By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
I have this book Common Medicinal Plants in the Cordillera by the famous Filipino botanist Leonard Co. It is one inch thick and it contains only plants that are common. If Leonard wrote all the medicinal plants in the Cordillera, he would have filled up a library. There’s also a book by JC Kurian titled Amazing Healing Plants which is also an inch thick. Then there’s Dr. Jimmy Tan’s book Fruits and Vegetables. There are a lot of written material on healing plants.
Hippocrates in 400 B.C. said “Let food be thy medicine..” Our ancestors knew about this, too, even if they never met Hippocrates. They passed on this knowledge to us orally, if we cared to listen. The knowledge that plants have healing powers must be as old as Adam and Eve. So I am sure, dear reader, that you know some of these amazing healing plants.
What is amazing and comforting is that these healing plants are common plants, after all. What? Common? Some people are not excited if we tell something that is common. “Common” is not “special” and when it comes to sickness, some people look for something “special”. Like when I was a child, my parents would give me Tru-orange and I would feel special and I felt they loved me. In those days, soft drinks were a luxury. But then medicine should not be a luxury. It should be common. Thank God I matured enough to change my outlook.
Well, didn’t the Bible say God loves you and me? I believe it and because God loves you and me so much, He does not make it hard for us to look for medicines. He planted them right in our yard, in the um-a, by the pathway. Geez, even in the “tuping”. God made them so accessible! He did not hide them deep in the forest so that only Adarna (or Darna?) can get it. He did not bury them deep in the soil that only the miner can access it. Nope. God surely loves us. These healing plants are all over. He made them common. Here are some of them:
1. Turmeric or yellow ginger or kunig. These are so popular nowadays. Turmeric powder is all over and you can have a free taste by the sidewalk in Baguio. What I love about turmeric is that it grows so easily and abundantly and anybody can grow it. It is a no- maintenance plant. It’s good for almost anything such as for digestion, rheumatism and cough. Its medicinal uses can fill up one sheet of bond paper. I am sure you have experienced some of its healing powers. To some of my friends, turmeric lowered their cholesterol level. No wonder turmeric is a mainstay in the traditional cuisines of our Asian neighbors. Turmeric is an ingredient of curry. In Igorot experience, fresh turmeric poultice is good for wound healing, which they observed that it healed carabao wounds. If it’s good for the animal, then it may be good for us. And they experimented and found it to be true. Very scientific.
2. Ginger or laya- the kitchen ginger. This is a mainstay in traditional Igorot cuisine. It is our popular natural flavoring so we know its healing powers. Here are some- for indigestion, sore throat, cough, colic, flatulence. For nausea and vomiting, you can chew a piece of fresh or dried ginger. For headache, muscle or joint pains, heat a slice of ginger and apply directly to the painful part. I used it overnight for a sprain and it healed like magic – the hematoma (nablo) was gone the next day! Ginger can be processed into cream or a balm and it is a very good handy rub for stomach pain, headache and muscle and joint pains.
3. Sayote. Sayote is also a traditional medicine of the Igorot- for cough and colds and sore throat. The younger, the better. In this book Amazing Healing Plants, it says “consumption of the cooked fruit is recommended in case of hypertension.” So sayote doesn’t cause high blood pala. Joking aside, I have friends who drank fresh sayote juice to lower their cholesterol level and it was effective. This book also says the “raw pulp of the fruit soothes skin rashes” and “a poultice of the roasted leaves may be applied over boils to assist in the easy discharge of pus”.
4. Rice. Unpolished rice relieves constipation because its fiber is still intact so bowel movement is normalized. It also prevents beri-beri because the B vitamins are still intact. Because rice is whole grain, it centers us, making our thoughts and emotions stable. The “am” or “te-eb” (“teleb”) has a soothing and sedative effect. Rice coffee (from roasted uncooked rice) is good for diarrhea, gastritis, ulcer and stomach pain or colic. So have these in your kitchen always as diarrhea that strikes in the middle of the night could disturb the whole household if there’s no home remedy.
There you are. These 4 common plants would treat the most common ailments at home or away from home. Dosage is flexible, they can be taken as necessary or, because they are also food, these should be part of your family menu. What’s good about these is that they can be carried around in your bag. Accessible, available and quality medicine all the time. Thank you, Lord! These should be aggressively promoted by WHO and DOH, don’t you think?**
