Green Med Info |
Some of the most powerful medicines on the planet are masquerading
around as foods and spices. While they do not lend themselves to being
patented, nor will multi-billion dollar
human clinical trials ever
be funded to prove them efficacious, they have been used since time
immemorial to both nourish our bodies, and to prevent and treat disease.
So valued were these in ancient times that they were worth their
weight in gold, and entire civilizations either rose to great power or
collapsed as a result of their relationship to them.
What is even more amazing is that many of these “plant allies” are
found growing in our backyards, and often sitting there in our
refrigerators and spice racks, neglected and under appreciated. In
fact, many of us use these daily unaware that this is why we don’t get
sick as often as those who do not incorporate them into their diet.
Let’s look at a few examples….
1) Garlic –
with the increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant bacteria and the
failure of the conventional, drug-based model to develop effective
solutions against them (nor accepting responsibility
for creating them),
spices have regained their once universal reign as broad spectrum
infection-fighters with sometimes life-saving power. Garlic, in fact,
has several hundred therapeutic properties, confirmed by a growing body
of scientific research, which you can view directly on
GreenMedInfo.com.[i]
One quick example of garlic’s power, is in killing multi-drug
resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), which the mainstream media has termed
the “white plague,” roiling the masses with a fear of drug-resistant
(but not plant-extract resistant) they are made to believe they are
defenseless against. Last year an article was published in a
peer-reviewed scientific journal showing that garlic was capable of
inhibiting a wide range of multiple
drug resistant tuberculosis strains.[ii]
The authors concluded “The use of garlic against MDR-TB may be of great
importance regarding public health.” Garlic’s anti-infective
properties do not end with MDR-TB, as it has been demonstrated to
inhibit the following pathogens as well:
- Amoeba Entamoeba histolytica (parasite)
- Cholera
- Clostridium
- Cytomegalovirus
- Dermatophytoses (a type of topical fungal infection)
- Haemophilus Influenzae
- Helicobacter Pylori
- Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1
- Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2
- Klebsiella
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus A. (MRSA)
- Parainfluenza Virus
- Peridontal Infection
- Pneumococcal Infections
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Streptococcus Mutans
- Streptococcus Infections: Group A
- Streptococcus Infections: Group B
- Streptococcus pyrogenes
- Thrush (oral fungal infection)
This amazing list underscores how important it is to keep a supply of garlic close by!
2.) Honey – bees produce a wide range of therapeutic substances beyond honey, e.g.
propolis, bee venom, royal jelly, beeswax, bee pollen,
etc., but this sweet, sticky stuff that we all love to dip our paw into
occasionally, is the most well-known and most copiously consumed of
them all – and for good reason, it tastes great! But did you know that
this sweet treat is one of nature’s most powerful healing agents, as
well? Here is just a smattering of some of honey’s more scientifically
researched health benefits and/or applications:
- Aspirin-Induced Gastrointestinal Toxicity (honey coats the
delicate linings of the stomach, preventing aspirin-induced lesions and
bleeding)
- Bacterial Infections
- Burns
- Candida infection (despite the fact that honey contains sugar, it demonstrates anti-fungal properties)
- Conjunctivitis
- Dental plaque (a recent study showed that Manuka honey was a viable
alternative to chemical mouthwash in dissolving dental plaque)[iii]
- Dermatitis
- Diabetic Ulcer
- Herpes-related ulcers
- MRSA (especially for Manuka honey)
There are many more uses for honey than covered here. Needless to
say, replacing synthetic sweeteners or highly processed sugars or high
fructose corn syrup with a moderate amount of honey may be a great
preventative health step to take.
3) Apples –
an apple a day does in fact keep the doctor away, especially cancer
specialists it would seem. For instance, one of the most
well-established health benefits of consuming apples is to reduce the
risk of colorectal cancer. The more apples you consume, the less likely
you are to develop this potentially fatal disease. To view the 5
studies that reference this relationship, go to the GreenmedInfo.com
apple research page
where you will also find 50 other health benefits of apple or apple
byproducts (e.g. apple vinegar) consumption which include:
- Aging, Reduce Rate
- Allergies
- Allopecia (Hair Loss)
- Diarrhea
- Insulin Resistance
- Liver Cancer
- Radiation Induced Illness
- Staphylococcol Infection
4) Sunlight – this one may throw some of you off, but
sunlight possesses both energy and information with real, metabolic value and
is therefore a source of usable energy for the body – and so, in a very
real sense it can be considered a form of food that we consume through
our skin by way of its built in, melanin-based “solar panels.” Not only
does adequate sunlight exposure result in the production of vitamin D, a
hormone-like substance that regulates over 2,000 genes in the human
body — and as a result
prevents or ameliorates hundreds of vitamin D deficiency associated health conditions –
but sunlight exposure itself has a unique set of health benefits not
reducible to simply vitamin D production alone. One of the more
interesting studies performed on sunlight exposure, based on data
gathered from over 100 countries and published earlier this year in the
journal Anticancer Research, showed that there was “a strong inverse
correlations with solar
UVB for
15 types of cancer,” with weaker, though still significant evidence for
the protective role of sunlight in 9 other cancers. Here are some
additional benefits of sunlight exposure:
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Depression
- Dopamine Deficiency
- Dermatitis
- Influenza
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Psoriasis
5) Turmeric -
quite possibly the world’s most important herb. Named “Kanchani,” or
literally “Golden Goddess,” in the ancient Indian healing tradition, its
healing properties have been deeply appreciated, if not revered for
countless centuries. Turmeric has been scientifically documented to have
over 500 applications in disease prevention and treatment. It also has
been shown to modulate over 150 distinct biological and
genetic/epigenetic pathways of value in health, demonstrating a
complexity as well as gentleness that no drug on the planet has ever been shown to possess.
As there are too many health conditions that turmeric may benefit to
list, we are listing the top 10. Also, the number in parentheses denotes
the number of studies on the greenmedinfo database demonstrating the
beneficial relationship.
- Oxidative Stress (160)
- Inflammation (51)
- DNA Damage (48)
- Lipid Peroxidation (34)
- Colorectal Cancer (24)
- Breast Cancer (60)
- Colon Cancer (52)
- Chemically-Induced Liver Damage (34)
- Alzheimer’s Disease (34)
- Tumors (23)
Sources:
[i] GreenMedInfo.com, Garlic Research Page:
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/substance/garlic
[ii] Pak J Pharm Sci. 2011 Jan;24(1):81-5. PMID:
21190924
[iii] Contemp Clin Dent. 2010 Oct ;1(4):214-7. PMID:
22114423
Author: Sayer Ji
http://thespiritscience.net/2014/06/08/these-5-common-items-could-quite-possibly-save-your-life/
