Evergreens rarely contribute to our foodstuffs, but juniper bucks the trend thanks to its small, blue berries. As a potent diuretic with antifungal and specific cleansing effects on the body, juniper berries provide a more intensely therapeutic natural medicine than some of our other home remedies. In their effects, juniper berries are potent and stimulating (for your own juniper home remedies, start with small and always diluted doses).

Juniper berries are not only the principle flavoring for gin but also used as a berry sauce on meats, in pickling recipes, and as flavoring for several other foods. Furthermore, it has been used medicinally for ages and across continents. Medicinally, the essential oils of the juniper berry are typically distilled for use, rather than direct ingestion of the berry.

Juniper Nutrition: Juniper berries contain vitamin C as well as a number of flavonoids and tannins. Yet it is better respected for its volatile oils, which include limonene, thujone, myrcene, and pinene. Those volatile oils lend juniper antifungal properties in addition to its other health benefits.

Natural Juniper Home Remedies: First and foremost, juniper is considered a purifying remedy. It is a diuretic that stimulates elimination of wastes from the body and is considered a detoxifying agent even beyond that basic function. This is particularly true for arthritis and gout, where juniper can be taken internally to reduce uric acid build-up.

However, it is in that diuretic role that it is most often used as a therapeutic agent for the kidneys. Additionally, juniper oil can be rubbed into the chest for congestion or a cough. It is similarly used as a massage oil to reduce the pain of gout or arthritis. In both cases, be sure to mix with a gentle carrier oil to prevent irritation.

Kidney and Bladder Issues: Those with a kidney or urinary tract infection can use juniper berries or juniper extract initially in very small doses as a natural remedy for their health condition. This natural remedy is particularly advised in the case of a weak or prolapsed bladder. However, it isNOT to be used as a home remedy by those with generally poor kidney function or blocked urinary tracts.

Preparation and Dosage: Only the juniper berries can be used medicinally (technically not a berry but the scales of the plant's evergreen cones). They can be used fresh, dried, or distilled into an essential oil. Use sparingly and for not more than a month at a time! Less than 10g of dried berries should be taken each day, and several days break from the remedy is often advised if used regularly.

You can also try a juniper tea using a teaspoon of juniper berries. Steep for 8-10 minutes and then strain before drinking.

Juniper remedies should not be used by those who are pregnant or hoping to become so. This home remedy can also exacerbate a kidney issue if you are having trouble urinating, so use with caution in that case and ideally under a naturopath or aromatherapist's care.

Recent posts from the Earth Clinic Web Site 

08/15/2012: Flyingscot from Mexico City, Df,Mexico: "With you guys 100%. I did something to my knee. To this day I have no idea what caused it but one day it started hurting like crazy. 2 days later I was driving and when I hit the brakes the pain was excruciating. I hobbled to my doc and he gave me a very expensive anti-inflammatory and pain killer prescription. On my way to the pharmacy I decided to go to a naturopath. He prescribed a $5 bottle of pure Castor Oil and told me to go home, elevate my leg, rub the Castor Oil on my knee 3 times a day and wrap with a tensor bandage so the oil wouldn't get on my clothes or sheets. I woke up the next morning and the swelling was down about 95%. Followed the same procedure on day 2. Day 3 I woke up and my leg felt great. Still a tiny bit of tenderness but I could walk up and down stairs with 0 pain. Day 4... Gone. I've since recommended this treatment many times. With two people I recommended this to whenever I see them in a pub they always buy me a beer in thanks. My $5 investment has paid off dozens of times... Pain free and a lower bar tab. Can't argue with that."

ACTIVATED CHARCOAL TOOK CARE OF PARVO
Courtney from Bradford, Ontario: "My 9 month old dog was diagnosed with parvo on Sunday night. His symptoms started on Friday, when we came home from work and found he had vomited everywhere. He continued to vomit periodically throughout Friday evening. On Saturday, he did not vomit, but did have some diarrhea (no blood), however by this time he would not eat or drink anything (not even table scraps!), which is completely out of character. Also at 9 months, he is almost always full of energy and life, so when he started sleeping constantly, and acting depressed, we knew something was up.

On Sunday during the day, he vomited up some grass, and he had diarrhea (still no blood). By Sunday evening, he was so lethargic however he would not even move. He would barely even lift his head and I worried he would not make it through the night so I took him to an emergency vet clinic. It cost me $250 for the vet to test his feces, and tell me he was positive for parvo. She gave me two options. He could stay the rest of the night, at a cost of $1200.00 and they would treat him with IV and blood tests and we would have to pick him up in the morning and take him to another clinic, or we could put him to sleep.

Prior to taking him to the vet, I did not know what parvo was, but I googled his symptoms and ended up at this site. I had a pretty good idea my dog had parvo. I had read about this charcoal thing and tried unsuccessfully to find it. But when our only options were to fork out thousands of dollars or put him to sleep, we just paid the $250 for the visit, and brought him home against medical advice. I stayed up most of Sunday evening trying to get my dog to drink water, and around 2:30 in the morning, he started to swallow instead of spit it out. I woke up at 5 in the morning, and he was still alive. I continued to push fluids on him and throughout the day, after drinking, he was able to eat a little bit without vomiting it up.

Because we couldn't find any charcoal, my boyfriend bought Active Carbon, which is supposedly the same thing as Charcoal, from Walmart in the Aquarium Section! It is used to clean fish tanks. It cost him 4 dollars. We bought some Gatorade and made a mixture of Gatorade, Water, and Charcoal, and used a syringe to get him to swallow this at first. Within a half an hour, his appetite was in full force, and so was his energy level. We continued to feed him this gatorade, water, charcoal mix throughout the night, and today - Tuesday - he is nearly 100%. While he is still laying down relaxing more than he typically would, he is wide awake, fully alert, and eating anything and everything we will let him (we are going easy as he hadn't ate in so long and don't want to upset his stomach). He is chasing the cat, playing, and running around like a lunatic (like he normally does).

About an hour ago, Animal Control showed up at my house. The vet had called them on us because we had gone against medical advice, and if he was not treated, he would "suffer". One knock on the door, and my dog booked it to the door barking and wagging his tail at Animal Control. The lady at the door was baffled. "This is the dog that was diagnosed with Parvo on Sunday evening?" I told her yes, and she said he seemed fine. She said it was incredibly rare for him to bounce back like this, and most puppies are dead within 24 hours of diagnosis. And of course, she let me keep my dog, because it is very clear he is not suffering.

So THANK YOU so, so much for writing about this remedy. A treatment that was going to cost us thousands of dollars ended up costing us about 10 in total, aside from the initial vet visit, and if we didn't see this site, we probably would have had to put him down because we couldn't afford the treatment. While our dog can drive us crazy with his hyperactivity and spunk some days, we have never been happier to see him acting so nuts. Something tells me our boy is going to be getting extra spoiled for a long time, we are so grateful and happy that he made it through."

Best of Health to You and Yours!   

Earth Clinic's newsletter is our sincerest effort to deliver updated discoveries on folk remedies and natural healing. We hope it brings ever-improving health and vitality into your life! 

With Warmest Regards,

Deirdre Layne and the Earth Clinic Team