* Please Note: This information is based partly on Traditional Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Description
Medicinal Usage
A decoction of the bark was used by the Cherokees to bathe open or infected wounds. The Mohawks used an infusion of the twig pith for eye ailments. Sassafras was one of the first export crops from the New World to European shores. Many early English colonies were in part founded on promises of financial return from speculation on sassafras. The tea of the root bark is considered a stimulant, tonic, diaphoretic, stomachic, and blood purifier. In folk medicine, it has been used to thin blood and for high blood pressure, gout, arthritis, rheumatism, kidney ailments, and skin eruptions.
Sassafras contains an essential oil with safrole (comprising up to 80 percent of the oil weight), alpha-pinene, phellandrenes, asarone, camphor, myristicine, thujone, anethole, eugenol, and other compounds. Sassafras oil has carminative, anodyne, diaphoretic, anti-infective, and lice-destroying properties. In the Federal Register of 3 December 1960, the FDA banned safrole from use in human foods, because in laboratory tests with mice, safrole was found to cause liver cancer.
In the Federal Registir of 11 May 1976, the FDA clarified the earlier ruling banning the sale of sassafras bark and leaves from herbal teas, stating that the intended purpose of making sassafras tea was to infuse safrole (a food additive) into water (a food). Since that time, sassafras has been sold in health food stores labeled: "not for food use" or "for external use." In 1978, the then-fledgling, now defunct, Herb Trade Association held a tea party at the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum. In response to the FDA's sassafras ban, a symbolic toss of sassafras was offered to the famed harbor. Safrole is also found in basil, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon leaf oil, black pepper, and witch hazel.
General Herb Information
Sassafras is a small scraggly shrub or large tree, 80 to 100 feet tall and up to six feet in diameter, native to eastern North America from Maine to Florida, and west to Texas. Two other species occur in the world - S. tzuma from central China and S. randaienise from Taiwan.
On older trees, the deeply furrowed bark is grayish with reddish-brown fissures. Young branches are smooth and light green. The aromatic leaves are entire or three-lobed, alternate, petiolate, oval or mitten-shaped, four to five inches long and two to four inches broad. Half-inch diameter yellow-green flowers bloom in early spring in raceme clusters as the leaves emerge. The half-inch long, oval, dark-blue fruits ripen September to October. Trees must be about ten years old before beginning to flower and fruit.
The fall foliage is a brilliant yellow or dull orange, streaked with red. The wood is coarse-grained, brittle, aromatic, and dull orange. It has been popular for fencing, ox yokes, smaller joints of fishing rods, cooperage, and light boats such as dugout canoes.
Sassafras can be grown from seed or root cuttings. Seeds have a viability of about two years and often take that long to germinate. Soon after they ripen, remove the pulp from the seeds and place them in moist sand for cold stratification for four months at 35 to 42°F Sow seeds outside in well-prepared seed beds at eight- to twelve-inch spacings, one-half inch below the soil. Don't expect a good germination rate.
However, the roots of sassafras send out runners. Cut young seedlings from the parent plant, then let them sit for a year to develop a good set of roots. Transplant the following year- and give new plants plenty of water. Four- to six-inch offshoots with sprouts can also be removed from the parent tree to increase stock.
Sassafras is often found growing on dry, infertile soils. In the garden, a moderately rich, sandy, well-drained soil with a pH of 6 to 7 will do. In the North a warm sunny location wjth winter protection is required. Southern trees become very large and will tolerate partial shade. In the North, plants become moderate-sized shrubs and need full sun.
The bark of the root, trunk bark, leaves, pith of the twigs, flowers, and fruits can be used variously. Harvest the bark of the root in spring before leaves appear or in fall after the leaves have dropped. Harvest the leaves after spring blooming.
The leaves have abundant mucilage and were used by the Choctaws to thicken their pottage. Subsequently, sassafras leaves became a prime ingredient in Cajun gumbo. A sprinkling of crumbled flowers adds color and spicy flavor to spring salads. The young tips of sassafrass - those emerging erect leaves-have a soft delicate texture and a pleasing flavor, hinting at a mild anise taste then shifting to light citrus tones. The emerging leaf tips are great in salads. The root bark is a famous herb tea.
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Directions
Take 1 capsule, 3 times daily, with meals.
Cautions
Not recommended if you are pregnant or lactating.
Additional Information
TerraVita is an exclusive line of premium-quality, natural source products that use only the finest, purest and most potent ingredients found around the world. TerraVita is hallmarked by the highest possible standards of purity, potency, stability and freshness. All of our products are prepared with the highest elements of quality control, from raw materials through the entire manufacturing process, up to and including the moment that the bottles or bags are sealed for freshness and shipped out to you. Our highest possible standards are certified by independent laboratories and backed by our personal guarantee.
TerraVita exists to meet and ensure your family's health and wellness without the harmful effects or chemicals and prescription medications. We strive to make all of our products affordable and reliable and are constantly searching the market to maintain our affordability and to look for new ways to serve you and the ones you love. TerraVita has become a trusted household name for many families and can bring you and yours the very best herbal supplements, blends, teas and spices that are on the market today.
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease.
