Synthetic medications and their natural counterparts

OLUFUNKE FROM PUNCH

Thanks for all your messages on tepache. Some readers demanded videos on how to make it. I have been sending some videos out, and I am just a text message away if you are interested.

This week, I have a lot of stories to share, and they are meant to drive home a point.

In 1997, while in Garkawa, Plateau State, for the National Youth Service Corps scheme, I noticed that each time I ate sugar cane, I would belch several times and no matter how constipated I was, I would get an instant relief. So, whenever I am constipated now and I don’t have access to antacids, nature has given me something that has the same effects that antacids have.

Let me talk about alligator pepper and its blood sugar lowering capability. In a study, while ascertaining the blood sugar lowering effect of alligator pepper on 25 albino rats randomly divided into five groups of five rats each,  the researchers who evaluated the fasting blood glucose in these rats daily, found that oral administration of aqueous extract of alligator pepper to diabetic rats lowered blood glucose to normal level within six days of administration, while Metformin (a diabetic drug) took 14 days. Alligator pepper is one seed individuals with diabetes might find useful in ensuring the regulation of their blood sugar.

Also, in 2016, I was diagnosed with peptic ulcer. I was given loads of antibiotics but it seemed that helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that causes peptic ulcer, had grown resistance to most of the antibiotics. I was not alone, as a lot of people also complained that their antibiotics were not working. One day, I started studying about soursop leaves. I liked all I read and I told someone to get me the leaves. I would then boil the leaves and take the water like tea. It cured me completely when antibiotics failed me.

In a similar vein, my sister once shared a story with me. She said she had a friend who always had her children through Caesarean section and that on one of her visits to their home town, the father-in-law gave her a black soap and instructions on how to use it whenever she got pregnant again, so that she would have a vaginal birth. The woman kept the soap in the house and forgot about it. But, one day, while cleaning the house, she stumbled on it and used it to wash her hands. Suddenly, she started having labour pains, despite the fact that she was not pregnant. By the time her husband came back from work, the labour-like pain had become worse. As a matter of fact, the husband met the wife writhing in pain on the floor, and they had to call the father-in-law. Just imagine that the soap was used when she was pregnant and it was full term already, the likelihood that she would have the baby vaginally was high.

About this story, a younger me would have concluded that there was something fetish about the soap. But now, I know better. The only explanation for this is that the herbs that were added to the soap had labour-inducing capabilities. So, immediately the herbs in the soap touched the woman’s hands and skin, the active ingredients in it travelled through her skin pores into her blood stream, and that was when the labour induction effect took place.

One of my siblings also shared another story with me some years ago. She told me that one of her friends recounted how her marriage nearly crashed due to frigidity. According to her, a woman then got some leaves, squeezed them and gave her the water to drink, and afterwards, she was always in the mood for sex at the slightest touch from the husband. I must confess that this blew my mind.

Some months ago, I shared a story of an HIV positive woman who was not doing well on antiretroviral drugs due to many side effects. She was subsequently placed on aloe vera gel and it worked for her.

Also, my father shared a story about Heliotropium indicum, known as ‘agogo igun’ or ‘ogbe ori akuko’ with me. He said a friend of his, who is a veterinary doctor, brought the plant to him for identification one day. The vet doctor told my father that he gave injections to his animals for a long time and the rashes on their bodies refused to clear. One day, he visited one of his clients and saw that the client’s animals had the same rashes his animals had but theirs were already peeling off. The client told him that he treated the animals with Heliotropium indicum.

A study titled, ‘Effectiveness of Zingiber Officinale (ginger) compared with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and complementary therapy in primary dysmenorrhoea: A systematic review’ by Ashmita Gurung et al concludes that the use of up to two grammes of ginger per day in divided doses of powder or dietary form for three days from the first day of the menstrual cycle can be used safely for primary dysmenorrhoea. Ginger can be combined with complementary therapies like exercise for increased effectiveness in relieving menstrual pain. The alternative therapy can reduce dependency on synthetic drugs for controlling dysmenorrhoea.