A good Source of Vitamins C and A - Preparedness AdvicePreparedness Advice A good Source of Vitamins C and A Posted on August 20, 2012 by admin Pine Needle Tea One of the problems that can occur from living off long-term storage foods is lack of vitamin C. This is a simple problem to overcome in most of the US. Plain Pine needle tea contains 4-5 times the Vitamin C of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and is high in Vitamin A. Pine needle tea is also an expectorant, decongestant, and when cool can be used as an antiseptic wash. Each variety of pine has its own flavor, so you can experiment and determine which is your favorite. See the warnings at the bottom of this post. Making a cup of tea is easy. Gather a handful of green needles, young ones are best Remove any of the brown little sheaths that may remain at the base of the needles. Cut the needles into ¼ to ½ inch sections. Heat your water to a rolling boil. Pour the boiling water over a tablespoon of the chopped needles. Allow to steep for 5-10 minutes.

The majority of needles should have settled to the bottom of the cup. Drink Dried pine needles can be used as well, so if you have too many left over, consider drying them and using any time you need them in the year. A word of warning Caution: Women who are pregnant, or who could become pregnant, are advised NOT to drink pine needle tea in general for fear it could cause abortion. American Yew Vitamin C content of Pine needles | Simon Waters Vitamin C content of Pine needles 2 Replies Saw discussion about native Americans treating Scurvy with Pine needles. A quick search on the Internet gives you lots of sources claiming that Pine Needles have three times as much vitamin C as various citrus fruits. The type of Pine is rarely given but usually the white pine is referred to, the fruit is variously Oranges, or Lemons. I tried to find a source, or even the source, for the threefold claim. Found some interesting stories, including reports of successfully treating scurvy, but I was skeptical of that threefold claim. Found wonderful letter from Richard Feynman to his mother where he reports that pine needle tea tastes of pine needles.

The vitamin content of common foods questions can be answered by the Google search engine itself, it has the USDA food content information available. as a result a suitable query will give rough nutritional guidance. The nutritional need of a full grown man is just under 100mg vitamin C a day. Oranges 4.5mg/g Lemons 5.3mg/g Limes 2.9mg/g So eating an average Orange a day is more than sufficient (since an orange typically weighs more than 20g). Finding reliable data on the vitamin C content of Pine needles proved a lot harder, not least most of it is buried behind academias’ paywalls and I can’t be bothered to fight that for a trivial question. USDA Forestry Service Research Note SE-124 “Seasonal changes in carbohydrates and ascorbic acid of white pine and possible relation to Tipburn sensitivity” found an Ascorbic acid range of 0.7 to 1.9mg/g Results vary with assay technique, season, location, etc.

Highest number I found was comparable to the average Orange, you then have to extract the vitamin C, and whilst water soluble a long boiling will probably only extract a proportion of the available vitamin C and will start to degrade it. That said if most of the water you drank each day was boiled with pine needles, this could be a sufficient source of vitamin C alone. So my best guess is it is plausible there was a test that showed the quoted 3 times figure, but that if you go make yourself Pine needle tea with a random set of pine needles, the vitamin C content is unlikely to be particularly impressive compared to other natural sources like: fruit juices, peppers, many herbs, green vegetables, or animal livers. Some sources refer to tea made with Pine needles and bark, and to flavinoids in the bark preserving vitamin C. Having established there isn’t that much vitamin C I’m guessing much of the marketing hype around “bark extracts” is probably just hype. The chemicals involved are all Tannins, and as such likely to make your pine needle tea bitter. Both pine needles and the bark contain a whole host of chemicals, and whilst a lot of folk have drunk quite a bit, there are some questions over safety in pregnancy.

So by all means try pine needle tea, but have realistic expectations, and avoid large amounts if pregnant. As regards rescue by native Americans, I suspect if you are vitamin C deficient in such areas it is likely that you lacked the skills to get an adequate diet from the local area, whilst the tea probably helped, it may well be that the big contribution from the native Americans to folk in such a quandary was basic survival skills for the harsh north. Curious fact, some citrus fruit have more vitamin C weight for weight in the peel than the fruit, good luck eating comparable amounts. This entry was posted in Skepticism on Pine Needle Tea Pine Needle Tea (As featured in the September 2008 issue of Practically Seeking ) We had such a good time at the Medicinal Plants workshop that I decided for this month's skill I would introduce you to a simple tea that is delicious, healthy and a great immune booster. For those of you who are new to the world of plants, a safe and simple tea can be made from the common Pine trees that surround us. Pine Needle Tea has long been a favorite of traditional and indigenous peoples, both for it's refreshment and for it's medicinal values.

You may not realize that Pine Needle Tea contains 4-5 times the Vitamin C of fresh-squeezed orange juice, and is high in Vitamin A. It is also an expectorant (thins mucus secretions), decongestant, and can be used as an antiseptic wash when cooled. So not only does it taste good, but it's good for you! Each varietal of pine has it's own flavor to impart, so experiment and see which needles you like best. And feel free to mix and match! My personal favorite is a combination of 1 part white pine with 2 parts pitch, where Julie prefers straight balsam. Just remember that while all Pines are evergreens, not all evergreens are Pines! So head out to the back yard or park, positively identify your pine trees, bring back some needles and give this one a try! Step-by-step Instructions for Making Pine Needle Tea: Collect a small bundle of green needles, the younger the better. (A small handful will be plenty.) Remove any of the brown, papery sheaths that may remain at the base of the needles.

(They just pull right off.) Chop the needles into small bits, about ¼ to ½ inch long. For a Refreshing Tea: Heat about a cup of water to just before boiling. Pour the hot water over about a tablespoon of the chopped needles. Allow to steep (preferably covered) for 5-10 minutes, until the majority of needles have settled to the bottom of the cup. Enjoy your delicious tea! For a Medicinal Tea: (This process releases more of the oils & resins that contain the medicinal compounds, and tastes a little like turpentine.) Bring about a cup of water to a full boil. Add approximately one tablespoon of chopped needles to the boiling water and cover. Allow the needles to boil in the water for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the tea to continue to steep, covered, until it is cool enough to drink. (Most of the needles should sink to the bottom.) Pour the tea into a mug, leaving the needles behind, and enjoy! Drink this tea several times a day for maximum medicinal effect. (Make it fresh each time.) With cold & flu season approaching Pine Needle Tea is a gift of health as well as an enjoyable experience.

And since Pine is best used fresh, it's a perfect excuse to get out & enjoy the change of seasons! Cheers! Practical Primitive LLC | 14 Sussex Lane Great Meadows, NJ 07838 | 908-637-8137 Copyright © 2007–2010 | All Rights Reserved | Website Design by Feral Human Productions ™ Pine Needle Tea – A Good Source of Vitamin C – Mystical Magical Herbs Posted on March 6, 2013 by Mystical Magical Herbs in Growing Herbs // 0 Comments Fresh pine tree needles can be made into a tea that is rich in Vitamin C. Gather a handful of the fresh needles, wash them and then steep in hot (not boiling) water for about an hour. Add some mint leaves (if you have some) to enhance the flavor. After an hour, strain off the leaves and the resulting pale green liquid can be drunk as-is or sweetened with some honey or sugar. Save the rest and put in the fridge, to be enjoyed later as an ice tea alternative.

This tea is especially useful in cold or temperate climates where you may not have access to Vitamin C from fresh fruits and vegetables.While most long-needled pine tree species are said to be safe to ingest, a few species have been identified as toxic to livestock, such as the Poderosa, Lodgepole and Monterey pine trees . As always, if you are unsure about whether a particular plant is safe to ingest, be sure to check with a knowledgeable professional before trying it. –Azul The Surprising Health Benefits of Pine Needle Tea The Surprising Health Benefits of Pine Needle Tea by L. M. Winborne ~ September 2013 No.251 ~ It’s probably a safe bet to assume that pine needles aren’t the first thing people think of when the urge to brew a cup of tea arises... but a healthy, tasty beverage may be as close as your own back yard Boasting four to five times the amount of Vitamin C found in a lemon, pine needle tea has been a medicinal favorite of indigenous peoples for centuries and is said to have helped scurvy-afflicted European settlers survive their first winter in the New World.

Also high in fat-soluble Vitamin A - an antioxidant essential for healthy vision, skin and hair regeneration and red blood cell production, it is frequently prescribed by herbalist healers as an expectorant to thin mucus secretions; furthermore, it can be used as an antiseptic wash when cooled. Different varieties of pine have their own flavor, so some drinkers mix and match to find the taste they like best. To brew, simply collect a handful of young green needles. Remove the brown sheaths at the base, wash the needles thoroughly, and chop them into small pieces of about a quarter- to half-inch long. Heat a cup of water to near boiling, pour it over a tablespoon of the needles, and allow it to steep, covered, for five to ten minutes, until most of the needles have settled to the bottom of the cup. For a more medicinal tea, bring a cup of water to a full boil, add a tablespoon of chopped needles, then cover and allow the needles to boil for an additional two to three minutes. Remove the water from the heat and allow the tea to continue steeping, still covered, until it’s cool enough to drink. Again, most of the needles should have sunk to the bottom.

Although this process causes the brew to taste a bit more like turpentine, it also releases more of the therapeutic compounds found in the needles’ oils and resins. For maximum effect, the recommendation is to drink several cups a day, making it fresh each time. A few words of caution: while there are over 100 different varieties of pine, the Ponderosa, Norfolk Island and Yew needles should be avoided, as brewing can prove toxic. You’ll want to collect your needles from trees at a distance from the roadside to be sure they haven’t been exposed to exhaust or chemicals, and far away from dump sites. Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should avoid pine needle tea as it has been linked by some sources to miscarriage. And if there’s a shortage of pine trees in your area, you can always purchase the tea in bagged powdered form at health food stores or online. Enjoy! Reference Do pine needles from a Douglas Fir or redwood provide a good source of antioxidants? | NutritionFacts.org Home > Ask the Doctor > Do pine needles from a Douglas Fir or redwood provide a good source of antioxidants? Do pine needles from a Douglas Fir or redwood provide a good source of antioxidants?

Written by: Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on November 8th, 2012 I noticed that Pine Needles in a tea is a good antioxidant. I am wondering if needles from a Douglas Fir or redwood would have the same properties. I am Raw Vegan and always interested in the options. LynnCS / Originally posted on The Healthiest Vegetables Answer: Pine needles have so much vitamin C that pine needle tea has been used with great success historically as a cure for scurvy . On the other hand, there have been toxins found in the needles of some pines, so I would recommend sticking to more conventional dark green leafy leaves. If you want to be more adventurous, though, then the best resource I’m aware of is From Crabgrass Muffins to Pine Needle Tea by Linda Runyon. Ask for it in your local public library. Health Benefits of Pine Needle Tea | ByzantineFlowers Health Benefits of Pine Needle Tea antioxidants , health & wellness , health benefits , pine needle nutritional value , pine needle tea , teas , Vitamin A , Vitamin C According to the Manataka American Indian Council, pine needle tea is a centuries-old healing remedy for Native Americans.

When European settlers came to the continent and were suffering from scurvy due to lack of vitamin C, the Native Americans introduced them to pine needle tea. Today, Native Americans still drink pine needle tea to treat coughs and colds. Pine needles are probably not the first thing you think of when you hear the word tea. But its been around for ages. The tea has a pleasant smell and taste. Pine needles are rich in Vitamin C and also bring relief to conditions such as heart disease mental clarity increases your strength and vitality helps in reversing or slowing the aging process. Pine needle tea was used by Taoist priests to promote longevity This is the perfect tea to drink during the winter months. The type of tree ideal for pine tea is the White Pine. The smaller needles tend to be sweeter but its not that much of a difference. You need to wash the needles thoroughly before making the tea. Run water over them until they are clean then put the needles in a tea pot.

The amount of vitamin C is reported to be five times the amount found in a lemon, which is 83.2 mg, according to NutritionData web site.[1] That means a cup of pine needles would yield more than 400 mg per cup of brew. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and an immune system booster. It also improves cardiovascular system functions, improves skin and eye health, which alone accounts for many of the positive results from using the tea, such as a cure for scurvy. Pine needle tea is high in fat-soluble vitamin A, an antioxidant beta-carotene, which is needed for healthy vision (especially in low light situations), skin and hair regeneration, and red blood cell production! The vitamin A explains a few more of the nutrition and health claims, but certainly not all of them. There is more to the tea than just vitamins A and C. There are many components to consider with swallowing a cup of pine needle broth! Scientists are exploring the health and nutrition claims for pine tree foods that have been consumed for hundreds of years, such as the needles, bark, nuts (seeds), pollen, and resin (sap).

So far, they have found enough information to back up the medicinal claims with the potential for more uses. The following list is only a sampling of the research being examined. Documents contained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, section PubMed.gov., pertaining to pine needle extract, or tea, and the research being done: Effects of Pine Needle Extract on Differentiation of 3T3-L1 Preadipocytes and Obesity in High-Fat Diet Fed Rats . Pine needle extract could help control obesity. Article from the Kennebec Journal : Maine Today Media White pine needles help fight disease. A batch of pine needle tea yields shikimic acid which is the basis for “Tamiflu,” one of the drugs recommended by the CDC to fight the flu. Don’t pick poisonous pines! Most conifers are safe to experiment with tea preparations, but there are three you must avoid! They may be used by the pharmaceutical industry to create safe levels of extracts for drug manufacturing, but individual brewing could be hazardous. Caution: Women who are pregnant, or who could become pregnant, are advised NOT to drink pine needle tea in general for fear it could cause abortion.

Yew (Taxus) This beauty grows from a shrub to small tree. It contains a toxic alkaloid called taxine that is highly toxic to humans and animals!Additional plant info: USDA , or PlantFiles Photo info: Wiki Commons; click to see larger original image. Caution on the following pine trees! Norfolk Island Pine (Araucana heterophylla), Australian Pine The same frilly, pretty, little tree sold as an indoor Christmas tree is poisonous to many house pets such as: cats, dogs, and birds.Additional plant info: PlantFiles Photo info: Wiki Commons; click to see larger original image. Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), yellow pine The twigs and needles of the ponderosa pine will abort a fetus in cattle and other farm animals, and is regarded as unsafe for human consumption, too.Additional plant info: USDA or PlantFiles Photo info: Wiki Commons; click to see larger original image. How To Prepare Pine Tea The perfect cup of pine needle tea is a very enjoyable and nutritious experience, and available any time of the year. Some like the taste of one pine over another, and some of us cannot tell the difference between them.

Be sure to collect your needles from trees growing well away from road sides where they may be subject to constant vehicle exhaust, road salts, maintenance chemicals and weed sprays. Also, keep away from possible dump sites and dangerous locations. Gather a good handful of fresh young pine needles. Rinse the needles with water if you like. Chop the brown ends off and the rest of needles into small pieces, then bruise with a spoon for more flavor. Place the chopped pine pieces in a cup. Bring 8 to 10 ounces of water to a boil, and then promptly remove from heat. Pour the hot water over the needles in the cup. The bright green needles will float to the surface of the water. You can cover the cup with a saucer if you wish. This will hold in more of the essential oils, but take longer to cool. Allow the tea to steep until the needles turn a dull green and sink to the bottom of the cup, or overnight. The photos show a cup of white pine needle tea from start to finish. Depending on the type of pine needles used, your tea can be clear, or a light golden brown to reddish brown. Add sweetener of your choice, cream, or lemon, to your liking.

You can add dried orange peels and/or spices for a more exotic flavor! It is amazing what a simple cup of tea can hold. You can add a couple of cups of pine needle tea to your bath water for a refreshing and skin nourishing treat. We should all start our day with a nice cup of pine needle tea! You can step outside and gather a handful, or buy the prepared pine needle tea bags at a health food stores. Just one cup could help us feel better by enriching and healing our bodies with a little hug from Mother Nature. Here’s to our improved health! Bottoms up! Pine Needle Teas ~ Winter Survival Food: Winter Teas by Edible Wild Food Pine Tea Conifers (Pinus strobus and Pinus resinosa in particular) provide year round goodness that includes 136mg of vitamin C per one cup of pine needles. Pine needles also contain vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium. If this isn’t enough, they also contain polyprenols, physterols and carotenoids and this makes pine tea a potent antioxidant health brew.

The white pine (eastern and western) is so nutrient-rich it truly is a hard act to follow in the winter months for nutrients. Spruce Tea The most common spruce trees are the White Spruce (Picea glauca) and the Black Spruce (Picea mariana) and the needles, pitch, tips and twigs all can be used to make an herbal tea (and spruce beer too). This tea however should be avoided if you are pregnant. Spruce has vitamin C, beta carotene, starch, and sugars. Balsam Fir Tea Balsam fir needles and twigs make a tea and like most trees mentioned in this blog, can be dried and ground into flour. Making a paste with this and water is survival food that will keep you alive. Balsam fir has vitamins C, B1, B2, B3, calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, beta carotene, protein and fibre. Birch Tea Small twigs and bark from the birch tree makes a tea, although not exciting in flavour (rather bland), it does provide some nutrients.

Vitamins B1, B2, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese and zinc is found in most birch trees. They appear in higher quantities in the syrup (can be tapped like a maple tree in the spring). White birch trees also contain betulinol, glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, sesquiterpenes, and tannins. Chaga grows on birch trees; this is the healing process of a damaged birch tree. Chaga is typically found on older birch trees and generally on the east or west side of the tree. The birch tree also contains a natural sweetener called xylitol. Xylitol was discovered by the Finnish and they began processing the inner bark to make toothpastes and mouthwashes. This is the main sweetener found in natural gums purchased in health food stores worldwide. Some research indicates that xylitol kills bacteria and reduces cavities. Beech Tree Tea The American Beech tree (Fagus grandifolia) grows in many areas and the twigs can be used to make tea. I’ve not been able to confirm the nutrient content of this tree however extract of the Beech tree is known to promote cell health.

Tamarack Tea Tamarack (Larix laricina) is a member of the pine family and it is the only coniferous tree that loses its pine needles in the autumn. The bark is generally used to make tea and is said to be best in the autumn after the needles have fallen off or in the spring. Small branches can be used as well. The Tamarack contains vitamin C. Most trees also have medicinal qualities as well as nutrition. For example, the Tamarack is an anti-inflammatory, an astringent, disinfectant, diuretic, expectorant, immune stimulant, a laxative, and a tonic. There are many other trees not mentioned here that hold a surprisingly high content of nutrition that can be enjoyed often or as survival food. For the forager, it makes life a little bit more challenging obtaining a harvest to bring home, but it can be done. This is reassuring news for the preppers as well knowing that trees not only can provide shelter and fire, they will nourish the body as well.

Related link: Making a Vitamin C supplement - Wind In The Roses Making a Vitamin C supplement Vitamin C Ascorbic acid is called a "vitamin" C because it is the only component of the citric acid (TCA) cycle that your body cannot manufacture by itself and you must get from your food. All the TCA components, however, are important for health and may need to be supplemented if you are not getting or making enough. Citric acid is almost identical to ascorbic acid, and fulfills many of the same functions in the body. When taking citric, ascorbic or any acid as a supplement, always be sure to take enough minerals with it so the acid does not leach minerals away from any part of the body. When the ascorbic acid is sold with minerals already attached to it, it is called "ascorbate". Making A Vitamin C Supplement Ingredients 1/4 cup of ascorbic acid 1/4 tablespoons of citric acid 1/2 cup of ground or powdered bioflavonoid sources (plant material) 1/4 cup of dried, powdered pine needles 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon 1/2 cup of powdered minerals such as dolomite, clay or dry earth.

Directions: ( UK ) Dosage Three "00" capsules, three times a day to start, and then use your own body biofeedback to determine or increase dosage. Why Those Ingredients? Ascorbic acid -- vital, prevents scurvy, cannot be synthesized in human body except in small amounts when gulonolactone from other sources is present. Citric acid -- Does most of the same things as ascorbic acid except prevent scurvy. As vital as ascorbic acid, maybe more so, but is synthesized in the human body and has no known deficiency diseases so it does not have a "Vitamin" name. Bioflavonoids -- These are plants' version of "Vitamin C". Some people claim they are the real vitamin C. Like roses that by any other name will smell the same, plant bioflavonoids do many wonderful things in the human body, often in concert with ascorbic and citric acid, and you can take them and get the full benefit from them regardless of whether or not they are called vitamin C, or components of the vitamin C complex. Cinnamon -- Contains an enzyme called gulonolactone that is needed to convert glucose (sugar) to ascorbic acid.

The reason that humans cannot produce our own ascorbic acid is because the human body cannot manufacture gulonolactone. It is theorized that you can make some of your own internally manufactured ascorbic acid, as long as, and for as long as, there is gulonolactone present along with all the other necessary substances. You could substitute dessicated liver for the cinnamon, as that is another source of gulonolactone. Dolomite, clay or earth -- Any acid, even vitamins, will deplete the body of minerals if there are not enough minerals in the body. "Buffering" (adding minerals) these acids will make them easier to assimilate and prevent them from leaching minerals from the body. Powdered dolomite is one of the easiest to get and use, but many other sources of powdered minerals can be used such as clay or earth. See my page on Minerals .

Technically, you could use baking soda, which is a mineral, as your chelate but, as long as you're going to all the trouble of making this supplement, I recommend you take minerals your body needs and is more likely to be short of like magnesium rather than carbon and sodium, which are the minerals in baking soda (bicarbonate of soda). If you use dry earth or clay that is palatable to eat from a spoon, you can reduce the minerals in the capsules by half as long as you take the extra minerals on the side. Almost all negative reactions to large doses vitamin Care caused by depletion of minerals. Pine needles -- When the first Europeans arrived in America sick with scurvy, the Indians gave them pine needle tea. Pine needles are a good source of terpenes. Terpenes are what makes pine needles smell like medicine and are closely related to bioflavonoids. Sources and Substitutes Ascorbic acid -- can be bought online and available in some health food stores. Citric acid -- can be ordered online but will not be sold as a food or medical product. It is usually sold as lime de-scaler. Cinnamon -- can be found in any spice section.

It is better if you can buy it in stick form and grind your own, but already-ground will work. It doesn't matter if it's really cassia. Substitutes: dessicated liver, red chili pepper. Bioflavonoids -- can be found as acai powder, acerola powder, camu-camu powder, ground, dehydrated citrus peel (lemon, orange, grapefruit), cayenne powder, powdered ginger, mango powder (amchoor), red chili pepper, powdered rose hips, paprika and turmeric. You can use any of those, or any mixture of those. Minerals -- are all around you. It's the main ingredient in rocks and dirt. See Minerals for all the sources of minerals available, or you can order powdered dolomite, powdered bone meal, French green clay, red desert clay or powdered kelp online, or can be found in some health food stores. Substitute: take powdered dolomite tablets and bonemeal tablets when you take the vitamin C capsules. Pine needles -- Collect in the woods, dry and grind in blender. Substitutes: eucalyptus, terebintha, tea tree, sweetgum tree, gingko biloba..

Any plant that has that similar "medicine-y" smell (and is safe to eat) contains various and a different number of terpenes. Substitutes from the spice section (grind in the blender): sage, oregano, bay leaves, star anise.. Theory Our soil, food and waters are being depleted of minerals because of acid rain and pollution. You can re-mineralize them by getting alkalizers and ionizers to put the minerals back into your drinking water, but the easiest way is to eat naturally sourced, full-array mineral salts dug from the ground, blended into powders which can be done with a home blender, amd then pack it into gelatin capsules. You can't get any closer to the dirt than that. -however- Mineral salts can be harsh or unusable as is, so it is best to chelate them with a weak food acid.There are many such acids, but you may as well use ascorbic acid and citric acid. They're inexpensive and after they chelate your mineral salts to the ascorbate or citrate form you'll have extra vitamin C. (You may have to buy citric acid online.

It is sometimes sold as lime de-scaler but I don't know of any way to insure that there are no chemical additives.) -however- Ascorbic and/or citric acid may be fractionates of the full-array vitamin C complex, according to some people. If you're taking them, you should add other of their companion products to try to balance the ascorbate and citrate. These companion products are the bioflavonoids that are made by plants and that some people say are part of what constitutes "Vitamin C", while others say they are "Vitamin P" and not necessary to get the full value of ascorbic acid vitamin C. I recommend taking minerals, ascorbic acid and plant bioflavonoids together. Ascorbic acid makes the minerals more usable, the minerals prevent the ascorbic acid from depleting the body's mineral supply and the plant bioflavonoids are good for you whether they are part of the vitamin C complex or not. Issues Ascorbic acid has been linked to heart attacks All acids will deplete the body of minerals if you take them without additional mineral supplements.

Mega-doses of ascorbic acid without the necessary extra minerals could lead to magnesium deficiency which could lead to heart attacks. You could solve this problem by purchasing expensive Vitamin C in the ascorbate form or taking cheap ascorbic acid and eating approximately 3 times its volume in dirt along with it. If eating dirt doesn't appeal to you, see Minerals for other suitable sources. Ascorbic acid causes mineral deficiency. Answer: Yes, so take minerals if you take ascorbic acid. Any acid will deplete the body of minerals. If you take ascorbic acid, always take a good source of minerals along with it. If you read anywhere that ascorbic acid is bad for you for some reason (such as it causes copper deficiency or erodes tooth enamel), you can ignore such warning that are about loss of minerals as long as you take a good, natural supply of minerals with the ascorbic acid. It does not have to be the specific mineral that ascorbic acid is blamed for depleting -- any natural source of mixed minerals will bond with the acid and keep it from depleting other scarce minerals. Good sources of minerals are garden fertilizers, dirt, clay and sea salt.

Cinnamon and terpenes Cinnamon is said to supply the missing enzyme that allows us to process ascorbic acid in our bodies. The enzyme, gulonolactone, is a terpene, one of the many compounds found in evergreen and other trees that have a "medicine-y" smell to them and from which the word "turpentine" is derived. How much cinnamon would it take to replace the missing gulonolactone so we could make all the ascorbic aicd we need? They say, anecdotally, about 8 teaspoons a day, but that's an awful lot of cinnamon and at those levels there may be some toxic reaction. Still, there are people who take that amount and think it's great. They can't all be cinnamon growers. How do I know it's cinnamon and not cassia? Cinnamon is sweeter than cassia but for vitamin C purposes it doesn't matter. Is ascorbic acid the same as citric acid? Citric acid and ascorbic are not exactly the same, but they are very similar. Their molecular structure is only different by one oxygen molecule. They do many of the same tasks in the body.

The only thing abscorbic acid can do that citric acid can't do is prevent scurvy, and for that, the amount of absorbic acid needed is very little. Unlike ascorbic acid, citric acid can be created in the human body. Knowing this, however, won't help your health much, but it can help your pocketbook, as citric acid is much cheaper than ascorbic acid, often sold in industrial-sized containers for industrial purposes. If you're cool with off-label uses, you can buy a large box of lime descaler which is citric acid, mix 9 parts of citric acid with 1 part of ascorbic acid and you 're good to go with whatever purpose you had in mind for ascorbic acid. Is ascorbic acid a "nourishing tradition"? There are no easy answers with vitamin C ascorbic acid. Generally, something is considered a "nourishing tradition" if it has been used over centuries, passed on from generation to generation and continues to support health.

Ascorbic acid as a supplement has only been available since the 1930's, however in that time it has been taken by many people who praise and recommend it and have passed it from generation to generation. The theory is that ascorbic acid is synthesized in a lab[*] and therefore isn't natural, however "nourishing traditions" are not strictly defined by theory but by practice, based as it is on the work of W. Price. Price went out in the field and looked at what people actually ate that was healthy, rather than devise some theory about what ought to be healthy. I would say that if vitamin C ascorbic acid hasn't proved itself to be a nourishing tradtion yet, that it only has to continue for the next 20 years as it has for the last 80, with more and more people attributing their good health to it and passing this knowledge down to their children, for it to become a nourishing tradition. [*] Actually, most vitamin C ascorbic acid is made in China by fermenting potatoes, so it is not far removed from "food-based" and while it is "synthesized", it isn't "artificially".synthesized.

The ascorbic acid made in the liver of many animals (but not us) can be said to be "synthesized". That's how ascorbic acid is made, by synthesis. Why is it so controversial? What you call "Vitamin C" may depend more on your politics than on the actual characteristics of the substances involved. People who took mega-doses of ascorbic acid at the recommendation of Linus Pauling without taking extra minerals as a supplement, and who ended up with a mineral deficiency as a result, are more likely to say that "Vitamin C" is a complex including bioflavonoids. Ascorbic acid is made in the livers of most animals but not us because our livers lack the enzyme gulonolactone needed to synthesize it. This enzyme is found in the livers of other animals, so we can, in fact, synthesize ascorbic acid in our bodies -- we just have to eat the liver of some other animal first. For this reason, vegetarians also balk at considering ascorbic acid to be "Vitamin C" because it lends credence to the idea that humans are, and by rights ought to be, carnivores.

Conversely, militant carnivores and Atkins or lo-carb dieters are more likely to embrace the idea that only ascorbic acid is "Vitamin C" because it justifies eating meat, especially liver. And scientists like to call ascorbic acid "Vitamin C" because it has its own disease -- scurvy -- and is easy to test for in the lab. Since we are more concerned with being healthy than the scientific definition of a substance, I suggest taking everything and let the body use what it can and discard the rest. Make Your Own Bioflavonoids Pine Needle Tea Home Survival Food Pine Needle Tea Pine Needle Tea This post is by Bernie Carr, apartmentprepper.com I got the idea about pine needle tea from watching Bear Grylls in Man vs. Wild. He picked out some pine needles, boiled them then drank the tea. He said pine needles are full of vitamin C. In a survival situation, if fruits and vegetables are scarce, you’ll need a good source of vitamin C. I also read it can be a good decongestant. Spotting a nice looking pine tree on a walk one day, I decided to try it out.

First, let’s get the warnings and precautions out of the way: If you are pregnant, do not try pine needle tea, as it is thought to cause possible miscarriage. Do not try if nursing either, just to be on the safe side. Know what type of tree you are picking from. I am not a tree expert but do know the tree I picked from is the white pine variety which is safe. Pine trees that are toxic are Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), Yew (Taxus), Norfolk Island Pine (Araucana heterophylla). Be aware of pesticide spraying in your area: some cities spray insecticide against mosquitoes, beetles etc. Do not pick near a roadside that is full of car exhaust fumes. 1. Collect a couple of handfuls of pine needles. Choose younger, softer needles, and discard the dried, brown ones. 2. Wash the pine needles thoroughly, to remove dust and insects. I did not find any bugs, but did wash out some dirt. I washed the needles multiple times just to make sure. 3. Set some water to boil. Turn of the heat. Place the pine needles in the hot water and let steep for five minutes. 4.

Drain the tea into a cup. Let cool. It is now ready to drink. I tasted the tea. The tea taste just like it smells: piney. I did detect a twinge of a mild bitter aftertaste after swallowing the tea. I wasn’t wild about the slight filminess that formed after boiling. I think it may be some residual sap that was on the pine needles. However if you are out in the wilderness, need something warm to drink, and can use the vitamin C, then pine needle tea would hit the spot. I won’t be trading in my Chai tea just yet, but it’s good to know you can find a substitute if I had to. © Apartment Prepper 2012 Many stored foods require water for preparation. Whether bugging out or sheltering in place, you can never have enough clean water for survival: For your water purifier needs, please visit: Handmaiden's Kitchen: Liquid Vitamin C: Dandelion Greens and Pine Needle Tea 1 cup glycerine (available at pharmacies) 1 cup honey 1.

Put the peeled and crushed garlic cloves in a wide-mouthed 2 quart jar [I used my 1 qt jar] Add equal parts apple cider vinegar and pure water until the jar is 3/4 full. Cap the jar loosely and let the mixture stand in a warm place for 4 days. Shake the jar several times a day. 2. Add the glycerine. Shake to blend. Allow the mixture to stand in a warm place for 1 more day, shaking several times. 3. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth or muslin, squeezing to remove all the exhausted bits of garlic. Return the mixture to the jar. Add the honey and stir until thoroughly mixed. Store the garlic syrup in a cool, dry place. Great-grandmother's directions: For coughs, colds, sore throats, bronchial congestion, high or low blood pressure, heart weakness or nervous disorders, take 1 tablespoon of the syrup 3 times a day before meals. **** It'll be ready in a few days. Can't wait to try this! Since I have a tough time taking pills, I wanted to boost my immune system further by taking echinacea and goldenseal and Vitamin C with rose hips.

But I keep gagging on the the Vitamin C tabs. So I went out and gathered dandelion leaves and pine needles. The power guys had been by yesterday cutting off tree limbs to keep the power lines clear, and there were many white pine boughs just lying there for me to use. The dandelion grows all over the place on the lawns by our pond, which are not sprayed with anything. I boiled water, added the dandelion leaves and pine needles, adding a handful of lemon balm for flavor, and let it steep for half and hour. I expected my tea to be quite bitter, as dandelion leaves are bitter until the first fall frost, or so I had read, but it isn't bitter at all! It tastes good--piney and rich. Both dandelion leaves and pine needles are rich in Vitamin C. Dandelion greens also have Vitamin A, Potassium, Phosphorus, calcium, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin. Check out their nutritional portrait here . Liquid vitamin C tea! So if the SHTF, and you can't buy your vitamins, remember where those vitamins came from in the first place: green plants.

Gather up a bunch of vitamin C rich plants and brew yourself a quart or two of tea. In my opinion, it is far better to get your vitamins and minerals from a plant source than from a pill anyway--you get the benefit of the synergy of the whole plant thataway. Making your own medicines doesn't have to be hard or complex. Just go out for a walk and make friends with your common weeds. Hopefully, this cold/bug/whatever will leave me in a day or so. I can't abide feeling sick. Onwards, the only direction there is, Handmaiden

Question: Pine needles are said to be a good source of which vitamin?
Answer: C