Goldenseal - A Must Have In the Herbal Tool Box

I stumbled across this impressive patch of Goldenseal a couple weeks ago. So I thought it might be a great time to discuss some herbal remedies and how I learned a little about them. I am by no means an expert, but I can identify and prepare quite a few home remedies. I learned most of what I know about herbs from my grandpaw, he was a rather interesting character. He only had a 3rd grade education but he was one of the wisest men that I have had the pleasure of knowing. He could read a little bit but, I only remember him reading two books, other than the children’s books he read to us on the occasion. Those two books were the Bible and Back to Eden by Jethro Kloss. He didn’t spend a lot of time in the Back To Eden book but it was his go to if he didn’t know how to treat something.    

I spent a good bit of time with him growing up and one of my favorite things to do was to help him work with and find herbs. He was 71 when I was born, but he was still going fishing and ginseng hunting when he was 94, which is impressive in these mountains. It seemed he was always teaching and passing on knowledge especially around the subjects of God, life, gardening, and herbs. I don’t think I realized it at the time, I was just enjoying the work and learning. Man, I do miss him.    

Grandpaw’s Cure All….   

One of his favorite herbs was Goldenseal.  He always had roots and leaves dried and stored in jars ready to go whenever it was needed. He would keep some as hole roots and the rest was already ground up. He also kept a concoction or tincture if you prefer, of Goldenseal and 180-grain alcohol as a topical treatment that we used a lot. Sometimes, I wasn’t really sure it mattered what we had wrong. We would come in with scraps, cuts, bruises, rashes or poison ivy and he would just dab some of the Goldenseal mixture on it. It usually resulted in a lot of jumping up and down, waving and blowing, because that stuff burned.  Then if we ever had an upset stomach we could expect a nice cup of warm Goldenseal and Ginseng tea, and we might get just a little honey in it.    

Goldenseal the plant.  

Now that I’ve wandered down memory lane for a bit, we should probably get to a little information about Goldenseal, what it’s used for, and some basics on how to prepare it.  

Goldenseal’s technical name is Hydrastis Canadensis, which basically means nothing unless you are a botanist. Most people just call it Goldenseal or in some locations orange root and yellow puccoon, and about 12 other less common names according to several herbal books I possess.  It can be found in a large portion of the eastern United States and Southeastern Canada. The plant typically consists of a slightly purplish stem with two leaves, one leaf typically forms first and will generally be larger. Then a second smaller leaf typically just a little higher than the first, and a small white flower will form above it on the main stem.  The flower will produce a small red clustered berry that can typically be seen from mid-July to early August.  

The Choice Part

The Goldenseal root is generally the more prized portion of the plant. The root grows in a rhizome style with ½ inch thick body and a large amount of small hair-like roots. The root will vary in length (1”-6”) depending on the age of the plant and growing conditions. The main root does not typically grow very deep and older roots may actually have multiple stems from a single root.     

Does It Really Cure Everything?   

Well, that depends on who you ask. In the books pictured I stopped counting at 60 different things that Goldenseal has been used to treat. Most of the books had 3 to 6 pages dedicated to the uses of Goldenseal. On those pages, I found treatments for everything from drug addiction therapy(system cleansing), to rashes, to menstrual issues, and even treating cancer.  Now bear in mind that most of these have not been studied by the established medical community.  

Before we dive into some of the remedies, let’s look at two questions that all those remedies brought up…. How and why does it work? 

Answering those questions could get quite extensive because there are a lot of theories out about why it works, but the fact is that no one knows for sure. The most prominent thought attributes the effectiveness to the roots high levels of berberine and hydrastine.  Which have a wide variety of uses in fighting infections and muscle spasms. Quite honestly, the how and why questions lead me down a deep and entirely different rabbit hole, with way too much information to post to a blog. It would be more of a research book or books.    

Now what do you do with this stuff?  

I don’t have the time or space in a single post to entertain all of the Goldenseal remedies I have found, but I will touch on a few that I’ve had personal experience with. I actually started to call this section, “You want me to put that where?” but fortunately, I have not had experience with some of the more “interesting” uses such as enemas or female issues.  

Three that I have had experience with are Intestinal issues, rashes, and conjunctivitis.  I’m going to go through these rather briefly and the good part is they are all simple.  

• All three treatments use a tea made from powdered Goldenseal root. Simply place the powdered root into a pot of boiling water. I generally boil the water remove it from the heat and stir the powered Goldenseal in, then let it steep for 5-10 minutes.  
• Conjunctivitis (that’s pink eye for most of us), using a clean washcloth soaked in the hot tea simply hold it over the affected eye. The warm tea will also help to reduce any pain, stimulate blood flow, and loosen any dried or white matter from the eye.  
• Intestinal Issues (upset stomach) When making the tea adding Ginseng as well seems to increase effectiveness. After the tea has steeped 5-10 minutes, pour the tea through a strainer or multiple layers of cheesecloth. A coffee filter can also be used, but this can be slow and messy as they are extremely fine filters. Once the solids have been filtered out, drink around a cup of the tea. A bit of honey can be added to the tea to cut the bitterness, at least until you acquire a taste for the tea.  (My dad uses this for indigestion)  
• Rashes and skin lesions, (something itchy or bleeding) After the tea has cooled, strain solid material from the liquid. Mix 1 to 1 with a 180-proof alcohol. The alcohol helps to preserve the mixture, and aids in fighting infections. To use, wash the affected area thoroughly, and apply a generous amount. WARNING, this will turn your skin yellow and will stain clothing.  

I think this post has gone on long enough. 

I wanted to get a little deeper into conservation status and propagation, perhaps I will get to that in another post. A quick note on that subject, Wild Goldenseal is listed as Endangered, which means in many places it is illegal to remove it from public land.  (I'm on private property with the permission of the owner)

Thank you for checking it out, and Please, Please, Please leave comments and suggestions or additional information. I would love to hear about anyone else’s experiences with this wonderful plant.     

DISCLAIMER: No information in this post should be construed as medical advice, and all claims to fitness for the purpose of human consumption or in the treatment of medical conditions have not been tested or proven by qualified scientific or medical personnel. Never consume wild plants unless you possess the proper training and knowledge of the field of botany to do so safely. (This means if you do something stupid because of the information in this post it’s not my fault)  

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