Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: High Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: Niacin Major mineral contribution: Calcium
About the Nutrients in This Food Carob flour, which is milled from the dried pod of a Mediterranean ever- green tree, Ceratonia siliqua, looks like cocoa but has a starchy, beanlike flavor. It can be mixed with sweeteners to make a cocoalike powder or combined with fats and sweeteners to produce a candy that looks like and has the same rich mouthfeel as milk chocolate but tastes more like honey. Ounce for ounce, carob, which is also known as locust bean gum, has more fiber and calcium but fewer calories than cocoa. Its carbohydrates include the sugars sucrose, D-mannose, and D-galactose. (D-galactose is a simple sugar that links up with other sugars to form the complex indigest- ible sugars raffinose and stachyose.) Carob also contains gums and pectins, the indigestible food fibers commonly found in seeds.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food As a substitute for cocoa or chocolate for people who are sensitive to chocolate.
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-carbohydrate diet
Buying This Food Look for: Tightly sealed containers that will protect the flour from moisture and insects.
Storing This Food Store carob flour in a cool, dark place in a container that protects it from air, moisture, and insects. Keep carob candy cool and dry.
Preparing This Food Measure out carob flour by filling a cup or tablespoon and leveling it off with a knife. To substitute carob for regular flour, use ¼ cup carob flour plus ¾ cup regular flour for each cup ordinary flour. To substitute for chocolate, use three tablespoons of carob flour plus two tablespoons of water for each ounce of unsweetened chocolate. Carob flour is sweeter than unsweetened chocolate.
What Happens When You Cook This Food Unlike cocoa powder, carob flour contains virtually no fat. It will burn, not melt, if you heat it in a saucepan. When the flour is heated with water, its starch granules absorb moisture and rupture, releasing a gum that can be used as a stabilizer, thickener, or binder in processed foods and cosmetics. In cake batters, it performs just like other flours (see flour).
Medical uses and/or Benefits Adsorbent and demulcent. Medically, carob flour has been used as a soothing skin powder. As a chocolate substitute. People who are sensitive to chocolate can usually use carob instead. Like cocoa beans, carob is free of cholesterol. Unlike cocoa, which contains the cen- tral-nervous-system stimulant caffeine and the muscle stimulant theobromine, carob does not contain any stimulating methylxanthines. Lower cholesterol levels. In 2001, a team of German nutrition researchers from the Institute for Nutritional Science at the University of Potsdam, the German Institute of Human Nutri- tion, Center for Conventional Medicine and Alternative Therapies (Berlin) Nutrinova Nutri- tion Specialties and Food Ingredients GmbH, and PhytoPharm Consulting, Institute for Phytopharmaceuticals GmbH conducted a study to evaluate carob’s effectiveness in lower- ing cholesterol. For a period of eight weeks, 47 volunteers with moderately high cholesterol levels (232– 302 mg/dL) were fed 15 g of carob per day in breakfast cereal, fruit grain bars, and a drink made from powdered carob pulp as supplements to their normal diet. After four weeks, the volunteers’ total cholesterol levels fell an average of 7 percent and their LDL (low density lipoprotein—“bad” cholesterol) levels fell an average 10.6 percent. At six weeks, the numbers were 7.8 percent and 10.6 percent. There was no effect on HDLs (high density lipoproteins, a.k.a. “good” cholesterol).... carob
Requirements. Basin, towel, kettle of water, piece of cotton wool, oilcloth, binder and safety pins. Method: Place towel across basin; lay flannel on towel and press down. Pour on hot herbal infusion, decoction or tincture and thoroughly soak. Bring together ends of the towel and twist hands in opposite directions to squeeze out surplus fluid. Untwist towel, free the flannel, shake it out and apply direct to the skin. Smear affected skin with olive oil before application. Add a layer of cotton wool; cover with plastic or oilskin; bind in position and pin securely. Moisten compress when dry, every half hour or less.
Herbs commonly used: Chickweed, Comfrey, Elder, Linseed, Fenugreek seeds, Irish Moss, Marigold, Marshmallow, Mullein, Plantain, Slippery Elm, German Chamomile, Hounds Tongue. ... compresses
Causes: constipation, sluggish liver, grumbling appendix, pregnancy, etc. Underlying cause must be treated. Pilewort and Stone root are key remedies.
Alternatives. Teas from any of the following: Butcher’s Broom, Balmony, Bilberry, Beth root, Bistort, Comfrey, Cranesbill, Figwort, Ground Ivy, Horsechestnut, Ladies Mantle, Nettles, Oak bark, Pilewort, Plantain, Silverweed, Stone root, Tormentil, Wild Yam, Witch Hazel, St John’s Wort.
Alternative formulae. Tea. (1) Equal parts, Yarrow, Witch Hazel leaves, German Chamomile. (2) Equal parts, Yarrow, Pilewort, Mullein. (3) Equal parts, Plantain, Figwort, Pilewort. 1-2 teaspoons to each cup boiling water; infuse 15 minutes. Half-1 cup thrice daily before meals.
Tablets/capsules. Pilewort. Cranesbill. Wild Yam. Blue Flag root.
Powders. Formula. Equal parts, Pilewort 1; Figwort 1; Stone root half. Dose: 500mg (two 00 capsules or one-third teaspoon) thrice daily.
Tinctures. Formula. Butternut 1; Figwort 1; Cascara quarter. One 5ml teaspoon in water thrice daily. Alternative: Combine Hawthorn 2; Stone root 1. Dose: 30-60 drops in water thrice daily.
Enema. Strong infusion of Raspberry leaves: 2oz to 2 pints boiling water. Steep 20 minutes, strain. Improves with addition of 5 drops Tincture Myrrh.
Suppositories. 1 part Liquid Extract Witch Hazel or German Chamomile to 5 parts Cocoa butter. Ointments: Pilewort, Chickweed, Figwort, Aloe Vera, Horse Chestnut, Houseleek.
Psyllium seeds (light) (Ispaghula) increases bulk of the stools making them softer and easier to pass.
To alleviate itching and assist healing: insert into the anus fresh peeled Aloe Vera or Houseleek. Alternatives: make a paste of quarter of a teaspoon of any of the following powders with few drops of milk: Comfrey, Pilewort, Stone root and apply externally, holding in position with a binder.
Vitamin E capsules. Piles that had resisted all other forms of treatment rapidly cleared. Insert one capsule into rectum night and morning.
Diet: Low salt, low fat, high fibre.
Supplements. Vitamins A, B-complex, B6, C, and E. Calcium. Zinc.
Supportives. Sitz bath. Sponge anus with cold water. ... haemorrhoids
BCG innoculation may produce tuberculous ulceration; deep X-ray therapy a characteristic rash; steroids a redness of the face, thinning of the skin and easy bruising.
Sufferers from psoriasis and other chronic skin disorders experience a worsening of the condition with possible pus formation. “The Pill” has been responsible for erythema nodosum (red patches and nodules) as well as vaginal candidiasis. Some drugs cause shingles. Skin looks as if it is scalded. Internally, the mucous membranes may be seriously eroded.
As the liver is responsible for breaking down foreign substances in the body, most prescriptions contain at least one liver remedy. One for the lymphatic system is also advised. Effective antidote to drug intoxication: Nux vomica, which is given by a practitioner.
By their specific action on liver, spleen and glandular system certain plant medicines stimulate those vital organs to eliminate drug poisons. They include alteratives: Yellow Dock, Echinacea, Blue Flag. Carefully combined herbal medicine can offer something constructive before it is too late.
Alternatives. Teas. Alfalfa, Nettles, Figwort, Violet leaves, Betony, Mullein. 1-2 teaspoons to each cup of boiling water; infuse 10-15 minutes; dose, 1 cup thrice daily.
Tablets/capsules. As available: Echinacea, Blue Flag root, Dandelion, Devil’s Claw, Red Clover, Seaweed and Sarsaparilla, Burdock, Queen’s Delight, Garlic.
Formula. Goldenseal quarter; Poke root half; Echinacea 2. Doses. Powders: one-third teaspoon. Liquid extracts 30-60 drops. Tinctures: 1-2 teaspoons. In water or honey thrice daily; 2-hourly for acute cases. Topical. Evening Primrose oil, Aloe Vera gel or fresh juice, Jojoba. Ointments: Chickweed, Comfrey or Marshmallow. Use of lanolin-based ointments is discouraged.
Diet. Accept: whole grains, meat, organ meats, molasses, wheatgerm, dessicated liver, green leafy vegetables, legumes, citrus fruits, broccoli, green peppers, cold-pressed vegetable oils, sweet potato. Reject: red meat, ham, pork, bacon, white sugar, alcohol, nuts.
Supplements. Vitamin A, B-complex, B2, B6, B12, Folic acid, C, D, E (500iu). ... iatrogenic disease
Constituents: coumarins, butyric acid, volatile oil.
Action: antibiotic (mild), diaphoretic, expectorant, anti-catarrhal, emmenagogue, carminative, diuretic (mild), sedative, antispasmodic.
Uses: flatulent dyspepsia, anorexia, rheumatism, gout, absent or painful menses, mild feverishness in children, renal dropsy (mild), cystitis.
Locally: as a gargle for tonsillitis; mouth wash for mouth ulcers BHP (1983).
Combinations. With Agrimony for indigestion. With Buchu for renal dropsy. With Raspberry leaves for menstrual disorders. Usually combined with other diuretics.
Preparations: Average dose: half-2g. Thrice daily.
Decoction. Half-1 teaspoon to each cup water gently simmered 15 minutes. Dose: one-third-1 cup.
Liquid Extract: 5-30 drops in water.
Oil used in aromatherapy and perfumes.
LOZENGE. A compressed tablet for sucking in the mouth for inflammatory conditions of throat, mouth and chest. Usually has a base of sugar, a demulcent (Comfrey, Marshmallow root, Slippery Elm, Tolu, or Balm of Gilead), together with a binder, such as gum acacia or gum tragacanth. Recipe for simple lozenge: half an ounce (15g) powdered herb; half an ounce sugar; powdered gum 1 teaspoon (3g). Pure spring water – a sufficiency. Mix into a paste, thin-out the mass and press out lozenges with small gauge mould and dry. ... lovage