Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.
The remembrance of these astounding folk discoveries... should sober our thoughts when we criticise too freely the old pharmacopoeias. It is easy to make fun of medieval recipes: it is more difficult and may be wiser to investigate them. Instead of assuming that the medieval pharmacist was a benighted foot we might wonder whether there was not sometimes a justification for his strange procedure. -- George Sartori, Harvard Professor and Author
DISCLAIMER: Green Papaya offers Home Remedies with specific annotations to health and well-being. Such remedy advices are offered as emergency first aid and are governed by the Good Samaritan Act. Under the common 'Good Samaritan laws' - "a citizen is obliged to provide first aid when necessary and is immune from prosecution if assistance given in good faith turns out to be harmful". Within our developing "wireless world" there comes a time when the only immediate assistance is that offered through the Internet. Green Papaya therefore feels that obligation and thereby offers this resource of Home Remedies as necessary.
Green Papaya's home remedies are meant for temporary relief and first aid measures; for the average person without any special needs or uncommon or compounding medical conditions. Green Papaya's advice, regardless of the situation, IS NOT a replacement for professional care and consultation. Please consultant with your family doctor or any emergency service immediately.
Genus and Species: Primarily Origanum Vulgare, O. Heracleoticum, O. Onites, and Lippia Graveo/ens, but also more than 40 other plants
Also known as: Wild marjoram, Mexican wild sage
Parts used: Leaves and stems
To most Americans, oregano is simply the seasoning on pizza. But to botanists, the word oregano can be a real headache. More than 40 plants in four botanical families go by the name oregano. For Healing, this confusion doesn’t matter much. All the plants called oregano taste similar and contain a similar oil, so they probably have similar effects.
Traditional Chinese physicians have used oregano for centuries to treat fever, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, and itching skin conditions.
Much More Than a Topping
Europeans used it like marjoram, as an aromatic spice and as a digestive aid, arthritis treatment, expectorant for cough, colds, flu, and chest congestion, and as a menstruation promoter.
America’s 19th-century Eclectic physicians considered oregano “a gently stimulant tonic” and menstruation promoter. Other folk healers used oregano oil to treat toothache, relieve arthritis, and grow hair on bald heads.
Contemporary herbalists call oregano an expectorant, digestive aid, mild tranquilizer, and menstruation promoter.
Oregano won’t grow hair on bald heads, but next time you have a cough or bronchitis, try a pizza with extra oregano. (If it doesn’t help, at least it will taste good.)
Cough Remedy, Expectorant - All the oreganos contain a volatile oil high in two chemically related expectorants (carvacrol and thymol). They help loosen phlegm and make it easier to cough up, lending credence to the herb’s traditional use in colds, flu, and chest congestion.
Digestive Aid - Like most culinary spices, oregano helps soothe the smooth muscle lining of the digestive tract, making it an antispasmodic. It may also help expel parasitic intestinal worms. These attributes lend support to its age-old use as a digestive aid.
Rx for Oregano
For a warm, aromatic, spicy infusion to help settle the stomach after meals or to help treat a cold, use I to 2 teaspoons of dried herb per cup of boiling water. Steep 10 minutes. Drink up to 3 cups a day.
Medicinal doses of these herbs should not be given to children under age 2.
Antispasmodic herbs often quiet the uterus as well as the digestive tract, but oregano appears to be an exception. The herb has never been scientifically shown to stimulate uterine contractions, but it has a long history as a menstruation promoter. One Oakland, California, pizza parlor enjoys a considerable local reputation for triggering labor in pregnant women at term. Who knows? Maybe it’s the oregano. Pregnant women may use culinary amounts, but they should stay away from medicinal preparations.
The medical literature contains no reports of harm from oregano.
For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults, all the oreganos are considered safe in amounts typically recommended.
Oregano should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If oregano causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.
Harvest Your Own Spice
Among the dozens of plants called oregano, authorities generally recommend O. heracleoticum as the most flavorful and aromatic. It may be propagated from seeds, cuttings, or root divisions. Seeds are sometimes slow to germinate. For best aroma and flavor, O. heracleoticum needs light, well-drained, slightly alkaline soil and full sun. Harvest when the plants begin to bloom.
Another tasty oregano is Lippia qraveoiens. It grows outdoors in the South and Southwest. Elsewhere it must be grown indoors in containers in sunny, south-facing windows. The soil should be well drained but need not be especially rich. Harvest when the plant begins to bloom.
Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.
Oregano won’t grow hair on bald heads, but next time you have a cough or bronchitis, try a pizza with extra oregano. (If it doesn’t help, at least it will taste good.)
Antispasmodic herbs often quiet the uterus as well as the digestive tract, but oregano appears to be an exception. The herb has never been scientifically shown to stimulate uterine contractions, but it has a long history as a menstruation promoter. One Oakland, California, pizza parlor enjoys a considerable local reputation for triggering labor in pregnant women at term. Who knows? Maybe it’s the oregano. Pregnant women may use culinary amounts, but they should stay away from medicinal preparations.