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Christmas Spices - Page 3

© Audrey Stallsmith

Both cinnamons will stop vomiting and relieve gas and diarrhea. John Heinerman suggests sprinkling a little cinnamon and cardamom on hot buttered raisin toast as a pleasant remedy for indigestion. Cardamom, a mild stimulant and an ingredient in curry powder, is frequently recommended to those who have celiac disease (an intolerance for gluten). Another curry component, allspice, does not combine several spices. Rather, it comes from the dried and ground green berries of the pimento tree (pimenta officinalis).

A small amount of clove (eugenia caryophyllata) oil, applied with a swab, is an old home remedy for toothache. Since clove also kills germs, it sometimes appears in mouthwashes and your dentist my use it as a disinfectant for root canals. You can also reportedly chew on a couple cloves to curb a craving for alcohol.

Two of the baking spices, nutmeg and mace, are found on the same tree, myristica fragans-mace being the aril that surrounds the seed and nutmeg the seed itself. Although harmless in small amounts, in large doses nutmeg can be a poisonous narcotic.

While I am on the subject of poisons, let me also warn you that the essential oils made from many spices are so concentrated that they can also be toxic if consumed straight. Most of those oils were meant to be used in very small amounts, highly diluted. So please follow directions carefully.

We are very fortunate in that most of the incense and baking spices once made expensive by long caravan treks across dangerous territory are now cheaply available in our local supermarkets or craft stores. We should be careful not to take them for granted, however. The wise men, who appeared mysteriously from the east to offer homage to Christ, knew those sweet scents to be treasures fit for a King!

Note: Myrrh and cinnamon images are from Kohler's Medicinal Plants, courtesy of the Texas Vascular Plant Image Gallery at http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/gallery . Other images are courtesy of the Southwestern School of Botanical Medicine at http://www.swsbm.com/HOMEPAGE/HomePage.h...

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