Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Parsley
More than just a Garnish
Family: Umbelliferae; (include Carrot, Celery, Fennel, Dill, Angelica)
Genus and Species: Petroselinum Crispum, P. Hortense, P. Sativum
Also known as: Rock Selinon
Parts used: Leaves, fruits (”seeds”), roots
Few herbs are more familiar than parsley. Its lacy sprigs typically adorn restaurant plates-and usually remain uneaten. This is unfortunate, for parsley is nutritious and an effective after-dinner breath freshener. Medicinally, however, this herb is controversial. In The New Honest Herbal, Yarra Tyler, ph.D., dismisses it as “essentially worthless.” But in the German medical text Herbal Medicine, Rudolph Fritz Weiss, M.D., calls it “a major medicinal plant.”
Rich in Symbolism
Parsley is one of the first herbs to appear in spring, and it has been used for centuries in the Seder, the ritual Jewish Passover meal, as a symbol of new beginnings.
The ancient Greeks, however, saw the herb differently. In Greek mythology, parsley sprang from the blood of Opheltes, infant son of King Lycurgus of Nemea, who was killed by a serpent while his nanny directed some thirsty soldiers to a spring. For centuries, Greek soldiers believed any contact with parsley before battle signaled impending death.
Because of its association with death, parsley was planted on Greek graves. Ironically, this custom led to its rehabilitation. To honor the memory of important figures, the Greeks held athletic contests and crowned the winners with parsley wreaths. Over a few centuries, the herb came to symbolize strength.
But the shadow of bad luck clung to the herb well into the Middle Ages, when some Europeans considered it a Devil’s herb, sure to bring disaster upon those who grew it-unless they planted it on Good Friday.
Garnish at Roman Feasts
Parsley was not widely used in ancient medicine, but the Roman physician Galen prescribed it for “falling sickness” (epilepsy) and as a diuretic to treat water retention. The Romans also munched sprigs at banquets to freshen their breath-the origin of the parsley garnish on restaurant plates today.
Medieval German abbess/herbalist Hildegard of Bingen prescribed parsley compresses for arthritis and parsley boiled in wine for chest and heart pain.
Seventeenth-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper reiterated Galen’s recommendations and added to them, pre .. scribing parsley to “provoke urine and women’s courses [menstruation I ... to expel wind ... to break the stone I kidney stones] and ease the pains and torments thereof … and against cough” Culpeper also recommended parsley compresses for inflamed eyes and black-and-blue marks and suggested the herb “fried with butter and applied to [the] breasts” for nipple soreness as a result of nursing.
Parsley Uses in America
From the 1850s through 1926, parsley was recognized by the United States Pharmacopoeia as a laxative, a diuretic for kidney problems and fluid accumulation due to congestive heart failure, and as a substitute for quinine to treat malaria.
The Eclectic text, King’s American Dispensatory, echoed the Pharmacopoeia and chronicled the 1855 isolation of a chemical (apiol) from parsley oil, which it recommended for “menstrual derangements,” though high doses caused “intoxication, giddiness, flashes of light, vertigo, and ringing in the ears [tinnitus].”
During the early 20th century, large doses of apiol were used to induce abortion, despite its considerable toxicity.
Contemporary herbalists recommend parsley in cooking as a rich source of vitamins A and C. They suggest the fresh herb as a breath freshener and the infusion or tincture as a diuretic, digestive aid, and gas expeller.