Medicinal benefits of fruits and leaves

Herbs and natural fruits have been a means of maintaining good health over time, but with the advent of modern health care services, traditional herbal treatments seem to be going down the drain. However, Reverend Tony Akinyemi, among other people, still believes in the importance, effectiveness and reliability of natural plants. DOYIN ADEOYE reports his convictions.

THERE have been numerous of controversies surrounding the usage of herbal medicine. From the modern health practitioners to religious groups and traditionalists, the argument rages on. But when a clergyman says many benefits abound in usage of herbal leaves and fruits, all ears must be opened.Speaking at a lecture organised by the Foursquare Gospel Church, at Oke Bola, Ibadan district, Reverend Tony Akinyemi, emphasised the importance of good health and how to achieve it with the aid of natural plants and faith in God's words. Having been his passion for more than a decade, Akinyemi explained how an individual's health affects his entirety, 'when you are sick, you are distracted and you cannot maintain a focus, thus your productivity declines.

It takes good health and wealth to fulfill the great commission and so, you should not lose your health as you chase wealth, or else, you will use the wealth later to chase health.'Health, Akinyemi said, does not flow from a bottle or a syringe. Instead, it is largely the product of lifelong decisions and choices. He further explained that diseases, contrary to general belief, were not mysterious foes that struck the innocent passer-by at random, rather they were cultivated, because most people did not appreciate health until they had lost it. 'Diseases could be transferred from one person to the other, but unfortunately, health was a personal thing which every individual had to cultivate,' he said.While speaking on the theme, 'The Medicinal Benefits of Fruits and Herbal Leaves', Akinyemi devised an ABCD code to help people realise how fruits could help improve the body system.
The A, which represents the Architectural code, explained the correlation between the architectural make up of a fruit and its nutrients, further explaining that almost every fruit and seed had its shape in the human anatomy. 'The shape of every tissue, every gland, every cell and every organ in the human body has something that looks exactly like it, in the bush. There is a correlation between what you find in the garden and what is in your body. So I came to the conclusion that any type of food that looks like any part of your body, there is likelihood that such fruit will benefit that part of your body. And through research, it has been proved to be true.
'He buttressed this with different examples, saying, the avocado pear, when sliced into two parts gave a hollow shape, with seeds in each, making it look exactly like the shape of the womb of a woman. 'Through a lot of research on the avocado pear, it has been revealed that a woman with hormonal imbalance, hyper polathenamia, high level of polathene or pistrogen dominance, low progesterone or any other hormone disorder, if she eats one avocado a day, over a 90 day period, it will help balance the reproductive hormones,' he added.The carrot on the other hand, when cut into two, has a round face that looks exactly like the human eye, implying that it is good for the eyes, he also said. He also made mention of Asala (walnut), 'It has a black shell, just like the human hair is black. If you crack it, there is a grey matter in it, just like the human brain is grey.
There are two lobes inside an asala just as there is in the human head, pointing out that it is likely to be good for the brain. It has been studied that asala has certain nutrients that can boost your memory and cognitive function.
'The tomato also has four chambers just like the human heart has four chambers and it is really good for the heart. The external architecture of the tomato looks like the prostate gland of a man and it has been found that the licopin in tomato nourishes the prostate gland; hence you don't suffer from prostate inflammation or any other related disease as taking a lot of fresh tomato helps to avoid that. Blending a lot of tomato into your food is good for your health. The bean seed also has the shape of the kidney and it is good for the kidney.
'The second acronym is the Bible code, explaining that there were many herbs and medications that were mentioned and used for specific purposes in the Bible, which are also now applicable for the same purposes. Using the book of 1Samuel chapter 30: 11-12, Reverend Akinyemi explained how an Egyptian man's strength was restored having eaten a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. Also in the book of Songs of Solomon chapter 2: 5, there is a clue that raisins can strengthen the body while the apple refreshes.
'Raisins are like blackcurrant and they can energize and improve the sugar level.'Also when Timothy had problems with his digestive glands, though the problem was not specified, all he took was wine juice made from grape fruits. He explained that it has been scientifically proven that grape skin contains a substance known as resveratrol which is an anti-aging and an anti-oxidant. It helps to repair the mocousa in the digestive gland, helps to heal ulcer and the likes. Also it was recorded that Hezekiah blended fig leaves and applied it to a boil.
The C, which represented the colour code, explained that the colour of a fruit or vegetable was also a way to communicate its nutrients. 'The colour determines the nutrients you are likely going to find in it and the best way to maximise this according to him, is to eat the rainbow, that is, eat all the different colours of fruits,' Akinyemi said.While talking about the Delivery code, he explained that every food has its own season and every season has its peculiar diseases.
'The fruits and vegetables that come out for a season are the medicines to tackle the health challenges of that season,' he said, adding that for instance, during the rainy season, when people sneeze a lot and scratch their eyes, there are more of oranges that flood the market. Orange has a lot of vitamin C and citrus, which really helps with cold and catarrh. When sore throat infections are common, there are lot of ginger and garlic in the market.
When you blend ginger, garlic and pineapple, it releases a lot of inflammation on the throat. Also, carrot comes out between November and December and goes away again around May, which is often during the harmattan. This is to explain that the carrot is good for the vision.'He further explained that there were some fruits that must be contraindicated for some individuals, which must be avoided. 'As good as the banana is to the body system, it is not advisable for someone that is suffering from diabetes.
Arthritis patients should also avoid garden egg, because it will aggravate the illness,' he warned.He elucidated the need for more Nigerian youths to delve into agriculture, saying 'there has got to be a national policy to lure more youths into cultivating the habits of farming and that goes beyond the scope of an individual.
The government has to initiate and encourage it, by creating incentives and also formulating and funding policies to make youths buy into agriculture.