Status: U Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 13:05:14 -0500 From: Thomas Michael Kengla <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Organization: GrassRootsProductions X-Accept-Language: en Subject: Special Newsletter 1-19-02 To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Herb a Day . . .Apple (Apple as Antialopecic?) My herb a day. . . column name evolved more than a decade ago. It was supposed to remind you of the old adage: an apple a day keeps the doctor away. In the intervening dozen years, I have moved from the simplistic concept of an apple and an herb a day, to striving for seven. In this second year of this new millennium I suggest you Strive for Seven. Yes. Don't settle simplistically striving for five fruits and five veggies a day, as the NIH implies and implores. Stretch yourself, Strive instead for even greater variety, Strive for Seven: seven different beans, seven different berries(and larger fruits like our apple today), seven different herbs, seven different nuts, seven different spices, seven different veggies, and seven different whole grains, seven days a week, chased with at least seven glasses of water a day, and some juices to boot. That's my not-so-secret seven steps to stave off senility. Variety may indeed be the spice of life, and a life extender. But could an apple a day keep the grim hair transplanter away. Too often each day, as I type away at the computer, the TV in the background, I see the glamorous ads suggesting that the T-voyeurs compare Propecia, Rogaine, and Transplant for correcting their real or incipient baldness. Good looking heads of male hair alternatively flash between a provocative views of a scantily clad female form fitted into an alluring aqua bathing suit. Tow-headed middle age men talk about once more being confident now that they have a full head of hair again. But i am here, tongue in cheek after seeing that TV ad one more time, to propose an AAAppleShampoo (with forskohlin ans saw palmetto) might be as good as the Propecia a/o Rogaine a/o Transplant. We'll never know until the four approaches are clinically compared, an unlikely possibility. As contrary to the recent inane polemic pharmacophilic pronouncements, we do not know that cipro is better than garlic, and will not know until they are clinically compared. (I'm back on garlic, having already ingested a course of cipro for a bacterial infection I aquired for the Ne Years celebration in Amazonian and Andean Peru. That's why I am late with this newsletter. Twenty dollars (87 soles) worth of Cipro purchased in Cusco scarecely made a dent in my infection. Now here i am suggesting that apple/indian-potato shampoo might be as effective as propecia and/or orgaine a/o transplant for baldness. One kilogram of cloudy apple juice can contain 50 milligrams of procyanidin-B-2, which Japanese Scientist, Dr. Tomoya Takahashi, in a series of papers, proposes will intensively and significantly promote hair epithelial cell proliferation in vitro and stimulate anagen induction invivo. He features procyanidin-B-2, but also mentions procyanidin C-1. These two procyanidins selectively inhibit protein-kinase-C, as opposed to other procyanidins which indiscriminately inhibit both Protein-Kinase-A and PKC. [ [My Dorland's defines anagen as":the phase of the hair cycle during which synthesis of hair takes place."] Other selective protein kinase C inhibitors, such as hexadecylphosphocholine, palmitoyl-DL-carnitine chloride, and polymyxin B sulfate, show marked anagen phase-inducing propecic activity in vivo. Nonselective protein kinase inhibitors, such as staurosporine and K252a, actually inhibit the growth of hair epithelial cells. 1,2- Dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol, a protein kinase C activator, dose-dependently decreases the growth of hair epithelial cells. Forskolin, an adenylate cyclase activator, promotes hair epithelial cell growth and boosts the growth-promoting effect of procyanidin B-2.] This last quote from Takahashi (2000, X10859531) led me to dream up an aromatic antialopecic anagenic apple juice, a concentrated (by evaporation) apple juice to which aromatic Coleus forskohlii (and/or its forskohlin) has been added. Applied on a warm towel to the scalp, this should thicken the hair, according to Takahashi, albeit taking as much as three months to six months. Takahashi concldes "Procyanidin B-2 therapy shows potential as a safe and promising cure for male pattern baldness." And I suspect it is cheaper than hair transplant. Last year, I was tempted to write an herb a day column about the apple, tiggered by a London Associated Press story, Jan. 19, 2000 which concluded that eating at least five apples a week could help you breathe more easily. That send me to the refridge for an apple today, two weeks into one of the worse cases of bronchitis, COPD, cold, cough, flu, pleurisy, sinusitis, many if not all of the above inconvenintly rolled up with diarrhea and rhinorrhea. If it wasn't snowing so hard I'd go out and get some stinging nettle for the rhinorhea, but I will eat the apple, indoors, for the diarrhea. [That Andean Cipro didn't budge it. But i am still alive]. Published in the British medical journal Thorax, last years article found that men who ate nearly an apple a day had slightly stronger lung function than those who excluded the fruit from their diets. It is not clear why the apple-eaters could breathe more effortlessly, but experts believe that antioxidants may ward off several diseases by combating oxidation damage. The scientists had previously learned that better lung function is correlated with eating fresh fruit and taking antioxidants. Lung diseases, and specifically lung cancer are less frequent in frugivorous people who eat lots of hard fruits such as apples. Scientists from St. George's Hospital (London) studied health records of 2,500 Welsh men aged 45-59 who had been examined by other scientists for five years. They were induced to blow as hard as possible into a gauge to measure lung capacity for just one second. Apple eaters exhaled 138 milliliters more air in one second than age and height matched non-apple eaters. Their healthier airways had fewer obstructions. Vitamin E was also associated with easier breathing, but the connection was weaker than for apples. Vitamin C, beta carotene, citrus fruit and fruit juices did not seem to improve lung function. Paul A. Lachance, Nutraceuticals Institute, Rutgers University, speculated that the benefit came from apple's antioxidants, suggesting it was unlikely that any one single antioxidant would do the trick. Experts believe apples are loaded with several hundred healthy compounds and it may be the unique combination of those nutrients that creates the effect, he said. Reading that I went to my database to see just how many antioxidants I had catalogued so far for the apple, well over two dozen: (-)-epicatechin, alanine, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic-acid, beta-carotene, caffeic-acid, catalase, chlorogenic-acid, chlorophyll, cyanidin, epicatechin, ferulic-acid, fumaric-acid, histidine, hyperin, hyperoside, isochlorogenic-acid, isoquercitrin, lecithin, lutein, melatonin, methionine, p-coumaric-acid, p- hydroxy-benzoic-acid, procyanidins, protocatechuic-acid, quercetin, quercitrin, rutin, selenium, shikimic-acid, sinapic-acid, sucrose, and ursolic-acid. From the father nature's farmacy database http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/ Other fruits will share some of these and add their own antioxidants, phytochemicals which our paleolithic ancestors consumed long before us, adapting our genes to such phytochemicals in these natural ratios. But let's don't let my long boring list of antioxidants finish this conversation. Let's quote Finnish scientists Heinonen et al (1998) Berry and fruit wines made of apple, arctic bramble, bilberries, cowberries, cranberries, currants (red and black) and rowanberries possess antioxidant activity comparable to red wine in inhibiting certain hydroperoxides. As an ex-smoker I headed for my fruit blender and added another apple when I read that the consumption of apples is inversely correlated with incidence of lung cancer (and not due to vit A, C or E). While they still debate whether apples pectin is good or bad for colon cancer (to which I am genetically susceptible), I'll still consume an apple a day, especially from July thru November when I have home grown organic apples. Apple pectin dose-dependently inhibits dietary mutagens. Hensel and Meier (1999) postulate that the antimutagenic activity of pectin may result from bioadhesion, a film forming around the assay bacteria.. A similar protective film over the GIT (read gut or gastrointestinal tract)might protect the gut epithelium from carcinogens and mutagens. Such has not yet been tested in humans however. [[[Hensel, A. and Meier, K.. 1999. Pectins and xyloglucans exhibit antimutagenic activities against nitroaromatic compounds.. Planta Medica 65: 395-9.]]] Meanwhile I'm getting a lot of pectin from my apple and my heartwise hawthorn. Yes, I believe the pectin in so many of our fruits can help prevent cancer, cardiopathy, and diabetes, and the rest of that apple's gonna make me breathe easier. An apple a day . . . keeps the pharmaceutical physic (purgative) and physician away. This PhD, thinks avoiding those thee ph's by dietary intervention may be the best of preventive medicine. In Biblical days, Solomon said "comfort me with apples for I am sick". I too am sick today and headed for the apple. Unlike some Biblical interpretations, I do not believe that the word apple in the Bible meant what the word apple today means here in the US, the subject of this polemic. Some scholars believe that the apple of the garden or Eden may more likely been the related apricot. I suspect it may as well have been the highly estrogenic pomegranate (which means apples with grains). I have mental pictures of Eve taking bites out of both. The pomegranate might have stained her fig leaf. Truth of the matter, we'll never know what was meant by apple in the Bible, but I think one true apple, one apricot (maybe Biblical apple),and one pomegranate (perhaps the Biblical apple) each would be better for most of us, than three fruits each of just one of these "apple" species. Here's what my upcoming CRC Handbook edition 2 says of the domestic apple, updated a bit to include the new information on apples and antialopecic, antiCOPD and propecic potential. APPLE (Malus domestica Borkh.) +++ ACTIVITIES (APPLE): Anthelminthic (f; CRC; WOI); \Antialopecic (1; PR15:311); Antiandrogenic (1; JNU); Antiinflammatory (1; JNU); Antioxidant (1; JNU;PR15:311); Apertif (f; CRC); Apoptotic (1; JNU); Bactericide (1; CRC); Cardioprotective (1; JNU; WOI); Carminative (f; CRC); Cyanogenic (1; CRC); Depurative (f; CRC); Digestive (f; CRC; EFS); Diuretic (f; CRC; EFS); Emollient (f; CRC); Hypnotic (f; CRC); Hypoglycemic (1; JNU); Laxative (f; CRC); Orexigenic (f; EFS); PKC-Inhibitor (1; PR15:311); Poison (f; CRC); \Propecic (1; PR15:311); Refrigerant (f; CRC); Sedative (f; CRC); Tonic (f; CRC; LMP); INDICATIONS (APPLE): Alopecia (1; PR15:311); Anemia (f; LMP); Aphonia (f; DEM); Asthma (1; JNU); Bacteria (1; CRC; WOI); Biliousness (f; CRC; LMP); Blindness (f; DEM); BPH (1; JNU); Bruise (f; DEM); Cacoethes (f; CRC; JLH); Callus (f; JLH); Cancer (f; CRC; JLH); Cancer, colon (1; FNF; JLH); Cancer, eye (f; JLH); Cancer, liver (1; JNU); Cancer, lung (1; JNU); Cancer, prostate (1; JNU); Cardiopathy (1; JNU; WOI); Catarrh (f; CRC); COPD (1; Condyloma (f; JLH); Conjunctivosis (f; FEL); Constipation (1; CRC); COPD (1; Associated Press, Jan. 19, 2000); Dermatosis (f; HHB); Diabetes (f; CRC); Diarrhea (1; PH2); Diverticulosis (1; JNU); Dropsy (f; FEL); Dysentery (1; CRC; PH2); Dyspepsia (1; CRC; HHB; PH2); Dyspnea (f; DEM); Earache (f; DEM); Enterosis (f; CRC); Erysipelas (f; FEL); Fever (f; CRC); Flux (f; CRC); Gallstone (f; DEM); Gout (1; JNU); Gravel (f; FEL); Hay Fever (1; JNU); Heart (f; CRC); Hemorrhoid (f; DEM); Herpes (1; JNU); Hive (1; JNU); Hoarseness (f; DEM); (f; DEM); IBS (1; JNU); Inflammation (1; JNU); ; CRC; FEL); Obesity (f; WOI); Ophthalmia (f; JLH); Pancreatosis (1; JNU); Pertussis (f; CRC); Prostatosis (1; JNU); Scarlatina (f; FEL); Scurvy (f; CRC); Sore (f; JLH); Sore Throat (f; FEL); Spasm (f; CRC); Stress (f; WOI); Stroke (1; JNU); Thirst (f; CRC); Tumor (1; JLH); VD (f; JLH); Virus (1; JNU); Wart (f; CRC); James A. "Jim" Duke Botanical Consultant Herbal Vineyard, Inc. 8210 Murphy Road Fulton, MD 20759 Ph.: 301-498-1175 Fax: 301-498-5738 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For Medical Botany Syllabus, with many modules, see: http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/syllabus For example, there is an Herbal Desk Reference (HDR) Module, with bioactivities, indications, some dosage levels, and counterindications and side effects. For weekly newsletter, see: http://www.fathernaturesfarmacy.com Jim Duke will be conducting workshops and plant walks at the Blue Ridge Center this spring. (http;//www.brces.org) Contact me for more information. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
