Humans have long held a fascination with pine trees and their roles in the natural world around us. They are mysterious, beautiful, and ancient trees that can live to be hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years old.
There are around 125 different pine species that have been identified. Among them are some of the longest-living trees and organisms in the world.
History of Pine Needle Benefits and Compounds
Indigenous peoples have long used pine needles and various compounds from certain pine trees for at least hundreds of years. The consumption of certain pine needles impacts our immune, respiratory, and cardiovascular and neurological systems.Interestingly, it was the bark and needles from pines that the Iroquois gave to Jacques Cartier’s critically ill crew back in 1536, which helped to provide the vitamin C the crew needed at that time to treat their scurvy.
Pine needles from eastern white pines (Pinus strobus), for example are known to provide nutrients, antioxidants, vitamin C, essential oils, amino acids, and flavonoids.
Pine Needles and Shikimic Acid
Researchers at the University of Maine found that steeping pine needles in hot water released shikimic acid.Shikimic acid is a naturally-occurring compound known to induce several different physiological effects within the body. Some might be familiar with it due to the fact that it is the main constituent within the antiviral drug Oseltamivir, also known commercially as Tamiflu.
Shikimic acid is a metabolite that helps plants metabolize important compounds. It is a critical element in the shikimate pathway, which was discovered first by Dutch chemist Johan Fredrik Eykman in 1885.
These amino acids are important to humans and help produce our bodies neurotransmitters and compounds like serotonin, melatonin, epinephrine, dopamine, CoQ10, and thyroid hormone—specifically through the help of beneficial gut bacteria.
In other words, for human beings, shikimic acid plays an essential role in a long biochemical process that sustains our health and longevity.
Shikimic Acid, Herbicides, and Digestive Functioning
As detailed earlier, shikimic acid is the end result of the seven-step metabolic process known as the shikimate pathway. This pathway is known to be negatively impacted by different herbicides, including glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup.With respect to the shikimate pathway, glyphosate targets this seven-step process by inhibiting a key enzyme known as EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase). When EPSPS is inhibited, the building of the amino acids necessary for the production of proteins is blocked and the plant dies.
Although we humans do not contain the shikimate pathway directly, glyphosate still affects us because of its damaging effects on our beneficial bacteria.
In 2021, the first-ever bioinformatics method was able to classify sequences from about 90 percent of eukaryotes and greater than 80 percent of prokaryotes in the human microbiome.
Pine Needles and Herbicide-Free Farming
Shikimic acid and the shikimic acid pathway are important because of their essential role sustaining life on this planet and how they affect the human microbiome and our overall health.Synthetic herbicides like glyphosate have dramatically affected humans in several ways, as well as pollinators like bees and butterflies.
With our food, water, lawns, and grasslands now contaminated by this substance, it is important we understand what it is and what roles it plays beyond its intended use as weed control in industrial agriculture.
Choosing organically grown or sustainably wild-harvested foods, when possible, is one way to reduce consumption of synthetic herbicide-sprayed foods and help support the health of the microbiome.
Another way to support the microbiome, gut, immune, and respiratory functioning is the consumption of pine needles and the active constituents found within.