My old man had a ritual he performed every last Saturday of every month. As a child in that house, you dare not miss it, it is forbidden. Honestly, i detest such days.
On such days, the pungent (to me) smell of boiling leaves from the nim tree wakes everybody up. I swear I could hear dad say mischievously, "it's that time". On this day he is never my friend, lol.
Coming from a home like ours where there is one form of lack to the other, improvisation was key. We had alternative to everything, medicine being chief among them.
Funny enough, this rituals (as I called them at that time) really helped. We never had to spend so much on drugs for ailments, especially malaria treatments. The nim's leave juice was ever ready. For every ailment, dad knows about a leave somewhere that would take care of it. Probably the reason why we never really fell ill, compared to our friends in the neighbourhood .
You see, the beautiful thing about nature is that it comes with so many faces. There is that face of nature that answer to every question. Writing this post, I would like to talk about the healing face of nature. That part of nature, through plants, that has been ingrained in my heart, right from when I was a child. The reason why I cherish alternative medicine compared to orthodox ones.
Someone once told me, there is that plant for every know or unknown ailment. You only have to know about it and search for it and you are good. This, coupled with my childhood experiences, has shaped how I view alternative medicine.
I had a rather nasty experience recently and nature again came through, like old times. This experience gave me a better knowledge about a plant I have heard so many stories about. This plant is called, "hospital is too far" in my country. It is also called the blood root. Its botanical name is Justicia Secunda.
The juice of this plant has so many health benefits, one of which I am about to talk about.
Sometime last week, I woke up feeling so dizzy, I have never had this kind of dizziness before. Everything was spinning uncontrollably before me. I tried standing up but I fell awkwardly. I couldn't explain what was happening.
I tried lying down, it seemed worse. I couldn't lye facing up, it was as if my head was attached to a wheel. I couldn't open my eyes, even for a second.
What was happening, I had gone to bed very strong and healthy the previous night. Where was this coming from, so many things went through my mind.
My friend called a family doctor. He suggested many things could be the problem, but emphasised on one, shortage of blood. Strangely, I somehow believed, though I could not see how I could be short of blood. For all I thought, I eat well and am very healthy.
He prescribed some drugs to me. Being a believer of alternative medicine, i decided I was going to try something.
I had known about this particular plant, hospital is too far, for years now and how it helps in anaemic situations. I have never taken it, as I have not had any reason to use it. Seems like I will have to give it a trial now.
Some of the known health benefits include
it is anti inflammatory
antioxidant in managing stress
helps in anaemia
anti hypertensive
𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭
They got some of the leaves and am suppose to boil them to extract the juice.
They washed them and put them on the fire to boil.
As it starts boiling, you would see a remarkable transformation. The water changes to bright red, the colour of blood, interesting.
In just five minutes, the juice is ready and OK to drink. Allow to cool down. After sometime, I was given a glass of the red juice to drink.
As I took the drink, I felt very heavy. Moments later I was fast asleep. This juice has this super calming effect on the body.
Slept for about two hours and woke up. Though I still felt a little dizzy, I was far better than I was in the morning. Throughout the day I tried managing the situation.
Time for bed, I took another cup of this wonderful red juice. I must say, I slept like I have never slept before. I woke up completely strong and heavy, no trace of dizziness whatsoever. I was thrilled, nature in its own way has come through. My confidence in alternative medicine is again boosted sky high.
Am adding this beauty of a plant to my long list of plant therapies. Perhaps I am going to open a herbalist shop some time.
Now I believe completely (not that I never believed) "there is a plant for every ailment" you just have to know about it.
All pictures mine.
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