The peels of some citrus fruits are more nutrient-dense than the flesh
If you’ve been trying to keep yourself healthy this winter, you’ve probably researched some of the astonishing benefits of Vitamin D and its effects on the upper respiratory tract. The claim that we don’t have a cold and flu season, but rather a Vitamin D deficiency season, is heavily corroborated in this lecture done by an ENT physician to some colleagues, in which he references abundant peer-reviewed articles on the subject. (This was recorded July 2019 before wellness and therapeutics and such became controversial; if your internet browsing experience is like mine, you’ll likely have to wade through some sloppy fact-checkers first if you research this on your own, which I encourage you to do.)
It’s interesting the old photographs of tuberculosis patients in sanatoriums, wheeled outside on their beds because even in the early 1900s, doctors understood the correlation between exposure to sunlight – which is where the Vitamin D comes in – and healthy lungs.
At the end of this article, Vitamin D ties into the other remedies and immune support mentioned below.
“The Miracle Herb”: Nigella sativa
In my research of health preservation and immune boosters, I came across an article in a medical journal, published on the National Institute of Health’s web site, on the effectiveness of three herbal/natural extracts and how they affected the replication of coronavirus in lab tests. This article was from 2014. Three chemical extracts from plants and fruits were found to be effective, including Anthemis hyalina, Nigella sativa and Citrus sinensis to fight antimicrobial diseases (don’t let these Latin names scare you).
Later, I found a more recent article also published on the NIH web site entitled, “Revisiting pharmacological potentials of Nigella sativa seed: a promising option for COVID-19 prevention and cure.”
Nigella sativa can be purchased in the form of black cumin seed oil (I buy mine from Puritan’s Pride, and I receive zero compensation for mentioning that). Now this is not the same cumin that one uses for general cooking. N. sativa comes from a plant found abundantly in Southwest Asia and parts of Eastern Europe and Northern Africa, and has been used for thousands of years in traditional medicine. One group of doctors writing an extensive review of its history and treatments referred to it as “the miracle herb.”
Therapeutic Recipe
The citrus sinensis referred to in the medical journal is extracted from certain citrus fruits. Did you know that the peels of many fruits are more nutrient dense than the flesh?
Here is a recipe given to me by a medical professional for a therapeutic that I used when my husband and I were dealing with a viral illness recently.
Add the following to a slow cooker:
- 1 grapefruit peel
Keep the lid on tightly as you boil the peels.
- 1 lemon peel
- 2-3 orange peels
- four cups water
Boil for three hours with a tight-fitting lid (don’t let the vapor escape). Let cool, then strain liquid. Administer Adults: 1 TBSP, Children 1 tsp., daily.
Refrigerate remainder for up to three days or freeze.
*If possible, use organic fruit. Otherwise, be especially diligent about rinsing the fruit before you peel it. I used a vegetable scrubber. on mine as I ran it under the faucet. **Tip, roll the lemons on the counter under the palm of your hand to soften them.
The taste is potent. You can add honey to it or you can chase it with something tastier. I put it in my tea.
Going back to the Vitamin D, I find it fascinating that not only are Vitamin D and these natural extracts and herbs like Nigella sativa proving to be effective in combating viruses, there is an abundance of research in some of these medical articles and science sites suggesting that they are anti-cancer agents as well.
Along with the information in these findings, I hope the medical journals and lectures will be a springboard into your own research and path to wellness.
Happy Homesteading!
Enjoy the fruit itself as a snack, or add the lemon to your water or tea.
Resources Cited:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33047412/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32773257/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34407441/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3933739/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/citrus-peels
https://supplements.selfdecode.com/blog/synephrine/