Banaba

Scientific name: Lagerstroemia speciosa.

Common names: Queen's flower, pride of India and queen's crape myrtle and Banaba.

Banaba is a deciduous tropical flowering tree that grow up to 10 meters high. It has large green oblong to elliptic-ovate leaves, smooth and spatulate. The flowers or Banaba are racemes, 6-parted and colored mauve-pink to lavender, purplish lilac. Petals are obovate, shortly clawed with margins that are undulate and hardly fimbriate. Banaba or Queen's flower, crape myrtle bears nut-like fruits that are obovoid and arranged in large clumps.

Parts used: Leaves, fruits

Medicinal properties and uses:

Banaba contains corosolic acid/triterpenoid glycoside acid that act like insulin by lowering the blood sugar in the body. Banaba also contains a lot of dietary fiber and minerals such as magnesium and zinc.

The leaves has Valoneic Acid Dilactone (VAD) which acts as an inhibitor of xanthine oxidase to lower uric acid levels and is effective against gout.

It is also rich in tannin, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and saponins.

Banaba is used in folkloric herbal medicine for the treatment of the following:

Blood pressure control
Cholesterol level control
Diabetes
Diarrhea
Gout
Kidney stones and other kidney disorders
Weight loss

Preparation of Banaba herbal tea:

Dry Banaba leaves and fruits for about two weeks; cut Banaba leaves/fruits into pieces. One cup of water for every cup of Banaba leaves and fruits.

Boil, strain and let it steep for 30 minutes. Take the Banaba herbal tea for 4 to 6 times daily.

Precaution:
It is recommended to consult your doctor before taking any herbal medicine.

Asparagus

Scientific name: Asparagus officinalis

Description:

Asparagus is a herbaceous, spring vegetable and flowering perennial plant with stout stems and much-branched feathery foliage. The "leaves"or modified stems are  needle-like cladodes(branchlets) in the axils of scale leaves. The root system is adventitious and the root type is fasciculated.

The flowers are bell-shaped, greenish-white to yellowish, axillary, fascicled, solitary or in pairs.

Parts used:

Roots and seeds of ripe fruit

Medicinal properties:

Asparagus has been used as a vegetable and medicine because of its diuretic properties, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, mild aperient, sedative, laxative, demulcent and the green resin it contains is believed to be calming to the heart.

Asparagus is high in vitamin B1, B6, B12, Vit A, C, E, K, calcium, magnesium and zinc.  It is also a good source of dietary fiber, protein, beta-carotene, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese, selenium and chromium. Asparagus is low in calorie and sodium.

This vegetable is also a natural free radical scavenger and antioxidant.

Medicinal Uses:

Asparagus is considered a useful supplement for hangovers.

Anti-Cancer: Asparagus has sarsasapogenin O, and seven known steroids which demonstrated significant cytotoxicities against human A2780, HO-8910 and other tumor cells.

Asparagus also alleviates pain caused by rheumatism, chronic gout and the green resin is used for flatulence, calculous affections and cardiac dropsy.

Water in which asparagus was boiled is good for rheumatism and the roots are considered a powerful diuretic and used also for bronchial catarrh and pulmonary tuberculosis.

Corn

Scientific name: Zea mays

Parts Used: Fresh or sun-dried corn cob and corn silk 

Health Benefits of Corn:

Corn is a good source thiamin (vitamin B1), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), folate, dietary fiber, vitamin C, phosphorus and manganese. It is also rich in complex carbohydrate, fiber, and healthful essential fatty acids.

The different varieties features an array of different colors mainly due to the various flavonoids and carotenes contained in corn.  Yellow corn is high in the carotenoid and lutein.  The lutein in yellow corn helps to protect against heart disease and macular degeneration (condition of the eye typically seen in old age).

The significant amounts of folate can prevent birth defects and reduce the risk of heart attacks.  Since corn is rich in fiber as well as folate it is known to reduce risk of colon cancer.

Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) is necessary for carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism and it supports the function of the adrenal glands. Thus, corn is seen to be beneficial to those with kidney problems including renal dysfunction.

Indications and Directions for use:

1. Renal Calculi (Initial stages), nephritis, edema
Boil corn hair in water to produce a concentrated decoction.  Drink it as a regular tea. For Edema, do the same and take it during meal time (also limit salt intake).

2. Gout
Boil 2 fresh corn cobs in water for at least 45 minutes.  Allow to cool. Drink one cup 3x a day.

3. Primary hypertension
In equal amounts, boil together dried corn hair, watermelon rind and sliced banana in water. Drink it 2x to 3x a day depending on the severity of the condition.

4. To lower cholesterol
Boil and eat corn everyday. The soluble fiber in corn binds with cholesterol in bile from the liver and passes through the body taking the cholesterol with it.


THOUGH THE CONTENT OF THIS BLOG HAD BEEN TRIED & TESTED AND HAD BEEN USED AS FOLK/HERBAL MEDICINE IT IS STILL BEST TO CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR.