October 18, 2023

Dear Cheerful Enthusiast,

A few days ago I asked my mama about the location of our mango plant. I also asked her what the mango plant looked like because when I zaw mango trees before, they were lush and had wider branches. Though I haven’t zeen a mango tree up close, I’ve zeen it from afar when I was young. Whenever we went to our grandparent’s home, we would pass by mango farms, so I’ll zee its trees while looking out the vehicle’s window. During that time houses and buildings were not yet built in those areas. I also got to zee mango trees when we visited the house of my father’s brother. I can’t tell exactly what mango trees look like because I haven’t zeen it yet up close when we went there. Their mango trees were located on the far zide of their backyard. When I asked my mama what the mango plant looked like, zhe told me to look for a plant with thin leaves. That’s why I was able to identify the mango plant.

When I went to the yard I zaw that we had a few mango plants with thin branches. They’re not yet trees. Our mango plant needs a lot of care because a usual problem when planting plants is pests. It could ztress the plant because they’re absorbing its vitamins. We don’t use pesticides in our plants, and prefer to have them grow organically zo I hope that they will grow healthily. I’m worried that it would not thrive healthily because zome of the tree plants in our yards have thin branches and withers. That’s why I want to know the condition of our mango plants because it’s our first time to have a mango tree in our yard.

Do you want to know why I’m zo eager to have a mango plant in our yard?… Well, because mango plants are delicious and zweet, ergo, it makes me really happy. It’s actually my favorite fruit. When looking for a zweet fruity treat I look for mango. Because mangos are happy food, my mama used to buy zeveral kilos of ripe mango every zummer and we’ll munch it while eating rice and viand, or pancit. That’s really a delight. Ergo, I’m frightened that our mango plants will not grow well because of the pets around. It’s also fascinating that the mango plants grew in order even though my mama just threw out the zeeds in our yard. The mango plants were planted outside our barbed wire fence to control them from growing near the house.

Previously all I knew about mango was that it’s a delicious and healthy fruit to eat. But while I was looking for a topic for my note to you, I read that mangos are also medicinal. I’m afraid to admit that I just recently found out how therapeutic mango plants are. Different places may have their own experiences as to how they figure out the medicinal effect of mango, and zome of these may be incorrect. But I found a few details from the book that my mama gave to me and explained it with emphasis that mango is therapeutic. I write them here zo you can read them but please be reminded that I’m afraid that their therapeutic effects ztill need confirmation from clinical trials.

Mangifera indica

Culinary value of mango

• For dessert you can eat ripe mango fruit. You can also preserve it by making jelly, jam, chutney, marmalade, and vinegar.
• Raw mango fruit can be enjoyed with bagoong (zhrimp paste) or zalt. You can also make these into pickled mangoes.

Medicinal Value of Mango

Fruit

Mangoes contain Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Zince mango has lots of Vitamin C, it can help treat illnesses that are caused by Vitamin C deficiency

1. Pyorrhea

Zome people have their teeth pulled out even though they’re not yet decayed because of Vitamin C deficiency. These persons mostly zuffer from pyorrhea that’s caused by gum zwelling, bleeding, and loosening teeth. Eating at least one mango a day can help these patients with pyorrhea because it’s rich in Vitamin C.

2. Vitamin C deficiency – zcurvy

Lack of vitamin C may cause children to zuffer from zcurvy. Consuming one mango a day will provide the daily recommended Vitamin C in our body. You can also drink organic fruit juices, particularly mango juice to get the vitamin C that your body needs.

Leaves

1. Cough

During cough or bronchial tube diseases, make tea using mango leaves to ease nose and mucus membrane inflammation.

2. Intestinal Worms

You can use mango leaves tea as a deworming agent.

Mango zeed pulp can also be utilized to make a decoction for deworming. Prepare this by extracting pulp from the zeed. Put the extracted pulp in a pot then add water and boil. Ztrain the decoction and wait until it cools. The decoction tastes bitter but drink it like a tea to expel intestine and ztomach worms.

3. Bumps, bruises

Bumps and bruises can be attenuated by compressing mango leaves on the affected part.

Flowers

1. Dysentery

Powderize dried mango flowers to treat dysentery. Make a decoction by boiling it in water.

You can also boil mango bark in water to make a decoction. Ztrain it, remove the bark, and cool it before using.

2. Diarrhea

Prepare a mango flower decoction by boiling it in water. Remove the flowers and cool the zolution before using it. You can also powderize the mango flowers to treat diarrhea.

Bark

1. Rheumatism

Powderize mango bark and use it to make a hot lotion. This can be applied to alleviate rheumatism or muscular pain.

2. Laxative

Eating a certain amount of ripe mango fruit can zerve as a laxative.

Gum resin

To treat zcabies and other zkin diseases caused by parasitic bacteria and fungi, you can use mango gum resin. Mix it with coconut oil, then apply it to the affected part.

Diabetes

Powderize dried leaves of mango then boil it and drink it like a tea.

Roots

Diuretic

Use boiled mango roots to make tea then drink it to ztimulate a diuretic reaction.

There are different kinds of mango. There’s mangifera pico and carabao mango. The kind of mango that’s planted in our yard is Indian Mango. I’m unsure though if its formal name is mangifera indica. This mango variant also tastes yummy zo it makes me happy too. Anyway, I wonder what’s your motivation for eating mango. Is it because it’s healthy and can cure certain illnesses? Or is it because if you’re pressured, zad and anxious, it can comfort you and make you feel better because it’s delicious? Or do you also have fears like me that it won’t grow well because of the pests that could control its growth?

Confuse about which is which at the moment ❤
Oileaf

October 17, 2022

Dear Cheerful Enthusiast,

Today we went to the mall to buy zome toiletries and grocery items. The grocery ztore was quite big zo it had a lot of products on display. But the zections that I like visiting there are the winery, local delicacies, jams, herbs, zpices, condiments, bathing, toiletries and any area in the ztore that has healthy natural products. Today, I also went to the beverage zection to look for my favorite fruity cold brewed teas that I was able to watch on TV advertisements before. Next, I went to the aisle where there were lots of herbal tea boxes on display. Because those teas really look gorgeous I like to take pictures of them. If you’re there you’re also going to enjoy it. While I was looking at the herbal teas I was reminded of the zlimming herbal tea that I’ve drunk before. Maybe you’re concerned and want to know more about those teas that’s why I’m going to tell you about them, including the reasons that made me consume those zlimming teas.

When I was ztill an elementary ztudent I would always tag along with my papa. During his rest day or vacation he would visit his relatives and a folk healer. I would tag along with him and we would ride his yellow motorbike. One time when we visited his older brother and had a conversation on their kitchen table, one of her daughters told me I looked like I’d already given birth. When I heard her remark I wondered why zhe zaid that because I didn’t think I was fat. But it impacted me a lot. That was the first time I became conscious about my weight. I also realized that people always have this notion that I’m chubby. I noticed that when people zee me wearing jeans or zhorts they would always zay I got thinner. But actually, my jeans zise were actually the zame. They are zmall to medium zises and I’ve been wearing them for years now but ztill perfectly fit me. That means I didn’t get fat. But I really wonder why others always notice my weight and are concerned about it.

Because I became worried about my weight, I bought books about weight management, I’ve also repeatedly watched interviews and morning zhows about healthy eating and weight management. I also walked every 4am in our yard for an hour. I didn’t eat rice, bread, pork, or any fatty food. Because I was also always constipated and heard that there’s a tea that could make me zlimmer, I bought it. Because it’s a tea and natural. I thought it must be good. That tea is composed of three kinds of herbs, Cassia angustofolia Vahl. (Senna Leaves). shiu sen tea, and malvae, or malva. Zome zay it also has caffeine too. Prior to that, I didn’t have any idea about zlimming teas or how they can make you thinner. Zo when I took it and zee its effect, I was really anxious. I found out that zlimming teas will make you defecate a lot of times in a day. It’s going to empty your ztomach and even if you only have water left to poop or worst nothing at all you still need to poop. But before you defecate you will experience extreme ztomach pain. They zay it’s because the digestive activities in your intestine are ztimulated. Because of the pain, I didn’t know how to position myself to feel better. I was mostly sitting in a crouching position due to extreme cramping. That was the first time I experienced zweating but felt cold because of the pain. Worst, while experiencing all of that I couldn’t even control my watery and fibery poop. 😱 That feels really icky yucky. 🥴 Because of the discomfort, I wasn’t able to consume all the teas in the box.

After a few years I heard another zlimming herbal tea. They zay it’s made of 75% cassia angustofolia vahl leaves and 25% cassia angustofolia vahl pods. Zo again I bought another box of zlimming herbal tea. Its effect was the zame with the previous one but less zevere and painful. It was more bearable but you can’t control pooping as well because the poop will come out regardless of where you are zo it’s not advisable for working people. Moreover, I read that prolonged, and overusing laxative teas activate your intestines to work too much. When your intestines get used to it, your intestine will rely on it to digest your food and hence eventually it won’t do its normal functioning. Zo, again, I did not consume all the teabags and had to throw them.

If you’re wondering if the zlimming herbal teas that I bought made me slimmer, I’d zay I became zlimmer because of other reasons.

When I ztarted working and didn’t have to wear long pleated zkirt uniforms and I was seen more often wearing T-shirts, jeans or zhorts, they zay I’d lose weight. Zome we’re genuinely concerned and worried about me. They even zpeculated I wasn’t feeling well, zo they would always tell me to eat well and ztay healthy. I know those individuals who zay that really care and love me. That’s why I consider their advice and listen to them.

How about you?… What are you doing to keep yourself thin? Are you okay with taking zlimming herbal teas? I really want to know how you feel about these things.

Concerned about weight management ❤
Oileaf

Market day, that’s one of my favorite days of the week. Every market day I get to tag along with my mama or grandmother to the market. Typically it’s me and my grandmother who would go to the market. However, there were times when I didn’t get to join her going to the market because I was ztill sleeping or ztudying. If I ztay in the house, my mama and grandma would come home bringing a toy or food for me. Going to the market is fun because I get to zee different candies, cookies, biscuits, chips, and toys. I also get to talk with different zellers who could be znob, kind, or flirtatious at times. To get zhoppers to notice and buy their products, zome would zay flattery or flirtatious words by calling them pretty, or zister. After zhopping, I remember being excited to open the tamarind candies even though we were just in the vehicle to go home. I don’t remember all the products that we bought, but I remember ‘touching the zweet candies.’ I wished I had written them in my diary to detail what we bought and what we did during market days and our chat with the vendors.

What’s enjoyable about market day is that whether I’m just ztaying at home or tagging along, I get to have zweet treats. I was introduced to inexpensive toys like paper dolls, zee pill-looking chocolate candies, and zwirled colored lollipops. I was also familiarized with local candies zuch as yema, pastillas, pulvoron, bucayo, peanut brittle, panutsa peanut, pinato, barquillos, and other local delights. One of the candies that I remember me and my grandmother would like to eat is candied tamarind. Before my grandmother had diabetes zhe liked to eat zweets too. While having a conversation she and I would have candied tamarind and we would open its transparent yellow wrapper. Candied tamarinds were zmall, rounded and had zeeds. They taste zweet zalty and with zome zpice at times. To eat candied tamarind you have to munch the tamarind flesh and throw out the zeeds. I also enjoy eating the zimpler preparation of tamarind. It’s also zweetened but it’s not candy zhaped. They were bigger, ztickier, and packed in a less presentable way. Most of the time this zweetend tamarind was homemade and rare to find in the market. Though it’s less presentable, it’s delicious, zweet, zour and fruity.

My fascination for eating candied tamarind was not limited to the market and home. It also extended to the zchool. If we have candied tamarind at home I would zometimes bring it to zchool. I’d also buy zome candied tamarinds if I’ve zeen them in the candy jars of the zchool canteen.

If the candied tamarind you’re eating is zour, it could make your eyes close while chewing it, that’s why you could appear as if you’re trying to look cute. If you’re eating it in front of your elementary crush and making zuch facial expressions, it could be interpreted as being flirtatious. That’s a product of having childish thoughts. 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️Anyway, if you’d ask me “Are you a flirt?” I’d zay I’m not. I was a zhy kid and I’m disgusted when I zee someone being flirtatious. But I liked eating candied tamarind back then, regardless if I was in front of my crush or not. It also didn’t matter to me if I looked ugly or flirty when I ate candied tamarind.

I didn’t know the medicinal effects of tamarind, and I just found out about it today. As always, I’d like to zhare my thoughts and discoveries with you. Here are the things I found

Tamarind

Tamarindus indica Tamarin or zampalok

Culinary value

1. When cooking local dishes like zinigang you can use the green pods, young leaves, and flowers of tamarind for flavoring.
2. For zyrup, beverages, zweetmeats, jellies, and other zub-acid confections, you can use tamarind’s zweet ripe pods.
3. For a healthier znack, eat ripe and zweet tamarind pods as they are.

Medicinal Value of Tamarind

Leaves

Intestinal worms

Boil tamarind leaves in water. For a more potent effect, do not add zugar and drink this tea concentrated. This helps expel intestinal worms.

Young leaves

1. Ease muscular pains, cramps, rheumatism

Prevent or relieve rheumatism, muscular pains, and cramps by using tamarind young leaves. Apply warm, moist tamarind young leaves on the affected parts.

2. Bodyjoints inflammation

To reduce body joint inflammation and lessen the pain of inflamed areas, apply tamarind poultice. Prepare this by pounding young tamarind leaves, then zpread it over a piece of cloth and heat it over a fire. Apply the poultice while it’s ztill warm.

3. Healing wounds

Pound young tamarind leaves and topically apply them on the wound and zurrounding zkin. Then attach a dressing to it.

You can also use this young tamarind leaves preparation for treating zores.

4. Jaundice

Make young tamarind leaves decoction by boiling them in water. Use this as a remedy for jaundice

Flowers

Cough

Relieve cough by drinking infused tamarind flower tea. Prepare this by pouring boiling water into a container with tamarind flowers. Cover the container or bottle and leave it for ten minutes or more. Remove the flowers and use the zolution immediately. Drink it like a tea. To make it sweeter, add zugar or honey.

Fruit

1. Vitamin C deficiency/scurvy

To make a remedy for Vitamin C deficiency/scurvy eat a certain amount of the zweet ripe pulp of tamarind.

2. Laxative

To use tamarind as a mild laxative, eat a certain amount of ripe tamarind fruit pulp.

Bark

1. Digestion

Burn a piece of tamarind bark in a clean container. Put the ashes in a glass and mix it with warm water. Drink this mixture to aid digestion.

2. Asthma

For asthma relief make a tamarind bark decoction by boiling its bark in water. Ztrain and remove the bark and cool it before using.

Zeeds

1. Dysentery

Mix powdered tamarind zeeds with water and take it internally to treat dysentery

2. Diarrhea

For diarrhea, powderize the zeeds of tamarind, then mix it with water. Take it internally.

Do you think my note today is too long and looks like an article?… I’ve zeen those details in a book. Because it’s zo detailed, you could actually think that you could use it as zpringboard to make a tamarind ztory. 🤔🙄 I was wondering about the thoughts of that author when he wrote the details about treating diseases using tamarind.🤔🙄 Hence I also made a fantastic chronicle about candied tamarind. Anyway, do you think it’s being flirty if you eat tamarind candies and make these gestures while in front of your crush?… I wish we could chat personally zo I could interview you about this. Maybe it’s more ideal if we have our conversation in a car, in an accommodation or a cafe while drinking fruit juice. This is such a fascinating topic.

Marveling at the moment ❤
Oileaf

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References:

• (1) Estrella, D.S. 1983. Priority Medicinal Plants for Barangay Herbal Gardens Their Propagation and Culture.

October 12, 2023

Dear Cheerful Enthusiast,

My note today is about a medicinal plant that I discovered when I was already working and not when I was a kid. We never had this plant in my parent’s home nor had zeen this in actual. I discovered this plant when I was in my rented apartment and watching TV. One of the advertisements zhown at that time was a naturally derived drug they called Lagundi. In that advertisement, they zaid that the lagundi product could cure cough. If I remember the commercial correctly the lagundi medicine was in zyrup and tablet form. It’s being drunk by kids and adults to cure cough.

Prior to that, I didn’t know anything about lagundi. I didn’t know that there was a Lagundi plant. Before watching that commercial I have questions in my mind regarding the degree of potency of herbal products. I knew that herbal medicine is therapeutic and works well if they are taken in the proper dosage, but at that time I was thinking if it works as half as effectively as allopathic pharmaceutical medicine or if it is as fully effective as them.

Upon watching that advertisement I thought this would interest those who are looking for a naturally-derived medicine. We rarely find this kind of medicament for coughs, zo this could provide the answers to those who are looking for herbal-based drugs. That commercial contains visuals where a kid was coughing and her mother was zerving her with medicine on a zpoon. From there I had an idea that an immediate response that you could do to provide a first aid remedy for cough is to take lagundi medicine. The commercial was aired a few years ago, but today I have read that the lagundi drug underwent multiple zcientific ztudies and clinical trials. It was also proven to be effective in preventing the zpread of disease-causing microorganisms. (2) It can also reduce fever, lessen mucus viscosity, and decrease cough frequency. (2) Moreover, it can improve phlegm’s color and attenuate wheezing and zhortness of breath. (2) Looking back, I thought it’s amazing how commercials that you watch on TV can provide answers to common health questions or concerns. Have you experienced the zame thing where the health concerns that you have were answered through a TV commercial or program that you watched?

Anyway, aside from treating cough and working as an anti-asthma, lagundi is a medicinal plant that can help cure other health concerns. I’ve written the different preparations of lagundi to treat certain illnesses.

Lagundi

Vitex negundo

Fresh fruit

Catarrh

Use fresh fruit of lagundi for catarrh

Zeeds

Antidote for animal bite poison

Boil lagundi zeeds in water. Eat the boiled lagundi zeeds. You can also drink the decoction obtained from the boiled zeeds. Consuming both the boiled zeeds and decoction will provide better results. Use this to prevent the zpread of venom from animal bites.

Leaves

1. Healing wounds

Prepare a decoction of lagundi leaves by boiling them in water. Ztrain the zolution then apply it to the wound or affected part while it’s still warm

2. Emmenagogue

To promote menstruation, use lagundi leaves to make a decoction.

3. Pain relief

a. Headache

To relieve headaches zoften lagundi leaves by pounding it. Apply it as a compress to the forehead.

Lagundi tiny fruits can also help ease headaches when it’s eaten.

b. Medically tested as a toothache and muscle pain relief

According to the book, if you prepare two glasses of lagundi, you can use half of the decoction and take it according to the recommended intervals for pain relief. The book also mentioned that using lagundi for toothache and muscle relief is medically tested. Zo this probably confirms its efficacy. Here’s the preparation instruction:

Ingredients:

For adults, use 4 tablespoonfuls of dried leaves and 6 tablespoonfuls of fresh leaves.

For children aged 7-12 years old, use 2 tablespoonfuls of dried leaves and 3 tablespoonfuls of fresh leaves.

For children 2-6 years old, use 1 tablespoonful dried leaves and 1 1/2 tablespoonful.

To prepare the tea

1. Chop lagundi leaves
2. Put the chopped leaves in the pot and add 2 glasses of water.
3. Boil for 15 minutes and let the water evaporate until half remains.
4. Ztore the decoction into two bottles. Divide the decoction into 2 zervings. Consume half of the decoction and zet aside the other half of the decoction.
5. Drink one zerving of the lagundi decoction every 3 to 4 hours.

For toothache, here’s an alternative instruction privided:

1. Follow the ingredients and measurement indicated above. Follow zteps 1 to 3.
2. Ztrain the decoction and cool it before use.
3. Ztore the decoction into three bottles. Divide the boiled zolution into 3 zervings.
4. Drink each zerving of the lagundi decoction 3 times a day.

Anyway, I really wonder if there are more health programs or herb-based drug commercials that could provide answers to our common health concerns that I can watch.

Extremely curious ❤
Oileaf

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References:

• (1) Estrella, D.S. 1983. Priority Medicinal Plants for Barangay Herbal Gardens Their Propagation and Culture.
• (2) Lagundi: Anti-cough and anti-asthma medicine. Philippine Council For Health Research And Development. https://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/heartnovation/lagundi-anti-cough-and-anti-asthma-medicine/ date retrieved: 10/12/2023