We need to start growing plants not just for their food value but also for the health benefits that they can give us. For example:-
- willow bark contains salicin, which is converted in the body to the same compound as aspirin;
- hops can be used as a cure for insomnia;
- mint, eucalyptus and rosemary can be made into a herbal body scrub;
- globe artichokes reduce cholesterol.
These are just some of the hints gleaned almost at random from “Grow Your
Own Drugs,” by James Wong. Some of you may have seen his programmes on BBC television.
Nature provides such a variety of health-giving herbs and plants! Let us dedicate a little time to collecting them and making them into medicines on the lines James Wong describes. The preparations can then be used to help our own health, or to raise money for Amma’s work.
Many of the plants Wong mentions grow wild in gardens, or can be grown very easily. If you can help please do so and make contact with others to help this work progress.
[If you are following James Wong’s programmes on BBC, you may note that the book Grow Your Own Drugs has not kept pace with the programmes. For example, he talks about making a cream from St.John’s Wort; but that is not mentioned in the book! I wonder if a follow-up book is in prospect?]
NB The programmes from Series 2 are available on the BBC iPlayer until May 4th.