A new year is here and the tiebreak tasted really good. This fellow went to Portugal, landed on 18°C and traveled 1500Km from Faro to Barreiro to Seia to Viseu to Coimbra to Santarem to Marisol to Barreiro and to Faro again. All this in a very reliable rented Mitsubishi Colt, eheheheheh! Due to all this effort ;) I gained a few pounds and also a year... yeah!, that's right! This boy is now 34 years old. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! No worries, feel even sexier than before!
If by any chance you do not know the places I've been to, or you want to visit the best place ever filled with smily faces and genuine people, just take a look at the links provided on the locations above and get mesmerized by the incredible joy that is Portugal.
After visiting old friends and relatives, see new born babies and feel the Portuguese sun softly touching my melanin and pull up my serotonin, I was back again rejoined with my mum while my sister was flying to New York for the New Year's Eve.
My mum gave me loads of stuff, from my grandpa's olive oil (no best can be found on this Earth I swear) to hair serum for protecting my curlies. But she told me to make room in that little bag of mine that can never take more than 20Kg because RyanAir freaks out easily, for a red solution we always had as children. I am talking about Taheebo or Tabebuia, as it is known in England. In Portugal we just call it "Pau d'Arco" and the Brazilians call it Ipe Roxo. Tabebuia or Taheebo is a genus of tropical plants native to the Rain Forests of Central and Southern America [1].
Intensive/expansive agriculture has been threatening this medicinal plant used for hundreds of years by indigenous populations since the Incan civilization. Used as a traditional remedy to treat bacterial infections, inflammations, ulcers, help the immune system and fight cancer, Taheebo became quite common in our lives (at least in my family's). Taheebo's antitoxicant activity is being discussed these days [2]; the red herbal solution made from the inner bark of the Tabebuia trees can be found commercially basically everywhere. I got you a direct link for the first company I was able to find selling it online, check here (it costs approximately $16), and some cheap tea in the UK here (5 quid). However, I am more keen on using the red concentrated solution.
What properties?
Astringent, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, diuretic and laxative [2].
Indicated for...
Traditionally people have been using it to fight problems associated with ulcers, candidiasis, cancer, diabetes, prostatitis, constipation and allergies.
What protective effects?
Several of them have been fully reported by different scientific studies: Antineoplastic (inhibiting or preventing development of malignant cells), anti-tumor promoting effects [3]. Antioxidant activity has not been fully proved so far, unless it has been found very recently and I am not aware of such developments; for the time being consider it anecdotal.
Any side-effects?
Tabebuia cassinoides is known for its cytotoxicity, however I have no idea if it is related to malfunctioning cells or indiscriminate activity. The online website Drugs.com states that there are no reported side-effects or serious toxicity related, although a safe dosage is not supported by scientific experiments [3]. As usual, it is always advisable to visit your GP and ask him to double check your health status in what concerns the possibility of taking Taheebo.
[3]
What can I say?
Thanks mum, it is a great way of purging the old and reinforcing vitality for helping the new, especially when I got to my 34th anniversary... yet,a lot sexier I can promise the ladies!!! See you soon guys, and wishes of a tremendously happy 2013!
[1] About.com - Natural Medicine, Tabebuia spp., [http://naturalmedicine.about.com/od/herbs/paudarco.htm], last visited on the 08th of January 2013, last update on the 06th of December, 2010.
[2]. Park, B-S., Lee, K-G., Shibamoto, T., Lee, S-E., Takeoka, G. R. (2003). "Antioxidant Activity and Characterization of Volatile Constituents of Taheebo (Tabebuia impetiginosa Martius ex DC)". J. Agric. Food Chem. 51, pp. 295−300.
[3]. Drugs.com - Taheebo information, [http://www.drugs.com/npc/taheebo.html], last visited on the 08th of January 2013, last update on the 24th of Deecember, 2012.
2nd image taken from Herbal DB - The natural way of giving life, [http://www.herbaldb.com/pau-d-arco/medicinal-effects-of-pau-darco-healing-wonders-of-the-lapacho-tree/], last visited on the 08th of January 2013.
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