A Native American Cure For Scurvy
More Articles Related to HealthAs expert survivors, we take pride in our ability to live where others fail. Sometimes one small detail can make the difference between life and death.
To fully utilize the bountiful resources nature provides requires knowledge and experience. And in any survival environment the best place to get that is from the people who call it home. The following is a case study.
In late 1535, the French explorer Jacques Cartier and his men became ice-bound near present day Quebec, Canada while attempting to sail downriver to the Atlantic Ocean. They built a fort and were forced to hunker down for the long northern winter.
Short on supplies, by December scurvy took a heavy toll and over 50 men died. All of those who managed to hold on to life were so weak as to be of little use in fending off the angry Iroquois Indians who surrounded them. And winter had only just started.
In desperation Cartier sought out the son of an Iroquois Chief, Dom Agaya, and asked him how it was that the Indians stayed healthy while all his own men were falling to scurvy.
Fortunately for Cartier, Dom Agaya shared the secret.
The means of survival for Cartier's men was close at hand the entire time. Dom Agaya simply pulled a few needles from the closest white cedar tree (some say a pine) and boiled them into tea. When Cartier and his men drank this pine tea they almost immediately felt better. Within eight days the entire tree had been stripped bare and all the men were cured of scurvy.
You see, Pine needles contain five times the amount of vitamin C, the cure for scurvy, as lemons.
How to make Pine Tea, the Native American Cure for Scurvy
- Grab a handful of pine needles, about 1/4 cup is all you need.
- Place in boiling water for ten to fifteen minutes.
- Add lemon and honey if available.
- You now have 100% of the US RDA requirement for vitamin C.
Drink up and enjoy your woodsy brew, it tastes and smells like the pine forest from which it came.
So there you have it - as long as there is an evergreen tree handy, the knowledgeable survivor will never suffer from scurvy. And what became of the Indians who helped Jacques Cartier and his men survive that terrible winter of 1535 - 1536? Cartier kidnapped Dom Agaya, his father the Chief, and several others and brought them to France where they died.
So much for helping other people survive.
Netherlands
Philadelphia
Are all pine needles consumable or are there some that we should avoid?
Survival Topics - the needles we are talking about here are from White Pine, Red Pine, the Cedars, perhaps hemlock and spruce. As always, be sure you know how to identify trees and know the needles are edible before you actually consume them.
Brews rich in vitamin C are best made in a stainless or a completely enamelled vessel, not iron ones, because iron tends to destroy vitamin C.
Wyoming
Blue Spruce and junipers are the tastiest IMHO.
Wyoming
When 'helmlock' is mentioned regarding the 'evergreen' it is not to be confused with the, "Water Hemlock" and or "Poison Hemlock" found by and in water and looks like Angelica, Carrots, or parsnips.
Survival Topics: yes, that is correct. The hemlock we refer to here is a tree.
lowman ny
Another very helpful tidbit to put in my speech that i am doing on survival tips.
You are welcome to share this Survival Topic with others. I only request that you use a short blurb (not the entire survival content) and this code to
link to the origional:
crm1945@yahoo.com
In the above recipe: "Add lemon...if available.", would make the pine needles redundant.
Survival Topics - Thank you for pointing this out Chuck. To some extent the more vitamin C the better.