Let what you eat and drink be your medicine!

I have not written here for a little while. I've been doing some serious research and study on plant based medicine and essential oils. I plan to become proficient enough on the subject to change my life in the way I eat and live and also help other people who want to make the change to a healthier lifestyle (more on this later)

In the meantime.....

Back to basics in Costa Rica

Few beverages on this planet are as biocompatible to the human body and its hydration needs as coconut water.  Indeed, coconut water has been reported to have been used for intravenous hydration and resuscitation of critically ill patients in remote regions of the world for over half a century. It is also an excellent preserving medium for avulsed teeth (and semen!), besting even Hank’s balanced salt solution, a commonly used medical solution.

While some are concerned about the sugar content of this slightly sweet beverage, recent research shows it actually exhibits blood sugar lowering properties in an experimental model of diabetes.  Additional animal research shows coconut water prevents and reverses high blood pressure associated with fructose feeding-induced hypertension, as well being able to reduce oxidative stress and insulin resistance.

Perhaps one of the most amazing properties of coconut water is its superior lipid modulating activity in the animal model vis-à-vis the cholesterol-lowering statin drug known as lovastatin.]  Which means we can, in clear conscience, modify Hippocrates’ famous saying to: “Let What You Drink Be Your Medicine.”

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Our stop @ Banana Azul for a bit of aqua de pipa (coconut water)

Plant based medicine

While medicinal plants are the actual plants themselves, plant medicines are preparations made from those plants. Plant medicines are the most widely used medicines in the world today. An estimated eighty percent (80%) of the world's population employs herbs as primary medicines. And while drugstore shelves in the US are stocked mostly with synthetic remedies, in other parts of the world the situation is quite different. In parts of Europe, for example, pharmacies dispense herbs prescribed by physicians.

For 5.1 billion people worldwide, natural plant-based remedies are used for both acute and chronic health problems, from treating common colds to controlling blood pressure and cholesterol. Not so long ago, this was true in the US as well. As late as the early 1950's, many of the larger pharmaceutical companies still offered a broad variety of plant-based drugs in tablet, liquid and ointment forms.

The replacement of herbs with synthetic drugs is a relatively new phenomenon, less than a century old, born largely out of economic opportunities afforded by patent laws. Drug companies can't typically patent commonly used plants, but they can develop patented, proprietary synthetic drugs, often reaping billions in sales. Since the 1940's, chemists employed by pharmaceutical companies have developed novel synthetic molecules which have replaced plant medicines, and are sold both over the counter and by prescription.

But these drugs are often dangerous –

 See more at: http://www.medicinehunter.com/about-plant-medicines#sthash.2hICYi9T.dpuf