Yoga : Meditation : Well-being

This inconspicuous lichen is actually very common and even if you have noticed it, you are probably not aware of its bountiful medicinal properties; it’s called Usnea. I like to call it a ‘cure-all’ because it has so many therapeutic uses. It has been used by many traditional cultures for thousands of years for practical, medicinal and ceremonial purposes. The namesake active ingredient, Usnic Acid, is even used in modern medicine for numerous conditions. A tincture of Usnea that I made was so effective it stopped a vicious cycle of recurring (and potentially life-threatening) infections I was experiencing. I believe it is one of the most potent herbs (I know, it’s not a herb, it’s a lichen) available: if you’re going to take only one natural remedy, then this is it!

How I discovered Usnea

In my early twenties I was very sick. It started when I was 10 years old, diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. I needed to take a toxic drug called Cyclosporin, which is typically used for suppressing the immune system after organ transplantation. It initially helped stop the disease progressing, but I gradually started to suffer severe side effects. By the time I was about 20 years old, I ended up with eczema over large portions of my body from which infections took hold in my skin. Due to having a compromised immune system, the infections reoccurred. I took numerous courses of antibiotics, but the infections came back and eventually my body could not contain the bacteria, so they spread throughout my body. This was a dire situation resulting in a condition commonly called blood poisoning or septicaemia. I needed urgent powerful intravenous antibiotics, and to be in isolation until it was under control. 

Luckily the antibiotics worked and saved my life, but the septicaemia came back 2 more times in the next 6 months. In hospital for the third time, the antibiotics were starting to damage my liver and the doctors started to talk of a liver transplant as a possible outcome. 

I felt like I had hit rock-bottom on all levels. This promoted an inner awaking and motivation to find a solution to my own problems: to start taking control on of my health and not just sitting in fear and doing what the doctors told me. I had a deep feeling that there were answers to my predicament in nature and felt a deep drive to find them.

Upon getting out of the hospital, I decided I needed to deal with the most urgent issue at hand - the recurring infections. I thought there had to be a natural antibiotic that actually worked. I didn’t trust buying one from a health shop as I’d tried numerous natural therapies that way with poor results. I thought I would trust a published author and so I went to the local library and looked up ‘Natural Antibiotics’ (by Stephen Buhner) and couldn’t believe I found an entire book on them. Not only did it have my condition in there but how to collect and made a treatment myself. I had recently read ‘Celestine Prophecy’ and felt like I was starting to follow my intuition on a journey into the unknown. 

The book prescribed Usnea Tincture aka Old Man’s Beard. I instantly remembered seeing some on a bushwalk not long ago and got excited about being able to actually do this. I managed to collect some and make the tincture myself. I started taking the required amount but another infection came back. This time it was isolated and didn’t lead to another blood infection. I went back to the doctor and she confirmed it was an infection and prescribed antibiotics. I naively asked if there were any natural alternatives and she proceeded to get defensive. “There are no alternatives, you have to take the antibiotics!” or words to that effect. It took me by surprise but I thought that I had to try something different. I never filled the script and continued taking my natural antibiotic. The infection went away shortly after and I didn't have another infection until recently which has prompted me to start making tinctures again.

So that was it; the downward spiral that could have resulted in a liver transplant or even in death, was over: cured. I was totally inspired to keep going down the natural therapies path and knew my life was changing for the better.

I like lichen but what is a lichen like? (I just had to, at least once anyway!)

It would be easy to presume that lichens are plants but they are actually something far more complicated and interesting. Lichens are more like a colony as they contain algae living inside a fungus in perfect harmony, both providing varying services for the other. This is similar to kefir or kombucha, but lichens live off the moister in air and sunlight. The term symbiosis was created when this was first discovered. More recent discoveries have revealed: there can also be a bacteria instead of algae; the same fungi can host various different algae and a third fungus or yeast can be present in some lichens. 

Much older than dinosaurs, lichens mutual relationship evolved about 1 billion years ago, and it seems to be one of the most successful survival strategies ever! This is evident because of the thousands of different species of lichen - they are on every continent and can survive extremely hostile conditions from deserts to the Arctic. They have even survived being taken into outer space. Imagine all the other types of life that have come and gone in those millions of years and yet lichens still remain. They really are as ancient as any life on earth can be.

Usnea aka ‘Old Mans Beard’

It’s commonly called ‘Old Man’s Beard’, for obvious reasons, but because any plant that looks like a beard gets dubbed this title, it’s more useful and accurate to use its scientific name to avoid confusion. The one that comes to mind as being easily mistaken for Usnea is Spanish Moss which is not a lichen at all.

There are about 50 Usnea species in Australia and about 500 across the globe. They all look fairly similar, i.e like a grey-green beard but they vary in size from small tufts like a teenagers first attempt at facial hair, to long dangling mystical-looking creations like a greek god or Gandalf. They are present over most of Australia, from the alpine regions of Tasmania to tropical Far North Queensland. Around where I live and travel, I have noticed they range from sea level up to 1400m on the east coast of NSW.

Usnea’s Medicinal Properties

There are many active chemicals present in all the Usnea species but the most studied is Usnic acid. There are hundreds of research papers on Usnea that vary from a petri dish, animal and human studies. Usnic acid is used in numerous approved medical products. When taking all of this into account in producing a list of Usnea’s proven and potential effects, the result is pretty spectacular. 

Antibiotic Resistance and Side effects

Antibiotics are notoriously over prescribed by doctors and unnecessarily demanded by patients. They are also used in vastly inappropriate ways in the lifestock industry. All of this overuse of antibiotics has caused numerous antibiotics to no longer be effective. The result is people are dying from what used to be treatable conditions.

Antibiotics also have unwanted side effects such as destroying all the good bacteria in our digestive tract. Some side effects can even cause life-threating complications.

Fortunately, there is evidence that Usnea is active against resistant strains of bacteria and rarely has any side effects.

Fresh is best

In my experience I have found that off-the-shelf products from a health food shop to be less active than something made fresh, locally and to a high standard (with love!). This revelation was one of the key things that transformed my life for the better and renewed my belief that there are natural remedies that do work. 

For more information such as dosage, safety issues and how to buy usnea tincture please visit our shop

Things I’d like help with

I’m especially interested to know about Usnea's ceremonial uses, if it was used by Australian Indigenous people, and any spiritual attributes it may have from traditional cultures. I have my impressions on the latter but let me know yours.

Note: In the left-hand column there are some references and videos that are worth checking out.