Thursday, May 17, 2012

Chili and Other Spices Good for Colds and Other Respiratory Problems?

Effective Cures that are Cheap for Everyone

                          

Again from " Food Pharmacy by Jean Carper. (pp 43-48


                                                
 

The authority on this subject is Dr Irwin Ziment who comes from UK and now lives in California USA.


                                     


Observations:

l.  Chronic bronchitis is rampant among Brits for two reasons:   smoking and the cold weather.  It is not so common in areas like LA or Mexico where people eat spicy and hot dishes punctuated by chili, horse radish, wasabe

2.  In the history of medicine, old medicine men used spices like garlic as respiratory drug.

>Ancient Egyptians recommended mustard for respiratory therapy;

>Hippocrates recommended vinegar and pepper for respiratory therapy


                                          


>Russians use horse radish to treat colds.

> Oriental medicine use capsicum pepper, black pepper, mustard, garlic, turmeric (yellow ginger) to treat  colds, sinusitis, brochitis, ASTHMA.

> Roman physician Galen favored the use garlic for chest pains;

> Maimodes, a l2th century Jewish physician an expert on asthma, recommended "spicy chicken soup" for that condition,

               


> In the Middle Ages, mustard potion was used vs.ASTHMA, bronchitis, coughs and chest congestion

>Dr. Herberdeen, an English physician used garlic and mustard seed, to treat Asthma.

Expectorants, mucokinetic

The action of spices which makes your eyes water, is the same action on phlegms and mucus at the respiratory system.  The spicy food triggers the vagus nerve to release a flash flood of watery fluids that thins the thick mucus, and eventually allows the rt cilia to drive them out.

Alliin in Garlic

Dr. Ziment's fav for respiratory medication is garlic which contains alliin (the major flavor in garlic) which is very similar to Mucodyne ( S. carboxymethylcysteine) a mucus regulating drug in Europe. (carboceistene)  Combined with Vit C, alliin is broken down to a compound that is very close to mucodyne.



Mustard contains allyl isothiocyanate, a compound similar to alliin.  Mustard is a traditional expectorant.

                                
                         
                            






                                                      
                                         Carbocistine- mucolytic expectorant


Dr. Ziment recommends that garlic be zapped in a microwave to preserve alliin, before using or adding this to the food.  Crushing the garlic converts alliin to allicin which has other use

Burn up calories faster!

Spices  (like chili) ups the basal metabolic rate of the subject by as much as l0% and thus helps in weight loss.



                            


                             
                               Chili peppers vs the bulge


So there you are spices like garlic, chili peppers, horse radish are good in curing respiratory disease, chest congestions.  They are expectorants and mucokinetic.

Yes Francis, Nini, there is a cure for asthma.

Now you know that it is garlic, and other spices in chicken soup that cures cold.  Mystery solved.

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