Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Skullcap
All-American Tranquilizer
Family: Labiatae; (includes Mints)
Genus and Species: Scutellaria Lateriflora
Also known as: Skullcap, Virginia Skullcap, Quaker Bonnet, Hoodwort, Helmet Flower, Mad Dog Weed
Parts used: Leaves
For an herb reputed to calm people down, skullcap has caused considerable controversy. One respected herbalist calls this blue-flowered North American native “perhaps the most widely relevant tranquilizer” in medicine. But skeptics dismiss it as “nearly worthless and essentially inactive.”
The truth is, skullcap’s traditional use as a tranquilizer may have some merit.
Mad Dog Weed
For centuries, Chinese physicians have used Asian skullcap (S. baikalensis) as a tranquilizer/sedative and treatment for convulsions.
Skullcap was first brought to the attention of physicians in the West in 1772 as a cure for rabies. A New England physician claimed that his experiments proved the herb prevented and cured the much dreaded “hydrophobia.” Over the next hundred years, herbalists used skullcap as a digestive aid and tranquilizer.
America’s 19th-century Eclectic physicians recommended the herb primarily as a tranquilizer/sedative for insomnia and nervousness, and for treatment of “intermittent fever” (malaria), convulsions, and delirium tremens of advanced alcoholism.
Skullcap entered the U.S. Pharmacopoeia in 1863 as a tranquilizer. It remained there until 1916, when it moved to the National Formulary, the pharmacists’ reference, where it remained until 1947.
Contemporary herbalists recommend skullcap as a tranquilizer for insomnia, nervous tension, premenstrual syndrome, and drug and alcohol withdrawal. Some say it treats fever and convulsions.