farmeric September 4th, 2008
Nuts over Coconut by Nestor Cuartero
Coconut Tree of Life
WONDERS NEVER CEASE for the tree of life.
At the 7th National Coconut Festival held from August 7 to 10 at the Megatrade Hall of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City, guests were introduced to new coco health products, both edible and un, much to their amazement and celebration.
New health products that caught the eye of the festival-goers included coco sap beverages, skim milk beverages, gluten-free coconut flour, and fiber-rich low sugar food products.
Last year, in the same coco festival, we were won over by coco sugar, nutritious sugar made from coconut sap, which is supposed to be good for diabetes. Other previous revelations from the annual festival include Virgin Coconut Oil in its many variations, including VCO for massage therapy and well-being. In festivals past, also highlighted were other coco-based invetions like coco fiber geo textiles and coco biodiesel.
Continue Reading »
Tags: coco biodiesel, coconut, coconut oil, coconut tree, Food, Herbal, Plants, tree of life
farmeric August 12th, 2008
My family and I were on our way to the North (Philippines) over the weekend when we passed by a kilometer fields of Malunggay. While passing this fertile lands, it reminds me of Dr. Lorma Valera who hailed from that place (Ilocos Region) - who pioneered the processing of malunggay way back in 1993. She actually formulated her various malunggay recipes back in 1987.
This is very timely because some of the readers of EarthNews here at PinayMom.org are requesting about malunggay noodles’ recipe. Dr. Valera’s recipes have been introduced in Metro Manila (Philippines) through Continue Reading »
Tags: malunggay, malunggay noodles, malunggay recipe, moringa, uses of malunggay
farmeric August 6th, 2008
Picture courtesy of Readers Digest Australia
Are Common Colds Curable?
You can take all the medicines you want but your common colds won’t be healed. Sadly but true. Medical doctors and even scientists admitted that common colds is incurable, and yet this is the commonest cause of visits to the physician’s clinic. Billions of dollar is being spent on over-the-counter colds medications. Lastweek, a news came up in UK that doctors will be banned from dishing out antibiotics for sore throats and colds (source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk).
Not So Common Belief
No one knows exactly why people are catching colds. A lot of people believe that common colds are caused by bacteria , where in fact, are actually caused by viruses. The good news is, our body can heal common colds and prevent it as well. Instead of spending your hard earned money on cold medications that does not really work, try the following tips to keep your body in peak condition to fight Continue Reading »
Tags: colds, flu, Food, Health, viruses, vitamins
farmeric June 17th, 2008
The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes. - Goethe
These leaves could save million of lives. These tiny leaves have the potential to save million of people on our planet. What kind of leaves are they?
They are the leaves of of the humble Malunggay (moringa) tree. The scientific name is Moringa oleifera. It is said that the Malunggay tree originated in Northern India. Record shows Malunggay being used in Indian medicine some 5,000 years ago. Continue Reading »
Tags: malunggay, malunggay leaves, malunggay production, medicinal value, moringa, moringa oleifera, nutritional value, uses of malunggay
farmeric March 11th, 2008
A 4-man team of graduating MBA students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), visited the Philippines to study the wide-scale production of Malunggay (Moringa). They presented their study in a forum organized by the Department of Agriculture on the 17th of January 2008. In their presentation, they recommended that it is now the right time for the Philippines to position the country as the main source of malunggay in international trade,or some other country will do it.
I’ve received some emails from the readers of this website asking me on how to plant a malunggay. Although we have 2 malunggays in our backyard, which we planted as we what we are accustomed and that is through stem cutting, I really don’t have any idea on how to plant malunggay for a mass scale production. Since I have started an article about malunggay , I guess I owe something to the readers and so I did my own research. Continue Reading »
Tags: herb, how to plant malunggay, malunggay, malunggay production, malunggay seeds, medicinal, moringa, plant, plant malunggay
farmeric February 5th, 2008
click image to see beautiful shots of coffee!
The morning of our childhood always began with a steaming hot, aromatic cup of coffee. Freshly brewed, barako coffee harvested, dried, and ground right in our home.
No one bothered to ask why we, children as tender as five or six years old, were allowed to drink the wicked brew so early in the day, and that early in our life. In Batangas, coffee-drinking is a daily, sometimes hourly, habit way of life, shared by entire families at breakfast, or at any time of night and day.
We drank coffee as we ate a breakfast of fried rice and dried fish before dashing off to school. We’d dunk our pandesal into it till the bread went soggy and unrecognizable but seductively delicious to our young taste.
Continue Reading »
Tags: antioxidants, brewed coffee, coffee, coffee beans, cup of coffee, diabetes, disease, Health, medical, Plants
farmeric January 28th, 2008
Click image to enlarge
As I was writing an article about 2008 as the Year of the Potato according to United Nation, an email arrived on my inbox stating that “Cure for dengue - camote tops”. Indeed a post was made on PinoBusiness.ORG regarding this email.
It is said the soup made from camote tops specifically the purple sweet potato can make Dengue patient’s platelets count back to normal. Although, still not proven to cure Dengue completely.
Last month, I donated my blood to my friend who was diagnosed with Dengue. Continue Reading »
Tags: anti-oxidant, camote, cure, dengue, disease, Food, kamote, medicine, potato, root crop, sweet potato, vitamins
farmeric January 16th, 2008
Note:Posted with permission from Nestor Cuartero (nescuar@yahoo.com)
Published at Panorama dated Sunday, January 6, 2008 pp. 20-21
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BELIEVE it or not, I am now craving for malunggay noodles. I am so fascinated with malunggay’s green leaves that I have just planted so many seedlings in a small farm the family has been growing in Lipa, Batangas.
In the midst of the holiday rush for gifts and the free flow and exchange of rich and creamy food stuff, I remember the taste of malunggay noodles, which I experienced for the first time in one of the regional trade fairs hosted by the now-defunct project, WoW Philippines, of the Department of of Tourism.(The DOT should revive WoW Philippines in 2008 to help our farmers and traders in the provinces promote their products in Manila).
Those malunggay noodles came from Cagayan Valley, Continue Reading »
Tags: farm, Food, garden, Health, Herbal, hunger, leafy, leaves, malnutrition, malunggay, nescuar@yahoo.com, noodles, plant, poverty, seedlings, vegetables
farmeric January 2nd, 2008
It’s usually my habit to tune in to AM radio specially on my way to the office and back home early in the evening while driving. One particular Thursday morning , I was listening to DZMM program when I heard the lively tandem of Ariel Ureta and Winnie Cordero interviewing a guy who is a part of the on-going Herbal Festival 2007 being held in Quezon Memorial Circle,Quezon City. I listened attentively because the guy - which unfortunately I forgot the name, was talking about the good benefits of different herbs in our body. I just learned that only 10 of our numerous herbals/medicinal plants were approved by the Department of Health, namely:
- Bawang or garlic = reduces cholesterol in the blood.
- Bayabas or guava = my favorite, usually used to disinfect wounds (antiseptic). The fruit is rich in Vitamin C as well.
- Ampalaya or bitter gourd = very popular to treat or prevent diabetes, clinically proven to lower a patient’s blood sugar. Did you know that the products of Charantia, the company that made the tea from ampalaya (and capsule too), is now being exported abroad like U.S.A., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan, Korea and parts of the Middle East? Continue Reading »
Tags: allergies, coconut oil, flower, fruit, Health, Herbal, herbs, honey, medicines, Plants, seeds, sickness, tea, treat, vitamins, worms, wound