English Name: Horseradish Tree
Common Name: Horseradish, Malunggay
Filipino Name: Malunggay, Kalamunggay
Background
In many parts of the Philippines, Malunggay leaves has been part of the daily meals. It is used to add flavor to vegetable soups. Sometimes coconut milk is added to mixed vegetables and Malunggay and sometimes not. Vegetables like squash, string beans, okra and carrots are usually the ones cooked with Malunggay leaves. To Filipinos, Malunggay is always part of their lives. Almost all households in the countryside has grown Malunggay plant in their backyards. And it is noticeable that most leaves are plucked leaving only the ones near the top. That is one evidence that they always use Malunggay in their meals.
In Thailand is the opposite. Malunggays are found growing in most abandoned areas or vacant lands. Its leaves are complete from bottom to top which means that Thai people never use Malunggay at all. Only Filipinos in Thailand pluck leaves from their Malunggay trees. The reason is that, for Thai People, Malunggay Tree has a significant role in witchcraft. It is one of the favorite house of bad spirits so they don't ever hurt Malunggay Trees thinking that bad spirits will hurt them in return. If ever a Malunggay trees accidentally grow in their backyards, it just grow old in there without being touched. And if there is a need to cut that tree, they would do some rituals first asking permission from the bad spirits before they would cut it.
Uses
As mentioned above, one of the uses of Malunggay is for food. Not only Malunggay leaves are used for cooking but also its young fruits. Its young fruits can be made into a delicious delicacy but peeling its hard skin and cutting them into about 5 cm or 2 inches long, then cook them with coconut milk. It tastes so good. It stem skins are also used for treating skin diseases and cuts by making a poultice. The juice of its leaves are used to stop the bleeding of fresh cuts. It is done by rubbing the leaves in between the palms in order to extract its juice and apply it to the affected area.
Important Uses
1. For High blood Pressure
What is Blood Pressure (BP)? BP is the pressure of the blood inside the veins and arteries while it is circulating all over the human body. High BP means the blood is flowing very fast increasing its volume making the area tight thus stretching the walls of the arteries and veins. What makes the BP high? Or what causes High Blood Pressure? First and foremost, some people carry it in their genes that they are born with high BP. What makes this inborn high BP aggravate is the lifestyle. The number one food that can aggravate your BP is animal fats. Any part of animal meat contains animal fat. Thus, if you are a meat-eater it is then evident that you are a consumer of animal fats. Animal fats or lard, is solid at room temperature. If you notice when you leave you plate unwashed for a while after eating meat, there are solid fats accumulating at its sides which are difficult to wash. We call is "sebo" in Filipino.
Now imagine how much sebo have you had in your body since you started eating meat. Sebo is very difficult to wash out from our body ones it is already there because we can not heat up our body in order to melt them and make them flow. Remember that Sebo is solid at room temperature. And our body temperature is not to hot to bring it to a boil or even melt it. So then, it will accumulate in our arteries and veins making them narrower and narrower. If the veins are narrow, the passage of the blood becomes smaller and smaller making the pressure high. If there is no way the blood can flow, the veins will erupt.
Imagine you are watering your plants using a garden hose. Have you tried covering half of the tip of the hose in order to reach farther plants with water? Why do you think that covering the hose will make the water flow farther? Because you are increasing the pressure of the flowing water by decreasing its outlet thus making the water squirt at a longer distance. That is what's going to happen if "sebo" will continue to accumulate in your arteries and capillaries. And if it is too much for the arteries to hold, that the time that a STROKE happens. Stroke can kill a person instantly.
One way to burn fats is by exercising, but since "sebo" is very difficult to burn, then it is not always good to consume any form of animal fats. If your BP is high, it will affect the regular work of the heart which is to pump blood regularly. If the flow of the blood is not regular due to High BP, then the work of the heart is also affected thus destroying it resulting to heart disease. That's why High BP and Heart Disease are always together.
Malunggay is famous in helping with High BP. How? Malunggay contains nutrients like Potassium, Calcium, Vitamin E and Zinc which are needed by people who are suffering from HBP. Potassium lowers the amount of sodium in our body thus helping to lower down the blood pressure too. Along with other nutrients Malunggay has, is can in general help in lowering blood pressure.
It is also advisable to refrain from eating animal fats when in medication with Malunggay.
2. For Diabetes (Hyperglycemia)
Diabetes is a disease caused by abnormality in the amount of insulin produced by the body resulting to high concentration of sugar in the blood. Insulin regulates amount of sugar present in the blood. It means that insulin is needed for proper absorption of glucose(blood sugar) in our body. That is why Diabetic people needs regular insulin shots. If there is abnormal absorption of glucose in the our body, it will result to complications and malfunction of our organs specially our cardiovascular organs.
Our body needs Vitamin D in order to produce regular amount of insulin needed for proper function. Malunggay contains sufficient amount of Vitamin D along with other nutrients like calcium, Vitamin A, Potassium and Vitamin B groups which are also necessary in the proper functioning of the cells. Malunggay contains more beta-carotene that of carrots, an important anti-oxidant our body needs. Anti-oxidants help in the process of healing for those damages caused by the malfunction of the organs in diabetes patients.
3. For Cancer
Cancer cells occur naturally in the human body. They are abnormal cells that does not have necessary functions. It multiplies rapidly (abnormally) with it is triggered usually by the contents of the food we eat and also by out lifestyle. Malunggay is rich in Vitamin C which is the main element to help our body fight against abnormal activities in the cells.