Stephen,
> Now, time for an
anecdote: My father lived through the 1918 flu, in
>
Philadelphia; he remembered the coffins stacked by the sides of the
>
streets.... Very simple, really: No aspirin... The doctor figured
flu
> couldn't stand alchohol, and told everybody to get drunk as soon
as they
> contracted the flu, and stay drunk until they got over
it....Dunno if it helped, but
> it apparently at least didn't make
things much worse than they already were.
When I was living in
Mexico, during flu season the locals swear by the power of the blue Agave. It
is a cactus which looks a bit like an aloe vera plant on steroids.
You
may know it better, when distilled as tequila, but the kind normally sold here
is not from the blue agave (although it is available at a premium price). US
branded Cuervo could not even be sold legally in Mexico as tequila.
South of the border, they claim that Mexico was spared the ravages of
1918 because of tequila (or pulque which is the undistilled juice), and also
(mainly) the common vegatable cactus: Nopalitos (Nopales). You eat nopales all
day when sick, fried with cilantro and passillas and then have a nightcap of a
fine anejo... and you survive with a smile on your face.
In a recent
issue of Daily Dose, the e-letter written by William C Douglass, M.D. he calls
certain alcohols "liquid medicine." He says "single-malt Scotches are
actually richer in a powerful, cancer-fighting antioxidant called
ellagic acid than red wine." The French swear by both red wine and Calvados,
an apple-brandy - and in Eastern Europe it is Slivovitz, or something
like that - a plum brandy.
Researchers in Mexico tested the
toxin-inhibiting effects of different species of cactus and found all agave
extracts significantly reduced the growth of bacteria, and the production of
toxins by the bacteria which were not killed - but the blue
agave is better (even without any fermentation) and nopales are also good. And
the lime and salt often taken with the alcohol versions make them better than
any gargle for killing throat and repiratory bacteria. So, with or without the
"kick", the blue agave is the Latino Tamiflu substitute (but not much cheaper,
if it is a find anejo). Yes I know that bacteria and viri are different and
killing one does not guarantee the other - but who am I to argue with the
spirit of Quetzalcoatl and his natural gift to the people.
The
Aztecs, Toltecs and Mayas based most of their medicine system around the
cactus- not necessarily the booze version, but I suppose if you are going to
spend most of the day in sacrificial heart removal, the fermented version
deadens the pain - both the priests and the victims.
Jones, One must adhere to
ritual.. always!!.. No self respecting Aztec priest would ever carve a victim
without wearing a Quetzalcoatl feather.
Richard
