HERB - RECIPE: Juniper Berries in Oil

Gaylin Walli g.walli at infoengine.com
Fri Nov 6 15:37:23 PST 1998


I have to admit, I don't fully understand why this works the
way it does for the purpose I make it. You see, *blush* I
need to use it every month or I can't run up stairs. Or wear
lingere. Or have any pressure on my chest at all. I swell like
a balloon. *blush* So I was over at a friends house last year
and just turned pasty white when someone ran into my front at
the wrong time. Ow ow ow ow. And when I explained to her what
the problem was, she ran to her medicine chest and pulled this
out, shoved me into the bathroom, and said "try this, you'll be
completely amazed."

So I did. And you know what? She was right. So I immediatly set
to work finding out the why's of swelling reduction and the use
of juniper berries. Let me geek on you here for a minute: the
principal constituent of juniper berries is the volatile oil
(the trade name of it is called Junol). Sometimes you'll here
people call it Roob or Rob of Juniper. This is from the practice
of mashing up the just ripe berries (they're bluish) in water and
then extracting out the oil via distilation (actually, the oil is
considered a by-product of the distillation if I understand the
chemistry of the process correctly).

So, about juniper oil itself. Well, it's kinda neat. In nearly all
the cultures that I've found that use it, even back in history,
the fruit has been used to treat symptoms requiring a diuretic.
Most of the reading that I've found that even mentions this in
period calls the condition "dropesie" or "ydropesie." Now both
of these are the roots for the semi-modern word "dropsy" which you
and I would probably call "edema." And all of them are just confusing
substitutes for "an excess of fluid where it's not supposed to
be" (that's really an oversimplification, but the technical details
are mind-boggling for me, so that's the easiest way I can explain
it without stumbling).

Have I muddled the works too much or misinformed? Someone stop
me if I have. In any event, the juniper oil that you get from
ripened and ripened dry berries is strong enough to reduce
swelling. You need to dilute it a bit (i.e. you can't use it
neat, as far as I know), but in the end, the results are amazing
if only for me.

Here's what I make for my house, pretty much for me when I need to
reduce my, ahem, "top-heavy load" (though we've been known to
use it as a leg massage oil after a day of hiking around camp).
-- Jasmine, jasmine at infoengine.com

PS: Do I need to remind everybody about doing a patch test before
you try out a new toiletry item you've never tried? That may be
appropriate here too if you have a history of allergies. :)



JASMINE'S (MONTHLY) JUNIPER MASSAGE OIL

Equipment:

   a saucepan with a lid
   a non-reactive metal spoon (not wooden!)
   a food processor or spice grinder (preferred) or a mortar (adequate)
   a fine mesh strainer
   a bowl
   a small bottle with a sealable, non-reactive top (squeeze-type preferred)

Ingredients:

   1/2 cup dried juniper berries
   1 cup light oil (good: canola or almond)

Preparation:

In a food processor or spice grinder, grind the juniper berries into
very small pieces, larger than powder but smaller than cracked bits.
Into your saucepan, add the oil and the ground berries. Cover and heat
the berries and oil on low or medium-low until small bubbles form at the
edges of the pan (don't boil this). Let it bubble for 10-20 minutes.
     Turn off the stove and let the mixture cool for about 15 minutes.
Repeat the heating and cooling process twice more, then turn off the
heat and cool completely. Using your strainer, pour the oil from the
juniper sludge through the strainer and into the bowl. Once filtered
from the oil, place the juniper sludge in the strainer, hold it over
the bowl, and press the sludge carefully with the back of the spoon to
get the remaining oil that has soaked into the berries.
     Bottle and enjoy. This oil keeps for roughly one year, though
that time may be shortened as you use more fragile oils (e.g. almond)
for the base. While using cold oil on your skin is not a great idea,
you may store the oil in the fridge to make it last longer. Before using,
however, you should be sure to let it warm up to room temperature.

Alternate prepartion:

Place the oil and the ground berries in a slow cooker and heat on low
for several hours until fragrant. Filter oil from berries as suggested
above.

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