Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Ginkgo
What’s old is New
Family: Ginkgoaceae; there are no other members
Genus and Species: Ginkgo Biloba
Also known as: Maidenhair Tree
Parts used: Leaves
Ginkgo is the oldest surviving tree on earth. As a Healing herb, it can help the oldest surviving people. Ginkgo may prevent and help treat many conditions associated with aging: stroke, heart disease, impotence, deafness, blindness, and memory loss.
Elixir of Long Life
Ginkgo was termed “good for the heart and lungs” in China’s first great herbal, the Pen Tsao Ching (The Classic of Herbs), attributed to legendary emperor/sage Shen Nung. Traditional Chinese physicians use ginkgo to treat asthma and chilblains, swelling of the hands and feet due to damp cold.
The ancient Chinese and Japanese also ate roasted ginkgo seeds as a digestive aid and to prevent drunkenness.
India’s traditional Ayurvedic healers associated ginkgo with long life and reportedly used it as an ingredient in soma, a longevity elixir.
Ginkgoes were introduced into Europe in 1730, and today they are popular street and park trees throughout the temperate world. But even though 18th-century horticulturists planted them throughout Europe, herbalists of that time ignored them. As a result, ginkgo’s fan-shaped leaves have no history in Western herbal Healing.
Today, European herbalists and mainstream physicians feel much differently. Ginkgo products are among Europe’s most widely prescribed medications, with sales of $500 million a year.