Beetle Root Nut(?) Oil or Beetle Nut Root Oil.
I'm not sure I got the name right.
Ever hear of this?
Apparently, one or more fatty acids in it are bacteriostatic (my inference/hypothesis)?
[This message has been edited by treepatrol (edited 14 July 2005).]
Burdock, Latin name Arctium lappa, is a carrot-like root from the plant Arctium lappa, a biennial herb grown in China, Europe and the United States.
Employed as a popular folk medicine around the world, burdock is also consumed as a vegetable in Japan, where it is called 'gobo'.
Burdock seeds are crushed to make a popular tincture used to purify the blood, to treat gout and ulcers, arthritis, rheumatism, and cure skin diseases such as acne and psoriasis.
In India and Russia, the root is a popular anti-cancer remedy , and in China it is believed to be an effective aphrodisiac, useful in treating impotence and sterility.
The volatile oils of burdock seed are said to be an effective diaphoretic, used to inducing sweating as an aid in neutralizing and eliminating toxins from the body.
This activity is widely utilized by herbal practitioner's in the treatment of liver problems, gallstones, flu, and to support the kidneys in filtering acids from the blood stream.
Studies of burdock show that it is high in minerals, being a good source of iron. Data also indicates that the root is a good source of the carbohydrate inulin which can account for 45% of the plant mass. Burdock is also a good source of essential oils and other compounds that exhibit bacteriostatic and anitfungal activity.
Burdock is an effective diuretic, and is considered a very safe herb and food product, though there have been cases where the purity of the root has raised some concern. Reported cases involving toxic effects were first thought to be caused by the consumption of burdock tea, but were later determined to be caused by contamination of the burdock root with belladonna root which contains atropine.
In light of such issues, when using burdock root determine the of the source and quality of root before purchase.
http://viablehealth.com/1burdock.shtml
And then there is Beet root...which really helps with cholesterol issues...see Mercola.
quote:
Originally posted by pq:
Beetle Root Nut(?) Oil or Beetle Nut Root Oil.
I'm not sure I got the name right.
Maybe you are thinking of betel? I don't think the roots are used, but betel nuts are chewed and betel leaves used as a folk medicine in India, Indonesia and elsewhere. I think leaf extracts do have some documented activity against bacteria.
Oral cancer is relatively rare in Western countries. In some south Asian countries, however, it ranks first among malignancies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a disproportionate number of the world's cases of oral cancer in men occurs in regions of Asia where betel chewing is common. Once diagnosed mainly in adults, such cancers are now on the rise in young people.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050115/bob10.asp
thanks for the quick response, and extended replies.
i overheard pieces of discussion by two women. traffic noise drowned out their conversation, so it was difficult to pick up on what was said--the medical condition, what taken...
the woman took this OIL (she emphasized oil) and "...vitamins..." only to solve the problem.
i suspected she had leishmaniosis,if not some other spirochetal infection. this brought to mind chalumoogra oil, which is supposed to be bacteriostatic for
this leishmaniosis.
The "OIL" almost automaticall means fatty acid which, in this case usu. means a long- chain or very long-chain carboxylic acid(20-26 carbons for its skeletal chain, and with between 4-6 or more double bonds, the latter being strong to very strong energetic centers, serving one or more roles in its bacteriostatic properties.
from your posts, I'd say she did probably mean "Betel", but she also used the words "oil," and "root" in connection with it.
must check your links tommorow.
hypothesis:
if this oil is leishmanostatic,then, to whatever degree it would be, it should be bacteriostatic across spirochetacae---leprosy, syphilus, borrelia, etc.
the mechanism by which this works is one question for us. if the oil has a very long carbon chain then if gotta get desaturated to perhaps DHA,or EPA first(don't quote this, as i don't know for sure), and if so then this one mechanism is anti-inflammatory.
another mechanism might be for the energetic (double bond centers) to disrupt a spirochete's normally polyvalent(many and different electrical charges) outer structural membrane(s),or disrupting the functioning of intracellular sturctures(organelles), thereby causing some kind of reproductive, and/or growth and maturational problem.
i once saw a tv show on some guy sitting in a homemade hammock in some jungle somewhere and , i think eating what might have been these betel leaves.
the guy was apparently addicted to them, as they were completely brown, and maybe rotting. one smile by this guy, and the bengal tigers and elephants would flee the jungle screaming, with the birds and the macaques on their backs saying, "Yo, man, hurry up!!"
i don't think she said "beets" because of sound of the letter 'l' in the word.
check back. gonna look this up in merck index.
no entry under 'Betel' in my hard cp of merck index 1996.