Category: Health

By now, tourism minister Lola Ade John, banker and tech investor, should have ridden over the health challenge which sent her to hospital a few weeks ago. The good cheer, as she has made it known, is that the condition may not have been food poisoning , otherwise this may have raised questions about the quality of catering for top-notch citizens and even tourists.

The itinerant Dr HCA Vogel, author of the fabulous book, The Nature Doctor, discovered that a busy person may not always be meticulous enough about what he or she puts into the mouth or stomach, or about what may be hanging around him or her which may be quietly impacting his or her health. He fell in love with papaya (pawpaw) and banana in Africa and, through hard experiences, had to learn to first thoroughly wash them and his hands before peeling and eating them. What I learned about the banana is to never cut the fruit with my fingers and then put it into my mouth. Dr Vogel discovered that troublesome organisms such as the amoeba may hang on the peel , even after being well washed, and it may be ingested with the fruit. Where one does not have the right concentration of hydrochloric acid in the stomach  and the right mix of digestive enzymes to kill incoming pathogens as well as to digest proteins in the food, intestinal problems may arise which may take months or even years to resolve. That’s one of the reasons I suggest that pawpaw leaves, well soaked in cider vinegar or saline water for some time and then rinsed in clean water, be eaten as part of the salad in at least one meal every day. It has all the digestive enzymes and is good for aging persons who are not producing enough digestive enzymes. This column often reports cases in which worm eggs escape the weak enzymes and later flood the brain with worms. There was even a case where a baby tape worm was found nestling somewhere in the brain, presenting headache symptoms until a scan spotted what looked like a tumour which, upon the brain being opened up, turned out to be an embryonic tape worm!

Luckily, coconut oil, yes good old coconut oil, has proven a good intestinal cleanser, even against the germs which cause gastro intestinal opportunistic diseases in HIV- challenged persons. Now, it is being studied in the United States as a possible remedy against Alzheimers, dementia and glaucoma. I shall come to this in future columns.

I hope I have not digressed too far. I am even now salivating for lettuce, banana and groundnuts. On October 7, 2023, I had my first meal at about 3 pm. As I wrote through lines, Udeme has just returned from church. It was 4.15pm. I  just had garri and groundnuts about an hour earlier. I did not eat raw leaves such as those of pawpaw and oregano with them to mineralise the meal and provide digestive enzymes and antioxidants, among others. Often, you would find one or two decaying nuts in a N100 worth of these nuts. The taste of decaying matter is enough warning to spit out everything in the mouth. For that taste may come from fungi or mold. It is the family member of Microzyma which cause the decomposition and decay of all living things in which have occured the need for the dissolution of their material essence. To this family belongs Candida Albicans. Dr Robert O. Young in his book, P h MiracleI, demonstrates that microzyma is in every living cell, human, plant or animal. It is inactive for as long as the cell remains alkaline in its constitution. Once it begins to become acidic, microzyma will devolve, that is degrade, first to bacteria and, as the acidosis increases, to viruses and, later, to fungi and its various family members including candida, and finally to mold. These are very difficult to eliminate from the body and sometimes involves the use of dangerous strengths of anti fungal drugs. Oral thrush, that white patch on the tongue which is meant to be pinkish red, is candida growth and may be evidence of candida colonisation of the intestines.

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Many of us are fungi infested without realising it, and it may take just a little mis step into the wrong food(s) to cause a health  collapse. I was frightened by a Food And Agriculture (FAO) survey of open food markets in Nigeria which reported that almost every food item is fungi infested. When you buy stock fish, critically examine it. You may discover powdery substance on the skin. What is it? Under the microscope, you may notice mushroom like heads on the skin. Even if you kill off this stuff with plain hot water, saline water or white cider vinegar, what of the roots it had injected deep into the tissue of the stock fish with all the cancer causing aflatoxins? We taste candida in roasted fish, in corn, in infected raw red pepper, onion and in red meat that is not well refrigerated. Nevertheless, we do not pay enough attention to smell and taste, and often wonder why cancer, kidney diseases, liver problems, nervous system challenges as well as uterine fibroids are hitting near epidemic propotions. When a uterine fibroid tissue is cut through and examined in the labouratory, the  probable microscopic culprits often found resident there are bacteria, viruses and fungi! They and their toxins cause irritation, inflammation, unhealthy growths and dysfunctions. It was when I learned that the common affliction among inhabitants of a groundnuts growing zone in the United states was pancreatic cancer and that the reason was that they ate lots of infected groundnuts and aflatoxins that I began to pay more attention to the detoxification of my organs, especially the liver. Sometimes, I am on a course  of Amazon A-F for one month. It is designed against fungi and the rest of them. Another month may see me through the intake of Maria Treben Bitters, which has about 42 uses. When using it, I remember the saying by Ken Saro Wiwa, later hung by Gen Sanni Abacha, that, “To be  a millionaire, Think like a  millionaire”. The Maria Treben bitters formula belonged to a horse riding gentleman who died at the age of 103 during a horse riding accident. From this information, IIanalways tempted to remind myself that” to be 103, act like the man who was 103″. To be frank with you, unless you like the bitter principles in food and know what they really do to give their patrons radiant health, you are unlikely to enjoy this drink…even a teaspoonful in a glass of water is really really bitter  and may leave a bitter taste in the mouth all day! Women don’t like it, yet it is one of the best medicines for rebalancing their sweet tooth habit. I swirl Maria Treben bitters with my tongue around the gums and teeth, sometimes before I go to bed. Yet, another month, I may settle for KYOLIC food supplements. Kyolic is energising, whether designed for blood circulation to prevent strokes or their re-occurences, to keep diabetes away or to keep cholesterol in check. It is about 50 times more powerful than natural garlic. Then, there are recipes such as activated charcoal, diatom (diatomaceous earth) or DE, olive leaf extract, oregano oil or leaf, golden seal, bitter kola etc.

How they work

I will mention in brief how some of them will work, beginning with activated charcoal. It is not a magic wand in all sorts of poisoning. Activated charcoal is made by heating charcoal from wood and other substances under high temperatures to enlarge its surface area. Activated charcoal will not stop strong poisons such as those of strong acids and bases from absorbtion into the blood stream. It will also not stop poisoning by an overdose of iron tablets because they will not effectively bind to it. With weaker poisons, activated charcoal may have a field day. A 50 grams powder of activated charcoal is believed to have a surface area as large as 50 football fields. This is a large wrapper big enough to wrap up such poisons and drag them out with stool because charcoal cannot be digested or absorbed, and it leaves the body within about 18 hours of ingestion. Gas, bloating and alcoholic hangovers do succumb also to activated charcoal , but not the very strong poisons for which hospital care by poison experts is required.

Daiatom

Long before hospital surgeons stepped on the Medicare scene, diatomaceous earth (DE or Diatom) was called the “homeopathic surgeon”, because it was used for some conditions which required removal of retrograde tissue such as tumours. Ancient Greeks used it as a hardener, in brick and block making, and in Europe later on for industrial uses such as removing heavy metals from water. It is obtained from sediments of fossilised algae in water in several parts of the earth. I guess this is what is called Nzum in some parts of Eastern Nigeria. Popular as Nzum is, it has not being purified and, so, I do not recommend it because of the side effects of consuming the impurities which may come with it. Even in purified form, Diatom comes in two grades …a) the food grade which is edible and b) the pet grade which is used for pest control. When cockroaches are too many in any of my rooms, for example, I spread the pest grade on door passages or on landings on staircases. It is often fun to see an assembly of cockroaches , belly up and dead everywhere, next day! That’s a picture of what the food grade may do to germs in the intestine. Made up of about 80 to 90 percent silica content, Diatom  is believed to kill germs and pests by drying them out. In the body, it strenghtened bones and teeth, dissolves cholesterol and lumps, as well as beautify skin, nail and hair. It is also a stool loosener, a plus for digestion, and an excellent alkalising agent in conditions of acidosis. As in everything, addictive use of Diatom is not encouraged as over-exposure is thought to compounding conditions such as asthma and congestive obstructive pulmonary Disease  (COPD), especially when the dust of powder is inhailed by susceptible persons. The pest grade is dangerous to human health. It should be kept handy somewhere away from the first aid box. The news of a bedbugs outbreak in France and efforts of the Nigerian government to prevent it from spreading to this country, reminds me  of how the pest grade helped me to eradicate bedbugs in my house about 10 years ago. I sprayed it everywhere the bugs could hide and that was the end of them.  Bedbugs, like lice, are endemic in Nigeria, anyway. Pest grade diatom can be sprayed on house hold items where bed bugs are found. I prefer the food grade which is more expensive because it can find its way into clothing, the skin and even food. I recommend it more especially where children always frequent.

Milk Thistle

This is one out of several hepaprotectives in natural medicine. An hepaprotective is an agent which protects the liver against damage by poisons. There are many dangerous poisons around us, outdoor and indoor, against which milk thistle, a plant, has proven an effective hepaprotective against Carbon Tetra Chloride.Mild and short term exposure to this chemical cause headaches, nausea, lethargy, vomitting and weakness. Long term and severe exposure may cause liver and kidney damage.

As liver and kidney damage cases continue to grow in Nigeria, it may become necessary to find out if correlations exist between this event and increasing prevalence of carbon Tetrachhloride in household applications. Household cleaning agents which contain bleaches may release chlorophorm and carbon Tetrachloride. Many of these household cleaning agents have now invaded almost every home. I smell strong odours everywhere around my household when a certain toilet cleaner and a certain laundry soap are used. I show those who believe they must use them how the back of their hands have become wrinkled and why they should wear plastic or cotton hand gloves for self protection.

But What about the inhalation, where nose guards may not help? Refrigerants and aerosol sprays contain this killer chemical. What appears most reasonable to me to do, therefore, is safeguarding the liver and other critical organs. This is where Milk Thistle and other hepaprotectives come into the picture. In several animal studies, the animals were distributed into several groups. Some had carbon Tetrachloride added to their meals or water to induce oxidative stress in the liver and to damage  it. Some had carbon tetrachloride and Milk Thistle added to their meals or water. Some were used as control, with no carbon tetrachloride and milk thistle.The ones without milk thistle in their meals or water died from liver damage, whereas no damage was evident in the ones induced but simultaneously given milk thistle in their diet and water. This shows milk thistle may (and, in fact, it does) protect the human liver and kidney against carbon Tetrachloride and other chemical poisoning damage. It is therefore, suggested that milk thistle be considered a regular food supplement feature in the diet of everyone, young and old , children in particular, as we all live today in a world where poisons have invaded the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat.

Milk thistle is a food supplement persons challenged with hepatitis should always have around them. This ailment causes inflammation of the liver and may also cause liver cancer. The active ingredient in milkthistle is Silymarin. It has been used in hepatitis treatment world-wide since the 1970s to provide remedial effects in some types of hepatitis as an hepaprotective, anti inflammatory and regenerative. My first recommendation of milk thistle was made in the 1980s to a member of the Day Tata family who had liver challenges. At that time, settled medical opinion was that liver cells were not regenerable. This case proved that damaged liver cells could regenerate under the right conditions. Dynapharm, a natural medicines network company, was brought to Nigeria from Kenya by a Nigerian who had liver challenges, attended a dynapharm product presentation in that country, tried milk thistle, got better, and brought the company to his own country.

Another herb we cannot forget for its anti-poison properties is Bitter Kola, which is everywhere but has become increasingly expensive since it has been yielding its secret in this regard. I discovered it in the 1980s. Then, I had something to do every Saturday and Sunday for some months in Agbara, Ogun State, before I went to the office. I would leave home as early as 5 a.m and arrive in Agbara just before seven. Agbara is mid-way between Lagos and Badagry. Once done with my assignment there by about 8:30 am, I would stop over at a canteen near the highway for breakfast. What always took me there was palm wine and “bush meat”. The palmwine had no sacharin, was fresh but always had flies, honey bees and other insects in the froth. I will remove them and empty the palmeine in a plastic keg for home consumption. The “bush meat” was cheap, but sometimes had off taste from inadequate refrigeration. When my tummy ran for some time and bitter kola helped me to quieten it, I learnt to keep some in my pocket whenever I went out. Tiny as this nut is, liver researchers give it due respect. One of their studies with rats shows that phenolic compounds in bitter kola prevented liver cell death. Another study reported by www.sciencedirect.com found that a bioflavonoid of bitterkola  called kolaviron “gives protective action against carcinogen induced liver damage, acting as a protective natural antioxidant and enhancing drug detoxifying enzymes such as microsomal aniline hydroxylase”.

     It is, therefore, beneficial to chew one or two bitterkolas on every outdoor meal, even if the quality of preparation is unquestionable. A stitch in time saves nine, it is said. When I began to write about bitter kola about 20 years ago, some of my friends began to make bitterkola wine by crushing some and infusing them in red wines which they took in dosages of one or two tablespoons alone or in a glass of water or in empty stomach. This should help them detoxify overnight toxin hangovers in the liver and intestine, thereby reducing poison accumulation or overloading.

This column would like to congratulate tourism minister Lola Ade John for overcoming so soon whatever health challenges stood in her way recently.