Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Coriander - Cilantro
Healer from Heaven
Family: Umbelliferae; (includes Carrot, Parsley)
Genus and Species: Coriandrum sativum
Also known as: The fruits (actually seeds) are coriander; the leaves are known as cilantro or Chinese parsley
Parts used: Seeds, leaves
After the Exodus, when the Hebrews were starving in the Sinai wilderness, God fed them manna from heaven, which the Bible says tasted “like coriander.” If manna did what coriander does, chances are none of the children of Israel had indigestion. Warm, spicy coriander, a flavor combination of sage and citrus, has been used as an herbal digestive aid for thousands of years. Science has lent support to the ancients.
Pharaohs’ Favorite
The Hebrews adopted coriander from their former masters, the Egyptians, who used it as a spice, perfume, and digestive aid The Egyptians considered coriander such a basic necessity that seeds have been found in several Pharaoh’s tombs, presumably to prevent indigestion in the afterlife.
Hippocrates and other noted Greek and Roman physicians prescribed coriander as a digestive aid and gas remedy. The Romans also used the spice as a meat preservative.
In India, coriander became an ingredient in curry spice blends and gained a reputation as an aphrodisiac. India’s traditional Ayurvedic healers used it to treat digestive complaints, allergies, and urinary problems, and as an ingredient in eyewashes used to prevent blindness.
Coriander arrived in China from India during the Han dynasty (207 BC to AD 220). At the time it was reputed to enhance lovemaking and confer immortality. Today, Chinese physicians use the herb more modestly to treat dysentery, measles, and hemorrhoids, and as a gargle for toothache.
Around the 8th century, the mythic Arabian princess Scheherazade described coriander as an aphrodisiac in the stories later collected as The Thousand and One Arabian Nights.
Today’s Jawbreakers
Coriander was never a major healing herb in Europe, but it has always been considered a digestive aid, not only in foods but also in candies. In 10th-century England, coriander seeds were used as the centers of hard candies. Queen Elizabeth I loved the candies, which evolved into today’s jawbreakers.
Early American herbalists added coriander to bitter laxative herbs, such as buckthorn: so they would taste better and have less violent action.
Contemporary herbalists recommend coriander internally for indigestion, flatulence, and diarrhea, and externally in salves for muscle and joint pains.