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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2015)
Applegater Winter 2015 9 DIRTY FINGERNAILS AND ALL Green and green (not the architects) BY SIOUX ROGERS A friend recently told me about the ability of sunflowers to pull several types of toxins from the soil. This process is called phytoremediation. Sunflowers are not the only plant with this property, but the fascination with phytoremediation took me down a side trail. Are there plants that can pull toxins from the human body? Well, actually there are. Cilantro and parsley are just two of the easiest plants to grow that also facilitate the awesome benefit of pulling toxins, i.e., heavy metals, from your body. Cilantro cleanses Cilantro—you either love it or yuck it, but don’t mistake it for flat Italian parsley, which is easily done. An interesting serendipitous finding made by the researcher Dr. Yoshiaki Omura was that some patients excreted more toxic metals after consuming Chinese soup containing cilantro (www. kitchendoctor.com). This herb also is believed to cross the blood-brain barrier and remove heavy metals from the brain (www.naturalnews.com). In addition, there are other significant reasons to munch on a few cilantro sprigs. Cilantro is rich in many vital vitamins and minerals, including folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin C, which are essential for optimum health. Antioxidants are found Cilantro is believed to remove heavy metals in the stem tips as well as the from the brain. Photo: www.evokeelegance.com. leaves of cilantro. Nutritionists recommend cilantro as “a good source of potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, and magnesium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids, which helps regulate heart rate and blood pressure. Iron is essential for red blood cell production” (www. nutrition-and-you.com). As I was stuffing my mouth full of the aromatic leaves, I ran across a couple more significant Parsley is called the mother of all antioxidants. things I didn’t know—less than Photo: www.edenbrothers.com. one cup of cilantro contains 225 Advertisers ! For rates and other information, contact: Ron Turpen 541-601-1867 ron.turpen@gmail.com Next deadline: February 1 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A and 258 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin K. So who even thinks about vitamin K? Well, I guess I should, since I have now accomplished the compulsory senior shrink of one inch. Yikes! I didn’t know that Vitamin K has a potential role in bone-mass building through promotion of osteotropic activity in the bones. Also, this small but mighty star plays a role in Alzheimer’s disease—it is known to cross the blood-brain barrier by limiting the damage of neurons in the brain (www. nutrition-and-you.com/cilantro.html). Parsley purges Please eat all of your garnish, which most likely is parsley. Parsley, just like cilantro, removes heavy metals from the body. Coincidentally, it has many of the same vitamins and minerals as cilantro. Both of these herbs help eliminate salt that has built up in the kidneys, thus assisting the removal from the body of accumulated poisons like mercury, cadmium, and lead (http:// undergroundhealthreporter.com). Parsley also boosts levels of the antioxidant glutathione. “Glutathione (pronounced ‘gloota-thigh-own’) is the most important molecule you need to stay healthy and prevent aging, cancer, heart disease, dementia and more” (www. drhyman.com). It is often called the mother of all antioxidants. To get this super enzyme working in your body, consume sulfur-rich foods like “the stinking rose,” aka “garlic, onions, and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, collards, cabbage, cauliflower, watercress, etc.)” (www.drhyman.com). There are other overlooked benefits of this toss-away garnish. Parsley additionally contains two types of unusual components (and, no, I had never heard of Sioux Rogers them, either): (1) volatile oil components, including myristicin, limonene, eugenol, and alpha-thujene, and (2) flavonoids, including apiin, apigenin, crisoeriol, and luteolin. These qualify parsley to wear a badge that says “I am a chemoprotective food” because parsley can “help neutralize particular types of carcinogens (like the benzopyrenes that are part of cigarette smoke and charcoal grill smoke)” (www. whfoods.com). Myristicin has been shown in animal studies to inhibit tumors in the lungs. The flavonoids contained in parsley, with special reference to luteolin, have demonstrated an antioxidant ability that, when combined with oxygen radicals, helps prevent the dreaded cell damage causing disease and aging (www. whfoods.com). If I could plant only three things in the garden to optimize my health, they would be cilantro, parsley, and garlic. Here’s to your good health and happy munching. Dirty Fingernails and All Sioux Rogers dirtyfingernails@fastmail.fm Simple Detox Drink Blend one tablespoon of organic parsley and cilantro with 12 ounces of water. Filter through a strainer (unless you like the texture of the herbs) and drink up! From Underground Health Reporter (http:// undergroundhealthreporter.com).
