by Ron Foster
Togo and north Ghana natives use the Palmarosa grass for snakebite!
One other interesting reason for its inclusion in our formula was numerous medically documented studies I researched on its use on scabies which is a horrible itchy infectious common skin disease caused by mites under your skin.
Scabies is an infestation of the skin by the human itch mite (Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis). The microscopic scabies mite burrows into the upper layer of the skin where it lives and lays its eggs. The most common symptoms of scabies are intense itching and a pimple-like skin rash. The scabies mite usually is spread by direct, prolonged, skin-to-skin contact with a person who has scabies.
Scabies is found worldwide and affects people of all races and social classes. Scabies can spread rapidly under crowded conditions where close body and skin contact is frequent. Institutions such as nursing homes, extended-care facilities, and prisons are often sites of scabies outbreaks. Child-care facilities also are a common site of scabies infestation. The most common signs and symptoms of scabies are intense itching (pruritus), especially at night and a pimple-like (papular) itchy rash. The itching and rash each may affect much of the body or be limited to common sites such as the wrist, elbow, armpit, webbing between the fingers, nipple, penis, waist, belt-line, and buttocks. The rash also can include tiny blisters (vesicles) and scales. Scratching the rash can cause skin sores; sometimes these sores become infected by bacteria.
Tiny burrows sometimes are seen on the skin; sometimes gray lines are present. these are caused by the female scabies mite tunneling just beneath the surface of the skin. These burrows appear as tiny raised and crooked (serpiginous) grayish-white or skin-colored lines on the skin surface. Because mites are often few in number (only 10-15 mites per person), these burrows may be difficult to find. They are found most often in the webbing between the fingers, in the skin folds on the wrist, elbow, or knee, and on the penis, breast, or shoulder blades.
The head, face, neck, palms, and soles often are involved in infants and very young children but usually not adults and older children.
Persons with crusted scabies may not show the usual signs and symptoms of scabies such as the characteristic rash or itching (pruritus) but are highly contagious and more infested.
Contact generally with the non-scabbed version must be prolonged; a quick handshake or hug usually will not spread scabies. Scabies is spread easily to sexual partners and household members. Scabies in adults frequently is sexually acquired. Scabies sometimes is spread indirectly by sharing articles such as clothing, towels, or bedding used by an infested person.
The scabies rash looks like blisters or pimples: pink, raised bumps with a clear top filled with fluid. Sometimes they appear in a row.
The medical studies concluded Palmarosa oil killed the mites better than most commercial preparations within 30 minutes and the follow-up applications to kill the eggs worked better. It has been used for snakebites also, probably due to its antiseptic properties and combined with other herbs.
Overall, palmarosa is easy to blend with other oils, can be used in cooking and baking as well as an immune booster and a natural detoxing agent.
Generally, palmarosa essential oil is considered completely safe for internal and external use but precaution should always be taken, just in case. Like with most other essential oils, pregnant women should stay away from using the oil on a regular basis or should at least consult a medical professional before using it and definitely stay away from ingesting it in serious doses during your pregnancy. Generally, though, if you use the oil responsibly and in regulated amounts, you should be totally fine.
Moringa oil
Moringa oleifera (Sumana, 2013) has been reported to have anti-snake venom activity in various ethnomedicinal studies.
Moringa oleifera is a plant that has been praised for its health benefits for thousands of years. Moringa is highly nutritious and should be beneficial for people who are lacking in essential nutrients. Also called as the ‘Miracle Tree’, Moringa offers so many benefits and uses that the name is truly apt! Not one, but three types of Vitamin E – α-tocopherol, ϒ-tocopherol and δ-tocopherol- are present in Moringa Oil. Whether applied to the skin or consumed, Vitamin E enhances the immune system and protects the skin from damage.
Cold pressed Moringa oil is rich in ‘good’ cholesterol and phytosterols that offer benefits like controlling cholesterol levels, managing diabetes, anti-inflammatory properties, improving osteoarthritis conditions, improving blood sugar levels and more.
Overall, Moringa contains almost 90 different types of nutrients, around 45 types of antioxidants and proteins, and over 35 anti-inflammatory agents! It is also high in Vitamin C.
Interestingly, several studies in mice and rats have shown that the leaves and seeds of Moringa oleifera may protect against some of the effects of arsenic toxicity. It was also used as an anti-poison before modern medicines replaced its use.
Moringa Oil is used to treat many health and medical conditions. Some of the many conditions include:
Anemia
Arthritis/Joint Pain
Asthma
Cancer
Constipation/Diarrhea
Epilepsy
Diabetes
Heart problems
Headaches
Intestinal spasms/ulcers
Bacterial/Fungal/Viral/Parasitic Infections
Kidney stones
Moringa oil can be easily stored without having to worry about it going bad. It does not get rancid and thus can easily be stored for a long time. Egyptians were known to place Moringa oil vases in their tombs as the oil has a very high oxidative stability. It is probably one of the most stable oils. Consuming Moringa oil is known to have no side effects.
Moringa has blood-clotting properties in its leaves, roots, and seeds that benefit wound healing and can reduce clotting time, which means it reduces the time it takes for scratches, cuts, or wounds to stop bleeding.
Moringa supports brain health and cognitive function because of its antioxidant and neuro-enhancer activities. It's also been tested as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease with favorable preliminary results.
Its’ high content of vitamins E and C fight oxidation that leads to neuron degeneration, improving brain function. It’s also able to normalize the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline in the brain, which play a key role in memory, mood, organ function, responses to stimulus such as stress and pleasure, and mental health, for example in depression and psychosis.
Moringa can reduce liver damage and fibrosis and reverse oxidation in the liver. Moringa oil can also restore liver enzymes to normal levels, reducing oxidative stress, and increasing protein content in the liver.
The liver is responsible for blood detoxification, bile production, fructose metabolism, fat metabolism, and nutrient processing and it can only fulfill these functions with the aid of liver enzymes, so it's vital they stay at normal levels. For instance, lower levels of hepatic enzymes can impair its ability to filter the blood.
Due to its soothing, anti-inflammatory properties, Moringa oil is an ideal sunburn treatment. Gently rubbed into the affected area, it will calm the pain and reduce the inflammation and discomfort. It can also be used in the same way to treat insect bites and stings.
So, there you have it. Whew! Sorry to have to put you through all that meticulous reading. That was a lot of information to cover, let alone get bottled up into one catch all supplement! I hope you found this lengthy but need-to-know information interesting and not too bad of a distraction from the more fictional part of the book. There is a whole lot more to know about the medicinal plants in Woods Walker but you can research more for yourself for specific maladies or further information. This book targeted herbal medicine lesson was very relevant to the readers understanding of what Zack and Ann had to rely on and why they just didn’t depend on wild crafting in their disaster preparations and instead had created the best formulations they could post-co
llapse.
A large part of the reason that I write the way I do is to spread my preparedness message and this information I felt had to get out and allow you to make your own personal medical care plans and research for yourself on medicinal plants whether you have decided to buy the suggested product or not.
As you see from all the examples of there are all sorts of nasty “I want whatever this kind of rash this is off me” infections you can catch. Having a remedy with you could well be needed to combat all sorts of itchy skin conditions you might get in the woods or just because your immunity goes down or a bug bit you. There are all kinds of new and old parasitic and virus-related drug resistant diseases developing and since this is a fictional book, I dare to say having some “plague potion” around to depend on just makes good sense. I have just gotten done explaining lengthily how Zack, Ann and hopefully you, will have something to make ourselves more comfortable and cheat what will be the nonexistent undertakers of the apocalypse a little longer.
So why now the new Trail Master blend? Well Trail Master is not really new, matter of fact, Woods Walker had to be derived from it to make a safer for everybody blend. You see you need to watch what you’re doing with this blend because the herbs in it are not for everybody with certain conditions. If you have any of these conditions, don’t take it and study for yourself why it might interact with your current medications. If you want the most powerful ‘End Of The World’ herbal formulation I could come up with that is safe for people not on medications or have allergies to an ingredient, this it. This highly advanced botanical preparation pretty much covers it all. Now there are more powerful herbs available specific to snakebite but they have side effects and in formulating this I saw no need for their inclusion and think this preparation is superior for overall effectiveness. If you want what I got in my own personal preps, this is it! Basically, look at it as Woods Walker with an army of botanical armored tanks that has herbs acting as generals to direct the constituents and keep order in the ranks.
Chrysanthemum (mum) is a plant. It gets its name from the Greek words for “gold” and “flower.” Chrysanthemum is used to treat chest pain (angina), high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, fever, cold, headache, dizziness, and swelling. In combination with other herbs, chrysanthemum is also used to treat prostate cancer.
• Chrysanthemum can help the body fight off a range of infections including streptococcal and staphylococcal infections.
• The traditional Chinese have used the tea to treat influenza, fevers, inflammations and even heatstroke due to its cooling effect. The herb also helps to correct imbalances that may affect the liver and also helps in dealing with kidney function, thus helping with their treatment.
Some of the compounds in Chrysanthemum are flavonoids like luteolin, apigenin and acacetin, choline, and vitamin B1. It is also a good source of Vitamins C and A, Niacin, Folic acid and Pantothenic acid and is also rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and phosphorus. Chrysanthemum tea can help detoxify blood, regulate blood pressure and calm the nerves. It has antibacterial properties that can be effective against staphylococcus aureus, streptococcus hemolyticus B, dermatomycosis, shigelladysenteriae and the tubercle bacillus.
• A rinse made from the flower can be helpful to treat skin infections
People with known allergies to daisies and asters should avoid chrysanthemum.
St. John’s wort is a member of the genus Hypericum, of which there are 400 species worldwide and a member of the St. John’s wort family: Hypericaceae, aka Tipton’s Weed, Klamath Weed, Achlasen Chaluimchille (gaelic: armpit package of St. Colomba), Fuga Daemonum (scare devil), Goatweed, Johnswort, Chase Devil, Devil’s Flight, Grace of God, Penny John, Balm of the Warrior’s Wound, Devil’s Scourge, Witches Herb, Touch and Heal.
To the Celts, St. John’s Wort was sacred first to St. Colomba, who apparently wore satchels of the plant in his armpit. Colomba’s Armpit Package was considered the luckiest if one found it accidentally.
The early Christian mystics are credited with naming it St. John’s Wort, for it usually bloomed around June 24th, which is considered to be St. John’s Day.
The healing properties of St. John’s Wort have been known in Eurasia for at least 2500 years, being prescribed to patients by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates and the foremost ancient Greek herbalist, Dioscorides. Known then to treat insanity, snake bites (when mixed with wine) and to drive away “bad spirits”.
In the middle ages, crusaders carried St. John’s Wort with them as a talisman against evil sorcery, but also made St. John’s Oil to heal their wounds and for use as a pain reliever. From my research, I’ve gathered the Crusader’s called the plant “Grace of God”.
St. John’s Wort is native to Europe, West Asia, North Africa, Madeira and the Azores, and is naturalized in many parts of the world, notably North America and Australia. The plant spreads rapidly by means of runners or from the prodigious seed production and can invade pastures, disturbed sites, dirt roads, the sides of roads and highways, and sparse woods.
In the western United States, St. John’s Wort is especially prevalent in northern California and southern Oregon, hence one of its common names, “Klamath Weed”. Because of the known photosensitizing properties of the plant, which can be toxic to cows and sheep, it has been considered a pest in some places. Prior to 1949, it was estimated to inhabit 2.34 million acres of rangeland in northern California. For years an attempt was made to control the plant with herbicides, but with little success.
The solution to the problem with St. John’s wort in northern California finally proved to be with biological methods of control, not pesticides. In 1946, the leaf-beetles Chrysolina quadrigemina Rossi, and to a lesser extent C. hyperici Forst, were introduced from Australia, where it had been observed that they had a voracious appetite for Hypericum. Their appetite proved to be so voracious, in fact, that by 1957 northern California’s stands of St. John’s wort were reduced to only 1% of their original number.
St. John’s Wort plants make an oil infusion that in its finished state is clear and ruby red and can be added to salves and ointments for topical application or other uses. Its medicinal functions are as an astringent (tightens tissues; used to check bleeding, diarrhea, etc.), anti-inflammatory, vulnerary (heals internal or external wounds), and sedative (calms the nerves) (Tilford 1993).
The Cherokee people used Common St. John’s Wort for many medicinal needs including: to stop menstruation; for bowel complaints; when crushed and sniffed to stop nosebleeds; as a milky substance it was rubbed on sores; used for venereal disease; used in a wash to give babies strength; as a poultice for snake bites (Moerman 1986)
Several noted English herbalists, reflecting the general beliefs of their time, wrote very favorably of the virtues of St. John’s Wort. For instance, Gerard (ca. 1600), tells of the ointment he made of the plant as being a “most precious remedy for deepe wounds”, and adds that “there is not a better natural balsam….to cure any such wound”.
Culpeper (ca. 1650), who was fond of ascribing astrological signs to medicinal herbs, says that Hypericum "is under the celestial sign Leo, and the dominion of the Sun." He goes on to say that "it is a singular wound herb, healing inward hurts or bruises," and that as an ointment "it opens obstructions, dissolves swelling and closes up the lips of wounds." Also, he claims it is good for those who "are bitten or stung by any venomous creature, and for those that cannot make water"--which use modern science confirms--and adds that the plant helps with "sciatica, the falling sickness and the palsy"
King, in his Dispensatory (1876), mentions its use in urinary affections, diarrhea, worms, jaundice, menorrhagia, hysteria, nervous imbalances with depression, and its usual external applications, including the use of the saturated tincture as a substitute for arnica, in bruises. In the later Felter-Lloyd revision of King’s Dispensatory, tincture of St. John’s Wort, in a dose of 10-30 drops mixed with 4 ounces of water, taken in teaspoonful doses every 1-2 hours, is pr
escribed for spinal irritation, shocks, concussions, puncture wounds, and hysteria.
anti-depressant
anti-viral
anti-fungal