Old man’s beard, also called Usnea is edible, but shouldn’t be a main staple. Reports are that large quantities can irritate a person’s gut. One website claimed that old man’s beard is often eaten by animals, but there aren’t as many records of people that have actually eaten this as a staple. Old mans beard is both a lichen and fungus combination. Most lichens are edible. According to EatTheWeeds.com, only 2 of the 20,000 known Lichens are not edible. It isn’t particularly tasty, tasting kind of like grass, but it does have some nutrients. It does however also have its risks.
Risks to Eating Old Man’s Beard
According to WebMD: Old Man’s Beard contains sodium usniate or usnic acid, which might cause liver damage. There were numerous cases of liver damage in people taking a weight loss supplement that also had that same stuff in it, so you’ll defenitely want to be careful. Symptoms from eating too much of this can include nausea, weakness and fatigue, abdominal pain, and yellowing of the skin (like other liver problems), and can develop from 2 weeks to 3 months after you start eating it. Additionally, there has been a case of liver failure from eating usnic. WebMD recommends that you avoid eating usnea or Old Man’s Beard.
How to Best Prepare Old Man’s Beard
One website recommended that you can actually soak the old man’s beard, making it less acidic and safer to eat. If you soak it for a few days, and change the water out a few times, it becomes less acidic. It also claimed that Old Man’s Beard contains carbohydrates and vitamin C, both of which are generally in low supply in a survival situation. But is it worth the risks?
Would I Eat Old Man’s Beard in a Survival Situation?
In a survival situation, I might eat Old Man’s Beard a few times, but it wouldn’t be one of my staples. I would try to avoid eating it more than once per week, if I could help it. However, its better to risk having liver problems in the long run than it is to starve now, so I’d obviously do what I needed to do to stay alive. Luckily, if there’s old man’s beard around, there’s probably a lot of other edibles around me as well, mushrooms, etc. that I could live off of as well.
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