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Vegetables that Heal? Since time immemorial, garlic, onions, tomatoes, and malunggay have been known to be nature’s wonder drugs. Studies have shown that people who eat more fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of diseases. After all, vegetables provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.

Among the vegetables that have been identified by scientists as loaded with “medicinal properties” are garlic, onion, tomato, and malunggay. Just a warning: before using them as medicine, be sure to consult your physician. Forewarned, as they say, is forearmed.

Garlic

Garlic has an excellent safety record. Garlic was prized for its anti-microbial effects long before microbes were even discovered. French priests of the Middle Ages used garlic to protect themselves against bubonic plague. During World War I, European soldiers prevented infection by putting garlic directly on their wounds.

Clinical experiments in recent times have confirmed several ancient beliefs about the healing value of garlic. These experiments have in fact proven much greater power of garlic than known previously. There are few studies showing that garlic lowers blood pressure. However, these studies have been small, of low quality and not fully convincing. Some experts say better studies need to be done before garlic can be recommended to treat high blood pressure.

Several studies suggest that garlic may reduce the risk of developing cancer of the stomach or colon. However, these are only early results, and there are no definitive answers at this time. Studies are being done (many of them in China) to further investigate the use of garlic for cancer. Other cancers under examination include breast, head and neck, lung, prostate and urinary tract cancers.

Some of the most popular traditional uses of garlic have been for treating colds, coughs, yeast infections, asthma, leprosy, bronchial congestion, and gall bladder trouble. “Garlic is good for the heart, a food for the hair, a stimulant to appetite and a strength-giving food,” a sage once said.

Onion

Onion is another healing vegetable.   Research   has shown onions to have strong anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergic actions, which could be why they are the starting point of choice for the cuisine of so many cultures around the world.

“Onions get a bad rap for their effect on breath, and their ability to induce tears during meal preparation, but this shouldn’t keep them off your shopping list,” says Jonathan V. Wright, author of the best-selling Book of Nutritional Therapy and Guide to Healing with Nutrition.

For over 4,000 years, onions have been used for medical purposes. Egyptians numbered over 8000 onion-alleviated ailments. The esteemed Greek physician Hippocrates prescribed onions as a diuretic, wound healer and pneumonia fighter. During World War II, Russian soldiers applied onions to battle wounds as an antiseptic. And throughout the ages there have been countless folk remedies that have ascribed their curative powers to onions, such as putting a sliced onion under your pillow to fight off insomnia.

As with garlic, onions it help prevent thrombosis and reduce hypertension, according to the American Heart Association. The juice of one yellow or white onion a day can raise HDL cholesterol (the good stuff) by 30% over time, according to Dr. Victor Gurewich, director of the Tufts University Vascular Laboratory at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Boston. Red onions don’t provide the same effect.

Tomato

What about tomato? Scientists are suggesting that tomato lovers may be more likely to reduce the risk of serious disease. Lycopene, an antioxidant which gives tomatoes their lovely rich red color, helps remove free radicals from the body. Free radicals are unstable oxygen molecules and have been implicated in cancer and other serious diseases.

Professor Michael Avirim of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel who is testing lyco-pene in clinical trials says, “In its natural form, lycopene is an excellent antioxidant that helps to prevent formation of oxidized LDL (the bad cholesterol in blood, which contributes to the build up of plaque that narrows, stiffens and constricts arteries and can lead to heart attacks). When this natural extract was added to cancer cell cultures, the lycopene inhibited their growth.”

Lycopene is the most potent nutritional antioxidant found to date. In the body, lycopene is deposited in the liver, lungs, prostate gland, colon and skin. Its concentration in body tissues tends to be higher than all other carotenoids.

In one six-year study by Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, the diets of more than 47,000 menwerestudiedOf the 46 fruits and vegetables evaluated, only the tomato products showed a measurable relationship to reduce prostate cancer risk As consumption of tomato products increased, levels of lycopene in the blood increased, and the risk for prostate cancer decreased.

In another study, the researchers compared men who had had a heart attack with the same number of healthy men. The result showed that those with high levels of lycopene appeared to reduce their risk of heart diseases by half.

Lenore Kohlmeier, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, said “Based on our findings, and other research, lycopene can be an excellent antioxidant, we recommend that people eat tomato-based cooked foods.”

Malunggay

In the Philippines, malunggay is considered the “miracle vegetable.” “It is used as food, effective flocculant or water treatment, antibiotic, source of oil, and coagulant for turbid waters,” reports Dr. Lydia M. Marero, of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), which uses the vegetable’s image as its official logo.

Mounting scientific evidence shows what has been known for thousands of years: Malunggay is nature’s medicine cabinet. Oftentimes, it is used to cleanse wounds and ulcers. It helps alleviate scurvy, asthma, earache, and headaches. For its high calcium content, lactating mothers are advised to eat malunggay leaves to produce more milk

Other health benefits include: immune system strengthened, skin condition restored, blood pressure controlled, headaches and migraines handled, diabetes sugar level managed, inflammations and arthritis pains reduced, tumors restricted and ulcers healed.

The reason for its medicinal prowess: According to American studies, each ounce of malunggay contains seven times the Vitamin C found in oranges, four times the Vitamin A of carrots, three times the iron of spinach, four times as much calcium as milk and three times the potassium of bananas.

Malunggay is even an excellent source of protein, being higher than the amino acid pattern of Food and Agriculture Organization-reference protein, yet contains very low fat and carbohydrates. The leaves are incomparable as a source of the sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine, often the natural minerals humans lack.

author: Henrylito D. Tacio, Marid Digest, photos from handsofhopedisasterreliefservices.org, flickr.com, howstuffworks.com, blogspot.com

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