Oak bark
As the names suggests, it comes from barks of different types of oaks. It contains tannin, a powerful polyphenolic compound responsible for its characteristic astringent flavor. We can actually find it in many plants and its main fuction is simply the protection and help in healing process. And tannin performs this fuction really well thanks to its exceptional antiviral, antibacterial and antiparasitic properties.
But let's get back to our oak bark. Now we know what the secret behind its healing effects is on our health, so we are going to focus on how we can use it for our benefit to the maximum. I created this website to talk about eczema so let's jump right into this topic, which interests us the most. Can it present any help and relieve to eczema? I tried it for a few weeks. I drank a cup of tea made from oak bark at least three times a day for about two weeks. The feeling I got while using it was that it actually made my skin less itchy during these two week. Topical application also seemed to relieve my itching. It certainly didn't made it worse, which worth to note because this sometimes happens with other treatments.
What's more, I was really surprised and impressed on the great aroma it produces immediately after I put the hot boiling water on the dried bark pieces. While brewing, which should be about 5-10 minutes, it feels like your kitchen turns into a deep forest somwhere in the mountains. At least for me, the effect was that it brought some great memories from my childhood hiking with my whole family in the popular High Tatras mountains in Slovakia.
Health benefits and precautions
Oak bark has proven anti-inflammatory and antiulcer activity and helps with diarrhea issues. Basically it seems to be a great help in problems inside the digestive track overall. What most impacted me when reading different experiences of people using oak bark, was the claim of one man. He explained how he spent over 13 years exhaustively for a cure for colorectal inflammation and frequent bowel movements in the morning, which he had been suffering for about 30 years.
He mentions how his experience suggests that intestinal disorders are not an autoimmune disease, but rather overgrowth of bad bacteria, which causes damagage in the digestive system. He had basically all the intestinal problems you can imagine: bloating, flatulence, discomfort, constant urge to defecate, later on diarrhea, colon pain, colorectal inflammation and even bleeding. He tried everything to solve his problems. Also the herbal remedies found in Traditional Chinese Medicine, or high doses of probiotics and specific carbohydrate. The last two seemed to help and control the condition a little bit but was not a solution he was looking for.
After all the disappointment and desperation, he decide to retroactively think about what seemd to have some strong but temporal positive effects and decided to try it out again. One of them was garlic whose beneficial effects I already described in my other article. He started to eat 2 cloves of raw garlic 3 times a day, plus White Oak Bark capsules (2 capsules, 3 times daily, but I believe you can try with tea as well). He explains that garlic removed the discomfort and pain in the colon, and lowered the amount of daily bowels by 50%.
Remember to eat som food before eating garlic to avoid any discomfort and stomach pains. Oak bark improved his colorectal inflammation, hemorrhoids and bleeding. It is should be able to shrink, strengthen and tighten blood vessels and mucous intestinal tissues. If interested in the whole story you can find his complete article here. Please, always read the instructions of any medicine and consult with your doctor its use. This applies to oak bark products and tea as well.
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