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IN HIS column for a monthly magazine, Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III wrote: “In the old days when pharmacies are not yet heard of, forests, farms, and unmanicured gardens were the drugstores for our ancestors. Except that nobody really buys the herbs and medicinal plants. they can just be freely picked from their stems as they grow in the wild.”

Today, as the world again turns to natural healing, plants, herbs and fruits are becoming popular once more. they are now the alternatives for the expensive synthetic tablets and capsules.

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“Sometimes, without us knowing it, what is grown in your backyard or your neighbors’ gardens can just be the perfect antidote to your lingering illness,” Dr. Guerrero pointed out.

He is right. Take the case of ampalaya. in terms of nutritional contents, its fruits and leaves are rich in minerals and vitamins, notably iron, calcium, phosphorus and Vitamin B. Filipinos prepare ampalaya into various dishes: it can be stir-fried with ground beef and oyster sauce, or with eggs and diced tomato.

Ampalaya has been considered as nature’s answer to diabetes. Almost 100 studies have demonstrated the blood-sugar-lowering effect of this bitter fruit. Dr. a. Raman and Dr. C. Lau, who reviewed over 150 pre-clinical and clinical studies on ampalaya’s anti-diabetes properties and phytochemistry, concluded that “oral administration of fruit juice or seed powder (of bitter melon) causes a reduction in fasting blood glucose and improves glucose tolerance.”

In the Philippines, Dr. William Torres, former director of Bureau of Food and Drugs, came up with this conclusion after reviewing several studies done on ampalaya: “Ampalaya fruits, leaves, seeds and other parts, when used as dry powders, extracts, decoctions, fresh or cooled, have clearly demonstrated hypoglycemic activity.”

If apple is the food that keeps the doctor away from Americans, it should be malunggay in the Philippines. it may sound like magic, but nutritionists aver that 100 grams of malunggay leaves yield the following: 75 calories of energy (higher than ampalaya, squash, tomatoes, or carrots), 5.9 grams protein (higher than cauliflower, lettuce, or mustard), 12.8 grams carbohydrate (higher than okra, papaya, or watermelon), 353 milligrams calcium (higher than gabi leaves, mung beans, squash, and camote tops), 3.7 milligrams niacin (higher than other vegetables analyzed). And for thiamin, phosphorus, and ascorbic acid, malunggay is at the top of the list.

Malunggay is touted to be a “miracle vegetable” because it is not only a food, it is also a medicine. the leaves are good for curing headache, bleeding from a shallow cut, and can be used as anti-inflammatory, or cure for gastric ulcers and diarrhea. the seeds, on the other hand, can treat arthritis, rheumatism, gout, cramp, sexually transmitted diseases, boils, and urinary problems. it is also used as relaxant for epilepsy. the roots, bark and gum of malunggay likewise have potential medicinal value.

Malunggay also helps in strengthening the immune system, control blood pressure, restores skin condition, relieves headache and migraine, reduces inflammation and arthritis pains, manage the sugar level thereby preventing diabetes, restrict growth of tumors and heal ulcers.

Ginger can be consumed fresh, dehydrated, powdered, or pickled. the Filipino traditional health drink called salabat is made from boiled fresh or powdered ginger. it also adds flavor to some common dishes like tinola, goto, arroz caldo, paksiw, batchoy, and pinakbet.

What most Filipinos don’t know is that ginger is also a medicinal plant. the Minnesota-based Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research recommends ginger for nausea and vomiting. “To prevent nausea after surgery,” it instructs, “ginger has been given as one gram by mouth one hour before surgery. For chemotherapy-induced nausea, capsules of ginger root powder have been given orally one gram per day for 5 days, starting on the first day of chemotherapy.”

Ginger does not prevent morning sickness but it may help ease some of the nausea experienced by pregnant women, Australian researchers reported in the April 2004 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Researchers from the University of South Australia in Adelaide gave nearly 300 women either 350 milligrams of ginger or 25 milligrams of vitamin B6 three times per day for 3 weeks. the researchers found that both ginger and vitamin B6, which is sometimes taken to counteract morning sickness, worked equally well at alleviating nausea symptoms.

Just like ginger, garlic is specifically used as a spice. but it is not only for cooking. “Because garlic has the power to save from death, endure it, though it leaves behind bad breath,” Duke Robert I of Normandy once said. in those days, garlic was said to strengthen the heart; protect against the plague; cure colds, athlete’s foot, toothache, and snakebite; repel vampires and demons; grow hair; stimulate sexual performance; and rid the dog of fleas.

Having a problem with cholesterol in your body? get a health kick from garlic. When Dr. Benjamin Lau of Loma Linda University in California gave people with moderately high blood cholesterol one gram a day of the liquid garlic extract (about one teaspoon), their cholesterol levels fell an average of 44 points in six months. in 1993, the `Journal of the Royal College of Physicians’ reviewed data on cholesterol and found that after just four weeks there was a 12 per cent reduction in cholesterol levels in the research groups that had taken garlic.

Scientists have also looked at the role garlic plays in helping prevent the formation of blood clots. a review of recent clinical trials, published in the Journal of Hypertension, showed that taking garlic tablets cut volunteers’ blood pressure by between one and five per cent. These results led the report’s authors to conclude that taking supplements could cut the incidence of stroke by anything from 30-40 per cent, while heart disease could be reduced by 20-25 percent.

Among fruits, topping the list is the ever-favorite banana. “One medium-sized banana boasts of 100-125 kilo calories, 4-5 grams fiber, about 400 milligrams potassium, 17 milligrams calcium, 36 milligrams phosphorus and traces of other minerals like iron,” said Professor Kanwar, an eminent biophysicist who writes for the Health Tribune.

Researches conducted recently at the University of Minnesota, School of Medicine, substantiate earlier reports that high potassium diets (banana being one of these) lower blood cholesterol levels. Subjects getting extra dietary potassium are also less prone to hypertension, strokes and atherosclerosis and finally show significantly low mortality rates.

A major study reveals that diets loaded with potassium-rich bananas may be able to cut the risk of strokes by one-third. Scientists feel that many people can be protected against strokes and heart attacks by minimizing sodium (common salt) intake and by consuming plenty of potassium-rich foods of which banana is one. in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke.

Guava has been touted as an all-purpose medicinal plant. the roots, bark, leaves and immature fruits, because of their astringency, are commonly employed to halt gastroenteritis, diarrhea and dysentery, throughout the tropics. Crushed leaves are applied on wounds and ulcers. the leaf decoction is taken as a remedy for coughs, throat and chest ailments.

The bark and leaf extracts of guava have shown to have in vitro toxic action against numerous bacteria. the leaves of guava are rich in flavonoids, which have demonstrated anti-bacterial activity. this anti-bacterial property of guava leaves is what causes benefit to the teeth and gums.

Because of this reason, guava has been used for centuries to cure problems related to the teeth and gums. Leaves are chewed to relieve toothache and to cure bleeding gums and bad breath. Guava leaf decoction is gargled to relieve mouth sores and inflamed and bleeding gums.

Julia F. Morton, in “Fruits of Warm Climates,” writes: “Guava has been effective in halting vomiting and diarrhea in cholera patients. it is also applied on skin diseases. a decoction of the new shoots is taken as a febrifuge. the leaf infusion is prescribed in India in cerebral ailments and nephritis. An extract is given in epilepsy and chorea and a tincture is rubbed on the spine of children in convulsions. a combined decoction of leaves and bark is given to expel the placenta after childbirth.”

Guava helps reduce cholesterol in blood and prevents it from thickening, thereby maintaining fluidity of blood and reducing blood pressure. Studies have shown that foods which lack fiber (such a refined flour) add to blood pressure, due to quick conversion to sugar. Guava, being very rich in fiber and hypoglycemic in nature, helps reduce blood pressure.

Throughout all this history, the pineapple was valued strictly as a table delicacy. all but forgotten were the early explorers’ intriguing observations that Indians had used pineapple poultices to reduce inflammation in wounds and other skin injuries.

Florence Daniel in her book Food Remedies has named pineapple juice as the specific remedy for diphtheria. the sour, unripe fruit improves digestion, increases appetite, and relieves dyspepsia.

If you have a cold with a productive cough, add pineapple to your diet. it is commonly used in Europe as a post-operative measure to cut mucous after certain sinus and throat operations. Those individuals who eat fresh pineapple daily report fewer sinus problems related to allergies. in and of itself, pineapple has a very low risk for allergies.

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on January 25, 2011.