Shiloh Woods Natural Healing Center

07/30/2026

Just what you need in the heat of the summer!

07/21/2026

Nature always balances; it's up to us to discover it. ❤️

Most tick barrier advice in North Carolina starts with a spray can. This native shrub works at the yard's edge where ticks enter, and it does it while looking like it belongs there.

07/15/2026

Fascinating.

For ten years, Alzheimer's had been taking her away. By the time researchers in São Paulo, Brazil encountered her, the 80-year-old had lost the ability to walk, dress herself, or control her bladder. She had not spoken meaningfully in five years. Her family had largely accepted her absence.

With little left to lose, a physician gave her five grams of Enigma strain psilocybin mushrooms, an extremely potent variety and a dose considered high even by psychedelic research standards. At that level, psilocybin can cause a complete disconnection from reality. For an 80-year-old in serious decline, it was a significant risk.

For hours she was in what researchers called a deep sleep, sweating and feverish. Nothing seemed to be happening.

Then, about 19 hours later, she woke up.

She began talking and didn't stop for hours. She recalled memories her family hadn't heard her express in years. She made jokes. She described a vivid vision of surfing with her son on a peaceful island and said, simply, "It is pleasant to come here." Her face, previously flat and unresponsive, was alive with expression.

Over the following weeks she showed improvements in mobility, emotional responsiveness, eye contact, and bladder control. A second smaller dose produced similar results.

The researchers, publishing in Frontiers in Neuroscience in May 2026, were careful about what they claimed. This was one patient with no control group. The improvements were temporary. The disease was not reversed.

What they suggested was still remarkable: that some neural circuits in late-stage Alzheimer's may not be fully erased. They may simply be inaccessible... but the door might be able to be opened.

06/17/2026

Just for fun! 😉

04/04/2026

Tulsi is one of my all-time favorite herbs... AND you can grow it yourself!

Enjoy! ❤️🌿🍵

🌿 Deep Dive: The Chemistry of the "Elixir of Life" (Tulsi) 🔬

We often talk about Tulsi (Holy Basil) around the homestead as our go-to calming tea, and ancient Ayurveda has celebrated it as the "Elixir of Life" for centuries. But for the Grow, Gather, Heal series, we always want to know why it works so well. The answer? It is an absolute powerhouse of complex phytochemistry!

🧪 The Infection Fighter (Eugenol)
Eugenol is the superstar volatile oil in this plant.
🔹 The Mechanism: It acts as a heavy-duty antiseptic and antibacterial agent by physically disrupting bacterial cell membranes. Essentially, it pops the bad bugs like a balloon while simultaneously soothing tissue to reduce pain and inflammation.

🧬 The Metabolic Powerhouses (Ursolic & Oleanolic Acids)
Tulsi is packed with these complex triterpenoid compounds.
🔹 The Mechanism: These acids regulate blood sugar by improving your body's response to insulin—acting as a chemical key that unlocks your cells to clear excess sugar out of the bloodstream. They also throw a heavy protective shield around the liver and exhibit strong anticancer properties.

🛡️ The Cellular Cleanup Crew (Rosmarinic Acid & Flavonoids)
This plant is loaded with rosmarinic acid and heavy-hitting flavonoids like quercetin and luteolin.
🔹 The Mechanism: Think of these as your body's biological rust-removers. They neutralize harmful free radicals, stop oxidative cellular damage, and actively suppress the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (effectively cutting the wires on your body's inflammatory alarm system).

✨ The Stress Soothers (Linalool, Camphor & Caryophyllene)
These are the compounds that give Tulsi its incredible, spicy-sweet aroma.
🔹 The Mechanism: While they double down on antimicrobial defense, they act primarily as potent adaptogens. They act like a biological deep breath for your nervous system, providing profound natural stress relief.

🌱 Grower's Tip & Clinical Insight:
It is rarely just one chemical doing the work; it's the beautiful botanical synergy of all these compounds acting together that makes Tulsi the ultimate health booster. If you haven't started your Holy Basil seeds for the summer garden yet, consider this your official reminder!

Check out the infographic to see exactly how these compounds stack up!

03/23/2026

Plantain is popping up everywhere. Now is a great time to dive in!

MEDICINAL MONDAY: PLANTAIN

How many of you are already using Plantain Medicinally? Also I’ll be posting up a medicinal herb handbook at noon and the second Medicinal plant to be covered is Catnip between 4-5pm.

When I’m talking about Plantains here I’m not referring to the Banana variety a lot of folks are familiar with. I’m referring to that “pesky weed” that seems to pop up in up in lawns, gardens, meadows, roadsides and sidewalks. They seemingly grow anywhere despite having a preference for rather compact soil.

While some may consider this plant to be a pest, it’s actually edible and has a lot of medicinal uses. Historically broadleaf plantain has been utilized to treat digestive tract disorders and a ton of other ailments If the fresh leaves are crushed together, they can be applied to the skin to treat minor burns, insect bites or open wounds. Broadleaf Plantain also has pain relieving properties to it, making it a remedy for a host of issues. It also contains anti-inflammatory compounds like aucubin, allantoin, and flavonoids, which support tissue regeneration.

Medicinal Uses for Broadleaf Plantain:

🌿 Commonly used as a poultice (crushed leaves) to draw out venom from bee stings, spider bites, and splinters, as well as to soothe minor cuts, burns, and rashes.

🌿 Aids in healing wounds and helps stop minor bleeding, supporting tissue regeneration.

🌿 Contains mucilage that soothes inflamed mucous membranes. It is used to treat ulcers, diarrhea, and irritable bowel issues.

🌿 Tea or syrup made from leaves is known to calm coughs, bronchitis, and respiratory allergies.

🌿 As both an Anti-inflammatory and Antibacterial it can be used to treat urinary tract infections and ease joint inflammation.

Medicinal Administrations:

🌿 Make a Poultice: Making a plantain poultice is easy. Simply chew the fresh leaves to break down the cell walls of the plant and release the medicine before placing it directly on a wound

🌿 Take it Internally: Eating plantain or drinking the leaf tea is soothing and detoxifying, especially to the lower bowel. It is astringent, mucilaginous, and generates tissue healing—making it excellent for restoring gut health. Plantain leaves also act as a disinfectant and a gentle expectorant that soothes irritated lungs. To make tea, use about one tablespoon of dried leaves per cup of boiled water. Steep 15 minutes. Drink several cups a day.

🌿 Make a Tincture/Salve: Alcohol extracts or oil-infused salves are used for longer-term healing of skin issues.

⚠️Preparing a Tincture:

🌿Gather the leaves on a dry day and let them wilt for 12 to 24 hours.

🌿Coarsely chop the leaves and place them in a blender.

🌿Add just enough olive oil to cover the leaves and blend to a fine chop.

🌿Pour into a double boiler or a Pyrex container placed in a pot with a little water. Gently heat for a minimum of six hours or up to several days, turning it on and off as needed so it does not get too hot and boil.

🌿 Press out the oil through muslin cloth and pour in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Store in a cool, dark place. The oil will last about a year

⚠️Preparing A Salve:

‍🌿 Add 1 part beeswax by scale to 5 parts plantain oil by measuring cup.

🌿 Gently heat until the beeswax is melted, then store in glass or tin jars.

03/16/2026

Many people walk through eastern forests every spring and never realize they are stepping through one of the most fascinating native medicinal plants in North America — Mayapple.
This woodland plant spreads in thick colonies across shady forest floors, sending up its distinctive umbrella-shaped leaves each spring. Beneath those leaves hides a single delicate white flower that eventually becomes a soft yellow fruit by early summer.
But what most people don’t realize is that Mayapple has been used for centuries for both food and medicine, and modern science has confirmed several of its powerful properties.

The Fruit — One of the Forest’s Hidden Treats
When fully ripe, Mayapple produces a small yellow fruit sometimes called “wild lemon.”
Only the fully ripe yellow fruit is edible.
All other parts of the plant — especially the root and unripe fruit — are very strong medicinally and should not be eaten raw.

When ripe, the fruit is:
• Soft and fragrant
• Slightly tropical in flavor
• Sweet with a mild tartness

Most people describe the taste as a mix of:
Pineapple
Banana
Citrus
Mango

The pulp can be eaten fresh or used to make:
• Jams
• Jellies
• Syrups
• Fruit leather
• W**e

Wild foragers often compare it to a forest custard fruit because of its creamy texture.
Proven Medicinal Compounds
The root of Mayapple contains powerful compounds called podophyllotoxins.

Modern medicine has actually isolated these compounds and turned them into pharmaceutical drugs.

From Mayapple came the development of chemotherapy drugs such as:
• Etoposide
• Teniposide
These are still used today to treat certain cancers.
This makes Mayapple one of the most important native medicinal plants ever studied in North America.

Historically Documented Uses
Native American tribes and early herbalists used Mayapple carefully for many conditions.
Traditional uses included:
• Liver stimulation
• Digestive cleansing
• Parasite removal
• Skin growth removal (warts and lesions)
• Bowel cleansing
• Anti-tumor treatments
Because of its strength, the root was considered a very powerful herbal medicine and was used in extremely small doses.

Modern Research-Backed Properties
Research has confirmed several biological activities from Mayapple compounds:
• Antiviral properties
• Anti-tumor activity
• Cell growth regulation
• Antifungal activity
• Immune response effects

This is why Mayapple compounds are still studied heavily in pharmaceutical research.
A Woodland Indicator Plant

Mayapple also tells you something important about the land.
When you see large colonies of Mayapple it usually means:
• Healthy forest soil
• High organic matter
• Stable woodland ecosystems
• Shade-rich environments

They often grow alongside other valuable medicinal plants like:
• Goldenseal
• Bloodroot
• Trillium
• Wild ginger

Many herbalists consider Mayapple part of the classic eastern woodland medicinal guild.
Important Safety Note
Only the fully ripe yellow fruit is edible.
The following parts are toxic if eaten improperly:
• Roots
• Leaves
• Stems
• Unripe green fruit

Those parts contain strong medicinal compounds and should only be used by experienced herbalists.
One of the Forest’s Hidden Gifts
Mayapple is one of those plants that reminds us just how incredible the forest really is.

A single plant that produces:
• A tropical-tasting wild fruit
• One of the most important medicinal compounds in modern medicine
• A key part of healthy woodland ecosystems
All growing quietly under the shade of eastern forests.

Once you learn to recognize Mayapple, you will start noticing entire colonies of it every spring — a reminder that some of the most powerful plants in the world grow completely unnoticed beneath our feet.

02/16/2026

I love it when science catches up with historical practices. ❤️🌿

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Smoke can clean the air better than some chemicals.

A study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology analyzed the effects of "medicinal smoke" — specifically the combustion of wood and a mixture of odoriferous and medicinal herbs — on airborne pathogens. The goal was to see if natural smoke could function as an atmospheric sterilizer.

The findings were significant.

The researchers treated a closed room with this medicinal smoke for one hour. They found that it didn't just mask odors; it decimated the bacterial population. Within 60 minutes, there was a 94 percent reduction in bacterial counts.

Even more surprising was the longevity of the effect.

While chemical sprays often evaporate or dissipate quickly, the smoke treatment maintained a cleaner environment for 24 hours in a closed room. In an open room, specific pathogenic bacteria — including Staphylococcus lentus and Enterobacter aerogenes — were completely absent even 30 days after the initial treatment.

This indicates that the smoke possesses strong bactericidal properties, capable of eliminating diverse plant and human pathogens within a confined space. It challenges the modern assumption that air quality is only improved by filtration, showing that combustion of specific botanicals can actively "scrub" the air of biological threats.

This modern data validates a practice that dates back thousands of years.

Indigenous cultures worldwide have long used smoke for purification. In India, the havan ritual involves burning specific herbs to purify the environment, while Aboriginal Australians have performed "smoking ceremonies" for roughly 60,000 years to ward off bad spirits and cleanse the land.

Read the study:
"Medicinal smoke reduces airborne bacteria." Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2007

01/30/2026

How beautiful! ❤️

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