The red clay hill above the house where I grew up had been terraced for years for farming. Over time a red oak, wild plum trees, blackberry bushes, a few persimmon trees, and sassafras saplings took up residence along the terrace edges. A few Red Oak trees grew in the edge of the fields. That hill was a virtual apothecary of native herbs and fruits. Bark from the red oak, soaked in herb-treated hot water—and carefully wrapped in a red-clay poultice eased a sprained ankle; sassafras roots boiled in spring water soothed sore throats, and castor oil was a truth serum—should an attempt be made to skip school by feigning sickness—it was addressed with a dose of Castor Oil—healing was miraculous! Those wild fruits along the terrace edges were delicious calls to culinary comfort and joy.
Over time, I often enjoyed hot sassafras tea as a beverage. It smells good and tastes good—well, sweetener added to it helps. You may recognize the taste of sassafras; it is the Root Beer taste. Sassafras was used in root beers, candy, and other tasty treats until 1960, when it was banned by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There was good reason to ban it, because the root contains a carcinogen; safrole, a key component of sassafras oil.
Steven Foster—known to be one of the great luminaries of, and advocates for, herbs in our generation, said,—for public safety a ban, such as that of the FDA in 1960, is needed. Samuel Thayer, author and wild plant expert said, “Sassafras as a drink has the effect of tasting good and there is no reason to remove the safrole…The amount of safrole is very small and is mostly or wholly eliminated through boiling.”
An article in the Journal for Nurse Practitioners, states that For thousands of years, traditional indigenous medicines have been used to promote health and wellbeing for millions of Native people who once inhabited this continent. It is my unscientific observation, that modern manipulations in merchandising put so much focus on manufactured meds and “the bottom line” that attention to health risks has been sketchy—causing unintended consequences.
Until the ban, A & W Root Beer, and a few candy companies had been using enormous amounts of products containing safrole. However, according to a number of naturalists, small amounts, such as in an occasional cup of tea made by boiling sassafras roots, had hardly any measurable hazard. As was mentioned, boiling the sassafras roots in the process of making tea apparently diminishes any hazard significantly. That is the way my grandmother made sassafras tea, much to my delight.
I am reminded of the aromas of sacrifices mentioned in the Bible, which were a kind of ethereal reaching out to God. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Church at Phillipi, commented on how well he was getting along made an interesting comparison; he said the marvelous provisions the church had provided for him were like a sweet smelling sacrifice offered to God. Aromas are dramatic stimuli to the memory, and to healing. In something of a similar vein, for me, the aroma of Sassafras is a kind of aroma therapy.
©Copyright Willis H. Moore 2024
Willis, once again you have re-introduced me to a forgotten delicacy — sassafras tea! As a child in North Georgia, my mother gave us that beverage when we had head colds or any other minor ailment. It helped us sleep. At that time, 70+ years ago, pharmacies were non-existent in small towns like Deep Step and Blairsville.