When I get sick, I prefer to try and find my own, more natural way to deal with things over using pharmaceuticals. So when my friend suggested I take Paracetamol for my Dengue, I abstained and I'm glad I did. He later suggested hot cinnamon tea, which I turned into my own medicinal herbal brew. This brew managed to break the fever and cut the pain level I was experiencing a little, eventually getting me to a point where I could write the article I had been trying to write all day long. What I concocted is a sort of general healing tea, useful for all sorts of things.
My tea has four medicinal ingredients, as well as black tea for flavor. It has a leaf from a nance tree, something that's locally available to me here in Acapulco, some home grown catnip, homegrown mint and a piece of a mexican cinnamon stick. Brewed fresh in a cup, this tea has helped me greatly in my current battle with dengue. I was drinking something similar before however, just without cinnamon, to help relieve pain and stress.
Nance trees bear these small yellow fruits that are extremely healthy. They've got a different, peculiar flavor and are an acquired taste honestly. I've only ever eaten a few I would define as really good, and this is partially due to texture before they are fully ripe. These trees grow in southern Mexico and central America, where they are reliable, healthy, drought tolerant trees. For the most part, the whole tree is medicinal in some manner, including the bark.
Just eating the fruit alone has been shown to have remarkable health benefits. They reportedly: protect from infections, improve metabolic function, strengthen bones, prevents bleeding, regulates cardiac function, reduces depression, improves memory, healthy skin, promote hair growth, and are anti-inflammatory. A tea infusion of the leaf has been known to lessen pain in bones, reduce the effects of rheumatism, fight anemia and fatigue. It was the properties of the leaf that had me interested to start with. In my personal experience, I've found it does take the edge off of my often sharp bone pain.
My homegrown catnip plant.
Catnip is known for the mood altering effects that it has on felines, but it's historically known for the medicinal effects of the plant. You can eat it, brew it or smoke it and still receive medicinal effects. Just like with cannabis, catnips effects vary on which method it's consumed, which I find interesting. It's been shown to help with: restless sleep, anxiety and stress, menstrual pain, stomach discomfort, headaches, speedy recovery from a cold or fever. The medicinal effects have been linked to a terpenoid called nepetalactone.
The mint plant shown above is a plant I bought for 30 pesos, about a dollar and fifty cents USD, from a guy with a wheelbarrow full of plants at a gas station. I've since been using it in my herbal brews as it not only adds good flavor but is medicinal in it's own right. Mints been proven to: improve digestion, reduce pain and inflammation, relax body and mind, boosts immune system, fever reducing, reduce nausea and vomiting, help with respiratory issues, and has antibacterial properties as well, making it a good thing to consume when you are sick.
Cassia cinnamon, ceylon's slightly toxic cousin.
Cinnamon, specifically ceylon cinnamon is one of the most important aspects of this brew for me. I didn't know it until today, but not all cinnamon is created equal. There are two varieties available, and one's much healthier for you than the other. The cinnamon most are used to in the United States happens to be Cassia cinnamon, a variety of cinnamon that happens to contain high amounts of the toxin coumarin. This has been linked to everything from liver disease to cancer if consumed in high concentrations. It's much spicer, and cheaper but the cheaper price comes from the fact that it's not nearly as healthy.
A bundle of Ceylon cinnamon, also called true cinnamon or Mexican cinnamon.
Ceylon cinnamon, or mexican cinnamon has reportedly low rates of this toxin, making it more viable for use for your health. The compound in cinnamon that is an active part of it's medicinal qualities is called cinnamaldehyde and it's proved to: be anti-inflammatory, cut risk of heart disease, increase sensitivity to insulin, lower blood sugar, aid in stopping the progression of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, protect against cancer, fight tooth decay and bad breath, fight infection.
When I moved here and purchased cinnamon sticks, I noticed immediately that the sticks looked different. I was used to the cassia sticks in the states, whereas these were flaky and borderline crumbly. The flavor was different, milder, sweeter and richer. I decided right off the bat that I preferred the new cinnamon, although at the time I didn't realize it was so much better for me. If you live in the US, you can still get Mexican cinnamon, you just have to go to a Mexican grocery store and buy "canela".
How do you make the tea? Pick a nance leaf off your tree if you've got one like I do, pick your herbs and put them in a cup. Just pour the boiling water over the loose, fresh leaves and wait a few minutes. Add black tea for flavor if you think it'll make drinking the tea more palatable, I do. This tea lasts me through a day of being sick with dengue, as I sip it here and there when I'm starting to feel worse in terms of pain.
When I was making this before, I was just doing it without the cinnamon. I noticed that the nance, mint and catnip combination could take the edge off of a bad headache, which means a lot for me. I've recently started getting into the medicinal effects of plants and have been astounded at how useful they are. I've also been noticing that my property happens to be covered in all sorts of plants traditionally used by Mexican's to treat just about everything. I will spent my time exploring, researching, harvesting and testing these remedies as the needs arise.
