Juniper Berries "I'll drink to that!"

Thursday 8th April 2010 12:54pm

Officially juniper is a herb with the botanical name Juniperus communis from the Cypress (Cupressaceae) family. Informally though we all have grown to know the juniper berry not by this name but because it is the plant that gives that long cool gin and tonic on a hot afternoon its distinctive flavour.

In supplements though the part used is the volatile oil extracted from the berries and not the fermented whole berry.

Records show the use of juniper berries back to biblical times and its principal use is in inflammatory disorders and fluid retention.

Juniper berries have particular nutrition qualities that also assist in maintaining good joint health. Vitamin C, sulphur and copper are found in useable quantities in the berries all of which play important roles.

The primary chemical constituents of this herb include essential oil (camphene, cineole, myrcene, pinene, terpinene), sesquiterpenes (cadinene, elemene), flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, podophyllotoxin and vitamin C.

Vitamin C and sulphur are both vital for the production and maintenance of connective tissue and cartilage in the joints and copper plays a role in bone health as well as having proven attributes in helping with arthritic pain.

Juniper exerts a strong anti-inflammatory action and assists in the elimination of uric wastes, specifically from around the joints. Thus, it is an excellent diuretic herb, making it useful for all symptoms of fluid retention.

Not recommended for pregnant women or people with kidney disease.

Historical information

The use of Juniper goes back many centuries.
In the Middle Ages, the scent of Juniper was believed to ward off plague, contagious diseases and leprosy.
For hundreds of years, Juniper Berry has been (and still is) an herbal remedy for urinary tract problems, including urine retention and gallstones and is an old folk remedy for gout.
In the 1500s, a Dutch pharmacist used Juniper Berries to create a new, inexpensive diuretic drink that he called gin, which was not only used for medicinal purposes, but its delightful juniper-flavor (and other obvious enjoyments) became a very popular beverage.
In North America, the Native Americans believed that Juniper would cleanse and heal the body and keep away infection, and different tribes used it to treat a wide range of illnesses from kidney complaints to stomachaches, colds and syphilis.
The Navajos used it for flu, and because it was an excellent survival food, many of the tribes used it to fight off starvation by drying and grinding the berries into cakes.
Roasted Juniper Berries have been ground and used as a substitute for coffee, and the berries are frequently used as a spice for pickles, sauerkraut, game, pork and in patés.
It is highly valued commercially as the flavoring for gin. The word gin is a shortened form of the Dutch, genever, which was originally derived from the Latin, juniperus.

This information is not intended as a substitute for qualified medical advice. Please consult a properly qualified health care practitioner.