Sassafras

Every spring I start out my spring house cleaning with me. I put a tablespoonful of Sassafras root into a kettle along with water and simmer it for a while. As this reddish-brown root simmers, the volatile oils permeate my house. When it has simmer for a while (So what is a while, maybe half an hour to a whole hour.) I allow it to cool enough for me to sip on it. Dr. Christopher mentioned that while it is hot it will act as a diaphoretic. Sometimes that is needed in a spring house cleaning to get all the skin pores cleaned out.

Everything I have read about this herb talks about using it to mask disagreeable and bitter tastes of other herbs by combining it with them. I have to tell you that of itself, it is not a wonderful tasting herb. It has the smell and taste of varnish. I do a lot of woodworking and I know what varnish smells like, have never tasted it but if it has a taste that is what it would taste like. (Although coffee smells great but doesn't have that great taste.)

Sassafras does more than just taste strangely. It goes to work to help the body in many ways. According to Dr. John R. Christopher founder of the School of Natural Healing, It is "an antidote for poisoning by acid or alkaline corrosives." He also mentioned that it kills protozoa, a single celled parasite that we can pick up from just about anywhere. Gardeners pick them up a lot.

Sassafras contains tannic acids, gums, albumen, starch, lignin, resin, wax, heavy and light volatile oils, camphorous matter and salts.

Dr. Christopher mentions all the things that it is capable of handling, such as: Skin diseases, rheumatism, scrofula, impure blood, syphilis, poison-ivy, poison- oak, tobacco poisoning, colds, amenorrhea, ophthalmia (Inflamed eyes), spasms, pain in the heart region, colic, flatulence, problems of the kidneys, bladder, chest & throat, and as a tonic after childbirth.

Dr. C. says that "it is a blood purifier. The safrole is a trace mineral extremely important and will clean the heart, arteries, veins and cut cholesterol while giving elasticity to the veins. It is to be used ONLY IN ITS WHOLESOME STATE of Sassafras Bark Tea. The safrole should never be used alone but as a whole plant. It is very good in a tea for edema as it steps up the circulation and makes the heart sound."

According to Jethro Kloss author of BACK TO EDEN, the oil of Sassafras is excellent for toothaches and is a great external wash for varicose ulcers. He also recommended it as a tonic for stomach and bowels.

Looks like I could be using this many times a year instead of just in the spring.

Let's jump back to the word WHOLESOME. A lot of chemicals are found in "health food stores" but they are not the whole herb, they are just one of the chemicals that someone thought was most active. When we pull things apart, we start to get side effects. When we use the whole herb, all of the constituents that comprise this plant work together to help us heal without side effects.

Everyone that talked about this herb had warnings about it. Dr. C. says, "Do not use over 6 weeks at a time, change to another like it, maybe Morman Tea or Red Clover Tea." Kloss on the other hand, mentions that it should be taken for no more than a week and he recommends it being taken as a tincture in water.

Now we get to have a look at the other side of this. There was a Lilly Distinguished Professor of Pharmacognosis at Purdue University. I have Dr. Varro E. Tyler's book HERBS OF CHOICE and I always check to see what he has to say coming from the Pharmaceutical perspective. Sometimes I believe that he is against all herbs but let's see what he had to say about Sassafras. "Sassafras root contains 5 to 9 % safrole shown to be a carcinogenic in rats and mice." He mentions that in 1976 the FDA prohibited its sale. He said that it is "Not safe" and compared it to Comfrey, Coltsfoot, Borage and Mistletoe. (I will be writing about some of these later. One of my favorites is Comfrey.) He mentioned that "Sarsaparilla and Sassafras are ineffective and dangerous."

You don't think that they tested only one of the chemicals on rats, namely Safrole and found that alone it is dangerous? Again I want to stress only using WHOLE plants and herbs to give the body what it needs to repair itself.

I checked Nova Scotia Museum's Poison Plant Database and could not find Sassafras listed.

I decided to check Dr. James A. Duke's Database on this and found 33 different components in the roots of Sassafras. He had many more in the leaves and stems of this plant but because I use only the roots, that is what I am writing about. With all the good stuff that these 33 things do such as being; antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, (I even found antistreptococcic), antisalmonella, antiviral, cancerpreventive, candidicide, cardioprotective and as a vasodilator; I would say that these are some heavy stuff. I did find four things that would make this an herb "a not to take while pregnant."

We have heard from all the "good guys" and as you can see, even they don't recommend anyone staying on Sassafras for a long period of time. I try to put both sides in my writings and think it is time to simmer some Sassafras tea for me to sip on today.

Before I finish this writing, I remembered that I had heard of Sassafras as being a blood thinner but haven't been able to confirm this as of yet. The most that I can find out is that in the spring, this plant puts out chemicals that thin the blood but in the fall its chemicals tend to thicken the blood. When buying Sassafras at a health food store, are you getting spring root or fall root?

Always use your good judgment. If you have a health care provider that suggests something, do the research and find out all you can about whatever they have suggested. We have become a society that wants someone else to be responsible for us and our health. We need to take back that power and help ourselves. I write these articles to give you more information so that you can make good decisions for your health and the health of your families.