Exotic and Rare Dragon Blood tree Medicinal Uses

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 253-365

Dragon’s Blood  is a natural tree resin also known as Sangre de drago or “Blood of the Dragon”. It is extracted from a medium size tree that grows in the Amazonian regions of South America.

How to plant

The planting medium provides the moisture that the seed’s embryo requires to germinate.Choose a soilless medium such as sand or peat moss and moisten it thoroughly. When it’s dried to barely moist, fill up a planting container and lay the seed on the surface of the medium. Dracaen draco seeds require light to germinate so barely cover it with sand. This top layer, although thin, prevents the top of the seed from drying. Spritz it often with water from spray bottle.Ideal germinating temperature for Dracaen Draco is around 77-85 degree fahrenheit.

Medicinal Uses

The curative powers of this thick sap are well known by the indigenous tribes around the Amazon rainforest and is considered to be the most effective herbal medicine in that area. The natives apply the resin on their skin to help stop bleeding, disinfect wounds and promote healing of almost any skin problem they have.Dragon’s Blood sap is a very strong coagulant and so promotes the coagulation of blood and helps the blood as it works to create clots. It has a variety of uses, and many of them directed toward its coagulant properties.

Dragon’s blood contains a broad range of naturally-occurring compounds, many of which have been well studied. The sap is rich in protective antioxidant phenols, and anti-inflammatory compounds of various kinds. Due to these compounds, Dragon’s blood sap helps to protect the cells of the skin, and reduces redness and swelling. 

 It also contains a group of compounds called proanthocyanidins, which actually repair collagen, the lattice-like main protein that makes up much of our tissues. Additionally, Dragon’s blood contains taspine, a known tissue-healing agent. The sap also demonstrates antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal activity. This is why Dragon’s blood is so widely used on infectious skin conditions of all kinds with great success.

Making the cut – to obtain Dragon’s blood, it is necessary to cut into the bark of the tree at a diagonal, deeply enough that the blood-like sap will flow. A cup is affixed to the tree at the bottom end of the slash, and the sap collects in the cup. 

In the markets of the Amazon, you will find bottles of Dragon’s blood selling at various medicinal stands, and at many other types of shops. As indispensable to a home first aid agent as bandages, Dragon’s blood is liberally applied to the skin in case of a problem. When the red sap is rubbed onto skin, it forms a thin cream-colored layer, like a very fine additional skin membrane.

In tribal medicine it is used both topically and orally to 

• heal wounds and cuts, 

• stomach ulcers,  

• burns, 

• mouth ulcers, 

• insect bites, 

• rash 

• Acne

• Rash

• Eczema, 

• Psoriasis 

• heale infected spider bite

• pre-cancerous and even cancer lesions

• The sap is also believed to be useful as an anti-herpes agent and many centuries ago 

• it was used as a tooth paste to maintain clear white teeth. 

• The antiseptic resin dries quickly, forming a seal over wounded skin to prevent infection and allows the skin to heal faster.

A testimonial from a Chilean woman in her 60's who is a High Altitude trekker confirm clinical studies of the benefits of Dragon's Blood for pre-cancerous and even cancer lesions. She used external applications twice a day on the cancerous lesion she had on the top of her index finger and had remarkable results. In just two weeks her cancerous lesion were healed. She has since used Dragon’s Blood for pre-cancerous sensitive spots on her face with great results in a week.
Pet Care
It is good for healing cuts and scratches, on the dogs Dragon's Blood quickly takes the pain and swelling from insect bites such as spiders, red ants and even scorpion and bee stings. 



Plea for keeping the trees alive


This is just one example of how rainforest products can help to keep some acreage intact due to the economic benefits of sustainable harvesting. Instead of cutting down the forest for timber, the forest can be managed better intact, and can yield greater profits through trade in medicinal plants, fruits, and oil-bearing nuts and seeds. And with Dragon’s blood, you also derive an even more elusive and sought-after effect – enhanced beauty.

History

Dragon’s blood has been around for many centuries and was traded frequently between the continents. Few centuries ago (1403 A.D.) it was a very popular medicine which was prescribed by Doctors and Shamans and its commercial value was so high that it was paid for with gold coins. Unfortunately, the great demand for the unique resin caused the eradication of many trees and with no planning for the future, the dragon’s blood market was suddenly a trend of the past. 

Links

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/03/03/dragons-blood-great-skin/

http://wholeworldbotanicals.com/dragons_blood

Cerasee for Diabetis

By Liliana Usvat
174-365

A tea made of the vine is used for diabetes, hypertension, worms, dysentery, malaria and as a general tonic and blood purifier. It is also very effective to relieve constipation and colds and fevers in children.

Women in Latin American use the leaf for menstrual problems to promote discharge after childbirth.

The tea is taken for 9 days after giving birth to clean out and tone up all the organs involved in the delivery. Cerasee is also used as a natural method of birth control, by taking two cups each day after intercourse, for three days. It is said that women who drink Cerasee daily will not conceive during that time.
As a wash, the tea is used externally for sores, rashes, skin ulcers and all skin problems. A Cerasee bath is good for arthritis, rheumatism, gout and other similar ailments.
 
  Cerasee comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.  The Cerasee more typical of India has a narrower shape with pointed ends, and a surface covered with jagged, triangular "teeth" and ridges. It is green to white in color. Some bear miniature fruit of only 6–10 cm in length, which may be served individually as stuffed vegetables. These miniature fruit are popular in India and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

The flesh on the cerasee seeds are edible and sweet in taste. The pods found all over the cerasee vine, are first green, then turn orange when ripe.

Around the World 

  In Trinidad and Tobago, Cerasee are usually sautéed with onion, garlic and scotch bonnet pepper until almost crisp, while in Jamaica it is consumed exclusively by drinking.

Cerasee is a significant ingredient in Okinawan cuisine, and is increasingly used in mainland Japan. It is popularly credited with Okinawan life expectancies being higher than the already long Japanese ones.In the Philippines, Cerasee may be stir-fried with ground beef and oyster sauce, or with eggs and diced tomato. 
 
The dish pinakbet, popular in the Ilocos region of Luzon, consists mainly of Cerasee, eggplant, okra, string beans, tomatoes, lima beans, and other various regional vegetables altogether stewed with a little bagoong-based stock.

Cerasee can be consumed in two ways, sauteed or boiled, and drink as tea, or chilled, and serve as a refreshing drink. The young shoots and leaves of Cerasee may also be eaten as greens.Cerasee is often used in Chinese Cuisine for its bitter flavor, typically in stir-fries (often with pork and douchi), soups, and also as tea. It has also been used in place of hops as the bitter ingredient in some Chinese beers.It is very popular throughout South Asia.
 
 In Northern India, it is often prepared with potatoes and served with yogurt on the side to offset the bitterness, or used in sabji. In North Indian cuisine it is stuffed with spices and then cooked in oil. In Southern India it is used in the dishes thoran/thuvaran (mixed with grated coconut), theeyal (cooked with roasted coconut) and pachadi (which is considered a medicinal food for diabetics). 

Other popular recipes include preparations with curry, deep fried with peanuts or other ground nuts, and pachi pulusu, a soup with fried onions and other spices.  

In Tamil Nadu a special preparation in Brahmins' cuisine called 'pagarkai pitla' is a kind of sour 'Koottu' , variety is very popular. Also popular is ' kattu a curry stuffed with onions,cooked lentil and grated coconut mix, tied with thread and fried in oil. 

In Pakistan and Bangladesh, Cerasee is often cooked with onions, red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder, and a pinch of cumin seeds. Another dish in Pakistan calls for whole, unpeeled Cerasee to be boiled, and then stuffed with cooked ground beef, served with either hot tandoori bread, naan, chappati, or with khichri (a mixture of lentils and rice). 

Cerasee is widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit, and drink, is among the bitterest of all fruits. Cerasee is very common here in Central Florida, but very few people really know the value of this very important herb. This herb may hold the key to a lot of the health problems we face. 

Medicinal Uses 
 
Today folks in the Caribbean still use cerasee as a blood cleanser; bush bath for beautiful skin; and for diabetes, cancer and other infectious diseases. We also use it for all types of stomach complaints including griping or pain in the stomach, amoebas and intestinal parasites and as a laxative. Research confirms these benefits by documenting the anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic properties within cerasee.

Cerasee has been used in various Asian and African traditional medicine systems for a long time. In Turkey it has been used as a folk remedy for a variety of ailments, particularly stomach complaints. The fruit is broken up and soaked in either olive oil or honey.The plant contains several biologically active compounds, chiefly momordicin I and II, and cucurbitacin B.

The plants contains also several bioactive glycosides (including momordin, charantin, charantosides, goyaglycosides, momordicosides) and other terpenoid compounds (including momordicin-28, momordicinin, momordicilin, momordenol, and momordol). It also contains cytotoxic (ribosome-inactivating) proteins such as momorcharin and momordin.
 
Diabetes:
                       In 1962, Lolitkar and Rao extracted from the plant a substance, which they called charantin, which had hypoglycaemic effect on normal and diabetic rabbits. Another principle, active only on diabetic rabbits, was isolated by Visarata and Ungsurungsie in 1981. Cerasee has been found to increase insulin sensitivity. In 2007, a study by the Philippine Department of Health determined that a daily dose of 100 mg per kilogram of body weight is comparable to 2.5 mg/kg of the anti-diabetes drug glibenclamide taken twice per day. Tablets of Bitter Melon extract are sold in the Philippines as a food supplement and exported to many countries.Other compounds in Cerasee have been found to activate the AMPK, the protein that regulates glucose uptake (a process which is impaired in diabetics).
                  
  Cerasee also contains a lectin that has insulin-like activity due to its non-protein-specific linking together to insulin receptors. This lectin lowers blood glucose concentrations by acting on peripheral tissues and, similar to insulin's effects in the brain, suppressing appetite. This lectin is likely a major contributor to the hypoglycemic effect that develops after eating Bitter Melon.

Anti malarial:
                    
 Cerasee is traditionally regarded in Asia as useful for preventing and treating malaria. Tea from its leaves is used for this purpose also in Panama and Colombia. In Guyana, Cerasee are boiled and stir-fried with garlic and onions. This popular side dish known as corilla is served to prevent malaria. Laboratory studies have confirmed that species related to Cerasee have anti-malarial activity, though human studies have not yet been published.
Anti Cancer:
                     Researchers at Saint Louis University claims that an extract from Cerasee, commonly eaten and known as karela in India, causes a chain of events which helps to kill breast cancer cells and prevents them from multiplying.
Cerasee has been used in traditional medicine for several other ailments, including dysentery, colic, fevers, burns, painful menstruation, scabies and other skin problems. It has also been used as abortifacient, (no ideas please) for birth control, and to help childbirth.

Anti viral:
                 
In Togo the plant is traditionally used against viral diseases such as chickenpox and measles. Tests with leaf extracts have shown in vitro activity against the herpes simplex type 1 virus, apparently due to unidentified compounds other than the momordicins.                

Laboratory tests suggest that compounds in Cerasee might be effective for treating HIV infection. As most compounds isolated from Cerasee that impact HIV have either been proteins or lectins, neither of which are well-absorbed, it is unlikely that oral intake of Cerasee will slow HIV in infected people. It is possible oral ingestion of Cerasee could offset negative effects of anti-HIV drugs, if a test tube study can be shown to be applicable to people.

Cardio protective:
                 
 Studies in mice indicate that Cerasee seed may have a cardio protective effect by down-regulating the NF-κB inflammatory pathway.
Cerasee has been used in traditional medicine for several other ailments, including dysentery, colic, fevers, burns, painful menstruation, scabies and other skin problems. It has also been used as abortifacient, for birth control, and to help childbirth.

Propagation

Propagated by cuttings, which, is planted on a bed on light earth, during any of the summer months.
 

Slippery Elm has Been Used as Herbal Remedy by Native Americans

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 161 -365

The slippery elm is native to eastern Canada and the eastern and central United States where it is found mostly in the Appalachian Mountains. Its name refers to the slippery consistency the inner bark assumes when it is chewed or mixed with water. Slippery elm inner bark has been used historically as a demulcent, emollient, nutritive, astringent, anti-tussive, and vulnerary. It is included as one of four primary ingredients in the herbal cancer remedy, Essiac, and in a number of Essiac-like products such as Flor-Essence.

Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The genus first appeared in the Miocene geological period about 20 million years ago, originating in what is now central Asia.
 
During the 18th and 19th centuries, elm cultivars enjoyed much popularity as ornamentals in Europe by virtue of their rapid growth and variety of foliage and forms

Viticulture

The Romans, and more recently the Italians, used to plant elms in vineyards as supports for vines. Lopped at three metres, the elms' quick growth, twiggy lateral branches, light shade and root-suckering made them ideal trees for this purpose.
 
Ovid in his Amores characterizes the elm as "loving the vine": ulmus amat vitem, vitis non deserit ulmum (:the elm loves the vine, the vine does not desert the elm) and the ancients spoke of the "marriage" between elm and vine.

Medicinal products

Slippery Elm has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy by Native Americans. The inner bark of the slippery elm tree is used medicinally, both internally and topically. Internally, it has been used to treat sore throats and diarrhea, and externally, slippery elm has been used to treat various inflammatory skin problems like wounds, boils, ulcers, and burns.

 

The mucilaginous inner bark of the Slippery Elm Ulmus rubra has long been used as a demulcent.

A demulcent (derived from the Latin: demulcere "caress") is an agent that forms a soothing film over a mucous membrane, relieving minor pain and inflammation of the membrane. Demulcents are sometimes referred to as mucoprotective agents. Demulcents such as pectin, glycerin, honey, and syrup are common ingredients in cough mixtures. These demulcents will coat the throat and relieve the irritation causing the cough. They can be used to treat any type of cough, but are particularly useful to treat dry coughs. Some demulcents may not be suitable for diabetics as they are based on sugar

 

Slippery elm is a tree. The inner bark (not the whole bark) is used as medicine.

People take slippery elm for coughs, sore throat, colic, diarrhea, constipation, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), bladder and urinary tract infections, syphilis, herpes, and for expelling tapeworms. It is also used for protecting against stomach and duodenal ulcers, for colitis, diverticulitis, GI inflammation, and too much stomach acid. Slippery elm is also taken by mouth to cause an abortion.

Slippery elm is applied to the skin for wounds, burns, gout, rheumatism, cold sores, boils, abscesses, ulcers, toothaches, sore throat, and as a lubricant to ease labor.

In manufacturing, slippery elm is used in some baby foods and adult nutritionals, and in some oral lozenges used for soothing throat pain.

The late Euell Gibbons recommended pouring a pint of boiling water over an ounce of the coarsely ground inner bark, allowing the mixture to cool, and then adding the juice of one-half lemon and enough honey to sweeten the brew to taste. Our pioneer forebears treated colds with such a "lemonade" and it was especially recommended for feverish patients.

The outer bark of the slippery elm is reddish brown, deeply furrowed, and quite rough. It can be harvested any time of the year but peels from the tree most easily in the spring (when the sap is running). The juicy inner bark may then be pulled from the outer with little difficulty. Spread the cambium bark out on newspapers in a warm, dry room. Once it has dried, it may be stored (in sealed glass jars) and ground for use as desired.

The generally advised dosage of slippery elm is to take between 4 and 10 grams of the dried inner bark in capsule form three to four times a day.  You can also make a tea by boiling teaspoons-full of loose bark in a cup of water for ten to fifteen minutes, cooled before drinking.  Three to four cups of this tea can be drunk per day.  To use externally, mix coarse powdered bark with boiling water to make a poultice. - See more at: http://happyherbcompany.com/slippery-elm#sthash.mLjRrNGH.dpuf

The generally advised dosage of slippery elm is to take between 4 and 10 grams of the dried inner bark in capsule form three to four times a day.  You can also make a tea by boiling teaspoons-full of loose bark in a cup of water for ten to fifteen minutes, cooled before drinking.  Three to four cups of this tea can be drunk per day.  To use externally, mix coarse powdered bark with boiling water to make a poultice. - See more at: http://happyherbcompany.com/slippery-elm#sthash.mLjRrNGH.dpuf

How does it work?

Slippery elm contains chemicals that can help soothe sore throats. It can also cause mucous secretion which might be helpful for stomach and intestinal problems.

 

 There are no known side effects or safety issues with this plant.

Barks can be harvested with very little damage to a tree, and can even improve the health of a tree, much as pruning does. The most ecological way to harvest bark is to prune smaller branches from the tree using pruning shears or a small pruning saw.  It doesn't take many branches to supply a house with all it is needed for a year.  If larger quantities are needed  might consider taking a whole sapling if the tree grows in abundance and is in a crowded stand already.

To remove the bark from the branches, use the hand pruners to snip off any side branches and spurs.    Then  take a sharp paring knife or pocketknife and peel the bark in thin strips or shavings, much like peeling a carrot.  Be sure to cut deeply enough to get the inner bark, which will be slightly wet and also is usually green in color.  The different layers are easy to distinguish when you are peeling the branches. 

To peel the barks is to lay the branch flat on your cutting surface, and then take the knife and hold it perpendicularly (right angle) to the branch.  Then with a strong scraping motion, scrape back and forth vigorously.  This shreds the bark while it peels it and results in very nice finished product, no further need for cutting.  The shredding breaks up the fibers nicely, which is very helpful when you make medicinal preparations later.

Food

When dried and ground into a coarse meal, the sweetly fragrant and creamy white or pinkish inner bark of the slippery elm can be boiled into a porridge that looks and tastes very much like oatmeal. And, surprisingly enough, modern nutritionists have discovered that, when so prepared, the bark does indeed possess a food value about equal to that of oatmeal.

 

Slippery elm's inner bark, on the other hand, does have its other uses too. When ground to a fine powder, it makes a good extender for ordinary flour and can be included that way in a wide variety of recipes. And back before today's sugar-laden treats were so widely available, small boys were fond of stripping off pieces of this cambium bark and chewing it. Such a "chaw" makes a sweet-flavored, long-lasting chewing gum that both satisfies thirst and supplies a certain amount of nourishment.

History

It is recorded that, during their bitter winter at Valley Forge, George Washington's ragtag Revolutionary War soldiers lived through one 12-day period on little more than slippery elm porridge. And no one, of course, knows how many starving pioneer families scraped through their first winters on the American continent thanks to the same survival rations.