Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Horsetail
An Herbal Gold Mine
Family: Equisetaceae; the family is extinct except for horsetail
Genus and Species: Equisetum Arvense
Also known as: Equisetum, Scouring Rush, Pewterwort, Shave Grass, Corncob Plant, Bottle Brush
Parts used: Stems
All that’s gold does not necessarily glitter. Take horsetail. This bamboo-like marsh dweller is capable of absorbing gold dissolved in water. What makes that of interest to herbalists is that doctors often prescribe preparations containing gold for rheumatoid arthritis, and horsetail has a long history as an herbal remedy for joint pain.
Scouring Rush
Centuries before anyone realized horsetail contains gold, the ancients discovered its value as an abrasive cleanser. As the centuries passed, it was used to scour pots, polish pewter, and sand or “shave” wood, hence its popular names-scouring rush, shave grass, and pewterwort (wort is Old English for plant).
During ancient famines, Romans ate horsetail shoots, which look like asparagus but are neither as tasty nor as nutritious. (Backpacking guides still recommend the tough, stringy shoots for wilderness foragers.)
Ancient Chinese physicians used this herb to treat wounds, hemorrhoids, arthritis, and dysentery.
The Roman physician Galen claimed horsetail healed severed tendons and ligaments and helped stop nosebleeds. Over the centuries, the herb gained a reputation as a wound healer.
Seventeenth-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper called horsetail “very powerful to stop bleeding… [and] heal ulcers… the juice or decoction being drunk… or applied outwardly… It solders together wounds and cures all ruptures.”
Used for Urinary Problems
As time passed, horsetail shed its reputation as a wound healer and gained one as a diuretic to treat water retention and as a urinary remedy. It was used to treat painful urination, gonorrhea, kidney infections, urinary tract infections, and dropsy (congestive heart failure).
America’s 19th-century Eclectics prescribed horsetail as a diuretic and urinary antiseptic for incontinence, gonorrhea, kidney stones, kidney infections, urinary complaints, and congestive heart failure.
Homeopaths prescribe microdoses of the herb for urinary problems: bladder infections, bed-wetting, incontinence, and urethritis.
Contemporary herbalists recommend it externally for wounds and internally for urinary and prostate problems.