Get down: 68 natural ways to lower blood pressur

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" 26. Pick Pycnogenol: French maritime pine bark extract lowered blood pressure

in a Chinese study, which was reported in the January 2, 2004 issue of Life

Sciences. "

 

 

 

It is known that it was the First People that saved the white man from scurvy

when they first came to this country by showing them how to use the White Pine

for food and tea. The French make it sound like only their maritime trees have

pycnogenol. Europeans did not use the pine for Vitamin C or other medicines

until after this knowledge was brought back by the ship crew the People saved or

they would have been cooking tea instead of dying of scurvy. Probably the

Chinese also knew because they are also knowledgeable in plant medicine. The

First People knew of the values of White Pine for 1000's of years but they did

not call it " Maritime Pine Pycnogenol " . Of course the white man took credit. You

do not need to buy the expensive French pine bark, use our native White Pine.

 

 

 

In the northeast an important food and medicine taught to the settlers was the

White Pine (Pinus strobus). The inner bark can be dried and pounded to be used

like flour, the greens are dried and pounded to powder, the young staminate

cones, seeds and the pollen are eaten also. Plus tea made from fresh needles is

high Vitamin C and minerals. The White Pine inner bark was always eaten,

especially in hard times, it was an important food. I found it interesting when

I learned that Adirondack meant " tree eater " . I think it was because the White

Pine " flour " was a regular in the diet especially in the winter, it was used to

stretch any starchy product. The powdered needles were used for endurance, for

hard traveling, like hunting moose in the snow. The needle powder is light to

carry and mixed with water it is a good energy food. Also pellets can be made by

mixing the green powder with honey until the honey will take no more and then

rolled into balls and then coated with more pine powder. The needles are hollow

so when you hang a branch upside down in a warm area the sap fills the needles

and they dry. Then you cut the needles and pound them to powder.

 

 

 

White Pine is also good medicine. You can make oil in the spring by peeling the

bark from young branches and soaking it in Extra Virgin Olive Oil for two to

three weeks. Then make salve and lip balm from the oil with some bees wax. The

lip balm is very good for dry lips and it is healing. The salve is used as a

wound dressing, for chapped skin, burns, pain, the list is long. The sap of tree

heals, it closes wounds, it has a natural morphine in it so it is a great pain

reliever. Just wrapping the bark around an injury relieves pain. If someone

hurts their finger and there is White Pine around cut a young branch and strip

the bark off, warp it around the finger. I have used this for people who have

hit their fingers hard and it helps allot, wilderness first aid. I always bring

in small branches when speaking to children and give them each a piece about an

inch long that has a slice in it so the can peel the bark off and wrap it around

their finger and show them how the first band-aids were made.

 

 

 

You make a good pain medicine cut a branch 1.5 inches thick. Cut the stem into 7

pieces each piece being 2 inches long. Cook the pieces in 1 pint of water just

like you would cook potatoes. Check for softness with a jackknife, the pieces

may sink to the bottom of the pan. You can soak your injured hand or foot in

this liquid it is good for pain or wrap a soaked cloth around the injured area

and hold it will strips of bark. It is an antiseptic and will draw out anything

in the wound. For a plaster skin a piece of the cooked stem and make a plaster

from the inner bark, place the plaster over the infected or affected area.

 

 

 

White Pine also makes very good needle tea. Take a gallon of water and put about

2 cups of pine needles and tips cut up small using scissors. Simmer this for

twenty minutes or until it is tan colored and the needles are blanched looking.

The time varies by how hot the heat source is. Some times we are in the woods

and I am using one of the gas things they make for deep frying turkeys, those

get hot fast. On a stove it takes a long time for 1 gallon of water to come to a

simmer so you have to go by the smell and color. Do not let it boil, when it

gets to a simmer turn it down and let it simmer long enough to make the tea.

Leave a cover on the pan when making it.

 

 

 

I some times teach out door class rooms to children, there is an Indian

education bill passed by Maine's legislature education about Native American's

is mandatory in the class room. I teach children about the W-H-I-T-E having five

letters and the White Pine has five needle. Opposed to R-E-D have three letters

and the Red Pine having 3 needles. It helps them to identify the tree and they

love to count the clusters of needles. We make tea and White Pine bandaids and

they hear the story of why the White Pine is called the Peace Tree.

 

 

 

Katu