I FEAR and hate snakes, and would rather have someone else kill them. But I was excited, though, with some caution, wheI heard the news last week that snake oil was now available for sale in Nigeria…in commercial quantity. The excitement was because Snake oil has wonderful healing properties. The caution was because, hundreds of years ago, snake oil became so adulterated and ineffective in many cases that the two words were used to described fakery in the sphere of business.
Snake oil is made from snake fat, well known for essential fattty acids and their ant/-inflammatory health benefits. I was exposed to Snake oil in 1966, for the treament of a swollen knee joint and pains in a fractured, healing femur (thigh bone), after a taxi knocked me down in Ibadan. The snake fat which I massaged into the joint and femur, came from a PYTHON slain for its medicinal fat. Some scientific evidence suggest that python fat is the best snake fat for human health purposes.
My story shows that Nigeria is not a stranger to snake fat. All over the country, folk medicine appreciates python fat. In Southwestern Nigeria, the Yorubas call it Ora Ere (d:m-r:d). The Ibibio of Southern Nigeria call it Adana Asabou. (m:d-m:r:d).
Worldwide, the Chinese are probably the people most associated with Snake oil which they make from the fat of the Chinese water snake. I guess this is the snake the Yorubas call Ejo JOMI JOKE ( r:d-r:r:d:d), a snake which lives in water and on land. When researchers investigate the Chinese Snake oil from the species of snakes, they found it contained large amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids. As we know these acids are good for treating such ailments as inflammation and the pain they cause, bursitis, arthritis and many, if not all, of the ailments which end in … it is. Over many centuries, however, Chinese Snake oil brands would appear to have lost their reputation for effectiveness because of many factors. One of these is that the quantity of the original snake fat may have been reduced in proprietary brands sold worldwide. It is possible, also, says many market critics, that all sorts of dilutions may be going on. In some cases, it is said products with no Chinese reliable snake fat is sold to unsuspecting buyers. Some people who distrust the Chinese turn to the Japanese who make their own Snake oil from ERABU snakes, the same species as the Chinese water Snake oil.
We are reassured of the fficacy of the original Snake oil by a 2007 German study which confirmed that mice fed on original Snake oil performed better than those fed lard alone. Another problem which a proprietary Snake oil may suffer from these days of the commercialisation of medicine and large-scale consumption is the sources and quality of the raw material…about decades ago when a Nigerian network marketing company introduced SEA CUCUMBER to the Nigerian market. The sea cucumber is not a plant but a small sea animal whose contributions to human health are immeasurable. I wondered in those days how the Malaysian company managed to obtain sea cucumbers from their natural habitats for not only the whole of Asia but the entire world. It turn out that the sea animals were farmed in artificial ponds.
Snake oil benefits
Irrespective of the possible draw backs in any proprietary formula, Snake oil will continue to excite some of us for many reasons, including…Skin health
It reduces irritation, moisturises, shields the skin from a hostile environment and irritants which may cause infections, cracking, drying or damage.
Cognition
This has to do with receptivity and ability of the brain to classify, store and retrive information. Eicosapentaenoic acid, an EFAs, a component of Snake oil, is associated with improved brain function and a decrease in nervous system disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Immune boosting
Researchers are still checking Snake oil for immune boosting factors. None would appear to have popped up. But there are obvious effects that microbial strain on the immune system tends to be less or even disappear in Snake oil users, especially the elderly.
Hair care
For women who may be seeking an addition for their hair care wardrobe, Snake oil goes well with Hemp oil and Orange peel powder. They improve the health of the scalp, hair follicles, prevent hair breaking, bring the shrine on hair and elongate it.
Heart health
Like the Omega-3 oils from fish and plants, some factors in Snake oils lower blood pressure, clean up the blood vessels and lower risks of heart attacks and strokes.
Mood and anxiety
Theee are growing questions in Nigeria today. Also of growing concern to physicians and their patients alike are changing hormonal profiles which affect just about anything from fertility and anxiety to unnecessary anger or misplaced aggression. It is suggested that anger spells can be quietened by rubbing some Snake oil on the temples or on the chest.
Pain and healing
There is an analgesic factor in Snake oil which may be of interest to pain sufferers. This applies to surgery patients as well. The anti-inflammatory potential in Snake oil eases pain, and the healing factors help injuries or wounds to heal fast and well.
Gratitude
Our thanks go to those researchers who have revived our confidence in Snake oil medicine. Gone would appear to be those days in which thriving vendors sold rock oil in the United States and in Europe, passing it for Snake oil. Gone should be those days, as well, when a district court jailed Clark Stanley for deception. In Southwestern Nigeria, snake fat is still as popular as in the 1960s when I firstknew about it. It is sold almost in every market. And this makes me wounder where the purveyors get many pythons to kill for their fat that ORA ERE is never out of circulation. This leads me to an ethical question.
Ethical question
The python is a loving and protective snake. So, why do we kill it for its fat? There are many stories of women who lost their way in the forests and have been protected by this snake until they were found by hunters who killed the snake. The fat of this snake is less in demand than its tails which traditional Nigeria medicine men would pay anything for because of the primordial and magical power it is said to possess.
About 40 years ago, my younger sister went to the bush with other women in the village to fetch firewood for cooking. When she became tired, she folded her shawl, placed it on the “ground” and sat on it, unknown to her that she placed it on the head of a python. The python is said to be not annoyed by whatever you do it, provided you do not touch the tail which it hides in the soil. When the women were ready to head home and my sister rose and picked her shawl,bher eyes met with those of the python. She began to scream. But the python did not move. Rather, it continued to stare at her. Then, she fled, as fast as she could homeward, still screaming, wasting valuable energy she could have saved for her leg muscles. Back home, the men asked if her shawl was still beside the snake. It was; Yoruba elders believe the python would not leave the location, whatever the danger to it, because it would believe it had been asked to protect the firewood and the shawl. Sure enough, the snake was still there waiting for my sister to despatch it. The men killed the python and took its tail home!
You are welcome to Nigeria, Snake oil from Asia.
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