Juniper

Juniper berries have a pungent, pinelike flavor and are used to spice up many cuisines, including european and indian recipes, along with game dishes. Juniper berries were used in ancient greece as a medical remedy, and reported health benefits live on today. Chiro web, a network of websites with chiropractic and health-focused resources, notes one of juniper's main medicinal components is 4-terpinen, which might help lower uric acid levels, manage the herpes simplex virus and soothe digestive upset.

You probably know the piney flavor of juniper berries from their use in flavoring gin, but you may not know that they have a wide variety of medicinal benefits. To obtain these benefits, it's best to take juniper in tincture form or use it in cooking to flavor meats and sauces. Incorporating it into your diet may reduce your risk of disease and improve your overall health.

The university of michigan does warn against excessive consumption of juniper, as it may cause kidney irritation. Juniper berries are packed with antioxidants which can be incredibly helpful in maintaining good cellular function. Antioxidants help prevent damage that is incurred by free-radicals in the body.

Free-radicals can cause cell damage and death, leading to unwanted health issues. Juniper berries also contain volatile oils, vitamin c, and flavonoids which can help supplement your diet as well. The volatile oils present in juniper tea even boast antiseptic properties which makes it a good tea for supporting good health.

If heartburn and indigestion are a problem for you, juniper could help ease your discomfort.

Juniper is one of a group of herbs referred to as bitters or astringents because of their somewhat bitter flavor.

The university of michigan states one of the main benefits of bitter herbs is their ability to improve digestion.

When you eat them, bitters cause saliva, digestive enzymes and stomach acid secretions to increase.

This increase in the body fluids needed for digestion helps in the break down of food and, thus, improves digestion.

In addition to improving overall digestion, eating juniper berries may relieve symptoms of bloating and water retention.

According to the university of michigan, juniper is a diuretic, meaning it increases urine output.

Diuretics are useful when attempting to combat excess water retention in the body, which is often caused by eating too much sodium or from inflammation and injury.

The university notes that because of its diuretic action, juniper may prevent urinary tract infections by helping to flush out toxins and bacteria in the urinary system.

Juniper essential oil used to be a well known antiseptic in the past and people wounded or injured in wars or athletics were treated with it.

It was even used in injuries sustained by both the mother and child during difficult labors.

It efficiently protects wounds from becoming septic or developing tetanus.

Juniper essential oil promotes and improves blood circulation.

It also helps in the removal of toxins like uric acid from the body.

Both of these properties help fight ailments like rheumatism, arthritis, gout, and renal calculi, which are related to improper circulation and the accumulation of toxins in the body.

This essential oil also relieves swelling.

Juniper essential oil is also effective on nearly all forms of cramps, whether it is muscular, intestinal, respiratory or any other area.

It relaxes muscle cramps and helps cure spasmodic cholera as well.

Being an antispasmodic, it helps cure many of the other problems related with cramps or spasms.

Being an astringent, juniper essential oil helps cure toothaches, stops hair loss, strengthens the grip of gums on your teeth and protects them from loosening or falling out.

It also tightens loose muscles and gives a feeling of firmness, fitness and youth.

This property can also be used to cure diarrhea as well.

The most important benefit of this property is in the fact that as an astringent, it can cause blood vessels to contract and reduce the chances of hemorrhaging.

Juniper oil is diuretic in nature, meaning that it promotes urination.

It increases both the frequency and volume of urination. Therefore, it is very beneficial for people who are suffering from an accumulation of water in the body, or swelling due to minor or chronic renal failure.

It relieves these patients by removing extra water from the body through the urine.

It also helps people lose weight because each time you urinate, some fats are lost from the body.

This reduces blood pressure, removes extra salts and dangerous toxins like uric acid from the body.

As the name goes, rubefacient means an agent that makes your face look red. However, this is not limited to the face, but also with the rest of the body.

Such an agent, when applied on the skin, increases blood circulation just below the skin to such as extent that the skin begins to look red in color.

This may also cause irritation on the skin if applied in excess.

Again, increased blood circulation below the skin certainly benefits the skin and keeps it healthy and well-oxygenated.

A sudorific substance is an agent which can bring about heavy sweating or perspiration.

This is nothing to get annoyed at.

The occasional perspiration makes you feel lighter, healthier, and helps in the removal of toxins, excess salt, and water through the sweat.

This cleans the skin pores and openings of sweat and sebum glands, which prevents acne and other skin diseases.

Juniper oil has powerful sudorific properties.

Some of the properties of juniper oil like its abilities as an emenagogue, galactogogue and diuretic substance result from a single property of this oil as a stimulant.

Being a stimulant, it stimulates all the activities within the body.

This stimulating effect also helps overcome fatigue, dizziness and depression.

It increases the activity of the brain and neurons, nervous system, secretions from the endocrine and exocrine glands, which includes secretion of milk, sebum, sweat, tears, urine and discharges during menses, digestive system and the excretory system.

Juniper oil is stomachic, that is, it keeps the stomach in order and keeps it functioning well.

It also helps cure stomach disorders and ulcers and ensures the proper flow of bile, gastric juices and acids into the stomach for digestion.

Sometimes, the inner lining of the stomach is injured due to prolonged acidity and ultimately results in the formation of ulcers.

Juniper oil can help you avoid this situation as well, since it maintains the proper secretions of bile in stomach.

Bile is basic in nature and neutralizes the acids.

Have you ever heard of health tonics? have you had any? juniper oil is also considered a tonic, because it tones up everything, including the muscles, tissues, skin, and various other systems functioning inside the body.

This includes the respiratory, circulatory, nervous, digestive and excretory systems.

This tonic effect helps retain youth for a long time and maintains proper health for all your years.

According to researchers at shiraz university of medical sciences, juniper berry combats both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.

Gram-negative bacteria are the cause for e.coli, pneumonia and gonorrhea, while gram-positive bacteria cause staphylococcus aureus.

S.aureus is a common infection that people acquire in hospitals and it is often resistant to antibiotics; you have probably heard it called mrsa.

According to a study published in the medical journal "pharmacognosy research" juniper berries contain high amounts of antioxidants.

These compounds help to neutralize free radicals in the body, which eventually lead to the development of diseases like cancer, arthritis and cardiovascular disease.

Antioxidants also maintain healthy, youthful skin by fighting wrinkles and lines, aiding in cell regeneration and reducing inflammation.

Carminative agents help in the removal of gases from the intestines.

Gas, when trapped in the intestines and forced upwards, can be very dangerous, and sometimes can even be fatal.

When gas pushes upwards, it can choke a person, create chest pain, indigestion and uneasiness, raise the blood pressure, threaten your heart health and give acute stomach aches.

In this respect, juniper oil can help you a lot.

It effectively removes gases through the downward passage and does not let additional gases form.

Juniper oil is also very good for those who are suffering from chronic gas trouble.

The essential oil of juniper cleans the blood of toxins and thus acts as a detoxifier or blood purifier.

This property is also known as depurative, meaning aone which purifiesa.

It helps to remove the common toxins like uric acid, heavy metals, pollutants and certain compounds and hormones produced by the body itself.

It empties the blood of these common toxins as well as other foreign toxins which get into the blood acciorally.

*documented adverse effects include allergenic, catharsis in large doses, diuretic, and increases uterine tone (ie, possible anti-implantation, abortive, and emmenagogue/stimulating menstrual flow effects). Nursing women and women planning pregnancy should avoid use. Juniper should not be ingested by pregnant women.

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