly taken away from us, and uh, you know, people were experimenting when they were trying it out and it was way too sweet. You know, they were really trying to balance the bitter herbs with a lot of sugar. This is not sweet. This is really impressive. The people's palate palettes have changed. This is this is really nice. We have one sip here and then we'll get another show. It's minty, it's licoricy, it's perfectly clean on the palette. Very strong. I mean it's almost like a well, it's not moonshine levels strong, but it's getting pretty unclose. Yeah, you do cut it with a little bit of water. That is just really nice, without a doubt, a sip of that before a meal or after a meal, it is all you really want. And that is I'm impressed. I am really impressed. It's one of three distilleries here in North Carolina that has just really blown me away over the past couple of years. And to be fair, I'll try to remember the other two in future shows. There's another one that's also making their own bitters and botanical infuse like gins and such really good. And there's one that makes such just a knock out rye, I mean, the best. But they've actually won like the best rye in America, like so many years in a row. Just knockout. I mean that stuff is like there's really like nothing else that compares to it. If you're a whiskey drinker, it's just wow. So yeah, my home state's dowingly proud us in this. This was a pleasant surprise. I expected something to have that almost like, oh, Nike quill, Yeah, that's the sort of the flavor of bad absent. You know, the green ni quill that you would take, you know, before bed when you had a cold. It had that kind of like liquoricy green flavor and really sweet, coiningly sweet. And you know I remember thinking, you know, absent, this it's good, but it's too sweet for me. And this is uh, this is an adult drink. This is an adult beverage. This is not oh jolly ranchers in our alcohol. This is really quite impressive. I mean I'm impressed. So again, Liberty and Plenty, look them up. They do a huge line of products. And if everything of the two have tasted, if everything they're doing is this quality, man, I mean, forget to her. In Kentucky. There's some really good stuff to be had in North Carolina. I mean, I've been Kentucky bourbon devote my entire life, my entire life, my entire adult life. I'm telling you we're getting stuff here in North Carolina that would just literally blow those guys out of the park. I'm not kidding, man, I mean I like good scotch, good single malt Scotch that ride by that discillery, and I'll try to get you to the name next time. It's it's better than the most expensive single malt I've ever had. And this is impressive. Anyway, let's get on with the show. From the Encyclopedia of Bitter Medicinal Herbs, we would talk about safflower. Now, safflower has a history of use of more than four thousand years, and you would think that safflower that's Carthomnis tctorious if I remember correctly, would be an easier direct research. After all, a safflower was used in ancient Egypt as a dye plant and in the preservation of mummies, and it's documented by Planning the Elder. It's been a food crop and a substitute for saffron, and used to make a cooking oil and used in everything from the production of margarine to fuel. Literally, safflower everything from the production of margarine to fuel to mummy preservation. However, the plant's use as a medicinal herb receives only brief mention in the books where I usually begin my research. Discordies wrote of safflower the a named kanikus c ni c us. It's probably just pronounced NICUs with a sea at the beginning. I don't know, Canicus. I like it. It sounds like something I have a money Python movie, so Canicus, he said, had a long somewhat long leaves cut in sharp and prickly stalks of foot long, which are the head the heads of the size of olive, and the flour like saffron with yellow threads. So it's literally been used as a saffron substitute for well over two thousand years. Let's see, he says, the flour they use for sauce with meats. So it was made into a condiment. I guess the seed bruised and juice with honeywater or the broth of a hen so or chicken broth. Purchasing intestines, he said. It was, however, on it's own bad for the stomach. They made a marsie pan from it the type of candy to use as a laxative. So I mean safflower has literally been used as a laxative for thousands of years, he said, And well, it's pretty much it, he talks about much as lax of properties. They apparently also combine them with dried figs and aniseed, which would be very nice. So he talks about another one called the wild safflower, also known as wild saffron. So I guess they were probably using more safflower than saffron, saffron being the most expensive herb on the face of the earth. And the reason for that is, well, it's traditionally been grown kind of in Iran and Turkey in that region, and it will grow in many places. But it's a crocus, and it grows kind of short, short, close to the ground, and people harvested for thousands of years have literally had to bend over or crawl on their knees and pick out the stamens of each flower with a pair of tweezers. So it's not so much that the herb, the plant itself is that valuable. It's the human labor involved and it takes so much just to make an ounce. Now, true, saffron has some wonderful qualities. It actually is good for the immune system. It's good antioxidant quality, but it also is a mood supporting It can help with cognition and depression. So really wonderful herb, but so very expensive. Now, the great George Leonard her in his book books, I should say, I guess is one of the Bullcook series. If you're an outdoorsman, you remember Herder's sporting goods hers Wasseca. You may not know the owner of the company was one of America's greatest authors, and either he was a complete lunatic or had a fantastic sense of humor. But his cookbooks are classic, full of tall tales and outrageous stories and really really great recipes. Well, he said he gave a whole list of flowers that could be used in a substitution for crocus in making your own saffron. So might want to look into that. Bullcook is absolutely classic. Every single woodsman should have a copy of that on his shelf. I mean, it's just they don't make him like George Herder anymore. He used to go machine gunning sharks with Ernest Hemingway and hunting with John Wayne and just a real I mean, like, if I don't know, if you're familiar with Hunter S. Thompson in like the sixties and seventies, with his reputation, imagine that in like the thirties, forties and fifties as a guy that owned a sporting goods company, World War Two, veteran outdoorsman. Just kind of nuts actually, but he was also absolute genius. But anyway, we'll get back to safflower. Let's see where are we is this? Yeah, we're going to Gerard. It's probably Gerard. He says that safflower is accounted a pretty strong cathartic evacuated, evacuating, tough, viscid phlim both upwards and downwards. And by that means it's said to clear the lungs and help the That word I can never pronounce, phtchisic I name you try this time. It is likewise serviceable against jaundice. Let's see Miss Grieve in nineteen thirties differentiates between safflower and saffron. She says this plant is not in any way related to saffron, though the flowers are used similarly. It replaces the use of saffron owing to the large price of the latter. And that's very true. Saffron is more valuable than gold. The safflower plant known in India as something else I can't pronounce. I'm not going to get into that. And she describes it. You can just google it anyway. She says that saffron contains means two coloring matters, a yellow and a red, being used as dyes, but medicinal actions in uses the flowers of the parts used. Their action is laxative and diaphoretic. In domestic practice, these flowers are used in childrens and infants complaints, measles, fevers, and eruptive skin complaints. An infusion made of a half ounce of the flowers to a pint of boiling water taken to produce warm diaphoresis yeah, something like that. It can help with fevers, and it will help with constipation. And let's see Rodel's illustrate encyclopedia of herb states only during the Middle Ages, various medicinal uses were found for this flower. Those with constipation or respiratory problems drink the juice of the seed mixed with chicken stock or sweetened water. The Complete Book of Herbs by Leslie Bremnis says that the high linellaic acid content of the oil makes it useful for lowering blood clests. Rolling states infuse flowers as a laxive, diuretic and perspiration inducer and to alleviate skin conditions. That's how it helps break fevers. It's the diaphe recis it helps stimulate perspiration. Penelope Odi is a complete medicinal herbal. This the properties of safflower as only laxative, diuretic, and anti inflammatory, and yeah, it's a good rbal. She didn't give much attention to safflower, though I do enjoy that one. Interestingly, the most complete listing for safflower that I found was found in a book I really seldom utilize. It's the how to Herb Book by Velma J. Keith and Montine Gordon. Kind of it was a popular herbal book in I guess what the eighties. I don't use it a lot, but they had a really good entry on this one, and it's a good book to have. You know, you can never have too many herbal books. So they said safflower diaphoratic, digestive and laxative Safflower is a natural digestive a It aids in the utilization of sugar and fruits and also utilization of oils. It contains natural hydrochloric acid. It sews and coats the entire digestive tract. It helps heal the walls of the intestines and diverticulitis, Stimulates glandular secretions in the intestines, relieves gas, has mild last of action in the bowels, acts as a diuretic, has the ability to remove sticky flim from the body, helps heal lesions, helps cholesterol levels in the body, neutralizes uric acid and lactic acid. Uric acid holds hardened deposits and joints that lead to galton arthritis. These acids are a cause of kidney stones, recommended for acid, stomach appetite, arthritis, colds, diabetes, digestion, direct diverticulitis, fever's flue, influence of flashlets, gas, gout, heartburn, hypoglycemia, kidney stones, lesions, liver measles, minced tardy menstruation, perspiration promotes perspiration, scarlet fever, skin disease, water retention, and yellow jaundice. So obviously I have not been given that book. It's due I need to quote from it more often. But plants for a future states only. Safflower is commonly grown as a food plant, but has a wide range of medicinal uses. Modern research has shown that the flowers contain a number of medicinally active constituents and can, for example, reduce coronary heart disease and lower cholesterol levels. It is alternative analgesic, antibacterial, antiphlogistic treats tumors and stomatitis. The flowers are anti cholesterol limic, that means it lower's cholesterol, diaphorretic and minagogue brings on menci's laxative, purgative, sedative, and stimulant. They are used to treat menstrual pains and other complications by promoting a smooth minstrl flow, and we're ranked third as a survey of two hundred and fifty anti fertility plants. In domestic practice, the flowers are used as a substitute or adulterate for saffron in treating infants complaints such as measles, fevers, and eruptive skin complaints. Externally, they are applied to bruising sprains, skin inflammations and wounds. The flowers are harvested summer. It can be used fresh or dried. The plant is febrifuge it means slowers of fever, sedative, pseuterific that means helpless sleep, and vermafurese that means help get rid of intestinal worms. When combined with lingistum, it is said to have a definite therapeutic effect upon coronary diseases. The seed is diuretic, purgative, and tonic. It is used in the treatment of rheumatism and tumors, especially inflammatory tumors of the liver. The oil is charred and used to heal sores and to treat rheumatism. In i Ran the oil is used as a salt for treating sprains and rheumatism. So to put it mildly, it seems that in safflower we find a remarkably underutilized herb in modern herbal medicine. However, some caution must be advised just to the source. Safflower being a commercial oil crop, we must make sure the flowers are not been tainted by chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. In terms of the oil, we got to make sure it hasn't been processed through chemical extraction. Yes, you can actually get like extra vergin saff line oil. It's actually going to be healthier for you than commercial saff flower oil, even though it's you know, not gonna be as good as olive oil or you know some of the others tallow and lard and such as excuse me, such as that safflower is a pretty good or oil when it's processed properly and grown properly without a lot of you know, chemicals, So safflower really good medicinally. But if you're going to purchase it commercially online, if you're going to try to buy some, go to reliable herbal wholesalers who grow it specifically for herbal use. We want to stay away from sort of the more commercial product. I guess that's yeah, to sum it up, that's what I'm trying to say. Look for someone who's actually selling it, growing it, and selling it for the purpose of being used medicinally as opposed to being used to make biofuel or something. So anyway, y'all, that wraps up. Stapflower, have a great week, and I will talk to you next time. The information this podcast is non 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 herbals. 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 earths have 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 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 of sensitivity and underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about. 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