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FRONTIER COSTA RICA
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RAINFOREST MEDICINE - NATURE'S PHARMACY Natural herbs and plant extracts are not drugs and have been tested in the best possible way - centuries of human trials. Why are natural health remedies overlooked while prescriptions for harmful substances, with side effects that read like an encyclopaedia or horror story, are plentiful? Over 100,000 people die every year from the side effects of drugs prescribed by doctors.
Plants have been used for medicinal purposes since time immemorial. Plant medicine, or botanical medicine, refers to the use of a plant's seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark, or flowers for medicinal purposes. Long practiced outside conventional medicine it has become more mainstream as up-to-date analysis and research shows the real value in the treatment and prevention of a vast number of ills. In the scramble for progress through chemistry, we have forgotten that the curative power of plants is far broader that our current research has catalogued.
Plants contain enormous numbers of genes and mixtures of hundreds if not thousands of chemicals. This makes rainforest species an excellent reservoir of medicines - the ultimate chemical laboratory - with each species having various chemical defences to ensure survival in the harsh world of natural selection.
At Highland Heritage, we are blessed with a wide range of medicinal plants that can treat most ailments and provide relief from many others - at no cost and with no side effects.
Suffer from dandruff? The Wild Tobacco Tree can be used to make a hair rinse to treat dandruff, and as a gargle to soothe sore and inflamed throats. For a hair conditioner we have Aloe Vera. Our herbal first-aid is the Tuete plant which grows all around our centre and has a long history as such in Costa Rica. Campesinos have traditionally used it to treat wounds and bruises. Fresh leaves are simply masticated and applied directly to the wounded area. An infusion is and effective natural laxative.
Vervain is a small plant that grows in profusion around our centre. An infusion has remarkable healing powers and is well known as a treatment for fevers, kidney and liver problems, jaundice and nervous disorders (it has nervione - an agent that has a calming and soothing effect on the nerves).
Aloe Vera is one of the most important medicinal plants and often called the 'potted physician' since it can be used to treat a wide range of health problems. The gelatin inside the leaf is used to alleviate skin problems such as burns, sunburn, insect bites, cuts, bruises, eczema, psoriasis, fungal infections and acne. 'Cancer Science' magazine states that it is 'widely preventative or suppressive against various human cancers'. Cola de Caballo has been used worldwide as a diuretic to treat kidney and bladder problems. It is said - though we cannot verify it - to prevent hair loss and to strengthen teeth, bones and skin - the leaves having high concentrations of calcium and silica. And, we could go ON AND ON! Native tribes have lived in harmony with the rainforest for thousands of years without causing any lasting damage. Modern man has done that in a very short space of time. Scientists may be able to make any molecule they can imagine on a computer, but Mother Nature is an infinitely more ingenious and exciting chemist.
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Clearly, it is money. The powerful pharmaceutical industry has no
interest in natural remedies that it cannot control - and cannot patent - and
wilfully exerts pressure to restrict the use of natural products (with no side
effects).
Many
animals eat certain types of foliage when they are sick that they wouldn't ordinarily eat as food, and for thousands of years indigenous people have extensively used rainforest
plants for their health needs.
Sadly, as their homelands continue to be
invaded and destroyed, rainforest peoples and their cultures are disappearing.
When these indigenous people are lost forever, gone too will be centuries of
accumulated empirical knowledge of the medicinal value of plant species in the
rainforest.
Need toothpaste free from fluoride - a rat poison? When the bark of the Red Targua tree is cut, the tree exudes a blood-red resinous sap. This astringent and antiseptic sap was popular in colonial times as a toothpaste and is also used to treat gum diseases such as
pyorrhoea.
Much like Aloe Vera, the Mozote de Caballo plant soothes the stomach and intestinal lining. It has a mucilaginous substance used to treat gastritis, ulcers, kidney problems, colds and flu.
For Sarsaparilla you need to go a little way into our primary rainforest - it is only found in the rainforest.
Indigenous tribes have used sarsaparilla to treat a variety of illnesses. It has been successful in treating skin problems such as psoriasis and eczema, as a blood purifier for
anaemia, energy depletion and acidosis. Traditionally it has been used to treat impotence, liver problems, stress, rheumatism, gout, epilepsy, nervous disorders, diabetes and stomach problems.
After a long hike to our waterfalls, a tincture of the fresh leaves and flowers of the tiny arnica plant (looks like a dandelion) works well to treat sore muscles as well as strains and sprains.