ASPARAGUS RACEMOSUS AS THE QUEEN OF HERBS: DIARRHEA TREATMENT: TREAT SEXUAL HEALTH PROBLEMS

ASPARAGUS RACEMOSUS

There are more than 300 types of asparagus plants that grow around the world. Asparagus officinalis is the variety most often consumed in Europe, where the roots are steamed and eaten as a vegetable, often eaten with fresh salmon. Asparagus racemosus

Is native to the Indian subcontinent and the Himalayan regions, where it has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. The word “asparagus” comes from the Greek meaning ‘stalk’ or ‘shoot’.

  It is known in the Ayurvedic system of medicine as the Queen of Herbs, and is said to promote love and fidelity, presumably because it helps a woman’s fertility, lactation and assists in the treating of symptoms associated with the menopause such as dryness of the vaginal walls. It contains phyto-oestrogen and the root powder is drunk in milk flavoured with saffron to help with PMT, and menopausal problems. It seems to be able to stop uterine contractions and so is used to prevent spontaneous abortions and to generally strengthen the uterus and promote fertility. It is also supposed to be effective in calming negative emotions such as anger, jealousy and irritability.

   It is used as well for giving a restful sleep undisturbed by dreams. The juice from the root is mixed with honey and used in the treatment of diarrhea and to relieve the pain caused by gastric ulcers. Although medical evidence does not yet support these claims, experiments on laboratory animals seems at this time to show that there may be some foundation for these uses of this variety of asparagus.

  It has been shown to be effective in reducing the pain caused by gastric ulcers and may go some way to prevent them forming. The juice from Asparagus racemosus when mixed with hareer (Terminalia chebula) is used in Ayurvedic medicine to protect against gastric ulcers.

   For centuries Asparagus racemosus has been used to treat men’s sexual health problems, especially when combined with safed musli and kali musli. In traditional medicine in the Indian subcontinent it is thought to help with increasing the sperm count and its volume and helping with erectile dysfunctions and premature ejaculation.

   The roots when crushed and mixed with water can be put over the hair, left for ½ an hour and then washed off, and used instead of shampoo. If you add sweet smelling herbs such as rosemary and lavender to the paste, your hair will smell good too.

    A paste made with water and the fresh leaves can be applied to the skin to stop burning and other skin irritations. The tubers can also be candied and eaten as sweets.

KALI MUSLI: WHAT IS KALI MUSLI? GOLDEN EYE GRASS, CURCULIGO ORCHIOIDES: ADADIYE RECIPE

KALI MUSLI, GOLDEN EYE GRASS, CURCULIGO ORCHIOIDES

Kali musli is native to Malaysia, India, and Pakistan although it now grows in temperate zones in Africa, the Middle East and Arabia, usually found at altitudes above 6000 feet. Its roots are used as a sex tonic and aphrodisiac especially when mixed with safed musli (Chlorophytum borivillianum) It is used for menstrual disorders and is a good sex tonic for women when mixed with safed musli and Asparagus racemosus. Apparently men can take this root on its own for erectile dysfunctions, and low sperm count. The root should be powdered and the powder taken in milk. The properties of both muslis are ‘hot’ so it is best to take them in the winter months, not on hot summer’s days.

 Paste made with the powdered root can be applied onto the skin to get rid of burning sensations (its good for piles) and to stop itching. It is also good for all skin problems and will get rid of pimples and other skin eruptions. You can inhale the smoke from the burning root to relieve a cough, cold or asthma. The powder taken in milk is supposed to aid digestion and stop flatulence, indigestion and constipation. It is also good for the functions of the liver and helps in treating jaundice. People use it in winter as a general health tonic.

   Hakims, herbalists, use it in this way: - boil onion juice and honey then add the powdered roots of safed and kali musli and continue boiling and stirring until it reaches a thickish consistency. They prescribe it in different doses depending on the ailment. These hakims suggest not using safed musli alone, but always mixing it with kali musli. This makes a degree of sense as they tend to grow together in the wild. Interestingly, safed musli is being depleted in the wild in India and Pakistan but kali musli isn’t according to Poudhia. They say that it’s OK for a man to take kali musli alone though. So far kali musli is not being cultivated in the same way as safed musli, and is still prolific in forests and woodland in the subcontinent.

   The paste can also be applied as a face mask to improve the complexion and give it a healthy glow. It is said that it relaxes the muscles of the male’s corpora cavernosa (erectile tissue) which means that more blood can flow into the penis, making it stay erect for longer and preventing premature ejaculation.

    It has been shown to be a uterine stimulant in pregnant and non-pregnant rats, guinea pigs and rabbits in laboratory tests, which tends to prove that it can act as a libido enhancer for women. This is because of the flavonone glycoside the kali musli root contains.

   The recipe below can be used with or without safed and kali musli.

ADADIYE RECIPE

Ingredients

250 gr black grams (lentils), ground into powder, or black gram flour

250 gr ghee

150 gr powdered milk

250 gr powdered sugar or gur (jaggery)

1 tsp dry ginger

1 tsp ground cardamom seeds

milk or water

100 gr blanched almonds, finely chopped

25 gr dried apricots, finely chopped

25 gr dried dates, finely chopped

25 gr dried papaya or guava (optional)

20 gr desiccated coconut

Method

Heat a little of the milk and mix the ghee in it, and then mix this into the gram flour and knead to a dough. Leave this to stand for 15- 20 minutes.

Heat more ghee and fry the dough in it until it is soft and brown. Add the sugar and milk powder and stir until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Mix in the cardamom and ginger powder along with the powdered safed musli and kali musli root.

Remove from the heat and spread the mixture onto a greased baking tray and sprinkle with the remaining ingredients.

When cool, cut into the desired shapes and serve when you want to.

You can also add the safed musli and kali musli to the dough at the beginning of this procedure.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

 

FOXGLOVE PLANT BENEFITS: CARE, USES AND HISTORY OF FOXGLOVE

FOXGLOVE (DIGITALIS PURPUREA)

The foxglove is a common woodland plant in Britain, and it grows in many countries all over the world, although there are different varieties of the foxglove. It is known by many names, such as:-Dead Man’s Bells, Fairy Caps, Gloves of Our Lady, Bloody Fingers and Virgin’s Glove. Honey bees are very attracted to these flowers, and they are responsible for the development of life saving medication. However they are highly poisonous and have been mistaken for comfrey leaves. Foxglove leaves are distinguished by the veins which run down the leaf. The upper leaves on the plant are more poisonous than the lower ones, and if you have children, you should not grow foxgloves in the garden.

   No one really knows where the name foxglove comes from, but the name is similar in Norwegian, Revbielde meaning fox bell. One northern legend says that bad fairies gave the flowers to a fox to slip onto his paws so that he could be more silent and stealthy while prowling around roosts of birds and chicken coops. It is also said that the older name for foxglove was Folk’s Glove, meaning the little folk or fairies. The foxglove grows in woods and hollows where, it was supposed, fairies liked to frequent. It is a member of the Scrophulariaceae or figwort family of plants and so is related to mullein and toadflax among others.

   The spotted parts of the flower were thought to be where elves had placed their fingers, but in Ireland where the plant is known as Dead Man’s Thimbles, they are supposed to be a warning of the poisonous juices contained in the plant.

   The Latin name, Digitalis means “a finger’s breadth” and a digitabulum was Latin for thimble. Purpurea means purple, as you might have imagined. The plant was not given a Latin name until 1542 when it was named by the German herbalist, Leonard Fuchs who gave his name to the fuchsia.

   Shakespeare doesn’t mention the foxglove, but Gerard writes without much evidence one would think, that it was good for people “who have fallen from high places.” Dodoens writing in 1554 says that boiled in wine the leaves could be used as an expectorant, one of the uses that were employed in other times which would be considered highly dangerous today. It was used in Italy to heal wounds, done by bruising a leaf and placing it firmly over a fresh wound. It was used by physicians in Wales in the 13^th century and later used in North Wales to darken engraved lines on stone floors to give a mosaic pattern, which was fashionable at one time.

  It was Doctor William Withering, an 18^th Century English country doctor who was instrumental in discovering the effects of digitoxin and digiton on the heart. He was interested in the concoctions of a herbalist and went on to investigate the uses for the foxglove.

   Digitalis is used for heart treatments as it regulates irregular pulse rates, although it takes 12 hours to have benefits, so other medication is used to see the patient through those critical 12 hours. The cardiac glycosides it contains stimulate urine production and this lowers the volume of blood and lessens the load on the heart. It was used in ancient India to treat patients with swollen legs caused excess water, which are symptoms of a weak heart. It is a powerful diuretic. It is also used by injection as an antidote for aconite poisoning.

   Please treat foxgloves with care, they are poisonous and dangerous and probably don’t taste good.

AVOCADO FACTS:THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF AVOCADO: TIPSY AVOCADOS RECIPE

AVOCADO PEARS OR ALLIGATOR PEARS

Avocados are the fruit of the Persea americana tree which is native to the subtropical regions of the American continent. They are in the same botanical family as bay leaves.The name, avocado comes from the Aztec for testicle, ahuacatl, so called because of its shape and the fact that the Aztecs believed it was an aphrodisiac. It is actually a fruit with a large seed, which can be grown at home, if you persevere. You probably won’t get any avocados if you grow it indoors but it has attractive foliage and it’s fun for kids to watch it grow. You have to pierce the seed and put it over a bottle filled with water and wait for it to grow roots before potting it.

  It has been cultivated in South America and Mexico for at least 8,000 years and from there it was taken to the West Indies and the Philippines by Spanish explorers of the 16^th century. They also found that the seed produces a red fluid which could be used as ink, and some manuscripts written with avocado ink are still in existence.

   It later found its way to Mauritius, Singapore, the Indian subcontinent and Hawaii. Today it is cultivated in New Zealand, Australia, parts of the Mediterranean region, the Middle East and Africa. Now there are more than 500 varieties, but they all originate from the Mexican, Guatemalan and West Indian fruit.

   They are sometimes called Alligator pears because the skin of the fruit is knobbly like a crocodile’s skin, and these are either dark green or a brownish colour. If you buy an unripe pear they will ripen if kept in a paper bag with a banana. If you can, gently squeeze the top of the pear before buying to see if it is ripe. It should be a little soft.

  The avocado has the highest fibre content of any fruit and is packed full of Vitamin E which may encourage fertility in humans. The fruit juice has a higher potassium content than banana juice too. Avocado oil, obtained from the tree, the fruit and the seed, can reduce cholesterol levels and the avocado pear contains 30% of the good monounsaturated fats which may lower the risk of heart disease and cancer.

   Avocados contain lecithin which is necessary to combat cholesterol and can prevent arteriosclerosis. Avocado and soybean unsaponifiables are one of the current most promising arthritis remedies, although it is recommended that you take the oil in capsule form for this rather than just eat the fruit. In France these have been approved as a prescription drug and can be bought in health shops and online. However if you include avocados in your diet, you could be lowering the risk of getting arthritis in later years.
  Avocados in your diet can also help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s and are thought to cure depression.

   If you pulp a fresh avocado and put it on your face for ½ hour before going to sleep, you will be helping to prevent wrinkles and smooth your skin, as the vitamins D and E stimulate the formation of collagen and saponins. If you have skin problems such as pimples or eczema you will find this a good treatment too.

  Vitamin E is also a powerful antioxidant, so an avocado is good for your heart.

  They are good to eat in salads with pomelo or grapefruit and other citrus fruit, although you should brush them with lemon juice as they turn brown when exposed to the air. The traditional use for them in Mexico is for guacamole sauce, which is really delicious, but below is an easy recipe, which makes a good starter.

TIPSY AVOCADOS

Ingredients   serves 4

2 avocado pears, sliced in half and seeds removed

Ruby port

Method

Pour the port into the cavities left from removing the seeds.

Serve immediately.

This has Taste and is a Treat.