Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Licorice
Beneficial-and Controversial
Family: Leguminosae; (includes Beans, Peas)
Genus and Species: Glycyrrhiza Glabra
Also known as: No other names
Parts used: Rhizome and roots
Licorice is one of the most beneficial-and controversial-Healing herbs. Advocates claim it has been used safely around the world for thousands of years to treat cough, colds, rashes, arthritis, ulcers, hepatitis, cirrhosis, and infections. Critics concede the herb’s effectiveness but insist its “potentially life-threatening side effects” make it too dangerous to use.
The licorice extracts used in candies have, in some cases, caused some harm when used in large amounts. But for otherwise healthy adults who use licorice in moderation, this healer’s benefits greatly outweigh its risks.
Sweet Root by another Name
Licorice appears prominently in the first great Chinese herbal. the Pen Tsao Ching (Classic of Herbs), written more than 5,000 years ago according to legend.
Ever since, licorice has been one of China’s most popular Healing herbs. Chinese physicians prescribe it to soothe the throat and treat cough, malaria, food poisoning, respiratory problems, liver and uterine complaints, and some cancers. Chinese herbalists also use the herb’s sweetness to mask the bitter taste of other herbal medicines.
The herb has a long history in the West, as well. During the 3rd century B.C., Hippocrates extolled licorice for cough, asthma, and other respiratory complaints. He called it sweet root, in Greek, glukos riza, which evolved into the herb’s genus, Glycyrrhiza. The Romans changed Glycyrrhiza to Liquiritia, which evolved into licorice.
Amid the treasures of King Tut’s tomb, archeologists found a bundle of licorice sticks. More than 1,300 years after Tut’s burial, the Greek physician Dioscorides prescribed licorice juice for colds, sore throat, and chest and gastrointestinal complaints
A Worldwide Favorite
German abbess/herbalist Hildegard of Bingen prescribed licorice for stomach and heart problems. It was mentioned frequently in 14th- and 15th-century German and Italian herbals as a cough and respiratory remedy.
Seventeenth-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper called licorice “a fine medicine … for those that have dry cough or hoarseness, wheezing or shortness of breath, phthisis [tuberculosis], heat of urine [burning], and griefs of the breast and lungs.”
North American colonists found the Indians drinking a tea brewed from American licorice as a cough remedy, laxative, earache treatment, and mask for the bitter flavor of other herbs.
America’s 19th-century Eclectics prescribed licorice for urinary problems, cough, colds, and other “bronchial and pectoral [chest] affections.”
Among American folk herbalists, licorice was considered a treatment for menstrual discomforts. It was included in Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, the popular 19th century patent medicine for menstrual complaints, and it remains an ingredient in the product’s current formulation.
Licorice has also been used to treat a variety of cancers in many cultures.
Contemporary herbalists recommend licorice for its soothing effects on the respiratory, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal tracts, especially as a treatment for ulcers. Herbalists continue to recommend licorice to mask the bitter taste of other Healing herbs. A few mention the herb’s hormone-like action and recommend it in the treatment of Addison’s disease, a disease in which the adrenal gland produces abnormally low amounts of certain of its hormones.