Eat a (Poison Ivy) Leaf to Get Relief?

“Leaflets of three, let it be.” That’s the familiar rhyme. But could we add a line?

“Eat a leaf to get relief?”

Maybe.

There’s certainly an amount of risk involved, but those who eat poison ivy leaves claim to gain immunity to the plant. I’ll show you how to do it and help you weigh out all the pros and cons.

But remember, this is a controversial topic. I can’t make guarantees about the outcome, and you are responsible for your own actions.

Good?

Okay. Let’s proceed.

Characteristics of Poison Ivy

Poison ivy is not technically an ivy. Rather, it’s a member of the cashew family.

Identification

It grows as a vine or erect shrub. The stems develop aerial rootlets along the sides. The leaflets are always in threes, with the center leaflets having a longer stalk than the side two. Other than this, the leaves are highly variable and can be toothed, toothless, variably lobed, hairless, slightly hairy, glossy, or dull.

Poison ivy also produces white berries in drooping clusters. That’s a good warning sign, by the way. You should almost always avoid plants with white berries.

Read More: “How to Not Die While Wildcrafting”

Where to Find It

Poison ivy and its close relative, poison oak, are native to North America. They can be found in woods and thickets in Mexico, most of Canada, and every state in the U.S. except Alaska. Poison ivy has also found its way to many countries around the world.

This migration is partly due to the efforts of well-meaning herbalists. That’s right. Poison ivy has a history as a medicinal plant. It has been used as a treatment for rheumatism, paralysis, herpes, liver disorders, warts, and (ironically) poison ivy rash.¹⁾Chevallier, Andrew. Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. London: DK/Penguin Random House, 2016.²⁾Elpel, Thomas J. Botany in a Day: Thomas J. Elpels Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families. Pony, MT: HOPS Press, 2004.³⁾Deane. “Poison Ivy Ponderings.” Eat The Weeds and Other Things, Too. September 09, 2017. Accessed June 06, 2018. http://www.eattheweeds.com/poison-ivy-ponderings/.⁴⁾Foster, Steven, and James A. Duke. Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. Apparently, it was quite effective in some of these applications. However, the negative side effects and relative danger of the plant has made its use rare to nonexistent in modern-day herbalism.

Why Poison Ivy Can Cause Irritation

The offending chemical in poison ivy (and in other members of the Toxicodendron genus) is an oil called urushiol. Due to some peculiarities of biochemistry, only humans, certain other primates, and guinea pigs are bothered by it.⁵⁾Deane. “Poison Ivy Ponderings.” Eat The Weeds and Other Things, Too. September 09, 2017. Accessed June 06, 2018. http://www.eattheweeds.com/poison-ivy-ponderings/. Some humans also seem to have varying levels of resistance.

The quantity of urushiol changes throughout the year, usually becoming stronger with age. It tends to be contained within the leaves, meaning that you could theoretically touch an undamaged plant all you want without getting a reaction. I say “theoretically” because even a tiny puncture of the leaf, such as from an insect bite, can release the oil without you knowing it. But if contact is unavoidable, use a light touch and you might get away unscathed.

What to Do if You’ve Been Exposed

If you do come in contact with the plant, scrub the area with soap and water within a few hours and you may avoid a reaction. The juice of the jewelweed plant is also said to help prevent a reaction and to relieve itching.⁶⁾Foster, Steven, and James A. Duke. Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

The problem is that you don’t always know you’ve been exposed. Urushiol is a surprisingly stubborn chemical. It can be carried by rain water that has fallen on leaves. Pets or wild game can carry the oil on their fur. Even burning the plant doesn’t destroy it. Urushiol is carried in the smoke and can cause a dangerous reaction in those that breath it.⁷⁾Foster, Steven, and James A. Duke. Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.⁸⁾Elpel, Thomas J. Botany in a Day: Thomas J. Elpels Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families. Pony, MT: HOPS Press, 2004. Even a hundred-year-old dried specimen can cause a reaction.⁹⁾Foster, Steven, and James A. Duke. Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

If you develop a reaction, take heart. This too shall pass. Use cooling herbs, such as cleavers, chickweed, or dandelion, both externally and internally. Clay will also help soothe the area and draw out inflammation. A lukewarm bath with salt and baking soda should also help.

The pain and itch of poison ivy comes from urushiol’s ability to trick your body into attacking affected skin cells. To the body, these affected cells appear to be foreign material.¹⁰⁾Deane. “Poison Ivy Ponderings.” Eat The Weeds and Other Things, Too. September 09, 2017. Accessed June 06, 2018. http://www.eattheweeds.com/poison-ivy-ponderings/. The result is itching, sores, and bleeding.

How to Eat Poison Ivy

As stated above, eating poison ivy is a controversial topic, and I cannot guarantee that you won’t have a reaction. It’s a practice that people really do partake in without suffering ill effects, and I’ll help you minimize the risks.

However, interacting with poison ivy carries more risk than you’re exposed to with most other popular edible and medicinal plants. Anything you do here is at your own peril.

Selection

Use young leaves. Urushiol content typically increases with time. Also, leaves with less of a glossy appearance will likely have a lower concentration of urushiol.¹¹⁾Elpel, Thomas J. Botany in a Day: Thomas J. Elpels Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families. Pony, MT: HOPS Press, 2004.

Quantity

Start with a tiny piece of leaf. You can use tweezers to pluck off the tip of a leaf. While some people will eat whole leaves, I see no reason to jump in. Why not first see if you’ll have a reaction to a small amount and then, if desired, work your way up.

Ingestion Strategy

Some people will pluck a few leaves each spring and just chew them up right then and there. That’s nice for them, but I’m a bit more cautious. One method of protecting your mouth is to roll the piece of leaf up in a bit of bread. There’s no need to get fancy. We’re not making a poison ivy sandwich. Just roll it into a ball and compress it down into as small a size as possible. Then swallow the whole thing like a pill. If a bread ball is too large to swallow, or if you’re gluten intolerant like me, you can enclose your bit of leaf in a gel capsule instead.

Frequency

I wouldn’t suggest eating more than one piece a day. In fact, you might want to put a couple of days between your first attempt and your second, just to give yourself plenty of time to gauge your reaction. The first time I ate poison ivy, I woke up in the night with difficulty breathing. As it turned out, this was from inhaling mold and dust during a bathroom remodel. But you’d better believe I gave myself the next day off to be absolutely sure of what was going on with my body.

Some people eat poison ivy one time each year and claim to have immunity until the following year. These seem to be the same people who eat one or more whole leaves. It may be that they have built up a high resistance over time and their yearly dose acts like a booster shot.

Other people start with the tip of a leaf and work their way up to a whole leaf, increasing their dose each day over a period of a week or two. This would be akin to how people take allergy shots in increasing doses to build up tolerance over time.

Alternative

You might also try drinking milk from a goat that has been eating poison ivy. This is another classic folk remedy, though its reported effectiveness seems less consistent.¹²⁾Foster, Steven, and James A. Duke. Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. Adding another animal into the equation adds a lot of new variables.

Immunity?

Will eating poison ivy really make you immune? This is a tricky topic. First, we’re probably talking about resistance, rather than true immunity. So does eating poison ivy grant resistance?

It depends.

For some people, yes, eating poison ivy does seems to grant a heightened resistance.¹³⁾Hoffmann, David. Medical Herbalism: The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 2003.¹⁴⁾Elpel, Thomas J. Botany in a Day: Thomas J. Elpels Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families. Pony, MT: HOPS Press, 2004.

Some people like to naysay this idea and relegate it to an old folk story, but in addition to ample anecdotal evidence, the concept has been experimentally verified in guinea pigs.¹⁵⁾”Immunologic Studies of Poisonous Anacardiaceae: Oral Desensitization to Poison Ivy and Oak Urushiols in Guinea Pigs.” Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics. January 05, 2016. Accessed June 06, 2018. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X15439259.

Still, an animal study and anecdotal evidence leave us with a lot of questions. Life is complicated, and there are likely a number of unknown variables at play.

So where does this leave us?

Our footing is not as firm as I would like, but I can say that some people really do eat poison ivy. I am now one of those people. And eating poison ivy does seem to have the potential to increase your resistance to the plant. Unfortunately, those who are most in need of poison ivy resistance are the same ones who should be most careful when eating it. A reaction could potentially cause severe effects, including airway constriction and asphyxiation.¹⁶⁾Elpel, Thomas J. Botany in a Day: Thomas J. Elpels Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families. Pony, MT: HOPS Press, 2004.¹⁷⁾Foster, Steven, and James A. Duke. Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. So again, eating poison ivy is a treatment possibility that should be used with extreme caution.

So what do you think? Is it too risky, or is it a plausible therapy? Have you eaten poison ivy before? Do you know anyone who has? Are you thinking about trying it? Have you got any poison ivy remedies or treatments I didn’t mention? Did you feel itchy while reading this? Let me know in the comments.

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