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Humans have long held a fascination with pine trees and their role in the natural world around us. Mysterious, beautiful, and ancient, pines can live to be hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years old.
Nearly 125 different pine species of pines have been identified. Among them are some of the longest-living trees and organisms in the world, with some trees from the bristlecone pine species (Pinus longaeva) with a life span of around 5,000 years.
While the human genome has over three billion base pairs (building blocks of DNA), the Loblolly pine species have been shown to have 22 billion base pairs—more than seven times the amount of genetic material in us humans.
History of Pine Needle Benefits and Compounds
Indigenous peoples have used pine needles and various compounds from certain pine trees for at least hundreds of years. Their consumption impacts our immune, respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological systems.
It was the bark and needles from pines that the Iroquois gave to Jacques Cartier’s critically ill crew in 1536, which helped provide the vitamin C the crew needed to treat their scurvy.
In more recent times, pine needles and tea made from pine needles have garnered significant attention from scientists, doctors, and others within the health and wellness fields, due to the many compounds found in certain species.
Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) needles, for example, are known to provide nutrients, antioxidants, vitamin C, essential oils, amino acids, and flavonoids.
Also contained in the needles of Eastern white pines is shikimic acid—a naturally occurring compound known to induce several different physiological effects within the body. Shikimic acid is the key ingredient in 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 first discovered by Dutch chemist Johan Fredrik Eijkman in 1885.
The shikimate pathway is crucial for life and is a seven-step pathway used by bacteria, fungi, archaea, algae, some protozoans, and plants for the biosynthesis of vitamins, folates, and the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine. Phenylalanine and tryptophan are counted as essential amino acids—meaning they are required by human beings and cannot be synthesized in the body as other amino acids can. Tyrosine is considered conditionally essential because its synthesis can be limited for some people.
These amino acids are important to humans and help produce neurotransmitters and compounds like serotonin, melatonin, epinephrine, dopamine, CoQ10, and thyroid hormone—specifically through the help of beneficial gut bacteria.
In other words, shikimic acid plays an essential role in a long biochemical process that sustains our health and longevity. It has also been shown to support healthy platelet function and healthy cardiovascular function.
Additionally, shikimic acid has been shown to help support the function of the gut and digestive system, as well as the myelin sheath in animal studies. The myelin sheath is the fatty substance that surrounds neurons and acts as “insulation” for the electrical communication that takes place between these neurons.
Shikimic acid is also known to exert antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties, amongst other important properties. One study found it was effective in controlling several pathogenic food bacteria, including Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus cereus.
Shikimic Acid, Herbicides, and Digestive Function
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.
Glyphosate has been one of the most heavily used herbicides in the world and many studies and lawsuits have detailed its controversial use over recent years, with the World Health Organization classifying it as a class 2A probable human carcinogen.
The herbicide creates several harmful and noteworthy effects, such as inhibiting the crucial cytochrome p450 enzymes as well as suppressing the function of the p53 gene. This particular gene is known loosely by scientists as the “guardian of the genome.”
Concerning the shikimate pathway, glyphosate targets its 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 due to its damaging effects on our beneficial bacteria.
In 2021, the first-ever bioinformatics method classified sequences from about 90 percent of eukaryotes and greater than 80 percent of prokaryotes in the human microbiome.
The scientists found that an astonishing 54 percent of the species in the core human gut microbiome are sensitive to glyphosate, but noted the figure was conservative, suggesting many more could be affected.
Since glyphosate harms many beneficial bacteria in the gut, it is no surprise that health conditions like cancer, depression, obesity, diabetes, and digestive dysfunction have risen over the years and have been linked to the widespread use of glyphosate.
Pine Needles and Herbicide-Free Farming
Shikimic acid and the shikimic acid pathway are important because of their essential role in sustaining life on this planet and how they affect the human microbiome and our overall health. Synthetic herbicides like glyphosate have dramatically affected us humans, as well as pollinators like bees and butterflies.
With our food, water, lawns, and grasslands now contaminated by this substance, 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 them.
Ascent Nutrition, proudly seen in The Epoch Times, is the first company to market an extracted form of wild-harvested Eastern white pine needles in organic glycerin.
Thousands of people around the world have benefited from Ascent Nutrition’s Pine Needle Extract and it’s the perfect fit in supporting immune, respiratory, brain, and overall health for us humans—especially during the winter months.
Click here to get your Pine Needle Extract from Ascent Nutrition today and see why this ancient ally is making a huge revival and difference in people’s health.