[YEA]  11/06/2009: Bill from San Fernando, Philippines: "Hi everyone. I have lived in the Philippines now for 5 yrs, and since moving here from the UK to retire, I have been growing a plethora of tropical herbs which are useful for various ailments. The most successful that I have used is a combination of fresh herbs -- Tinospora cordifolia(known locally Makabuhay), Tumeric root and Phyllanthus niruri(known as the "Stonebreaker"). I grow all these in my small garden and use and prepare them fresh as simple decoctions or tinctures. I know the history and use of all these herbs which are all fairly harmless but potent and are widely used in herbal medicines -- especially within the Ayurvedic and Unani medicines of India. I am over 6o and I periodically take all these herbs in combination to prevent arthritis, high blood, diabetes, cholesterol imbalance etc.

One day I visited a 76 y o German friend of mine, Otto, who looked really miserable. His right knee was very badly swollen with arthritis and he could barely walk -- this from a man who loves to walk miles along the beach every day. We talked and he told me how his arthritis medicine from Germany just wasn't working and he was also suffering side-effects. So I mentioned that one of these herbs -- Makabuhay -- was well known as an anti-inflammatory and arthritis cure. So I went and gave him 3 X 1 ft sticks from my Makabuhay vine, telling him to chop them shorter, bruise them then plop them into a large saucepan, add 2 litres of water, boil gently down to 1 litre, cool, strain, bottle and put it into the fridge. Drink a third of a glasss, mixed with a little orange juice(taste is very bitter) and take this 3 times a day, an hour before or two hours after each meal.

A week or so later suddenly Otto appeared at my gate in the afternoon, grinning from ear to ear. When I inspected his knee, it was normal size again with al pain gone. I was amazed that he had walked the 600 metres to my house when he couldn't walk at all before. I was also amazed that this cure had even worked, since Otto is a heavy drinker - loves his beer, wine and brandy everyday for sure. But work it did.

I have also used this same decoction successfully on someone who was suffering both from diabetes and gout. This sufferer told me that his diabetes medicine was making him feel very moody as well as quite depressed. After a week of using this decoction I received a frantic email from him asking if I had anymore Makabuhay. He was raving about it. I told him they sold the sticks of Makabuhay at the local market.

Turmeric is well known on this site.

Phyllanthus niruri is also a revered or "Rasayana" herb in Ayurvedic medicine. It cools fever, used for malaria, dissolves kidney stones(hence the Stonebreaker nickname) and acts in much the same way as Makabuhay. Recently, they have discovered through research that Phyllanthus niruri is a herb that can kill the Hepatitis B virus. There is no comparable modern drug that currently exists for Hepatitis B at this time. Phyllanthus niruri is currently being researched for its effects on the AIDS virus. There are no side affects whatsoever with Phyllanthus niruri. This plant grows as ca weed qall around my house in the Philippines.

Realistically, I know that it is very difficult to obtain at least 2 out of the 3 herbs I've mentioned in the West. But you can buy them easily from Indian Ayurvedic delis in the form of edible and quite tasty mixtures called Triphala and Chaywanprash. Ayurvedic medicines are also very trustworthy, and are only ever prepared in the traditional Ayurvedic way with no chemical processing, preservatives, colourings etc."