There has been a lot of talk about getting jabbed with needles to aid in the global pandemic of the coronavirus Covid-19. Vaccinations have been a remarkable blessing in the control of a lot of serious diseases over the years. Smallpox, polio, tetanus, diphtheria, mumps, and a number of other diseases are now practically unheard of because folks got poked with a vaccine when they were kids.
In fact, many countries have developed so much herd immunity through vaccination against these diseases that some folks are starting to feel that the potential vaccine side effects may be riskier than the chance of ever getting exposed to the disease. A solid argument could certainly be made that the odds of having a bad reaction to a vaccine may be higher than the odds of a kid ever meeting someone that has polio or mumps, which again are diseases that only stopped bothering us because a vaccine exists.
Because I’m a veterinarian, people often ask me whether they should apply that same sort of thinking to answer the question of whether they should vaccinate their pets. I always tell them that ALL dogs and cats live in the equivalent of a third-world country where there is no running water, soap, or bathrooms and that all of their doggy friends just poop in their front yard. So, that’s a completely different dynamic and yes…you need to vaccinate your dog or cat if he ever goes outside.
I do have some clients that haven’t vaccinated their pets and have used herbs to protect them. This is certainly feasible, but it requires some pretty strict lifestyle management for the critters so they don’t get sick. While I’m on the subject, I’d strongly recommend that you not vaccinate your dog with a shot you got from a feed store. I can’t tell you how many parvovirus cases I’ve seen in dogs over the years that were vaccinated with feed store vaccines. But I digress…
Let’s get back to human vaccination…
In some cases, vaccination is less effective. For example, if you get a polio vaccine, you’re done and you ain’t gettin’ polio. But there is a new influenza vaccine every year! And why is that? Because the influenza virus has a very high mutation rate and every year the vaccine you got last year is pretty useless against the new strain. Unfortunately, coronaviruses like SARS and Covid-19 are prone to mutation as well. Though the Covid-19 pandemic just started a year or so ago, we are already seeing some new variants of the bug. For some of those variants, the vaccine will probably provide protection. For others, it likely won’t.
Are the new COVID-19 vaccines safe? Probably.
There is some incorrect information out there on the internet about how dangerous the vaccines are. Like most other topics, it’s easy to find blog articles or videos that say exactly what one wants to believe. Some are saying that the new vaccines will re-write your DNA or that individuals vaccinated with the new vaccines will shed viruses or spike proteins that will endanger others. As a fellow with a doctorate in veterinary medicine (which, incidentally, is vastly more focused on infectious disease control than human medicine) I can assure you that there is no biological basis for those concerns with an mRNA vaccine. They just don’t work that way. Read This Article. It’s written in regular English and explains how mRNA vaccines work. This isn’t to say that we have conclusive proof that there are no other risks to the vaccine. Only time will tell on that. But the science saying that it can’t re-write your DNA or cause viral or spike protein shedding is solid.
So, should you get a Covid-19 vaccine? Good question.
So, why would you get the vaccine? Well, some folks are at pretty high risk of dying from Covid. They should probably get a shot to hedge their bets or completely limit their exposure to other humans (which isn’t much fun…humans are nice to have around). Other folks are required by their employers to get the vaccine. While I find this pretty inappropriate on a number of levels, it is what it is, and paying the bills is a good idea too. Some folks should also get the vaccine to protect high-risk loved ones they have contact with.
Personally, I think the day will come when the gummint requires folks to have proof of vaccination in order to attend public gatherings of more than a few people. Is that appropriate? Nope. Is it a titch tyrannical? Yup. But there was a smart fellow from Nazareth a long time ago that said “Agree with thine adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee unto the judge, and the judge deliver thee unto the officer and thou be cast into prison” (Matt 5:25). In other words, choose your battles. If you want to go to church, a high school basketball game, or get on an airplane in the near future, I’m betting they’ll require the shot.
The whole issue has much too much polarity. My advice would be if folks want to get the vaccine, love them and hug them. If they don’t want to get the vaccine, love them too.
But wait…weren’t we going to talk about another kind of needle?
Yup we were! Sorry about that…I got off on a bit of a tangent with the whole needle thing. :0)
Pine trees, like doctors, also have lots of needles. And the pine needles have some wonderful attributes in the fight against Covid-19 (as well as influenza, HIV, and several other viruses).
Pine needles contain some wonderful compounds such as PC6, PC7 and Resveratrol. All three of these chemicals have profound effects on limiting viral attachment to cells and interfering with viral replication. Resveratrol also suppresses cytokines which can cause the deadly cytokine storms that kill some folks with Covid. The needles are also good for coughs and are a pretty good expectorant for getting goobers out of the lungs.
Pine needles also contain lots of vitamin C and other antioxidants and immune stimulants. There is also a chemical in pine called shikimic acid which is actually one of the ingredients used in the production of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu. Needles can be harvested any time of year.
The inner bark of the pine has similar properties but doesn’t taste as good and is more astringent (so it puckers you up more). The inner bark of pine also makes a very good liniment for muscle and joint pain. It can also be used topically for wounds as it has some good antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties.
The sap, or pitch of pine is medicinal too but has much narrower safety margins so I wouldn’t recommend it internally. It is good for pulling slivers out of your skin though. Just warm it a bit, stick it to the sliver and, when it cools, rip it off like a bandaid. It’ll often pull the sliver out.
The pollen of pine trees has some really good properties as well…especially for men. Pine pollen is chock full of phytoandrogens (that’s doctor talk for plant testosterone). Yup. Taking pine pollen can significantly increase testosterone levels in men. So, if you’re getting a little older and the testosterone levels are dropping, take some pine pollen. Pine pollen also enhances immunity and is good for high cholesterol and arthritis pain. So how the heck do you harvest pine pollen? You just put a brown paper bag over the end of the branch in the spring when the rascals are trying to make babies. Whack the bag a few times and you’ll have a bunch of yellow powder in the bag.
There are a few pine-like evergreens that have similar properties like spruce and fir. There are also some evergreens that are deadly poison. The most common poison one is Yew (Taxus spp.). Yew has flat, dark green leaves and red berries and is REALLY poisonous. So, naturally, yew is the only one in the bunch that modern medicine has adopted as a drug. They’re adorable. Yew is made into a nasty chemotherapy drug for killing tumors. Don’t you take yew…you’ll croak! You also shouldn’t use Norfolk pine (Araucaria heterophylla). It’s native to the southern hemisphere but is often sold as a houseplant. Oh…and don’t ever use your Christmas tree. Those rascals are treated with tons of chemicals.
Don’t take pine if you’re pregnant. And don’t take it for long periods of time or it can irritate your kidneys. Otherwise, it’s very safe.
So, there you have it. Another needle that can help you fight Covid-19 and a bunch of other respiratory viruses…and it doesn’t poke nearly as badly. :0)
– Doc Jones
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– Autumn Is Basically Here –
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Do you have a book on herbs for cats and dogs?
No, not currently!
No spoilers or anything… but stay tuned for an announcement of something this winter 😉
Super glad there’s a voice of reason out here! Thanks Doc
P.S. I’m buying a respiratory kit immediately
WOW!!! I knew pine had a lot of vitamin C, it makes sense that it does so much for respiratory diseases!!!! 🙂
How do you use the pine tincture?
Check Out The Info & Dosing Page on The Pine Tincture:
https://homegrownherbalist.net/product/pine-needle-tincture/#tab-additional_information
I have definitely heard a lot of ppl saying the shedding and other things about the vaccine, i didnt know what to believe, so thank you 4 sharing this info with me
Do you make the tincture the same way. Dry the needles, grind up, and 5 to 1 ratio w vodyka?
yep that’s exactly right!
Thanks Doc!!
any difference between pins we have mostly ponderosa here ?
If it’s in the genus Pinus, it’ll have very similar properties. Even spruce and fir are said to have similar properties but I haven’t had a chance to try those two personally.
Great info! I didn’t realize that pine needles contain resveratrol–good to know! The first time our son’s then-girlfriend-now-wife visited our home I made pine needle cookies. I broke her in softly to my being a fringy herbalist. 😉
Always love your posts. Hope you and your wife have recovered and are well.
God bless!
They must have been good cookies if she married him. :0)
LOL– Very true!
What about pine needle tea? My 9 year old son really wants to do something with his pine needles!
People have used it that way for millennia. The tea works great and tastes better than the tincture. It doesn’t matter very much what form we use to get herbs into our bodies. Once they’re in there, they know what to do.
Thank you Doc Jones! Passed the blog and article on as well. I have a friend with COPD and takes a lot of Albuterol throughout the day to clear the lungs. Obviously this isnt going away so would it be ok to drink a cup of pine needle tea for the long term?
Pine has no drug interactions that I’m aware of but I’m not a pharmacist or your friend’s physician so can’t really give recommendations of that sort. :0)
When will the Female Endometrium Tincture be back in stock? Will this help reduce the risk of endometrial cancer for those with high risk?
Hi Caryn,
The Endometrium formula is here: https://homegrownherbalist.net/product/female-endometrium-tincture/
It isn’t intended to address endometrial cancer.
I understand it is only safe to use the white pine needles and not those from yellow pine. Blue/green spruce and Douglas fir are suppose to be safe. Any thoughts? Also which vodka do you recommend? Everclear or 80 proof? Thank-you for this posting.
Most of the research has been done on white pine and red pine. I use red pine for my work because that’s the one I have growing on my place. Fir and spruce have been used similarly by folks for millennia but there hasn’t been specific research on them.
Pine tincture – such good stuff! I was heading out the door to go to Eastern Washington with my son, leaving the wet and moldy coast behind. I’d been sneezing a lot the last couple days and thought I might be coming down with something so grabbed the pine and chaga tinctures as well as “Cold Away” powder and “Histamine” powder, climbed in his truck and away we went! I took a small swig (figured about 1 tsp) of pine and another of the chaga. Then went to put some of the powder “Cold Away” in my water bottle and spilled a little powder and was trying to wipe off my pants. At this point he asked what I was doing and pulled over and did I know I was doing something illegal – drinking with an open bottle of booze in the car and now looked like I was getting ready to toke another substance? His comment, “The police are going to think you are a real stoner.” What a comedy show. I was just trying to take some herbs! I did get them into me, though, and took them for the next day. No more sneezing or cold symptoms! Stuff worked like a charm.
Once you have the spring pine pollen powder in the brown bag, what do you do next? Dosage? Encapsulate? Sprinkle on food? 73 yr old Husband is on cholesterol and blood pressure meds.
Herbs don’t care how we get them into our bodies. You can put the pollen into a smoothie, put it into capsule, make a tincture or spread it on your peanut butter sandwich etc…Ok, so I haven’t tried it on peanut butter sandwiches, but you get the idea.
About a teaspoon a day is the usual serving. It’s good to take a day or two off every couple of weeks.
This is such an interesting post. I’m reading it so late. I actually don’t agree with some of the info in here (not on the herbs, on the other stuff), but at the same time I’m finding it a relief to hear a balance:) from someone I thoroughly trust. That whole round of division was about more than the medicine involved, you know? So my family’s reasons for caution were coming from the battle that is not of the flesh–our long-term rights being more important than our immediate basketball games, etc. God bless you! I am forever grateful for the wisdom you share!