Pine Needle Tea

ack in 2004, I posted Chapter 4 of Meditopia, which includes a special section entitled, "A Short History of Scurvy And the Suppression of Hypoascorbemia." A major point of the work is that most people are suffering from this condition, "hypoascorbemia" -- that is to say, subclinical Vitamin C deficiency. Few people appreciate this, and most doctors are oblivious.

Chapter 4, Section 3 discusses the historical use of pine needles to cure what we would now call Vitamin C deficiency:

The time frame within which the scurvy is usually thought in the West as having been an epidemiological problem is roughly sixteenth to eighteenth century, but the many of the important parts of the story can be found outside these chronological boundaries.
Vogel begins his work by retelling of Jacques Cartier and the bitter winter of 1535-36. [ 4 ] His three ships were frozen in the St. Lawrence River, near what is now Montreal, and with four feet of ice beneath them and the extinction of fresh food within the ship holds. Scurvy soon set in so severely that by mid-March, 25 men had died, and within the remainder, only "three or foure" men were not so ill as to be considered hopeless. However, with the help of a local Indian chief, Domagaia, (who had himself once cured himself of scurvy -- a questionable appendage to the story, since scurvy was almost unheard of among the Indians), "the juice and sappe of a certain Tree," saved the remaining men.
The branches from this "magical tree" were first gathered and then "boiling bark and leaves for a decoctain, and placing the dregs upon the legs." All those who were treated "rapidly recovered their health and the Frenchmen marveled at the curative skill of the natives." We now know that the CURE used was nothing more than hemlock or white pine.
Far from being a obscure story, it is James Lind, himself, credited in the West with "discovering" the dietary basis for curing scurvy (which we'll review in a moment), who launched his experiments proving thus, but only AFTER he read of Cartier's account. [ 5 ]

Pine Needles & Shikimic Acid

Recently, interest in pine needles, specifically the common practice of making tea from the needles using decoction with boiled water, has been renewed. The focus now, however, has been on the use of pine needle tea to take advantage of its high shikimic acid content, which has unique medical properties, but which must be taken with care.

Shikimic acid is not the only source of shikimic acid. In fact, commercial grade shikimic acid is usually made from Chinese star anise -- from which we sell the essential oil.

The most prominent discussions now about shikimic acid center on its ability to halt spike protein transmission, a problem now arising as an integral part of the current vaccine rollout. In fact, it is the spike proteins that are reportedly causing vascular damage in those receiving the injections. Some are suggesting that shikimic acid be used as a form of protection by the unvaccinated from those who have any one of the current approved mRNA vaccine, which noted virologist, Dr. Judy Mikovits has indicated could kill millions. The noted nutritional authority, David Wolf, has gone so far as to incorporate pine needle tea into a long laundry list of natural products which he recommends that people take if they wish to protect themselves from vaccinated people who are shedding the dreaded spike proteins.

Our Conclusion: From my reading of the literature, I believe it is premature to push pine needle tea as an mRNA vaccine panacea. As of this writing, the vaccines haven't even been out for a year. Pine needle tea should be consumed because of its well-established properties -- medical properties that have been known and accepted for centuries. When more convincing literature is made available, we will publish it on our website.