Is anyone into oil infusion of medicinal plants like certain herbs, roots, and spices?

Hi there fellow ATS health and wellness people,

I'm been getting into this of late and presently have three large glass jars of "brewing" medicine, and I was wondering if anyone else around here has done or is doing the same kind of thing and might have some tricks, tips or hacks that could be helpful, or, if anyone might have any questions who're curious about what I'm up to.

I should point out that the end product in this process isn't for internal consumption, but will form the basis of a type of ointment or salve to be absorbed through the skin.

So far I've all but eliminated my type II diabetes and am naturally returning to my normal body weight. I also look at least 10 years younger from when I first started using it.

In my experience, it's absolutely wonderful if not divine (like a gift from God) in terms of the array of things that it can do to promote optimal health and wellness and to eliminate almost any illness or condition.

The first thing I did in this process was to make a list of known medicinal herbs, roots, and spices and flowers, while making a notes of any potential areas of concern ie: don't use chilli peppers, which although they have medicinal properties, are going to seriously agitate any skin lesions. There are also a few of these plants that can cause an allergic reaction among a small percentage of the population, so if I were ever sharing it with anyone, I will inquire as to whether they have allergies and to do a little test to see if there's any negative reaction. In other words, safety is also a primary consideration where "do no harm" must be the motto.

On that note, it's interesting that the father of medicine, Hippocrates (460bce - 375bce), did himself use an oil infused salve or ointment which he administered to his clients/patients via message therapy. It should be pointed out that the very best understanding and context of these traditions is that of preventative medicine as much or even moreso than treating any particular ailment or condition.

From what I've been able to gather, what I'm doing is in alignment, and very likely a marked improvement (they didn't have access to what we do today) in the spirit of the best of the ancient medical traditions from Ancient Greece, to India, China, Persia and Egypt, Native Peoples, etc.

I may provide a partial list at some point of the medicinal plant ingredients I'm making use of (about 65 of them to date), which I order from a highly reputable supplier in California who've been doing it since the mid '70's and who have a giant warehouse of these plants which come from all over the world.

I even had a whole Red Reishi mushroom floating at the top of each jar, having bought a pound for close to 50.00 (four mushrooms).

Your ideas and questions are welcome, but if you're a pharmaceutical advocate with a desire to simply trash what I'm setting out to do saying that I'm going to kill myself or others with this diluted infusion of all-natural, organic, medicinal herbs, roots, and spices, along with medicinal therapeutic grade essential oils and high end carrier oils, please don't bother. As I said, I'm paying close attention to safety and possible side effects, while testing it on myself.

I think I will draw the line at making use of medicinal barks, however (very powerful and can become toxic), and if I were to make use of them, I'd place them in a cheesecloth bag and only leave in for a short duration.

I also have a plan in place to eliminate and neutralize any toxins that could develop.

Is anyone else around here into this or doing something similar? Just curious.

Also, if you have any questions, fire away, but please, keep it civil. Thank you.

Best regards,

Ankh

One question that I have involves the use of beeswax, which comes in at the end in small amounts to turn an oily ointment into a non-melting salve or balm.

There are 8 replacement waxes for beeswax, but it's particularly good for the skin, allowing the skin to breath, while locking in the medicinal salve elements, and also hydrating the skin because it draws water molecules from the air. It's perfect for this application and is so often used in skin products including commercial products.

The "problem" with beeswax, from what I've come to understand, is that pure and strict vegans do not use it. Why? Because some of the bees are harmed in the process ie: when the queen bee is moved to another hive to harvest the wax (and honey), there's always a contingent of protection or "security" body-guard bees that must go with her, and those are always summarily executed in due course by the new hive.

I don't want to have to use sacrificial bees to turn the ointment into a proper salve which doesn't melt above room temperature.

yes, as clinical herbalists and homesteaders that grow a great many medicinal herbs, my wife and I make abundant use of infusing oils...frankly all herbalists do for the most part.

Oils have different properties some being trans-dermal, others not. but not all medicinal herbs are soluble in oil, so you may not be gaining as much potency as you would like.

Consider learning to use emulsifiers/gums like myrrh, tragacanth, agar agar etc...thru these items you can take water extractions and mix them with oil extractions without precipitation. We do this for many of our face creams and lotions etc...

It would pay to get a Kings Dispensatory, a Remingtons Pharmacopeia rather than the oft too common herbals floating around everywhere as there is a great deal of additional information required to make effective preparations.

You're embarking on a grand study, after 27 years I am constantly learning new things...the plants are amazing teachers.

Great post!
I'm in being a clinical Aromatherapist
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

There are thousands of different plant waxes to use, however my wife would kill me if I give away some of her "secrets."

But an exhaustive search on the internet will net you a lot of fruitful information. Many of the providers also send free samples that you can experiment with before investing a sum of money for kilos.

The base of all my carrier oils (what the plant material floats in, either freely or in a cheesecloth bag) is raw, unrefined and unprocessed Shea butter from Africa, made by the women of the African Fair Trade Association from a tree called the "karité" in the Wolof language of Senegal, which means, "tree of life".

I love the tall beautiful, radiant and always smiling, and very colorfully dressed African man (but no I'm not gay FYI) that I buy it and a variety of wonderfully aromatic pure, non-adulterated essential oils from, which include Frankincense and Myrrh (which smell so much better than the western commercial type), and Dragon Blood, which comes from the Socotron Dracon tree that also grows there. He's right into healing and happiness and the power of positive thinking, and he's very interested and intrigued with what I'm using his products to create. He wants to take me to a movie.

The King of Essential Oils, Frankincense, it plays a major role, as do the Cannibinoids, the science of which I obtained largely from ATS from reading these threads..

The Endocannabinoid System and Skin

The Endocannabinoid System and Diabetes

The Endocannabinoid System(ECS) and you.

The Endocannabinoid System and Alzheimer's Disease

The Endocannabinoid System and Evolution

The Endocannabinoid System and Space Exploration

The Endocannabinoid System and Society

Autism and Cancer and Viruses and Endocannabinoids... oh my!

It should be noted here that the endocannabinoid system is in the skin, the largest organ in the body and that all other attempts to access its miraculous health and wellness benefits, aside from perhaps using a suppository of CBD oil, are largely a fruitless effort to harness it's true benefits, because first, if smoked, it's something like 2000% less effective (which is why you merely get hungry with the munchies instead of being satiated and with appetite suppressant capability, as when absorbed through the skin the way it was meant to be used along with the various cannabinoids and other elements contained in these herbs, roots, spices, and flowers, many if not most of which are best not eaten or ingested to begin with) - and secondly, when the medicinal substances of you know what are ingested, even sublingually as with "phoenix oil", it's ripped apart and destroyed in the stomach acid environment and digestive process.

We have the most evolved and active and the largest endocannabinoid receptor system in our skin than any other species on earth. We evolved with it! How is that possible unless ancient ANCIENT people's were involved in a similar type of medicine involving oil diffusion and application to the skin..?

a reply to: BlueJacket

Thank you for your contribution. Very helpful!

Plants as "teacher"... hmmm.. that's what I think of it as, but in more ways than one ie: able to "teach" the DNA to self-remember and correct, etc.

For me as a Christian believer, it also has a whole host of allegories to the Christian faith. In fact, I believe that I'm providing the Spirit of the Universe and of Infinite Intelligence and Wisdom which inhabits us all, with all the needed building materials to perform miracles ie: it was like this, then we add the "teacher" and then a miracle happens but we don't really know what it was in particular, nor would even a PhD chemist be able to properly explain it, the true miracle of healing and of homeostasis in the three-fold human being as a whole.

Thanks again. As to potency? no worries there at all. I was worried about too MUCH potency so it's good to know that they're soluble and will only lose potency.

When I'm adding and stirring, I can feel it in the air without even touching it. It's real medicine and it's pretty powerful stuff, will need to dilute with more carrier oil as I wouldn't want to get so light headed I might faint or tip someone over the edge into fainting if/when putting it on someone else or giving them access to it.

Frankincense in particular cross over the blood brain barrier, as to many of the elements contained in these things.

I want to use a great deal of caution, but it's nice to know that most herbalists are doing the very same thing, except perhaps not throwing a little bit of everything and the kitchen sink at it like I'm doing, to cover all the basis, yet without delivering too too much in the way of potency.

Thanks again!

originally posted by: BlueJacket
a reply to: AnkhMorpork

There are thousands of different plant waxes to use, however my wife would kill me if I give away some of her "secrets."

That's funny!

I understand, and I even weighed out the pros and cons before posting the OP because on the one hand, I'm convinced that I'm involved in creating something utterly novel, and very ancient both, combining the best of all the ancient traditions from ayurvedic to Chinese medicine, to ancient Egyptian, or in other words, a "secret formula", and on the other, I firmly believe that everyone should be able to access these medicines and there's simply no way I'd be able to produce enough to meet the demand, nor do I have the resources or the wherewithal to bring a major product to market with accompanying clinical trials etc. (maybe some day).

So I decided to opt in favor of sharing what I'm doing, even with the possibility that it might inspire other people to also pursue this particular pathway to health and wellness for themselves and their loved ones, among others in need.

When I get to the finished product stage three or four months from now, I think I'm just going to share everything about it, transparently, so as to highlight the benefits of each and every ingredient.

Sometimes, when creating something that's needed, like an idea whose time has come, or come again as something very old and very new, it's also helpful to seed it into the world and then to meet the world half way to help generate the climate of receptivity towards just such an alternative medicine.

So I think I'll return to share more on this journey as I progress, while perhaps helping others avoid any mistakes or pitfalls or worse, create something that is as harmful as it might be helpful, which wouldn't be helpful at all.

What are your thoughts or hers on the use of beeswax?

Re: Endocannibinoid System

Something else that I wanted to point out, based on experience and a certain amount of hypothesizing and after a lot of research, as it relates to cannibinoids and their addition to any such medicinal ointment or salve, is that, aside from everyone making products to be consumed and ingested in one form or another, which is by far less efficacious than skin absorption straight to the endocannabinoid system, and at least 1000% less so than combusting it and inhaling (unlike Bill Clinton who didn't inhale..), they all seem to want to heat it and boil the # out of it, to make it into butter or oils for internal consumption.

I believe this process kills the complementary elements within which the cannibinoids are immersed and destroys it's all-natural bioavailability or "life force", and then it's ingested leaving only maybe 5% available for absorption, if that.

This is stupid and absurd and doesn't represent the proper use of medicinal ________, which was made for the skin because the endocannabinoid system is in the skin.

It's the same thing with Vitamin C, which leaves only about 4% available when ingested, but which any good dermatologist would tell you, is ideal when absorbed transdermally, and which just so happens to be the perfect transport vehicle for the medicines themselves. Note: For this, what's needed is a really good Vitamin C "ester", the best and preferred one being Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate (MAP).

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

So I grind it into a power and fine particulate in a coffee bean grinder, and add it to the oils, which are eventually strained of all plant material and particulate. This way, the cannibinoids are ALIVE! There are 7 or 8 of them actually, of which the psychoactive ingredient is only one among them. One, CBC I think it's called, is really only available in younger stock and stems.

I should also point out there when I put the ointment on my body which I rub on my chest, in armpits, on my throat and behind the ears, although it doesn't really matter as the endocannabinoid system is throughout the skin all over the body, that while it does produce an inward calm and sense of satiation and satisfaction, it does not produce a psychoactive "high".

I think it ought to be safe to discuss, carefully, because in this context it's just another herbal remedy and is not used as any sort of recreational or medicinal "drug", nor can it be used in that manner (smoked or ingested) in this context.

When I grind that up and put it in the big oil jars, I always imagine what a smoker would say, who would think me utterly mad to use it in that manner - "DUDE! What the hell are you DOING with that?! You're crazy. What a waste!" lol


P.S. Tip. Melted, organic, virgin coconut oil is among the best for absorbing cannabinoids, from what I've learned.


Any and all questions are welcomed..

Ankh

originally posted by: BlueJacket

Consider learning to use emulsifiers/gums like myrrh, tragacanth, agar agar etc...thru these items you can take water extractions and mix them with oil extractions without precipitation. We do this for many of our face creams and lotions etc...

Thanks again. I will look into these things. I've decided to stick to an anhydrous solution all the way to the final salve, which will then be stored in Miron Violet Flame Glass Jars, which allow all but visible light to enter, which prevents oxidation and maintains purity, while prohibiting the growth of any bacteria. By not using water, and by storing it in this way with the beeswax or other thickening waxes, from what I've been able to gather, I'll be able to produce something with a near indefinite shelf life or at least 10 years or something like that.

I'll also be using Jojoba oil in it, which never goes bad.

Re: Violet Flame Glass storage

Biophotonics

Miron Violet Glass is unsurpassed in preserving the life of products such as homeopathic remedies, essential oils, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and herbal preparations. Compared with the choices of amber, blue, green and clear glass, DEEP VIOLET GLASS provides many remarkable benefits:
- Superior protection from light degradation
- Increased shelf life
- Energizing effects on organic molecular life
- Natural preservation and refinement of healing properties

Of interest here is that the Egyptians also stored their best medicines in dark violet flame glass.

From what I've been able to determine so far, only two companies make it, Miron in the Netherlands (the glass is called Miron glass, like tissue is called Kleenex) and Infinity Glass in the USA.

I would so like to find another supplier somewhere in the world who can make me a custom designed glass jar for containing what I call "medicinal body butter" for a message therapy application (cut down with more carrier oils to reduce potency so no one passes out on the message table).

I would like to also point out that this isn't a self promotional sales pitch or anything of the sort, but more of a brave and trusting sharing, of something of profound healing powers of the three-fold human being (body-heart, mind and spirit), something both very very old and very new that so many of us could make use of for our own health and well being and that of our loved ones and don't we all know someone who's ill or someone who knows someone or has a family member who's ill.

Even before I started adding the medicinal herbs, roots and spices, with just the cannabinoids and essential oils, the healing impact, particularly on my type II diabetes and appearance was immediate and profound. It was like dropping 10 or more years and adding them to my lifespan, and at times I've had the feeling of actually being younger, where the concerns of life and time fade away, not unlike the way they did during summer holidays as a child. You know what I'm referring to, that quintessential high of life that for many of us had faded or seemed lost. It's something deep within and it's health related. All the systems of the body get charged and balanced with all these substances, which I'll be listing.

Anyone can do this, and ought to, provided that they are careful and cautious and do their research.

More interesting things to follow.. stay tuned.

I'm more into tinctures with 100 proof alcohol. Quick, easy and powerful.

a reply to: olaru12


How would the alcohol in the tinctures mix with the oil I'm using, do you think? Or do you mean cannabinoid tinctures in alcohol? If so, then I've already got that base covered but in a different way.

There are other tinctures that I would like to investigate and obtain in particular as it relates to the skin itself, but I do wonder about mixing the alcohol and oil together as many tinctures are alcohol based if I'm not mistaken.

Question: Why does the DNA of the Red Reishi mushroom share 97% DNA with the human being?

So much more research to do, and here we are in the age of the Internet when most of it is out there and available, yet not typically accessed and applied by specialists within a compartmentalized context, attempting to find, isolate and patent one particular molecule for one particular application, which is also ingested in the form of a pill and that often carries with it a whole host of side effects.

That said I'm not advocating that anyone refrain from seeing their family doctor. But there is a place for alternative medicine and the pursuit of naturopathic remedies for all that ails us.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Tinctures are always an alcohol extraction. Only problem there is the same as with a fat, or water soluble material. Tincturing is not optimal with many plants but serves as an excellent medium either way. For instance heavy polysaccharide bearing herbs like Astragalus or mushrooms which fuel the immune system boosting t cell production...problem is polysaccharides precipitate in alcohol and are left behind in filtering. Also numerous non soluble constituents will remain in the fiber.

You could marry alcohol and oils but you would want to burn off the alcohol, referred to as a fluid extract, then you can suspend it in oil using gum tragacanth for example.

a reply to: BlueJacket

Thanks.

I'm using Astragalus and medicinal mushroom.

Seems that oil infusion isn't a bad way to go.

If using any tinctures, I'll only be using a few.

How would I burn off the alchohol in a tincture and suspend it in oil using gum tragacanth? Can you elaborate?

Would I even need to, with a small amount of alcohol in a very large amount of oil?

I wonder if such fluid extracts in gum are as readily available as tinctures?

The "Secret" Formula [Above Top Secret]

FYI, here's a list of the various medicinal plants that I'm using or will be using as I'm able to complete my entire shopping list (this stuff sure adds up).

Free free to copycat it and become a medicine man or medicinal woman yourself. You have my permission and encouragement.

For now I'll just list them, but later, as part of a cataloguing project, I will add addition information and research as it pertains to each plant's medicinal value and capabilities.

Medicinal Herbs

Plantain Leaf

Calundula

Lemon Balm

Rosemary

Lavender

Thyme

Basil

Holy Basil

Sage

Catnip

Chamomile

Mullein Leaf

Feverfew

Blue Violet Leaf aka Johnny Jumper or Johnny Jump Up

Tansy

Red Clover

Yarrow

Milk Thistle (Seeds)

Artichoke Leaf

Mulberry Leaf

Alfalfa Leaf

Watercress Herb

Shavegrass aka Horsetail

Medicinal Spices

Cinnamon

Cloves

Coriander Seed

Ginger Root (extract)

Mustard Seeds

Nutmeg (extract)

Turmeric Rhizome (root, sliced)

Peppermint (extract - don't sniff from bottle, will make you dizzy)

Cayenne Peppers (extract - do not sniff this from the bottle either. When combined with Peppermind, if you do choose to sniff, have a chair handy because you may very well need to sit down.)

Fenugreek

Parsley

Cardamom

Cumin

Cilantro

Saffron aka Safflower

Marjoram

Raspberry Leaf

Medicinal Roots

Angelica

Echinacea

Dandelion

Burdock

Yellow Dock

Marshmallow

Licorice

Elecampane

Ginseng Root (cool roots, look ancient, must take a long time to grow them)

Chicory

Mugwort (sounds like something out of Harry Potter)

Queen of the Meadow

Valerian Root

St. John's Wort (I forget it that was a root or a herb)

Astragalus

Rhodiola (category unsure)

Ashwagandha

Medicinal Grasses

Couch Grass Rhizome

Note: will be adding the medicinal grass essential oils of:

Citronella

Palmarosa

Gingergrass

Lemongrass: I struck out Lemongrass for some reason (should have made a note why).

Medicinal Flowers

Arnica

California Poppy

Carnation Petals

Chrysanthemum

Corn Flower

Foxglove (use in moderation)

Gardenia

Jasmine

Honeysuckle

Hyssop

Lilac

Lotus Flower

Nasturtium

Passion Flower

Peony

Plum Flowers

Rose

Rosy Pariwinkle

Snapdragon

Sunflower

Medicinal Mushrooms

Red Reishi Mushroom - king of the medicinal herbal wonders of the plant kingdom, made for human medicinal purposes although the poor ancient monk had to try everything in the forest, without killing himself, to find it. Absolutely treasured in ancient Chinese medicinal tradition.

Medicinal Grade One (Therapeutic Grade) Essential Oils

Frankincense - the King of the oils for medicinal purposes.

Myrrh - if it was also fit for a King then it's a thumbs up in my books.

Lavandin

Lavander

Neroli

Clove (don't need as I threw a bunch of cloves into the oil already and they're working - can faintly smell them)

Cypress

Eucalyptus

Ginger Oil

Grapefruit (burns fat)

Lemon

Oregano

Peppermint

Rose

Rosemary

Helichrysum

Lemongrass - already listed under medicinal grasses)

Cinnamon

Clary Sage

Fennel

Jasmine

Juniper

Marjoram

Sage

Thryme

Ylang Ylang

Roman Chamomile

Cederwood

Patchouli

Citronella - already listed

Palmerosa - ditto

Gindergrass - "

more to follow... ie: Medicinal Carrier Oils, like Coconut Oil, etc. and the remainder of my shopping list and wish list.

I should note that mine is a diluted oil infusion where I'm using just enough of each thing in the hopes of capturing it's benefit, but without using so much that it dominates, except in the case of certain things like Frankincense and Shae Butter or the giant floating Red Reishi Mushroom on top. That said, I'm wanting the "base" to reach high potency (which it is) because the potency will be reduced when adding additional carrier oils like Jojoba Oil, etc. before adding beeswax (or replacement waxes) and bottling as a medicinal salve that doesn't melt and never goes bad when placed in the Miron Violet Flame Glass Jars.

The costs are high at first, but feeding a pipeline once started certainly isn't hard, and at the very least you end up with high end, all natural organic medicine for you and your loved ones for the rest of your life, and that's worth the investment right there.

Of course one may hope to eventually recover costs, but it simply can't be about that, at all, in order to retain the right level of attention and intention in the making of it, which must be loving and without regard to any self interest whatsoever, imho. Total cost when all is said and done? about four to five grand maybe. It's worth it and most certainly a way better hobby than model railroading..

I hope this might inspire someone to get into doing this. It's wonderful stuff, even divine.

After the list, I'll start listing the potential health and healing benefits and we'll take a look at that. It's extraordinary. It's like everything we could ever need for health and wellness and even happiness is already contained in the plant kingdom which is ready, willing and able to impart to us, like an ally, their own immunology and healing wonders via all the elements and molecules they have to impart to us. It's Extraordinary. It's like a whole new frontier of medical discovery and a person can do it themselves from their own kitchen countertop and with the aid of UPS or Fed Ex and places like Starwest Botanicals and Bulk Apothecary.

I'm impressed with the effects and results. It's like having an unfair edge over everyone else who appear to be sick and dying many of them.

My spirit wants to help others, and thus the reasoning behind this thread and the whole purpose of my endeavors. After all, of what use or value is it, if I'm the only one or one of the very few who benefits.

We all need an ally such as this, particularly those of us who may be in middle to older age.

Best wishes,

Ankh

Question for any aromatherapists out there.

At the end of my process and after adding the medicinal essential oils, I want to adjust and balance the oil solution for various things including it's aroma and scent profile.

What essential oils would you recommend for this purpose while bearing in mind that I want it to be unisex and equally appealing to both men and women.

I want it in the end to smell absolutely heavenly.

How would I achieve that objective?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. The smell of it and the aromatherapy component is of the utmost importance.