BLACK WALNUTS AND IODINE
Not only is black walnut tincture a potent medicine, it’s also one of the few land-based sources of iodine. While you can forage for salt deposits inland or extract salt from plant material when you’re far from ocean salt sources, most inland sources of salt lack iodine. Black walnuts, specifically black walnut husks, are a great source of iodine in a pinch.
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You are here: Home / Foraging / How to Make Black Walnut Tincture (and Powder)
HOW TO MAKE BLACK WALNUT TINCTURE (AND POWDER)
November 9, 2018 by Ashley Adamant 25 Comments
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A black walnut tincture is easy to make at home, and all it takes is a fresh supply of ripe black walnuts. The walnuts themselves will still be perfectly good to eat since a black walnut tincture is made using the green outer husk rather than the nut itself. The resulting tincture is used to purge parasites and as a topical anti-bacterial. It also has the added benefit of being an emergency iodine supplement.
Black Walnut Tincture
HARVESTING BLACK WALNUTS
Unless you have a backyard nut tree, you’ve likely never seen the green husk on a walnut. It’s a fleshy coating that grows outside of the nut itself. Inside you’ll find a hard nutshell, and then inside that is the nut meat. By the time walnuts reach the supermarkets, the soft fruit like outer coating has already been removed.
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Black walnuts fall from trees right around the first fall frost. In Central Vermont that happens in mid-October, but they’re harvested a bit earlier in northern areas and later further south. Black walnut grow wild in the eastern half of the United States, and they make up whole forests in some areas. They’re a tasty cold hardy nut tree, so they’re commonly planted even in areas outside their wild range.
Beyond their nuts, black walnuts trees are one of more than two dozen trees that can be tapped for syrup, just like maples. That’s just one more great reason to plant a black walnut tree. The nuts themselves are tasty, although they have a higher tannin content than the Persian walnuts you find in the stores these days.
Black walnuts taste best if the green hulls are removed as soon as possible so they don’t leach into the nut and make them bitter. Since the outer husk of black walnuts is almost always a discarded waste product, a homemade black walnut tincture is a great way to put it to use.
Black Walnuts in Hulls
BLACK WALNUT TINCTURE USES
I first learned about black walnut tincture as a natural remedy for intestinal parasites. A friend was trying to treat her dog’s intestinal worms without resorting to harsh prescription de-wormer. While I can’t speak to black walnut tincture’s supposed safety with pets, I know that it worked in this case.
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In humans, a black walnut tincture is most commonly used for that same purpose. Besides it’s used as an anti-parasitic agent, a black walnut tincture is also anti-fungal and anti-bacterial due to the high levels of tannins extracted from the black walnut hulls.
If you don’t happen to have black walnut trees nearby, or they’re not currently in season, black walnut tincture is available from Starwest Botanicals. They also sell black walnut hull capsules for an easy pill form, or dried black walnut hull powder for use in topical antifungal remedies (such as salves and creams).
BLACK WALNUTS AND IODINE
Not only is black walnut tincture a potent medicine, it’s also one of the few land-based sources of iodine. While you can forage for salt deposits inland or extract salt from plant material when you’re far from ocean salt sources, most inland sources of salt lack iodine. Black walnuts, specifically black walnut husks, are a great source of iodine in a pinch.
Mediavine
I’ve found spotty references that suggest that black walnut hull extracts were applied to those exposed to radiation after the Chernobyl disaster. Supposedly if you apply the black walnut tincture to the skin, the iodine can be absorbed directly. I’m still looking for a good, reputable source to back up this information.
Other sources say that it contains enough iodine to be used as a topical anesthetic for wounds. Given that black walnut tincture also contains tannins which are antibacterial, and this makes sense even if iodine levels are in fact relatively low. Add in the fact that it’s in a suspension of high proof alcohol, and you’ve got a great recipe for wound sterilization.
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Many Blessings,
CrystalRiver