The Medicinal Uses of Pine

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.  A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.

  

You can't spend much time hanging out on prepper forums or reading self-reliance books before coming across the suggestion of drinking pine needle tea for vitamin C.  And it's true, pine needles are full of vitamin C.  And while pine isn't my first choice for tea (I just don't have that refined palate that makes me want to drink or eat things that taste like Pine-Sol) or wound treatment (honey and sugar are easier to use than pine pitch), it's good to know how pine can be used.

While Scotch pine has a rich history of use in herbal preparations, almost all pines are effective to some extent.  In the east, Eastern white pine is the go-to pine species.  In the desert southwest, pinyon pine is favored.  All yews and Norfolk Island pine are toxic.  Ponderosa pine was used medicinally by Native Americans, but there are also claims that it is toxic, so if you've got a choice, it's best to go with something else.  Pine may cause dermatitis in sensitive people.   

In all cases, use new, green needles.  Remove the brown sheath at the base of the needles, wash well, chop the needles into 1/2 inch pieces.

PINE NEEDLES

Fresh needles:  Simply chew a few and swallow to meet your daily vitamin C requirements.  Yum.  /sarc off

Tea:  Steep a tablespoon of chopped needles for 5-10 minutes, no longer, or the vitamins are gradually lost.  Pine needle tea not only provides vitamin C but also vitamin A. This tea is great for thinning mucus and thus works well as an expectorant. 

However, for the greatest medicinal effect, add one tablespoon of chopped needles to boiling water; cover, boil 2-3 minutes, remove from heat, and steep until cool enough to drink.  (It will probably taste like turpentine, so now if you're craving a little turpentine because you didn't store enough and you're fresh out, you know how to satisfy your appetite.)  Drink several cups each day, freshly prepared.

Wound wash:  Use cooled tea as a wound wash to prevent infection.

Tincture:  Fill a wide mouth jar with whole pine needles (or cut in half if using very long needles) and then add apple cider vinegar to the top.  Let sit for six weeks.  Apparently it tastes a lot like balsamic vinegar.

Poultice:  Crush green needles to use as a poultice for wounds.

PINE SAP/PITCH

Fresh pitch:  Native Americans chewed pine pitch to help alleviate arthritis pain.  They also dabbed the sap onto skin above and around a splinter;  the splinter would then come out on its own in a day or two.  (I don't know that I could wait that long.) 


Wound salve:  Collect pine pitch in a small jar, about half full (that's why it's a small jar) and then fill to top with olive oil.  Set in a warm place, like a sunny windowsill or by a wood stove, and shake daily.  After the pitch has softened, stir it into the oil, and then run it through a fine strainer.  Use alone as a natural antiseptic and drawing salve to remove a splinter, or use as a base for making other healing salves.


Tincture:  Collect pine sap in a small jar.  Barely cover the sap with Everclear or other 190 proof grain alcohol.  Label and date and the tincture will be ready in 6-8 weeks.  Use five to ten drops per cup of boiling water for treating colds and bronchitis.  Use five drops per tablespoon of carrier oil, such as almond or coconut, for massaging into sore muscles or arthritic joints.

Contraindications:  Pine needles should not be consumed by women who are pregnant.


Other uses of pine:  The inner bark is eaten raw or cooked, most often though ground into a powder and dried for later use in thickening soups or added to flour for making bread.  Pine needles are woven into baskets.

Links to related posts:

Introduction to Tinctures

How to Make a Salve

For further information:
http://www.wildwomanrising.com/26-making-pine-pitch-salve-from-pinon-pinus-edulis/
https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1746-4269-5-5  (Interesting article on history of scurvy and treatment with pine needle tea in colonial Canada).
http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Pine-Keeps-You-Fine.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18957177 (herpes viruses)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21086644 (Alzheimer's anxiety, depression)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9212985 (reducing triglycerides)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2830409/ (general information article)

28 january 2019