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Herbs & Plants

Indian Liquorice (Crab’s Eye)

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Botanical Name : Abrus precatorius
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Abrus
Species: A. precatorius
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Fabales

Synonyms : Abrus minor and A. pauciflorus Desv.

Common name: Rosary pea, crab’s eye, jequerite, precatory bean, weesboontje, paternoster bean, deadly crab’s eye, wild liquorice, ruti, jequirity bean, coral bean, prayerbead, Ma Liao Tou, Tento Muido, Indian liquorice, Gunja.

English names: Indian liquorice, Crab’s eye.

Sanskrit name: Krishna gunja.

Vernacular names: Asm : Latuwani; Ben: Rati, Kunch; Guj: Gumchi; Hin and Pun: Rati; Kan : Gurgunn, Gulaganji; Ori : Kaincha, Gunja; Mal: Kunnikkura; Tam: Kunthamani; Tel: Gumginja.

Trade names: Rati, Kunch.

Family:Fabaceae / Leguminosae.

Habitat : Occurring throughout greater parts of India, ascending the outer Himalaya up to 1200 m, occasionally planted in gardens.

Ecology and cultivation: Naturalised in tropical countries.

Description:
A small climbing tropical vine with alternately compound leaves, indigenous to Indonesia but also growing in Surinam.
The flowers are small, pale, violet to pink and arranged in clusters.

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The fruit (a pod) is flat and truncate – shaped (1½ – 2″ long).
This seedpod curls back when it opens to reveal the seeds.

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Copiously branched climber with slender branches; leaves alternate, pinnately compound with numerous deciduous leaflets; flowers small, in dense racemes on axillary peduncles or short branches; pods 2.5-3.7 by 1.0-1.25 cm; seeds bright scarlet and black or whitish or black or mixed black and white, large like pea.

The small, hard, brilliant red seeds with a black spot are very toxic due to the phytochemical abrin (consisting of 5 glyco-proteins); a single seed if broken, can cause blindness or even death if ingested.
Abrin is a ribosome – inactivating protein (it blocks protein synthesis) and is one of the most deadly plant toxins known.
Fortunately, the toxin is only released if the seeds are broken (and swallowed) but this is unlikely since they have a hard seed coat!

Phenology: Flowering: August and September; Fruiting : January to March (even up to May).

Hardiness:
USDA zone 9 – 11.
Can be planted in the spring up to zone 7 as an annual.

Propagation:
Seeds.
These seeds germinate more consistantly if scarified; soak overnight in hot water or until they swell. Sow swollen seeds immediately in seeding mix. Don’t overwater or allow to dry out.

Culture:
Full sun / partial shade, well – drained moist soil.
Plant in frost free spots.

Chemical contents: Root and Leaf: glycyrrhizin, isoflavanquinones, abrusquinone A, B & C; leaves taste sweet and roots less so; roots also contain precol, abrol, abrasine and precasine. Seed: poisonous, principal constituents being ‘abrin’; a fat-splitting enzyme, haemaagglutinin, urease; alkaloid (abrin), a glucoside (abralin) and a small quantity of fatty oil have also been isolated from seed. Pharmacologically,abrin is considered to be intensely poisonous. Besides abrin, a seed contains hypaphorine, two steroids­one oily and the other crystalline- β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, 5 B-cholanic acid, abricin, abridin, cholesterol, lectins and toxic proteins.

Medicinal Aplication & Uses:

In Traditional medicinal applications :Leaves, roots and seeds are used.
The seeds are used as a contraceptive, to treat diabetes and chronic nephritis.
The root is used to induce abortion against abdominal discomfort, gonorrhoea, jaundice and haemoglobinuric bile.Also traditionally used to treat tetanus and to prevent rabies.

Jequirity seeds have been used medicinally in the past as a contraceptive, abortifacient, and as a treatment for chronic conjunctivitis.  However, they are so poisonous that even external application is no longer justifiable.  Even small amounts brought into contact with an open wound can prove fatal.  The leaves and roots contain glycyrrhizin and can be substituted for licorice. The leaves have been used in the Ayurvedic tradition in the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, sore throats, dry coughs and other chest conditions.  They have been used in Chinese medicine to treat fever.  Externally the leaves are used for sciatica, hair loss, skin disease, leprosy, nervous debility and the seeds for paralysis.

Medicinal – not recommended due to extreme toxicity (Abortifacient, Ache(Head), Anodyne, Antidote, Aphrodisiac, Bilious, Bite(Snake,) Bladder, Blennorrhagia, Boil, Cancer, Chest, CNS-Sedative, Cold, Colic, Collyrium, Conjunctivitis, Consumption, Contraceptive, Convulsion, Cough, Diarrhea, Diuretic, Dysuria, Emetic, Emollient, Enteritis, Epithelioma, Expectorant, Expectorant, Eye Fatal, Fatality, Febrifuge, Fever, Fracture(Veterinary), Freckle, Gastritis, Gingivitis, Gonorrhea, Gravel, Heart, Hemostat, Hoarseness, Homicide, Hookworms, Insomnia, Jaundice, Kidney, Laxative, Loin, Malaria, Masticatory, Myalgia, Night-Blindness, Ophthalmia, Ordeal, Pectoral, Poison, Puerperium, Purgative, Refrigerant, Rheumatism, Sedative, Skin, Sprue, Stomach, Styptic, Throat, Trachoma, Urogenital, Venereal, Vermifuge), Sweetener, (like Liquorice),

Traditional use: SANTAL(Indian Tribals): (i) grind the roots, make small pills, encase the pills in molasses and eat the same to treat night-blindedness; (ii) make a plaster by grinding the roots of white-fruited variety and apply the plaster on the painful part of inflammated sections of the gum; (iii) to treat white-coloured urine they drink a mixture made by grinding roots of the following: (a) white-fruited A. precatorius, (b) Indigofera pulchella, (c) Panicum repens and (d) Spatholobus roxburghii; (iv) to treat gravel they drink a mixture made of the following: (a) roots of A. precatorius, (b) the refuse of molasses, (c) exudation from a sapling of Diospyros tomentosa, (d) exudation from Acacia catechu, (e) little saltpeter, and (f) pinch of sulphur; (v) to treat the variety of childbed complaints (usually caused by anaemia) characterized by profuse diarrhoea, roots of A. precatorius are used in preparing two different varieties of mixtures; the ingredients of the mixtures are given below: (a) first variety: roots of A. precatorius, Elaeodendron roxburghii, Coix lachryma-jobi, Piper longum, Ruellia suffruticosa, white onion, rhizome of Zingiber officinale; (b) second variety: roots of A. precatorius, Coix lachryma-jobi, Embelia robusta, Piper longum, bark of Casearea tomentosa, Elaeodendron roxburghii, Gmelina arborea, Emblica officinalis, white onion, leaves of Ocimum sanctum, rhizome of Curcuma angustifolia and Zingiber officinale – all these are ground together, boiled and mixed with the refuse of molasses; (vi)roots as abortifacient and in paralysis; (vii) apply leaf-paste with lime-water (2:1) on swelling of glands; (viii) grind the leaves of white-flowered A. precatorius, warm slightly and plaster on the loins to kill pain there; (ix) grind leaves of A. precatorius along with leaves of Lawsonia alba and Tamarindus indica (1:1:1), add a little salt, boil a little and apply the plaster on the whole body to get relief from muscular pain caused by over­exhaustion; (x) make a paste of leaves of A. precatorius along with roots of Carissa carandas and Gossypium arboreum, warm the paste slightly and plaster the same over the whole body of the patient suffering from stealth convulsions; (xi) leaf-paste in leucoderma; (xii) seed-paste in skin diseases; (xiii) seeds after some processing as contraceptive. MUNDA: Root-paste in gonorrhoea. ORAON: dried root-powder as mild purgative.

AGNI PURANA: (i) husks of A. precatorius along with the same of Vitis vinifera and the decoction of Polyalthia longifolia, Moringa pterigosperma, payomuca and tripha/a (fruits of Terminalia belerica, Terminalia chebula and Emblica officinalis) destroys all intestinal worms; (ii) the mixture of powder of A. precatorius, marine salt and pathya in warm water removes all fevers; (iii) consumption of the seeds of A. precatorius along with the fruits of Melia azadiracta, Holarrhena antidysenterica (leaves). Acorus calamus (young leaves) and Glycyrrhiza glabra (powder of stem) causes vomiting; (iv) regular drinking of A. precatorius along with Acorus calamus, G/oriosa superba, vasa, nisagada, Zingiber officinalis, Glycyrrhiza glabra and marine salt daily in the morning enhances memory of young boys; (v) A. precatorius can enhance the span of a man’s life, if it is eaten with marine salt and some other plants (Tinospora cordifolia, pathya, citraka, dried rhizome of Zingiber officinalis).

Modern use: Roots: emetic and alexiteric; Decoction of roots and leaves: for cough, cold and colic; Seeds: purgative, emetic, tonic, aphrodisiac, used in nervous disorder and cattle poisoning; Poultice of seeds: as suppository to bring about abortion; Paste of seeds: applied locally in sciatica, stiffness of shoulder joints and in paralysis.

In certain parts of India, the boiled seeds are eaten; cooking seems to destroys the poison.The small seeds are used in jewelry (necklaces) and have a uniform weight of 1/10th of a gram.

Click to learn more about->Indian Liquorice  and Some Medical Plants of India

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:
http://www.bsienvis.org/medi.htm#Abrus%20precatorius
http://www.tropilab.com/paternosterbean.html
http://beta.uniprot.org/taxonomy/3816
http://www.b-and-t-world-seeds.com/89.html

http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_IJK.htm

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Exercise

Tai Chi Chaun

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Tai means great, Chi means spirit and Chaun means fist

Tai chi chuan is Traditional, Simplified and an internal Chinese martial art, often practiced with the aim of promoting health and longevity. Tai chi chuan’s training forms are well known as the slow motion routines that groups of people practice together every morning in parks around the world, particularly in China. Some medical studies support its effectiveness as an alternative exercise and a form of martial arts therapy. Tai chi chuan is considered a soft style martial art — an art applied with internal power    to distinguish its theory and application from that of the hard martial art styles. There are many different styles of tai chi chuan, but most modern schools can trace their development to the system originally taught by the Chen family to the Yang family starting in 1820.

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Yang Chengfu in a posture from the Yang style tai chi chuan solo form known as Single Whip cir. 1931.

Overview
The Mandarin term “tai chi chuan” literally translates as “supreme ultimate boxing” or “boundless fist,” but may better translate to “great extremes boxing,” with an emphasis on finding balance between two great extremes. The concept of the “supreme ultimate” is the symbol of the Taijitu meant to show the principles of Yin and Yang duality of Taoist philosophy. Thus, tai chi theory and practice evolved in agreement with many of the principles of Chinese philosophy and Taoism in particular. Tai chi training first and foremost involves learning solo routines, known as forms ( taolu). While the image of tai chi chuan in popular culture is typified by exceedingly slow movement, many tai chi styles (including the three most popular, Yang, Wu and Chen) have secondary forms of a faster pace. The other half of traditional tai chi training (though many modern schools disregard it entirely) consists of partner exercises known as pushing hands, and martial applications of the postures of the form.

Tai chi chuan was created as a form of traditional Chinese martial arts of the Neijia (soft or internal) branch. Since the first widespread promotion of tai chi’s health benefits by Yang Shaohou, Yang Chengfu, Wu Chien-ch’uan and Sun Lutang in the early twentieth century, it has developed a worldwide following among people with little or no interest in martial training for its benefit to health and health maintenance. Some call it a form of moving meditation, as focusing the mind solely on the movements of the form purportedly helps to bring about a state of mental calm and clarity. Besides general health benefits and stress management attributed to tai chi training, aspects of Traditional Chinese medicine are taught to advanced tai chi students in some traditional schools.[citation needed] Some martial arts, especially the Japanese martial arts, use a uniform for students during practice. Tai chi chuan schools do not generally require a uniform, but both traditional and modern teachers often advocate loose, comfortable clothing and flat-soled shoes.

The physical techniques of tai chi chuan are described in the tai chi classics (a set of writings by traditional masters) as being characterized by the use of leverage through the joints based on coordination in relaxation, rather than muscular tension, in order to neutralize or initiate attacks. The slow, repetitive work involved in the process of learning how that leverage is generated gently and measurably increases and opens the internal circulation (breath, body heat, blood, lymph, peristalsis, etc.).

The study of tai chi chuan primarily involves three subjects. Traditional schools cover these aspects of tai chi practice simultaneously, while many modern schools focus on a single aspect, depending on their goal in practicing the art. These subjects are:

Health
An unhealthy or otherwise uncomfortable person will find it difficult to meditate to a state of calmness or to use tai chi as a martial art. Tai chi’s health training therefore concentrates on relieving the physical effects of stress on the body and mind. For those focused on tai chi’s martial application, good physical fitness is the first step in effective self-defense.

Click to see the Healing Power of Tai Chi

Meditation
The focus and calmness cultivated by the meditative aspect of tai chi is seen as necessary in maintaining optimum health (in the sense of relieving stress and maintaining homeostasis) and in application of the form as a soft style martial art.

Martial art
The ability to use tai chi as a form of self-defense in combat is said to be the most effective proof of a student’s understanding of the principles of good Tai Chi. The study of tai chi chuan martially is the study of appropriate change in response to outside forces; the study of yielding and blending with outside force rather than attempting to meet it with opposing force.

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History and styles
Wu style being demonstrated at a tournament in Toronto, CanadaThere are five major styles of tai chi chuan, each named after the Chinese family from which it originated:

Chen style
Yang style
Wu or Wu/Hao style of Wu Yu-hsiang (Wu Yuxiang)
Wu style of Wu Ch’uan-yü (Wu Quanyuo) and Wu Chien-ch’uan (Wu Jianquan)
Sun style
The order of verifiable age is as listed above. The order of popularity (in terms of number of practitioners) is Yang, Wu, Chen, Sun, and Wu/Hao.The first five major family styles share much underlying theory, but differ in their approaches to training.

There are now dozens of new styles, hybrid styles and offshoots of the main styles, but the five family schools are the groups recognised by the international community as being orthodox. Zhaobao Tai Chi, a close cousin of Chen style, has been newly recognised by Western practitioners as a distinct style. The designation internal or nei chia martial arts is also used to broadly distinguish what are known as the external or wai chia styles based on the Shaolinquan styles, although that distinction is sometimes disputed by modern schools. In this broad sense, all styles of tai chi (as well as related arts such as Pa Kua Chang and Hsing-i Ch’üan) are therefore considered to be “soft” or “internal” martial arts. Many styles list in their history that tai chi was originally formulated by a Taoist monk called Zhang Sanfeng and taught by him in the Taoist monasteries at Wu Tang Shan .

When tracing tai chi chuan’s formative influences to Taoist and Buddhist monasteries, there seems little more to go on than legendary tales from a modern historical perspective, but tai chi chuan’s practical connection to and dependence upon the theories of Sung dynasty Neo-Confucianism (a conscious synthesis of Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian traditions, esp. the teachings of Mencius) is readily apparent to its practitioners. The philosophical and political landscape of that time in Chinese history is fairly well documented. Tai chi’s theories and practice are therefore believed by some schools to have been formulated by the Taoist monk Zhang Sanfeng in the 12th century, at about the same time that the principles of the Neo-Confucian school were making themselves felt in Chinese intellectual life. Zhang Sanfeng as a young man studied Tao Yin , Pinyin dÇŽoyǐn) breathing exercises from his Taoist teachers and martial arts at the Buddhist Shaolin monastery, eventually combining the martial forms and breathing exercises to formulate the soft or internal principles we associate with tai chi chuan and related martial arts. Zhang Sanfeng is also sometimes attributed with the creation of the original 13 Movements of Tai Chi Chuan. These 13 movements are in all forms of tai chi chuan. Its subsequent fame attributed to his teaching, Wu Tang monastery was known thereafter as an important martial center for many centuries, its many styles of internal kung fu preserved and refined at various Taoist temples.

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Pre-eclampsia, eclampsia or toxemia of pregnancy

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Suppliments our body needs

Honey

Queen bee with attendants on a honeycomb
Image 

Honey is a sweet and viscous fluid produced by Honeybees from the Necter of Flowers.Honey is sigficantly Sweeter than table Sugar and has attractive chemical properties for baking. Honey has a distinctive flavor which leads some people to prefer it over sugar and other sweeteners.Liquid honey does not spoil. Because of its high sugar concentration, it kills most Bacteria by Plamolysis . Natural airborne yeasts cannot become active in it because the moisture content is too low. Natural, raw honey varies from 14% to 18% moisture content. As long as the moisture content remains under 18%, virtually no organism can successfully multiply to significant amounts in honey, though, importantly, enough bacteria survive to make honey dangerous for infants.

The study of Pollen and Spores in raw honey (Melissopalynology) can determine floral sources of honey. Because bees carry an Electrical Charges , and can attract other particles, the same techniques of melissopalynn raw honeyology can be used in area environmental studies of Radioactive particles,Dust , or particulate Pollution .

A main effect of bees collecting nectar to make honey is Pollination , which is crucial for Flowering plants .

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HONEY FORMATION:Honey is laid down by bees as a food source. In cold weather or when food sources are scarce, bees use their stored honey as their source of energy. By contriving for the bee swarm to make its home in a hive, mankind has been able to semi-domesticate the insects. In the hive there are three types of bee: the single queen bee, a seasonally variable number of drone bees to fertilize new queens and some 20,000 to 40,000 worker bees. The worker bees raise larvae and collect the nectar that will become honey in the hive. They go out, collect the sugar-rich flower nectar and return to the hive. As they leave the flower, bees release nasonov pheromones. These enable other bees to find their way to the site by smell. Honeybees also release nasonov pheromones at the entrance to the hive, which enables returning bees to return to the proper hive. In the hive the bees use their honey stomachs to ingest and regurgitate the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested. It is then stored in the honeycomb. Nectar is high in both water content and natural yeasts which, unchecked, would cause the sugars in the nectar to ferment. After the final regurgitation, the honeycomb is left unsealed. Bees inside the hive fan their wings, creating a strong draft across the honeycomb. This enhances evaporation of much of the water from the nectar. The reduction in water content, which raises the sugar concentration, prevents fermentation. Ripe honey, as removed from the hive by the beekeeper, has a long shelf life and will not ferment.

The beekeeper encourages overproduction of honey within the hive so that the excess can be taken without endangering the bees. When sources of foods for the bees are short the beekeeper may have to feed the bees other forms of sugar so they can survive.

HONEY COMPOSITION:Honey is a mixture of sugars and other compounds. The specific composition of any batch of honey will depend largely on the mix of flowers consumed by the bees that produced the honey. Honey has a density of about 1500 kg/m3 (50% denser than water), which means about 12.5 pounds per US gallon.

Typical honey analysis
Fructose: 38%
Glucose: 31%
Sucrose: 1%
Water: 17%
Other sugars: 9% (maltose, melezitose)
Ash: 0.17%
Source: Sugar Alliance
The analysis of the sugar content of honey is used for detecting adulteration

TYPES OF HONEY
:
Blended
Most commercially available honey is blended, meaning that it is a combination of honeys from different sources. China is the world’s largest producer of honey (256,000 tonnes in 2001), followed by the United States (100,000 tonnes), Argentina (90,000 tonnes), Turkey (71,000 tonnes), Mexico, Ukraine and India (HERE WE CAN SEE )

Polyfloral

Polyfloral honey is derived from the nectar of many types of flowers.
Monofloral
Main article: Monofloral honey
Different monofloral honeys have a distinctive flavor and color due to differences between their principal nectar sources. Beekeepers keep monofloral beehives in an area where the bees have access to only one type of flower, because of that flower’s properties. In practise, because of the difficulties in containing bees, a small proportion of any honey will be from additional nectar from other flower types.

Some of the main types of monofloral honey (and their main countries of production) include: apple blossom (United Kingdom), acacia (Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania), cherry blossom (United Kingdom), clover (Canada, New Zealand), eucalyptus (Australia), heather (United Kingdom), lavender (France, Spain), lime blossom (China, Poland), orange blossom (France, Spain), wild thyme (France, Greece, New Zealand) and sunflower (France, Spain) .
Honeydew
Honeydew producer (barklice) on a Silver FirInstead of taking nectar, bees can take honeydew, which appears similar to honey and consists of the sweet secretions of aphids or other plant sap-sucking insects. Most important of these is the aphid Marchalina hellenica which feeds on the sap of the Turkish Pine. Honeydew from pine forests has a piney taste and is prized for medicinal use in Europe and Turkey. Bees collecting this resource have to be fed protein supplements, as honeydew lacks the protein-rich pollen accompaniment gathered from flowers.

In New Zealand honeydew nectar is produced from a small, scaled insect (Ultracoelostoma assimile) living in the bark of two of New Zealand’s beech forests, mostly black beech (black from the sooty mold growing on the surplus nectar covering the trunks and branches) and, to a lesser extent, red beech. In the early morning sunlight, the droplets of nectar glisten like the morning dew, giving the name honeydew.

Germany’s Black Forest is a well known source of honeydew-produced honeys.

Honeydew honey has a full aroma, is heady, almost pungent, and malty with a thick red amber color.

Honeydew has strong markets in some areas, but in many areas beekeepers are disappointed with a honeydew crop, as they are unable to market the stronger flavored product. Honeydew has a much larger proportion of indigestibles than light honeys, which can cause dysentery, resulting in the death of colonies in areas with cold winters. Good beekeeping management requires the removal of honeydew prior to winter in colder areas.

USES OF HONEY IN GENERASL:
The main uses of honey are in cooking, baking, spreading on bread or toast, and as an addition to various beverages such as tea. Because honey is hygroscopic (drawing moisture from the air), a small quantity of honey added to a pastry recipe will retard staling. Raw honey also contains enzymes that help in its digestion, several vitamins and antioxidants.

Honey is the main ingredient in the alcoholic beverage mead, which is also known as “honey wine” or “honey beer” (although it is not wine or beer), and metheglin. It is also used as an adjunct in beer. Beer brewed with greater than about 30% honey as a source of sugar by weight, or mead brewed with malt (with or without hops), is known as braggot.

Honey is used in traditional folk medicine and apitherapy, and is an excellent natural preservative, it also has a low glycemic index.

Most vegans consider honey to be an animal product and avoid using it, instead choosing sweetening alternatives such as agave nectar, rice syrup or stevia.

Without commercial beekeeping, large-scale fruit and vegetable farming and some of the seed industry would be incapable of sustaining themselves, since many crops are pollinated by migratory beekeepers who contract their bees for that purpose.

In ancient history, the Ancient Egyptian and Middle-Eastern peoples also used honey for embalming the dead. However, only rich and powerful people had the luxury of this type of funeral. Scythians, and later the other Central Asian nomadic people, for many months drove a wagon with a deceased ruler around the country in their last rites mourning procession, carrying the body in a casket filled with honey.

MEDICAL USES OF HONEY:
For around 2000 years, honey has been used to treat a variety of ailments through topical application, though it was not until modern times that the cause of infection was understood. Now, has shown that the folk remedy of using honey to treat wounds has a scientific explanation: it acts as an antiseptic/antibacterial agent. As an antimicrobial agent honey has potential for treating a variety of ailments. Antibacterial properties of honey are the result of the low water activity causing osmosis, hydrogen peroxide effect, and high acidity.
OSMOTIC EFFECTS:
Honey is primarily a saturated mixture of two monosaccharides. This mixture has a low water activity; most of the water molecules are associated with the sugars and few remain available for microorganisms, so it is a poor environment for their growth.
Hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide in honey is activated by dilution. However, unlike medical hydrogen peroxide, commonly 3% by volume, it is present in a concentration of only 1 mmol/l in honey. Iron in honey oxidizes the oxygen free radicals released by the hydrogen peroxide.

glucose + H2O + O2 → gluconic acid + H2O2
When used topically (as, for example, a wound dressing), hydrogen peroxide is produced by dilution with body fluids. As a result, hydrogen peroxide is released slowly and acts as an antiseptic. Unlike 3% medical hydrogen peroxide, this slow release does not cause damage to surrounding tissue.
Acidity
The pH of honey is commonly between 3.2 and 4.5 This relatively acidic pH level prevents the growth of many bacteria responsible for infection.


OTHER MEDICAL APPLICATIONS:

The most common use of honey is as an anti-microbial agent used for dressing wounds, burns and skin ulcers. This application has a long history in traditional medicine. Additionally, the use of honey reduces odors, reduces swelling, and reduces scarring; it also prevents the dressing from sticking to the healing wound .

Some claim that one drop of honey directly on the eye can treat mild forms of conjunctivitis.

Due to it’s antiseptic properties, honey (especially when combined with lemon) can be taken orally by Pharyngitis and Laryngitis sufferers, in order to soothe them.

Though widely believed to alleviate allergies, local honey has been shown to be no more effective than placebos in controlled studies. This may be due to the fact that most seasonal allergies are caused by tree and grass pollens, which honeybees do not collect.

In Ayurveda Honey has various application in curing different kind of disease. (1)
(2)

(3)

In Home Remedies HONEY has various uses.

HONEY AND INFANTS:
Giving honey to infants can be hazardous because some infants can develop the disease known as infant botulism. This occurs because there is a natural bacterium in the honey which cannot be filtered out. The bacteria then produces a toxin, known as botulin, in the infant’s intestines. After the child is more than a year old, the intestine has matured and the bacteria cannot grow. Even the honey in some processed foods can cause botulism. After an infant ingests this bacterium, the disease can occur within a few hours or even up to a week.

(Help taken from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey)

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