Description
Use black walnut hulls for a locally sourced iodine tincture, use topically.
Ingredients
Scale
- 10 to 12 black walnut hulls
- 3 to 4 cups of 40% or higher proof vodka
- 1-quart jar
- 5 amber glass bottles with dropper lids
Instructions
- Fill a quart jar with fresh black walnut hulls. Pour 40% vodka over them. Generally, an herbalist would use an alcohol of at least 50% or 100 proof for this preparation, but where I live you can’t easily find vodka with a higher alcohol percentage. The tincture is still strong enough even with a lower alcohol percentage.
- Cap tightly. Label and date the jar. Shake the jar once a day or as often as you think of it. After 6 weeks, strain the jar contents, reserving the liquid. Press the spent walnut hulls with a potato ricer or other press, to capture as much of the tincture as possible. Discard the walnut hulls. Pour the completed tincture into amber glass bottles. Cap with a dropper lid.
- Label and date. The tincture will be good for years. Iodine is very stable.
Notes
The normal dosage of this tincture is very low since the herbal remedy is so strong. 15 drops can be taken in water, 3 times a day. To use it as an iodine supplement it’s just as effective to paint the skin with it as it is to take it orally.
