Boil a big handful of birch leaves in a quart of water. Strain and use to rinse the hair for soft, shiney hair. Birch sap mixed in water will also work.

You can chew the hardened sap from a wound in a Sweetum Tree as a gum for fresh breath. As a child, chewing gum was not something we got except on holidays like Christmas and our birthday. We would always grab a “glob” of sap from the Sweetgum Tree as we were on the way to the barn to milk the cow.

The inner bark of the Tree can be boiled with milk and used to relieve diarrhea. Oil from the leaves of the Tree is great for killing bacteria and viruses. This may be taken orally or the oil taken from the leaves and placed on wounds to prevent infection.