WHEN certain buddies of mine decided to once again take up the hobby of setting up and maintaining tropical fish aquariums, we vectored directly to our usual complete source for this enervating undertaking, our schoolmate Wilson Ang, founder and head of Bio-Research. This was after a fairly long hiatus, mind you, because time and circumstance had managed to pry many of us away from this hobby. In my case, I lost all my fish (accumulated over many years and placed in a humongous 400 gallon tank and a smaller 110 gallon tank) to a wrongly applied cleaning agent by a contractor many moons ago. Right then and there, I decided to spend more time – and money – in my other hobby, serious amateur photography, with the Camera Club of the Philippines as an ideal venue for this avocation. But this is another topic for another time.
While in the main corporate offices of Bio-Research in Sucat Road in Paranaque, we realized that our good friend Wilson had gone beyond his traditional setting of tropical and marine fish. He had managed to accumulate distributorships for what looked like a serious water pump and waste-water treatment business, among other things. But more important, he managed to convert his 4 hectare property into what he hopes will be a suitable habitat for the various flora and fauna he has accumulated – and continues to accumulate – over the years, some for sale and some for keeps. (Read about some of what he is doing in this area in my son Jayvee’s blog, A Bugged Life.
But what struck me was a little project that Wilson had started to undertake. In the herbal gardens that he has strewn all over the property, he has a specific medicinal plant that seems to be sprouting successfully.
The name of this herbal plant is ASHITABA, one of the elite among plants considered for their medicinal qualities. Legend has it that an old Japanese man went off to an island basically to spend his last moments on this earth, having been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He is said to have observed a tribe of old, sickly, and decrepit looking monkeys head off to a certain place where he witnessed them eating some vegetation daily. The result? The monkeys that ate these plants – that turned out to be the Ashitaba medicinal plant – soon got well and went back to where they came from, only to be replaced by a steady stream of incoming sick monkeys. So, hoping against hope, our terminally sick man partook of these plants and, before long, found himself strong enough to go home where he was diagnosed free of the dreaded disease.
It seems that Ashitaba is well known and has been documented in Ming dynasty Chinese medicine records of the 16th century. It is said that Ashitaba is, strictly speaking, a weed, which accounts for its ability to propagate so quickly. Containing a considerable amount of chlorophyll, it naturally does best in areas with full sunshine. I placed the samples Wilson gave me in different parts of my garden and validated this observation.
Wilson Ang is now giving back, in a way, to people by propagating this plant and giving it for free to friends. Thus, the samples he gave me are being planted and, hopefully, will multiply so that I can spread them around to the sick people in my village. But what I plan to do is turn over a reasonable number of these plants to our village garden club, many of the members belonging also to the senior group, so that they can plant them and take care of distributing the leaves to those who need them.
Another name of the plant is the TOMORROW LEAF. Why so? Well, it seems that the more one plucks leaves from these plants, the more they propagate new leaves even more lushly the very next day. And after a reasonable growth, one can cut the stem and plant the cutting to generate yet another plant. I found many related sites through Google Search and will post some of them here so anyone can do further research on this plant. It seems that the plant is good in tackling the following disorders (per the handout given to me by Wilson):
Lungs, Coughing, Asthma, Digestive System, Intestinal problems, Kidneys and Kidney Stones, Urinary Tract bleeding, Liver, Gall Bladder, Hepatitis, Gall Stones, Suppression of growth of cancer cells, Constipation, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Blood Poisoning, Skin Allergies, Rheumatism, High Cholesterol levels, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, and a host of others too many to list down.
As proof of the effectivity of the plant, he trotted out a staffer of his who has had the unfortunate situation of living in an area with both air and ground pollution. She had developed a hacking, wheezing cough that was not amusing at all and extremely convenient for all concerned. After only three days of munching on four leaves a day, she improved dramatically. I have been taking the leaf (4 a day) for a week now, and noticed that my blood sugar level has gone down by a significant measure, since I self-test every other day.
Does it work? I am betting that this medicinal herb is what it is touted to be.
Wilson gives the plants to friends for free. But some others have taken advantage of his generosity, because he found that one person who had apparently gotten a couple of plants from him had developed a small patch somewhere in the north where he sells the leaves for P3 each. Oh well…..
http://www.organicashitaba.com/
http://www.organicashitaba.com/articles.html
http://www.helium.com/items/851529-ashitaba-chinese-herbal-medicinal-plant
August 1st, 2009 at 9:26 am
I’m interested to propagate this plant on my small backyard for our use. May I know where I can get or buy this plant?
June 11th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I asked some people who are in the know and they mentioned that, like so many other plants, there are different varieties of Ashitaba. Frankly, since I am not a botanist or even a herbologist, the variety grown in the Lost Eden eludes me. What I do know is that, in many cases, the plant has worked. I had a frozen shoulder that was probably going to take a couple of years to heal if we were to follow the normal course of things. Surprisingly, my shoulder is now very much better and I can extend and raise my left arm higher and without pain, unlike before. My partner also had a bum foot that was bothering her. A couple of weeks with Ashitaba and the pain went away.
Lost Eden belongs to the BioResearch group and is open to the public. Certain portions can be viewed for free, while a part of the complex requires the payment of a small fee (P150) and if one is in a group, a guide is provided. A lot of students visit the place during the school year as part of their learning curriculum.
May 26th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Hi! It’s good to know that there are still some people like your family who really wants to help others. We already have your ashitaba plant. And we’re sharing the good news with friends and acquaintances. But there’s one question on my mind right now. I’ve been surfing the internet for ashitaba plant image. I was wondering why the plant that we have is different from the image/pictures of the ashitaba plant on the web. Just what MDC commented, it really looks like a celery but only much more bigger leaves. One more thing, I’m really curious about the place called Lost Eden. Is that for public or exclusive for your family and friends only?
May 9th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Well, if this herb does what its touted to do, well and good. But i hope everyone takes it with a grain of salt. If it is that effective and “miraculous”, how come the FDA has not approved it with a seal? With such wonders, doctors can all retire and just hand out this miracle leaf for patients to munch for a cure of their illness.
March 29th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
sir: I am wondering why your ashitaba is different from pictures of ashitaba in other websites. they look like more of a celery