sargentodiaz
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Plants and Herbs Used by American Indians
As part of researching my contemporary novel, Sonora Symphony, I came across the following plants found in the Sonora Desert that were used by
healers. Later, when the Spanish arrived and began to intermix in the southwest, curanderos continued to use and expand the uses of the plants.
Homeopathic clinics have these available, to be perfectly honest, you can go to just about any supermarket or small store catering to Mexicans or
other Latinos to find these available – most often pre-packaged.
Disclaimer: I am not a dietician or an expert of any form or nature about the preparation and use of these. I can only state that I have come to
believe they work as the result of being married to a Mexican for the past 26 years. She regularly uses them and, when I pay attention and do what she
tells me – they work for me.
I think the easiest to obtain and cook is nopal, the leaves of the prickly pear cactus. If you have any of your own, please add them here and I'd
appreciate it if you'd add them as a comment to my blog – A Soldier's Stories @ http://lvcabbie.blogspot.com
(As most of these come from the Sonora Desert, they should be found in Baja)
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Ateo
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This ought to be an interesting thread. Homeopathy = BS, in my book.
As for herbs and stuff, yes, many work for some things. We've been compiling this knowledge of plants for thousands of years. No problem with the
proven stuff.
[Edited on 5-7-2015 by Ateo]
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4x4abc
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well, homeopathy = placebo = 50% success rate
50/50 is not bad
Harald Pietschmann
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woody with a view
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Incas used (maybe still do?) to chew coca leaves for numerous reasons. I can imagine a bad toothache being soothed = not BS. maybe my terminology is
incorrect = homeopathy?
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Martyman
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Most drugs were originally formulated from plants found in nature. Herbal remedies are not the same as homeopathy. Maryjane cures the common cold.
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Ateo
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No doubt there are things in the natural world that cure and help diseases etc.
That is proven science.
Homeopathy ain't science.
Anyone want to take a homeopathic remedy for HIV or cancer?
I didn't think so. 
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Ateo
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sargentodiaz
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I apparently used the wrong description of the use of plants and herbs for medicinal purposes. I guess I should have said - Herbalism.
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Pompano
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What...no Boy Scouts here?
Willowbark = aspirin (used for headaches and pain for thousands of years)
Sweat lodges = rheumatism, etc, Same as today.
And a few hundred other remedies and treatments learned from American Indians by early colonists. We were even taught this in grade school, but
that's all history today. No longer offered in the current school curriculums.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Mexitron
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Willow=Salix; aspirin=salicylic acid
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BajaBlanca
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I used homeopathy for years and it does work. I would use it again for cancer in a heartbeat.
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4x4abc
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the "Baja California Plant Field Guide" describes how natives have used the plants for various purposes.
Harald Pietschmann
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surfhat
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I am surprised no one has mentioned Golden Seal root powder, that was traditionally used by Indians in the southwest. Maybe its range does not extend
south of the border but over the forty years since I first started going to the tropics, this has been by far, the best healing substance and still
is, that I have ever found. It promotes healing almost immediately and forms a scab over open wounds in no time.
It can be taken internally [very bitter] to clean the blood from the inside out, like when staf gets a hold. Anyone remember the deep craters from
spending time in a hot damp climate that refused to heal until you came home? Golden Seal never failed to scab up open wounds and heal in a few days
time, especially when combined with a little taken internally. There are no antibiotics that ever worked as well as Golden Seal. I never travelled
without it and still use it on all scrapes and wounds.
Take this, my brothers and sisters. May it serve you well. Thanks to all here for their ongoing generosity daily.
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Pompano
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Most Baja folks are familiar with this plant and its many uses.
Aloe vera leaves...I've used it countless times to heal burns, wounds and abrasions. Standard house & garden plant.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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4x4abc
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Goldenseal - like most natural remedies, use with extreme caution!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldenseal
Harald Pietschmann
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surfhat
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Thanks 4 by 4 for the info. I never considered using golden seal in any of the ways described in the warnings.
Just about any substance can be abused to the point of causing damage like the instances that were shown. As a topical application on skin wounds,
nothing works better to promote fast healing and almost immediate scabbing over of wounds.
When staph gets a hold in the bloodstream, cleaning the blood from the inside will have a positive effect. The small amounts it takes to achieve the
desired affect are safe. I would like to think no one would use this gift of nature to the extremes shown, but it is good to know that taking too much
golden seal can be a threat. That can be said for just about anything. Used, as I suggested with personal decades long success, nothing works better.
Thanks to all here.
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Bruce R Leech
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Mugwart is a good one I grow it and I eat it everyday. it grows wild all around here ad is very good for joint pain.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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4x4abc
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I will consider it for my joint pain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugwort
Harald Pietschmann
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