Herbal Plant: Mulberry

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Mulberry Bush

Few weeks ago, we visited a poultry farm due to some complaints regarding the feeds delivered to the farm.

During conversation with the farm owner, I noticed a very familiar plant in front of their office. So I asked one of the farm personels if that plant is really the one I know and it was confirmed, it was a Mulberry plant.

I picked some fruits and eat it. I am not aware that the farm owner saw me eating the berries and asked me, “Marunong ka pala kumain nyan?”.

Mulberry Fruits

This plant has been one of my favorites way back to our home town. This was very common in our vicinity because of the Silk Worm Production where leaves are used as food by the worms.

The farm owner further told us that the plant came from China which is the reason for having a larger berries compared to the one I used to eat. He also added that there are lots of health benefits we can get from the plant. I researched on health benefits of Mulberry and here are some of its the healing galing powers.

From Wikifitness: 

Diabetes - Flavonoids present in mulberries proves best food to prevent sharp rise and fall of sugar level in the patient. So it is effective to prevent the complication in diabetes patient due to sugar level spike.

Heart Health - Eating mulberries prove beneficial to the heart. It strengthens the nervous system and reduces bad cholesterol thus prevent blockage in the flow of blood. So it is effective to prevent heart attack and stroke.

Immune System - Mulberry is rich in Vitamin C which increases immunity to fight against common disease like cold, flu or any infections.

Eye Vision - Eating mulberries improve eye vision. It also protects the eye from free radicals which is the cause of eyesight loss and retina degeneration.

Hair - Eating mulberries strengthen, nourishes and promote hair growth. It is used to prevent early graying of hair.

Brain -  Mulberries are best brain tonic to increase memory and promotes healthy brain.

Blood Purifier - Mulberries are best blood purifier. It also improves blood circulation.

Constipation - Mulberries are rich in fiber which improves digestion thus prevent constipation.

From Stylecraze:

1. Cures Certains Diseases

2. Prevents Cancers

3. Reduces Risk Of Blood Clots And Strokes

4. Cleanses Blood

5. Cleanses Liver And Strengthens Kidney

6. Prevents Flu And Cold

7. Speeds Up Recovery

8. Controls Blood Sugar

9. Maintains Heart Health

10. Controls Cholesterol

11. Enhances Appetite

12. Enhances Immunity

13. Improves Vision

14. Anti-Ageing Properties

15. Clears Skin

16. Rejuvenates Skin

17. Treats Skin Problems

18. Treats Dry And Sensitive Skin

19. Makes Skin Soft And Radiant

20. Rejuvenates Hair Folicles

21. Promotes Hair Growth

22. Retains Hair’s Natural Colour

Though there are lots of health benefits that we can get from Mulberry, anything in excess will be dangerous. Since mulberries are high in potassium, it might give any discomfort especially those who have kidney problems. 

Are you familiar with this plant?

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Lemon Grass or Citronella?

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One mean to drive insects away is by planting herbal plants at home and one of the famous is citronella.

Mommy and I were discussing that we can make our own insect sprays from these plants by extracting its oil. Naalala ko tuloy bigla ang undergraduate thesis ko. I extracted the active components from the roots of Duranta plant and use this to test it it has anti-tumor properties.

The question is, where will I get the citronella plant? Then I searched the net on how it looks like. It is just like a lemon grass or tanglad. So I searched on what are the differences between the two.

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Sugar less with Stevia

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Stevia

After searching for months, I already got my first stevia plant. Stevia is known to be a source of natural sweeteners because of the rebaudioside A.  There are also other benefits that we can get from stevia. Some claimed that it can help reduce blood pressure and lower blood sugar level because of its stevioside content. Other use this as treatment for heartburn, lowering uric acid level, boost strength of muscle contraction that is needed in pumping blood from the heart, aids in water retention while some said that this helps in preventing pregnancy.

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Herbal Plants: Spirulina (Healing Food)

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Source

During our visit to Healing Galing Office, my MIL as given this Healing Food or Spirulina as one of the required medication she will take. I just wonder why they are referred as healing food. What is in this supplement? What particular herbal plant it came from? What are the benefits we can get from this one? With these questions I tried to research about the said product.

Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis and Arthrospira maxima) is a type of blue-green algae that grows in warm, alkaline water that considered to have abundant health benefits making this as super food. It contains high amount of protein (60-70%) which is a good source of essential and non-essential amino acids. Furthermore it has essential fatty acids like omega-3, DHA, GLA, palmitic, oleic and stearic acid.

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Herbal Plants: Serpentina (King of Bitters)

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I am a supporter of herbal medicine. I planted oregano, lemon grass, balbas-pusa (Cat’s whiskers), ashitaba, serpentina.

Healing Galing are selling serpentina tablet made from plant or known as King of Bitters. Why King of Bitters? Because of its extreme bitterness that a tiny leaf’s infusion (tiny leaf added with hot water) is 10 times or more bitter than the extract of a large ampalaya.  Adding a teaspoon of honey can reduce the bitterness.

Serpentina or King of Bitters Plant
(Andrographis paniculata)

What are the benefits that you can get from this plant?
From what I know, this is good for diabetic in regulating or lowering blood sugar. Furthermore it is also known for its antibiotic property. This is the reason why we took this herbal plant when we are having cough and colds.


Aside from lowering blood sugar and antibiotic properties, there are other benefits that we can get from this bitter plant:

Analagesic – pain killer

Anti-inflammatory – reduces swelling

Antibacterial – has a remarkable effect in reducing diarrhea and other bacterial infections

Antimalarial – helps prevent parasite infection and multiplication in the blood stream

Antihepatotoxic and Hepatoprotective – eliminates liver toxins and protects liver and gall bladder

Antipyretic – reduces fever

Antithrombotic – blood clot prevention. Helps prevent heart attack.

Antiviral – inhibits viral activity including HIV (further studies are being made)

Antioxidant – fights free radicals

Canceolytic – cancer fighter or better to say cancer killer

Cardiopotective – protects heart muscles

Choleretic – increases the flow of bile

Depurative – cleans the system especially the blood stream

Expectorant – releases mucus in the respiratory system

Hypoglycemic – lowers blood sugar and protect against diabetes

Immune enhancer – increases immune system

Vermicidal – kills intestinal worms

It can be used againts coughs, headaches, edema, earache, pain conditions, inflammation and muscular pain, arthritis, rheumatism, fibro myalgia, multiple sclerosis, depression, diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, candida, lupus, diabetes, piles, fevers, fatigue, hepatitis, herpes, leprosy, loss of appetite, swollen lymph nodes and other lymphatic conditions, jaundice, dyspepsia, dermatitis, eczema, burns, pneumonia, bronchitis, tuberculosis, chicken pox, mumps; sluggish liver, spleen, kidneys and adrenal glands; sleeplessness, vaginitis, and constipation.

On the other hand, cautions must be taken with this plant because there are records but rare cases of skin itching. Furthermore, it is not recommended for breastfeeding and pregnant women due to its abortive effect.

There are various ways to prepare and use this plant. It can be taken dried leaves or infusion. Most literatures suggest that you need to take 5 to 6 grams of dried leaves per day. Dried leaves can be placed in gelatin capsule (the one I made and give to Matt’s Tita to help reduce or better eliminate her breast lumps. I used 250mg per capsule) or infusion of 1:2 fluid extract taken 3-12 ml per day. The latter is quite good if you can stand the bitterness.

Serpentina has many uses that could benefit our health. The said plant has very low toxicity and no overdosage cases have been reported. Perhaps it is because unlike any other herbs, you won’t wish to have more than the recommended dosage due to its extreme bitterness.

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Herbal Plants: Malunggay (Horse Radish)

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Homemade Malunggay Capsule

Malunggay or Horse radish (Moringa oleifera) is a popular plant because of its nutritional and health benefits and considered as “The Miracle Tree”. This plant grows in tropical countries and used mainly as vegetable in cooking.

Malunggay Leaves

Malunggay Fruit

Health Benefits

Malunggay helps in fighting malnutrition particularly in infants and breastfeeding mothers due to its nutritional contents. It is known to help increase milk flow of breastfeeding mothers. Furthermore, it is proven to contain vitamins like A (4 times as carrots), B and C (7 times as orange), and minerals such as calcium (twice as milk), iron and protein (4 tiems as milk). It is also found to contain high dosage of HDL (high-density-lipoprotein), a good source of  omega oils, antioxidants and amino acids.

Some studies showed that this plant contains anti-cancer properties and considered in the treatment of prostate and skin cancer. It is also found to have chemoprotective properties that strengthen cells and helps tolerate the effect of chemotherapy.

This miracle plant was also found to have antibiotic (antimicrobial and antibacterial) and antifungal properties while the seed was found to contain anti-inflammatory functions against rheumatism, arthritis and joint pains.

Supplements

It is awkward to eat malunggay daily just to get the benefits of the plant. There are many malunggay supplements available in the market but a little bit expensive.  I resulted to make my own malunggay supplement. I dried malunggay leaves (air dry), grind using bender, sieve thru strainer to remove stalks,  and encapsulate it in an empty gel capsule bought from Mercury Drug (42 cents a piece). Each capsule contains 250mg of pure dried malunggay leaves, enough to be a daily supplement.

I also used ground malunggay leaves in some of my cooking.

Dried Malnuggay Leaves

After Grinding and Sieving

Empty Gel Capsule

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