Oak

Oak, Oak, the Mighty Oak. How many poems have been written about, "The Mighty Oak?" How many stories revolve around "The Mighty Oak?" The magic of Oak is not just for legends, "the Mighty Oak" is for health as well.

It is the inner bark of the oak that we use mainly for health. Oak Bark is astringent, antiseptic, and tonic. These are the properties that Dr. John Christopher of the School of Natural Healing used to tighten teeth. He put a strip of the inner bark of the Oak between the teeth and gums and left it there. Not only did this tighten the teeth but the gums absorbed nutrition from the bark. (We are aware that nutrition can be absorbed through the skin.) He suggested that if this was done regularly, the gums would not recede. He stated that receding gums is not an old age problem as we have been lead to believe but the lack of nutrition to this area.

As for the antiseptic properties, Dr. Christopher felt that one could use a wash of Oak Bark tea along with the strips of bark or capsules to correct pyorrhea.

He also mentioned in one of his lectures about the high content of absorbable Calcium in Oak Bark. This is why he put it in his "Bones, Flesh and Cartilage" (BF&C) formula. All plants have calcium. They build with it. The wood in your house is made from their calcium deposits and the other minerals that they had. Every time you eat a plant, you are taking in calcium. If you have a diet that consists of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds, you are getting calcium. We really get all the calcium that we need in our diet if we are eating properly but we lose so much due to an improper diet of sugar and having our bodies in the condition where they aren't able to utilize or absorb the nutrition that is available.

Oak Bark is designed to utilize the calcium that is in it by containing all the trace minerals that are needed. Dr. Christopher knew that we were not getting all these trace minerals, so he created an "Herbal Calcium Formula" that is made up of Horsetail grass, Oat straw, Nettle and Lobelia herb to support mineral absorption.

I decided to find out how this would work. Over the past few years I have changed my diet to limit my intake of sugar. According to Dr. Christopher, sugar pulls calcium out of the body. I found that when I had some sugar (Birthday Cake, etc.) I would have leg cramps during the night. I knew that meant a calcium loss. So after any intake of sugar, I would supplement my body with a couple cups of Oak Bark tea or some capsules with Oak Bark in them and like magic, I didn't have leg-cramps.

A couple of books that I have read mention that oak bark has a bitter taste. I have not found this to be true. I remember one time while I was buying some bulk Oak Bark at Outpost Natural Foods, a lady asked me what it tasted like. I was stumped for a little while and then it came to me. It tastes like sawdust. This took me back to my childhood when my sisters and I used sawdust as pretend food in our doll house. (A rather pleasant memory.)

The useful properties of Oak Bark can be extracted easily in both water and spirits.

This tea is great at correcting mucus situations in the body, thus it is helpful for sinus congestion and postnasal drip, etc. Oak Bark tea can also be applied to any open sore and wrapped. This reduces swelling.

Due to its astringent properties, the tea can also be used in sitz baths for hemorrhoids and prolapsed rectum. It stops bleeding both externally and internally.

Dr. Christopher talked about using Oak Bark as a paint on varicose veins. He mentioned that one could simmer the bark in water while reducing the water and then adding more bark until it was the consistency of lacquer. This could be painted on the legs or where ever needed and the body would use it to handled the problems. This would be repeated often as it was absorbed.

Many Oak trees create galls or growths to deal with insects that bother them. These galls are super high in astringent properties and can be used where the skin needs to be tightened. A tincture of oak galls can be used to arrest bleeding from nose bleeds to hemorrhoids. An infusion is wonderful as a gargle to relax the throat and for inflamed tonsils.

Oak Bark is known to expel worms and parasites from the body. It is also know to be antiviral and antioxidant.

Herbalists have used all parts of the oak from the acorn to the leaves for various purposes.

American Indians used the fruit of the tree as food. By rinsing the tannins out of the pulped acorns with many rinses, it was a ready food. They also would take a hunk of bark and put the inner bark part next to a wound, then wrap the area and continue on their way. This allowed the inner bark to start the healing. According to Dr. James Duke, Oak Bark is very high in antibacterial properties and quite high in anti-inflammatory properties, perfect for starting the healing process.

As you can see "The Mighty Oak" has earned its reputation as a MIGHTY HEALER.