Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Healing with Mistletoe
Despite the traditional belief that European and American mistletoe have opposite actions, science has found out that they contain similar active chemicals and have similar effects. Mistletoe has the ability to slow the pulse, stimulate gastrointestinal and uterine contractions, and lower blood pressure.
Blood Pressure - Mistletoe contains substances that may raise blood pressure as well as substances that may lower it, but blood pressure reduction appears to predominate. In Germany, where herbal medicine is considerably more mainstream than it is in the United States, mistletoe extract is an ingredient in many medications prescribed to reduce blood pressure. German medical herbalist Rudolph Fritz Weiss, M.D., writes: “Anyone who treats hypertension [high blood pressure] will confirm that mistletoe by mouth has definite benefit. For a gentle antihypertensive drug that is well tolerated and nontoxic in the usual dosage … mistletoe is the drug of choice.” High blood pressure is a serious condition requiring medical treatment. Use the herb only with the permission and supervision of your doctor.
Immune Stimulant - In one experiment, cells damaged by X-ray radiation regenerated more quickly when exposed to a commercial mistletoe extract (the Swiss drug, Iscador).
Cancer Treatment - Studies going back 25 years show mistletoe impairs the growth of test-tube tumor cells. In Germany, three mistletoe-based chemotherapy agents are administered by injection to treat human cancers. These drugs have reportedly shown significant benefit in treating lung and ovarian tumors. Dr. Weiss writes: “The great advantage offered by mistletoe extracts is that unlike [other chemotherapeutic] drugs, their … immuno-stimulant and tonic effects .,. are non-toxic and well tolerated.”
Mistletoe has not been seriously investigated in the United States for cancer treatment, however, because of its reputation as a poison. Ironically, many approved cancer drugs are also toxic.
Rx for Mistletoe
Mistletoe should be used only under the close supervision of a physician who has knowledge of herbs. To treat high blood pressure, Dr. Weiss recommends a tea made of equal parts of mistletoe, hawthorn, and balm. “Infuse 2 teaspoons of the mixture for 5 to 10 minutes. Take I cup in the morning and I at night.” Other herbalists recommend I cup a day of an infusion made from I teaspoon of freshly dried plant steeped in I cup of boiling water for 10 minutes.
In a tincture, the recommended dose for blood pressure control is 5 drops per day.
Mistletoe should not be given to children, and it may have unexpected effects in the elderly.