Traditional Resins/Gums

Many gums or resins from trees have favorable profiles. One of my favorite is greek mastic gum which you can buy raw and chews just like a gum. It reduces bacteria in the mouth and do a ton of healthful things. I have a strong preference to medications that have been used successfully for thousands of years over newly developed drugs with unknown risks for long term use, and sometime short term use.

“The Jerusalem Balsam, a remedy based on an ethanolic extract of a herbal mixture, was formulated in 1719 in the pharmacy of the Saint Savior monastery in the old city of Jerusalem… one of the formulas, found in a manuscript form in the archive of the monastery, contains four plants: olibanum (Boswellia spp.), myrrh (Commiphora spp.), aloe (Aloe sp.) and mastic (Pistacia lentiscus L.). We conducted pharmacological assays on this four-plant formula. It showed anti-inflammatory, as well as anti-oxidative, and anti-septic properties.” [The Jerusalem Balsam: from the Franciscan Monastery in the old city of Jerusalem to Martindale 33. 2005]

Also see:  Medieval Pharmacotherapy Continuity and Change Case Studies from Ibn Sına and some of his Late Medieval Commentators [2009 – Full Book 815 pages]

“The most promising plant and herbal products [for inflammatory bowel disease] were tormentil extracts, wormwoodherb, Aloe vera, germinated barley foodstuff, curcumin, Boswellia serrata, Panax notoginseng, Ixeris dentata, green tea, Cordia dichotoma, Plantago lanceolata, Iridoidglycosides, and mastic gum. ” [2016]

  • The most important clinical trials conducted [ in inflammatory bowel disease] so far refer to the use of mastic gum, tormentil extracts, wormwood herb, aloe veratriticum aestivum, germinated barley foodstuff, and boswellia serrata. …boswellia serrata gum resin and plantago ovata seeds were as effective as mesalazine, ” [2015]
  • “Taken together, allergic reactions to Christmas tree, poinsettia, Christmas cactus, perfumed candles, Christmas typical food, common gifts like mobile phones and laptops, frankincense, myrrh and pollens have been described but in very rare instances. ” [Christmas from an allergist’s perspective 2016].

The “tear form” which is chewed like gum (unlike powder in capsules) and then swallowed have several advantages:

  • Reduce bacteria in the mouth (a likely reserve of bacteria that may repopulate the gut) and greatly improve mouth health!
  • Allows the active compounds to enter the body via the sublingual route
  • Impacts the entire digestive system.

The first question many people may have is “Where do I get these tears?”. I recently discovered an Online shop in Greece that sells all of these tears: YouHerbIt.

Suggested use: Use one for a week and then rotate to the next.

Mastic Gum

mastic

Boswellia Serrata/Frankincense gum resin [Commiphora…]

boswellia

“The gum resin of Boswellia serrata (BS), a traditional treatment of Ayurvedic medicine in India also identified as Indian frankincense, Salai Guggal, or Indian olibanum, has been used for centuries as a remedy for many health problems [1996].”

Myrrh Gum [Commiphora… ]