Birch bark and herb offers a range of health benefits due to its rich composition of bioactive compounds and has been used in traditional medicine across different cultures for centuries. Scientific research supports many of these traditional uses, highlighting its potential in modern therapeutic applications.
What is Birch tree?
Birch trees are characterized by their slender trunks and distinctive, often peeling, bark which can be white, silver, or yellowish. The leaves are typically oval or triangular with serrated edges.
Birch (Betula spp.) is a deciduous tree known for its distinctive white bark, often peeling in thin layers, and its simple, serrated leaves. Birch trees can grow up to 40-70 feet tall and are commonly found in temperate climates, particularly in the northern hemisphere. They thrive in well-drained, moist soils and are typically seen in forests, along riverbanks, and in meadows.
Birch trees are commonly found in North America, Europe, and Asia. They thrive in well-drained, sandy, or loamy soils and are often found in forests, along rivers, and in areas with ample sunlight.
Primary Compounds
Birch trees contain various bioactive compounds, including:
Betulin: A triterpene with anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
Betulinic Acid: Known for its antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities.
Salicylates: Natural precursors to aspirin, providing analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.
Flavonoids: Including quercetin and kaempferol, which possess antioxidant properties.
Saponins: Known for their immune-boosting and cholesterol-lowering effects.
Traditional Uses
Europe: Birch sap (birch water) is traditionally consumed as a spring tonic to cleanse the body. Birch leaves are brewed into teas for their diuretic and detoxifying effects.
North America: Indigenous peoples have used birch bark for treating wounds and burns due to its antiseptic properties. Birch leaf tea is also used for its diuretic and anti-inflammatory benefits.
Asia: Birch extracts are included in traditional Chinese medicine for treating rheumatic conditions and improving skin health.
Europe: In traditional European medicine, birch leaves and bark were used for their diuretic, anti-inflammatory, and antiseptic properties. Birch sap was also consumed as a spring tonic to boost overall health.
Russia: Birch tar was used for treating skin diseases and as an antiseptic. Birch leaf tea was commonly used for its diuretic and detoxifying effects.
Birch Health Benefits
Birch has been traditionally used in various cultures for its medicinal properties. Some of the noted health benefits include:
1. Anti-inflammatory and Analgesic Effects:
The salicylates in birch bark and leaves are similar to aspirin, providing pain relief and reducing inflammation. This makes birch useful for treating conditions like arthritis and muscle pain.
Betulin and betulinic acid reduce inflammation and have been used to treat conditions like arthritis.
2. Detoxification:
Birch leaves and sap have diuretic properties, promoting the elimination of excess fluids, toxins, and waste products from the body. This can aid in treating urinary tract infections and kidney stones.
3. Skin Health:
Birch bark extract is used topically to treat skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis due to its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.
4. Antioxidant Properties:
The flavonoids and phenolic compounds in birch provide antioxidant effects, protecting cells from damage caused by free radicals and potentially reducing the risk of chronic diseases.
5. Anti-cancer Potential:
Betulinic acid from birch bark has shown promise in inhibiting the growth of cancer cells and inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death) in various cancer types.
Clinical studies on Birch
Studies have explored the anticancer properties of betulinic acid, highlighting its ability to induce apoptosis in cancer cells.
Other research has found that birch bark extract reduces inflammation and pain, supporting its traditional use for treating arthritic conditions.
Research has also found that birch leaf extract can promote kidney health and detoxification.
Antioxidant and antimicrobial benefits of birch have also been studied.
Cancer research
One study Romania’s Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy tested a birch extract called Betulin.
The finding confirms previous research done by Romanian and Polish medical researchers that have all found that Betulin, an extract from the bark of the birch tree, stops the proliferation of certain cancerous cells into tumors.
The researchers tested the Betulin derivative betulinic acid against three types of human cancer cells in the laboratory. These included cervical cancer cells (HeLa cells), breast cancer cells (MCF7 cells) and skin cancer cells (epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells).
An MTT assay and the fluorescence double staining analysis were conducted on the cells after treatment with the birch extract. The MTT assay measures the activity of cellular enzymes, which stimulate circulatory activity among cells.
This study found that the birch tree extract blocked the ability of the cancerous cells from creating circulatory systems, which enable them to expand and become tumors.
This process of creating circulatory systems – typically through capillaries – is called angiogenesis: The creation of blood vessels among groups of cancer cells.
This study found the birch bark extract was especially effective amongst the cervical cancer cells and the skin cancer cells.
The researchers wrote that, “Betulin induced the reduction of newly formed capillaries, especially in the mesenchyme.”
The fact that the extract works in the mesenchyme is important because the mesenchyme are regions where cells develop into more specialized cells. To inhibit cancer growth among these regions is powerful because many cancers form from this region, as the unspecialized cells metastasize to specialized tumor regions.
Previous research also found birch tree blocks cancer
This finding is critical in the comprehensive understanding of the ability of birch tree bark to stop cancer growth. At least three previous studies have established that the birch tree bark extract also stimulates the kill switch among cancer cells – also called apoptotic cell death.
One of the ways that cancer cells avoid the immune system is that they produce genetic changes that block the cells’ normal kill-switch, which can be triggered by the immune system when the immune system senses that a cell has mutated. Two previous studies – one from May of 2012 and another from 2006 from Poland’s Curie-Sklodowska University – confirmed that Betulin was able to undo this genetic block, allowing cancer cells to be killed.
The earlier 2012 research found that Betulin was more powerful than its derivative, betulinic acid in promoting cell death among the cancer cells.
What is Betulin?
Betulin is classified as a pentacyclic triterpene. Birch bark contains a significant amount, as does the bark of the red alder (Alnus rubra) tree. Native American Indians used the bark of the red alder tree to treat a variety of inflammatory conditions, including poison oak and other inflammatory skin conditions, as well as tuberculosis.
Traditionally, the tar or resin from the bark was prepared, and applied directly onto the skin. The researchers utilized extracts that were up to 50% Bertulin content, from a raw extract of 3%.
Other plants also contain Betulin. The Malaysian plant Phyllanthus watsonii also contains Betulin, and in June of 2012, Malaysian researchers tested the extract of this plant against colon cancer cells and cervical cancer cells.
Like the Romanian and Polish researchers, the Malaysian researchers found that the Betulin-containing plant induced the death of colon cancer and cervical cancer cells.
REFERENCES:
Dehelean CA, Feflea S, Molnár J, Zupko I, Soica C. Betulin as an antitumor agent tested in vitro on A431, HeLa and MCF7, and as an angiogenic inhibitor in vivo in the CAM assay. Nat Prod Commun. 2012 Aug;7(8):981-5.
Soica CM, Dehelean CA, Peev C, Aluas M, Zupkó I, Kása P Jr, Alexa E. Physico-chemical comparison of betulinic acid, betulin and birch bark extract and in vitro investigation of their cytotoxic effects towards skin epidermoid carcinoma (A431), breast carcinoma (MCF7) and cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cell lines. Nat Prod Res. 2012;26(10):968-74.
Rzeski W, Stepulak A, Szymański M, Juszczak M, Grabarska A, Sifringer M, Kaczor J, Kandefer-Szerszeń M. Betulin elicits anti-cancer effects in tumour primary cultures and cell lines in vitro. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2009 Dec;105(6):425-32.
Rzeski W, Stepulak A, Szymański M, Sifringer M, Kaczor J, Wejksza K, Zdzisińska B, Kandefer-Szerszeń M. Betulinic acid decreases expression of bcl-2 and cyclin D1, inhibits proliferation, migration and induces apoptosis in cancer cells. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2006 Oct;374(1):11-20.
Heo YA. Birch Bark Extract: A Review in Epidermolysis Bullosa. Drugs. 2023 Sep;83(14):1309-1314. doi: 10.1007/s40265-023-01935-z. Epub 2023 Sep 2. Erratum in: Drugs. 2023 Oct;83(15):1455. doi: 10.1007/s40265-023-01949-7.
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Scheffler A. The Wound Healing Properties of Betulin from Birch Bark from Bench to Bedside. Planta Med. 2019 May;85(7):524-527. doi: 10.1055/a-0850-0224.