Africa, out of the seven continents of the world is known to have the most impoverished populace either due to hunger which is a fallout of drought and wars or diseases mostly due to the inadequate primary healthcare system. Ironically, she has the greatest potential in terms of arable lands yet mostly uncultivated not to talk of the high survival rate of life-saving plants which have been neglected by the black race but harnessed by the Caucasians.
Seeing the high mortality rate in Africa vividly brings to mind, the question from the Holy Bible “Is there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people?”. This quote forms the basis of this article as no Black family in Nigeria can categorically say she has not lost a loved one untimely, to one ailment or the other. In the year 2000, I lost a brother who had a very promising future at the age of 18 in rather unclear medical miseries. His demise triggered off another health challenge in my mother as she began to cough that even when she managed to fall asleep, she would be rattled by the cough that she will be forced to stay awake. As if that was not enough, she started experiencing High Blood pressures so occasionally that her faith was almost threatened since she had to resume taking orthodox medication, something she had stopped for more than 8 years before that incident. Her case became synonymous with that of the woman in the bible who was described to have suffered a lot in the hands of physicians as the prescriptions had no end.
In 2008, I was with some Chinese at an eatery in Lagos and before the meal was brought, a full plate of garlic was served. Even as I held them in derision, these gentlemen were patient enough to educate me on the health benefits of this often overlooked wonder onion. I was told about the high propensity of this bulb in fighting diseases and relaxing the arteries hence reducing the effects of High blood pressure amongst several other health uses. They further went as far as telling me the wonders of ginger, bitter kola and green tea even the often overlooked Lipton tea that most of us see to be tasteless and would rather prefer to buffer it up with sugar and milk instead of taking it just the way it is. It was indeed the greatest health lesson I have ever had in my life and I always bless God for the opportunity I had to sit with these men.
Fast-forward to 2017 Nov. I called my mother to check the state of her welfare since my father, our patriarch passed on in 2016, as her own health had become a serious concern and she said she had resolved to manage her health status the way it was. This brought me into a prayerful mood and deep meditation wherein the Chinese lecture at that eatery in Lagos flashed into my mind. Secondly, I came across my mother-in-law’s friend who had just survived a life-threatening battle with cancer by avoiding cooked meals but only dwelled on blended carrots for several months. She stayed true and fervent to this therapy and even after her recovery, she still prefers it while taking garlic and ginger as supplements.
I called my mom and shared with her the story above, that she should be on fruities alongside garlic and ginger for 8 months minimum and her cough will be a thing of the past and most especially flee from oily foods but she just would not listen to me. Then after two months, her health deteriorated to the point of being admitted to the hospital and lo and behold, the prescription came in again and this time almost took her life! It was then she resolved to eat garlic, ginger and more fruity whilst fleeing from the oily cooked foods and drinking more warm water and tea. In two months, my mother stopped coughing with her body fully energized to the extent that when I saw her at a family friend’s occasion bubbling and supervising activities as against her recent self, I resolved that this story should be told to every Nigerian and Africa to enjoy full vitality.
There are countless of online publications on garlic, bitter kola, ginger and fruits and I encourage everyone to partake in this era of full health vitality as there is indeed Balm in Gilead.
