Stinging Nettle, one of the most popular plants to herbalists, foragers, and gardeners alike! There is so much to celebrate. It's good to eat, very nutritious, and makes fantastic tea!

However, some might say that stinging nettle has a darker side and that if harvested too late, could cause kidney stones.

Is there any truth to this claim? Join us and we will uncover the truth behind this herban myth!

We hear about vitamin C all the time, especially these days! We often hear the term ascorbic acid and would see it if we looked at the ingredients of most of our vitamin C supplements. The thought may have crossed your mind--are these the same thing?

If you do a quick google search, you'll end up with a whole slew of conflicting information! In this episode, we set the record straight!

Is vitamin C the same thing as ascorbic acid? Let's find out!

Mucilaginous is one of those words that sounds like the thing it refers to! If you don't know what we're talking about, next time you're at the grocery store, pick up some okra, soak them in cold water, and see what happens next!

What about the herbal term demulcent? Is it related to mucilage? How are they used in modern and traditional context? And is it really best to extract mucilage in cold water?

Find out and more in this episode!

Is it possible to make a viable Tamiflu alternative with Sweetgum? As the claim goes - the infertile seeds of Sweetgum contain a large amount of the chemical shikimic acid which is used as the precusor in the synthesis of oseltamivir (Tamiflu).

Does that mean that it might work like Tamiflu? Let's find out!

Resources:

Full In-Depth Article

YouTube Video

Timestamps:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:00) - What is Sweetgum (Liquidambar spp.)
• (02:00) - Historical Context of Sweetgum medicinally
• (03:35) - Introduction of the DIY Tamiflu Myth
• 04:50 - Can we use Sweetgum as a viable DIY Tamiflu Substitute
• 05:20 - How we heard about the Myth and believed it!
• 06:50 - Details of the claim
• 07:50 - Introduction of Shikimic Acid
• 10:00 - Is Shikimic Acid the Active Ingredient in Tamiflu?
• 12:13 - Comparing Plants to Chemicals
• 13:32 - What is Tamiflu?
• 15:00 - Neuraminidase Inhibitors
• 26:45 - Is Shikimic Acid a Neuraminidase Inhibitor?
• 29:20 - What it takes to synthesize Tamiflu
• 32:00 - What does Shikimic Acid do in plants?
• 34:50 - Is there another way Shikimc Acid might be anti-viral?
• 35:30 - Spotting a bad scientific paper
• 40:00 - The Problem with Focusing on single Chemicals in Herbs
• 44:00 - History of Use with Sweetgum
• 50:49 - The one mention of the use of gum ball we found...
• 1:00:00 - What part is best to use?
• 1:01:00 - Traditionally validated use of Sweetgum
• 1:02:00 - Pillars of Evidence
• 1:04:45 - The difficulty from the Placebo effect
• 1:06:20 - Ranking different forms of evidence
• 1:08:40 - Google searching for herbal information
• 1:09:45 - The point of this podcast
• 1:12:20 - Wrap up

Does St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) actually help with mild to moderate depression?

The herb has an incredibly long history of use, but modern studies and uses have centered around its purported efficacy with depression.

In this episode we'll explore its earliest uses and how they may have led to the modern one, the chemistry behind this plant and where its effects may be coming from, a meta analysis of many clinical studies, and finally contraindications that you need to know before starting to take St. John's Wort.

Is it a myth or a medicine? Let's find out...

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 01:00 - Scope of Episode
• 01:20 - Caveats and Helpful Links
• 02:14 - History of use of St. John's Wort
• 14:20 - Etymology
• 20:40 - Modern Uses of St. John's Wort in Herbalism
• 23:48 - Chemical constituents of St. John's Wort
• 36:20 - Clinical Studies of St. John's Wort
• 49:30 - Our Experience using St. John's Wort
• 54:22 - Important Drug Interactions and Contraindications
• 01:03:15 - Final Takeaways