the.com/willowbark
nature's original aspirin, chewed by Sumerians millennia before chemists slapped a brand on it
means The bark of the willow tree, traditionally used as a natural pain reliever and fever reducer because it contains salicin, the chemical ancestor of aspirin.
from A plain English compound of "willow" (Old English welig, the drooping waterside tree) and "bark" (from an Old Norse word, börkr, for the rind of a tree). The substance long preceded the name: ancient Sumerian and Egyptian texts mention willow for aches, and salicin — extracted in the early 19th century — takes its name from Latin salix, "willow." That salicin became salicylic acid, which chemists later acetylated into the compound sold as aspirin.
- active compound
- contains salicin, the body's aspirin precursor
- ancient prescription
- Hippocrates prescribed it for fever and pain
- slow burn
- acts gentler and longer than aspirin
- name origin
- genus Salix gave salicylic acid its name
hippocrates — greek physician documented willow bark use for pain relief around 400 bce
bayer aspirin — derived salicylic acid from willow bark in 1897, creating modern aspirin
salix alba — white willow species native to europe with highest salicin concentration in bark