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Magical: Menudo Herbal Mysteries of Mexican Healing
By Joie Davidow
(page 1 of 1)Traditional Mexican-American medicine is un rico menudo, a rich stew, with a long list of ingredients including 16th-century Arab and European herbal medicines, ideas that date back to Hippocrates, 20th-century patent medicines, plant medications from Africa, and herbal wisdom from North American native tribes. But the key ingredient is as old as Mesoamerica—the living legacy of the Aztecs, remnants of a vast treasury of herbal knowledge that has nearly vanished.
If their civilization had not been destroyed during the conquest, the Aztecs, like the Chinese, might have made a great contribution to the world through their vast and ancient knowledge of herbal medicine. Within its borders, Mexico has arguably the greatest variety of plant life on earth. Its geography includes rugged mountain ranges and lush valleys, tropical jungles on the Caribbean coast, and arid deserts that stretch to the Pacific in the north.
The Aztecs had survived centuries of wandering from one terrain to another, before founding their capital at Tenochtitlan. They had, of necessity, become expert botanists during their travels, forced to use whatever they could find growing around them for both food and medicine… Basic knowledge of herbal medicine was common.
Hot teas can be prepared as either infusions or decoctions. Both methods are designed to get the active ingredients out of plant parts and into the water.
A panoply of herbs can be used to treat just about everything under the sun from diabetes to arthritis, but of particular attention to Angelinos might be recipes for treating sore throats, irritated eyes, migraines, sunburn, dietary excess and of course, hangovers.
Excerpted from Infusions of Healing: A Treasury of Mexican-American Herbal Remedies by Joie Davidow (Fireside Press). Available at book sellers or through www.joiedavidow.com.
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