Showing posts with label acne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acne. Show all posts

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Maya Trees Chaya Medicinal Uses for Diabetis, Artritis, Obesity, Kidney Stones, Hemorrhoids, Acne, and Eye Problems, Laxative, Diuretic Circulation Stimulant

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 343-365
 


Chaya - Spinach Tree (English), Chay (Maya)Chaya (Spanish), Cnidoscolus chayamansa. Native to Yucatan, chaya are highly nutritious shrubs with valuable concentrations of minerals, vitamins, and anti-oxidants. Organically grown Chaya shrubs have large leafs.  It is an evergreen that loves sunny areas.  Chaya blooms frequently with both male and female flowers bloom together. Young leaves  are used by Maya people much like spinach in traditional Mayan Cuis













It is also known as tree spinach.  Make sure to cook it, as it contains hydrocyanic glycosides (whatever they are) and the obvious milky white sap that can be an itchy irritant if it touches your skin, so be careful when harvesting.  Chaya is rich in protein, calcium, iron, carotene, riboflavin, niacin, and ascorbic acid.  It is drought tolerant and grows well in hot, rainy, dry, well drained and partially shaded areas.  chaya reproduces well by stick cuttings and can be coppiced and regrows well after cutting.  It has no pest problems.

Chaya or spinach tree or Tree Spinach (Cnidoscolus chayamansa) is actually about twice as nutritious as spinach. It is a good source of nutrients including protein, calcium, iron, potassium, and vitamin C. It is a fast growing dense shrub, native to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. It grows to about 6-8 feet tall.

Soil: Tolerates most soil conditions, but might dislike acid. Liming and fertilizing should benefit Chaya. The leaves contain a lot of protein, calcium, and potassium, so the soil must have it for the plant to extract, if it is to be healthy. (Nitrogen to make protein)
 

Good for Reforestation
 
Water: well to somewhat well drained. Tolerates brief flooding and droughts
Sun: full is best, tolerates shade
Cold: Can be killed by a hard freeze, but will usually resprout from the roots. Mulch the base to protect it.
Pruning: Unnecessary, but sometimes used to control height. Crowded internal branches can be removed for propagation or aesthetics.
Propagation: Easily propagated by stem cuttings.
Pests: none
Other problems: It can be slow to get going.

Harvesting, storage, and preparation: Most recommendations say not to harvest until the second year, because the plants are slow to establish before they can grow quickly.  Never harvest more than 50% of the leaves, except from stems cut for propagation.


 Leaves must be cooked to release cyanide, which evaporates. Apparently aluminum cookware can cause a diarrhea-causing reaction with the cyanide compounds when cooking. 

 On principle it's wise to cook all fruits and vegetables in non-aluminum pans because of their high acidity. 

Drying the leaves also reduces the hydrogen cyanide significantly. Blending will do the same IF the blended leaves are allowed to sit for several hours. The amount of hydrogen cyanide differs from variety to variety and may account for reports of some variety leaves being eaten raw.  Researchers say they have found no reports  of acute or chronic effects attributed to the consumption of fresh or cooked Chaya leaves.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Chopped leaves, stem tips and shoots boiled or fried. Cooking for 20 minutes destroys hydrogen cyanide in the tissue. Cooking broth is drinkable.  Leaves can be blended and consumed after letting them sit for several hours. Large leaves can be used to wrap food for cooking. The entire plant can be dried, ground, and used as fodder for animals or meal for fish.

Medicinal Uses
 
Recent scientific studies confirmed what Belizean natural healers and Maya shaman have known for centuries – eating a small amount of Chaya after or as part of a meal will lower blood glucose levels.
A study conducted by the Mexican National Institute of Nutrition concludes that Chaya will not only combat diabetes but is also effective in treating arthritis. 

Following the oral administration of chaya tea, the blood glucose levels of the diabetic rabbits were gradually lowered from a high of 118 (baseline at 0.0 h) to 87 six hours after administration. The blood glucose level of 87 is similar to blood glucose levels of normoglycemic rabbits on drinking water.”Chaya was used by the Maya in their healing practices and to this day it is common to observe Chaya trees growing around Mayan temples in Belize.

 Chaya leaf furnishes appreciable quantities of several of the essential mineral macronutrients necessary for human health maintenance. For example, potassium has been shown to be an important mineral nutrient in the control of hypertension and in the reduction of risks of stroke (NRC 1989), calcium is important for ossification and iron is necessary for normal hematopoiesis

Diabetes is common in Belize and among native American populations in the U.S.A. and even among those who do not consider themselves native American but have native American markers in their DNA. Research has shown that indigenous Americans have adopted modern American style diets with high fat, carbohydrates and sugar content and their bodies simply cannot handle this diet.

Chaya traditionally has been recommended for a number of ailments including diabetes, obesity, kidney stones, hemorrhoids, acne, and eye problems (Diaz-Bolio 1975). Chaya shoots and leaves have been taken as a laxative, diuretic, circulation stimulant, to improve digestion, to stimulate lactation, and to harden the fingernails (Rowe 1994)

Most folks lightly boil the Chaya and drink the resulting “tea”.
 

Incorporate Chaya Into Your Diet

Here is how to make Chaya Tea: Chaya tea – five large chaya leaves (more if smaller). Cut up into small pieces and oiled lightly in one liter water for 20 minutes. Cool. Add pinch of salt and squeeze of lime. Drink about three cups throughout the day. Chaya tea is a natural diuretic keeps the lines clean. Lower blood sugar for diabetics Reputedly keeps the liver ‘clean’.
Others use Chaya as part of the meal, chop it up and mix it with sausage or longanisa and scrambled eggs. Others lightly boil the leaves and use it as spinach in a salad. 

Chaya and Corn Tortillas Recipe

Ingredients: Chaya leaf – a good size bunch. (Note handling advice)
Natural pig lard One or two onions. Fresh Corn tortillas Optional: Fresh Habanero Pepper Optional: Two eggs

Method: You pick a number of nice fat healthy dark green chaya leaves. Careful though — the edges of a Chaya leaf are full of tiny spines – that cause bad rash once in your skin!!

You then take your leaf and wash it. I then roll it up like a fat cigar and chop it with a sharp knife to “pieces” I usually also chop up one or two onions – plus a Habanaro pepper or two — and add that to the mix as well. Then take a good fry pan — lay down about 1/4 in fresh natural pig lard on the bottom. That too is a super food for your body. Salt well – or to taste.

Now — put over fire. Now the real “secret” – As soon as the pan warms up even a little bit – -stir the mix into the fat – then add sufficient rain water — say 1/2 inch level in that fry pan.

 Turn up the heat till it steams well – then put on big cover — and turn down heat so it but simmers. Leave it that way for 1/2 hour or more – raising cover and stirring about once every 10 minutes or so. When finished – there should be no water – or very little left – but do not let get fry hot in the fat — as that kills all the vitamins. Drain off excess water and fat — put in serving bowl — ready.

Now – take fresh tortilla – home made if you can get them. Fold it in the palm of your hand – fill with a fair amount of chaya leaf mix – – fold and roll gently and enjoy. You can also add eggs and / or some chopped up chicharrĂ³n to the mix – but do that only in the last 5 minutes of pan cooking – stirring it in.

The nutritional analysis of chaya (C. chayamansa) leaves and spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) are presented for comparison.


 

Monday, March 24, 2014

Baobab Tree - Protector of the African Continent Fight Diabetis

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 163-365


Baobab is the common name of a genus of trees (Adansonia). There are eight species, six native to Madagascar, and one each to mainland Africa and Australia.

Viewed by the native population as their symbol of the African Continent and as their Protector, the Baobab is of high importance for humans and animals as it provides them with food and medicine. In traditional African medicine, the Baobab is used to help treat fever, diarrhea, dysentery, malaria, smallpox, and inflammation. 
 
The Baobab Tree is also known as the “Tree of Life”, “The Chemist Tree” and “The Monkey Bread Tree”. The scientific name is Adansonia Digitata. It is a deciduous tree that can reach 30 meters or 90 feet in height and 15 meters or 45 feet in diameter. The swollen, short, bottle shaped trunk can store up to 30,000 gallons of water during the dry season, which serves as water storage for the villages. The Baobab Tree can live up to 5000 years and is protected from fire due to its spongy wood.

Known as 'The Tree of Life', the baobab is an icon of the African savannah; a symbol of life and positivity in a landscape where little else can thrive. The Baobab trees are also known as an upside down bottles or monkey bread trees. 
 
Two magnificent baobab trees (Adansonia digitata) with possibly the widest tree-trunks to be found in the Caribbean grow in Barbados!  The largest can be seen in our Queen's Park in Bridgetown. To give an example of the size of this tree of great distinction, it takes 15 adults joining with outstretched arms to cover its circumference.

This tree is estimated as being over one thousand years old! It is thought that a seed floated from Ginea, West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean to the shores of Barbados and eventually grew into this magnificent tree. 

 
The other grand specimen can be found on the Warrens Road in St.Michael, where the inscription on the wooden plaque reads:  Boabab Tree (Adansonia digitata)

 
 One of the two mature trees in Barbados. This remarkable tree of girth 44.5 ft (13.6m) is believed to have been brought from Guinea, Africa around 1738 making it over 250 years old. Its jug-shaped trunk is ideally suited for storing water, an ideal adaption in the dry savannah
regions of its native Africa.

Another larger Baobab tree of girth 51.5 ft (18.5m) is located in Queen's Park, Bridgetown. 

 
Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami has a Baobab tree. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is a 83-acre (34 ha) botanic garden, with extensive collections of rare tropical plants including palms, cycads, flowering trees and vines. It is located in metropolitan Miami, just south of Coral Gables, Florida, United States.

Currently, Fairchild supports some 22,800 catalogued plants that comprise more than 3,400 species—a phenomenal increase from the 1939 inventory of 692 plants and 243 species. Fairchild’s palm and cycad collection are among the greatest in the world.

Stories about Baobab
 
The folklore surrounding these trees are truly amazing, one tale tells of God accidentally planting the tree upside down, there fore when a Baobab tree dies it spontaneously catches fire, apparently the event of a baobab tree catching fire has some credible witnesses, that describes this as a wondrous and completely unbelievable thing to witness.

Uses

  • The leaves are used as condiments and medicines. The fruit, called "monkey bread", is edible, and full of Vitamin C. The fruit has a velvety shell and is about the size of a coconut, weighing about 1.44 kilograms (3.2 lb). It has a somewhat acidic flavour, described as 'somewhere between grapefruit, pear, and vanilla'
  •  The tree bears fruit once a year, which is harvested by the local population. The fruit contains naturally dehydrated fruit pulp, which is then mechanically separated from the fiber and seeds. The leaves and seeds provide botanical extracts used in a variety of industries. The seed endocarp has naturally occurring Omega 3, 6 and 9. 
  • The tree can store hundreds of litres of water, which is an adaptation to the harsh drought conditions of its environment. The tree may be tapped in dry periods.
  • These seed are considered refreshing to suck and when boiled or soaked in water they make a refreshing lemony flavored drink. 
  • Some natives believe that drinking the water that the seeds were soaked in would protect them from crocodiles.
 
Medicinal Uses

Baobab tree is also known as the “Tree of Life” due to its nutrition facts. New reports have shown that the ingredients in African baobab tree and its fruit cover vitamins and nutrients including riboflavin, niacin and vitamins C, A, D and E. This makes baobab enjoy a high reputation for its benefits.
 
In traditional African medicine, baobab fruit is used to treat a number of illnesses including
  • asthma - the leave is boiled and the water that is left after the boiling is done can be taken is small dosages to cure asthma, coughs and other chest related ailments
  •  fever, 
  • diarrhea, 
  • malaria and 
  • smallpox
  • In addition, practitioners of traditional African medicine often use baobab fruit to curb inflammation.
Baobab fruit can

  • help slow the aging process and
  •  protect against major illnesses like heart disease and 
  • cancer. 
  • diabet Prized in Africa for centuries for its health-boosting properties, the fruit from the ancient baobab tree is an extremely rich source of polyphenals, known to be beneficial in reducing the glycaemic response - the rate at which sugar is released into the bloodstream. 
 
  • The Baobab Essence has been very useful for pain, for example back pain or pain caused by arthritis, again having almost instantaneous results.
  • The flower essence also help to heal flesh wounds
  • Many people have reported that the Baobab has good (miraculous in a few cases) effects in pain, especially for the back and related to arthritis.
  • The edible oil in baobab can also be applied to the skin for beauty purposes.
  • The residue that remains after processing oil is mixed with coconut oil and used for making soap.  the soap helps to fight skin diseases, such as acne, sunburn, eczema and rashes.  
  • Baobab fruits are vital to encourage probiotic organisms to survive and thrive in the human gut. The soluble fiber, being a non-digestible food ingredient, stimulates the growth and activity of bacteria in the digestive system, which are beneficial to the health of the body.
  • Rich in iron, high in potassium and containing vital blood clotting ingredients it can even help support the circulatory system whilst the high-fibre content benefits the digestive system
Life Span

The trees are long-lived, but just how long is disputed. The owners of Sunland Farm in Limpopo, South Africa have built a pub called "The Big Baobab Pub" inside the hollow trunk of the 22 metres (72 ft) high tree. The tree is 47 m (155 ft) in circumference, and is said to have been carbon dated at over 6,000 years old.

Propagation from Seeds

Typically soaking baobab seed in hot water for 24 hour. After they have been soaked they will then need to be dried for another day or so before planting. The germination rate for baobab seeds can be low, slow and sporadic so sow two to three times the amount of seed required to ensure you get enough stock. Be aware that it can take 3-4 months from your first Baobab seedling to germinate until your last one pokes its head above the compost.

It is imperative that you use a very well-drained growing medium. You can use a standard seed compost - such as John Innes 'Seed and Cutting' but you will need to mix in an equal part of horticultural grit or perlite to improve the drainage further.


In order to germinate the baobab seeds the soil temperature will need to be kept at between 15 and 19 degrees Celsius, so unless you are blessed with these temperature naturally you will need to keep your compost - presumably held in a seed tray - in a heated propagator.

Planting seed approximately 1/2 in. deep in the compost and water well using warm water. The seeds can now be moved to a sunny position. Considering the baobabs natural environment, they will need as much light as possible.

Make sure that winter temperatures do not drop below 10 degrees Celsius. If this is likely then the Baobab will need to be brought in under temperature controlled protection such as the sunniest room in the house or a heated greenhouse.