Want to know what are the health benefits of pine buds and how to use pine buds at home? Continue reading and find out.
By the end of winter, the pine trees begin to accumulate a tremendous natural reserve of vitamins and minerals on the tips of their branches. Now, in the spring months, pine buds are loaded with everything the human body needs for health maintenance and healing. That is phytochemicals, essential oils, and terpenes, namely pinene, limonene, and silvestrene. Pine buds also contain resins, bitter principles, pinitol, coniferoside, vitamin C, flavonoids, tocopherol (vitamin E), carotene, trace elements (Fe, Cu, Al), and phytoncides. Now let’s get straight to the health benefits of pine buds.
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Health Benefits of Pine Buds
Closely related to fir, pine is richer in resin than fir and has greater therapeutic power. Its buds, which appear almost simultaneously with those of the fir tree, are an amazing collection of healing substances with disinfectant, detoxifying, kidney stimulant, and general rejuvenating effects. Pine buds are traditionally used as a remedy for respiratory infections (bronchitis, tracheitis, laryngitis), as well as urinary tract infections, but also as a natural disinfectant, diuretic, expectorant, and anti-inflammatory. In addition, the health uses of pine buds are also known when it comes to:
- cystitis, small kidney stones, and nephritis
- joint pain (rheumatoid arthritis)
- ovarian insufficiency (adjuvant in primary and secondary sterility in women)
- neuralgia
- wounds healing and prevention of infections
- irritated and skin redness
These are the most important health benefits of pine buds, but there are others yet to be discovered by medical science and even naturopaths.
How to Harvest Pine Buds
The pine buds are harvested in the spring from mature pine trees, from the side branches that you can easily reach. Please be good and caring with nature, and do not jeopardize the life of young pine trees by harvesting their buds, especially by picking the buds from the top branches. Always look for mature pine trees for this operation. Never, ever harvest from young pine trees, and never pick the buds from the very top branches.
How to Preserve Pine Buds
Pine buds take a longer period to dry compared to pine needles (you can read more about pine needle tea here). Spread them in a thin layer, at a room temperature of up to 20 degrees C, so that the therapeutic qualities, vitamins, and enzymes are not lost during the drying process. In order not to prevent pine buds from catching mold, move them around twice a day or dry them on wooden frames wrapped in gauze or linen. Once dried, store the pine buds in paper bags or tightly closed jars in a dry place.
The fresh pine buds can be stored in paper bags and kept in the refrigerator for 7-10 days, during which they can be consumed as such, to regulate the appetite, disinfect the mouth, and refreshen breath. Eat 5-6 buds, on an empty stomach, 15 minutes before a meal. You can also preserve the pine buds in the freezer to be used fresh at any given time.
2 Medicinal Recipes with Pine Buds
1. Pine Buds Syrup Recipe
In a glass jar or, better, in a clay pot with a lid, alternately put a layer of pine buds, and a layer of raw honey (each about two fingers thick), until you reach the mouth of the container. The last layer is honey. Seal the jar or pot and leave it in a dark and cool place, or bury it in the ground for four to eight weeks. Then strain the pine buds syrup and pour it into amber bottles. The health benefits of pine buds syrup and amazing, due to its diuretic, depurative, and anti-inflammatory properties.
2. Pine Buds Tincture Recipe
Put fifteen tablespoons of finely chopped pine buds in a glass jar, then add 2 tablespoons of pine resin and a glass and a half of 90-degree food alcohol, undiluted. Seal the jar and leave the contents to macerate for ten days, then strain the tincture. Pour the pine tincture into small, amber bottles.
8 Health Benefits of Pine Buds with Remedies
1. Respiratory Tract Conditions
In Romanian folk medicine, the juice from pine buds and young shoots is traditionally used as a medicine for strengthening blood vessels, kidneys, and the whole body. It is also used to cure tuberculosis, bronchial asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, and tracheitis. Here is how you can prepare this healing juice at home.
Wash the pine buds and shoots in cold water, dry them on a towel, and cut them into small pieces. Put everything in a large 5-liter jar, alternating a layer of pine buds and a layer of sugar or raw honey (preferred). Cover and leave the jar for 12 hours, then mix the contents with a wooden spoon. Then tie the mouth of the jar with a linen or cotton cloth and place it into direct sunlight for the following 10 days.
Strain the pine buds juice and store it in glass bottles (not plastic) and consumed it on an empty stomach. The dose for an adult is two tbsp a day, while children can have one tbsp a day. This is one of the least-known health benefits of pine buds.
2. Cystitis, Small Kidney Stones, and Nephritis
These conditions of the urinary tract and kidneys can be treated with pine buds tincture, as follows. The dose is one tsp of pine buds tincture diluted in a cup of water, 3-4 times a day. A cure lasts 10 days and can be resumed as many times as needed. If your kidneys are sensitive to sudden weather changes, or you are prone to cystitis, better prepare this tincture ahead of time, so that you always have it at hand. This is one of the most amazing health benefits of pine buds.
3. Rheumatoid Arthritis
Follow a cure with pine buds syrup diluted in spring water, of which you drink 1-2 liters per day. After 1-2 weeks of this delicious treatment, you may see amazing results, especially when combined with hot baths with a decoction of young pine branches. To prepare this decoction, boil 3-4 handfuls of pine branch tips for five minutes in five liters of water, strain, and add it to your hot bathwater.
4. Ovarian Insufficiency
Take 10-15 teaspoons of pine buds syrup daily over the course of at least 30 days. At the same time, if you also have problems such as adnexitis, or kidney infections, take sitz baths/vaginal douches with young pine branch decoction of young pine branches (see directions above), as often as possible. Studies have shown that the essential oils and phytohormones in pine have a strong effect on stimulating the sexual organs, and even restoring fertility in many cases. This remedy is also an adjuvant in primary and secondary sterility in women, which is one of the health benefits of pine buds.
5. Neuralgia
Have 4-5 teaspoons of undiluted pine buds syrup on an empty stomach. In addition, apply a compress with pine buds tincture to the affected area, and keep it on for 15 minutes. If the neuralgia is caused by a sensitivity to cold, hold a hot water bottle or a buoy over the compress. This is one of the less-known health benefits of pine buds. For lumbar pain in particular, have one teaspoon of pine buds syrup, three times a day, for two to three weeks.
6. Weight Loss
A very interesting weight loss cure is consuming 2-3 fresh pine buds five minutes before each meal of the day. Very rich in resin, with a strong aromatic taste, chewing on pine buds for a longer period of time cuts appetite and regulates hunger. All you have to do to see results is to be patient and chew on pine buds before every meal. Beware, sometimes they have a not very pleasant bitter taste, but they have almost miraculous appetite-regulating virtues. This is definitely one of the least-known health benefits of pine buds.
7. Wound Healing
For the rapid healing of wounds and for the prevention of infections, apply pine bud tincture to the affected area. Before using the tincture, clean the wound very well with a cotton pad soaked in the tincture, then drip the tincture directly from the bottle on the wound. Continue bathing the wound in this tincture until you a cicatrizing layer forms over the wound, which is due to the pine resin that the tincture contains. This is one of the most amazing health benefits of pine buds.
8. Irritated Skin and Skin Redness
Apply a mask made of pine bud syrup directly to the affected area in a thin layer, and leave it on for 15 minutes. Remove the mask with a cotton swab soaked in milk and leave the skin to dry in the open air, without washing it with water. Resume daily until the skin is soothed and the unnatural redness is gone.
In addition, drink a warming pine buds tea, which you can prepare as follows. Steep 25 g of pine buds in 1/2 cup of boiling water for two hours. Strain, add 25 g of honey, and drink 5-6 spoons of this healing tea a day. This tea is especially effective for skin dermatoses caused by metabolic disorders, but also for ascites, respiratory tract, and gallbladder conditions as well as kidneys and bladder sand and, menstrual disorders. Indeed, these are some of the most amazing health benefits of pine buds tea.
Bottomline
For centuries, people from the Balkans knew how to live without synthetic medicines, with remedies from nature’s pharmacy, which they adapted and renewed every season. They harvested dry plants and roots in the winter, and flowers in the summer, while in the autumn the ripe fruits and the bark of the trees. The spring was the season when healers went up into the forest in search of buds and young shoots. In some parts of the Balkans, especially Romania, the tradition has been preserved until today and this phenomenon is easy to understand.
In spring, nature comes back to life with explosive energy, the chlorophyll circuits are reactivated, and the active substances from the plants are like pure gold. Back in the day, Romanian shepherds who went up in the mountains with their flocks would frequently eat beech and birch buds, or raspberry and blackberry pods, in the spring, which nourished them and kept them healthy. Pine buds have a wider medical use today as they can be administered as a spring tonic, but also as a remedy for various diseases.
More Remedies with Pine
Pine Needle Tea
Pine Needle Syrup
Pine Needle Salve
Pine Resin Salve
Pine Pollen
Pine is a tremendous medicine, from which you can use all the parts to cure various health conditions. Of course, indifferent of the condition, we first have to identify and eliminate the cause/s, and that starts with eating as healthy as possible, mainly fresh fruit and veggies. If you’ve enjoyed learning about the health benefits of pine buds, and how to harvest and preserve pine buds and use them to prepare natural medicine, please share this article on social media, so more people can use this info.
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