Go Home and Plant Camote (A Cure for Dengue?)

Remember my daughter who was stricken by the deadly dengue fever last month? She's fine now, thanks be to God! We were lucky to have her detected and recovered fast. Last Sunday, my brother-in-law's former employee came to us and seek for some financial assistance since his son who is only 4 years old is confined at the San Lazaro Hospital due to (again) dengue fever. We know how hard his situation was because we had the first hand experience of the case.

Speaking of dengue, I would like to share this email message forwarded to me yesterday. I am not sure of the source but who cares, what matters now is to be able to share this and help others who have the same experience. Please read on:

Go Home and Plant Camote (A Cure for Dengue?)
By Bernardo Rocha Calibo
Director, National Police Commission 7
THERE is hope that the dengue scourge will be obliterated. I was in a meeting in Manila recently with other Napolcom officials. While waiting for my flight back to Cebu , I happened to talk with friends. The conversation eventually turned to dengue. Some of their statements shocked me. I called up the persons concerned and they confirmed these revelations.

Computer technician Wenceslao Salesale Jr., 27, was downed by dengue. His platelet count plunged from 180 to 80. He was rushed by ambulance from Novaliches to Manila . Inside the ambulance, a relative, acting upon the advice of a missionary priest, made him drink soup made from camote tops. The following day, his platelet count was normal.

Dengue attacked the 7-year-old daughter of engineers Mar and Lita Budlongan of Kaloocan City . Her platelet count read 80. The same treatment was used. The following day she was back to normal.

The 15-year-old daughter of businessman Nepomuceno Salaga of Sampaloc, Manila had a dangerous platelet count of 80 due to dengue. The same treatment was followed. The following day she was back in school.

I asked a doctor of medicine about herbal cures and he said that many, if not most, medicines come from plants. He also said that under the Hippocratic Oath, doctors are bound encourage anything that can cure a patient.

Research
We need not do research deep in the rainforests of the Amazon or venture into the ocean depths in search of the elusive cure for dengue. It is right there in the backyard.

The following information is from Wikipedia:

“In 1992, the Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fiber content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value. According to these criteria, sweet potatoes earned 184 points, 100 points over the next

on the list, the common potato (NCSPC).”

“…Sweet potato tops are excellent sources of antioxidative compounds, mainly polyphenolics, which may protect the human body from oxidative stress that is associated with many diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Sweet potato greens have the highest content of total polyphenolics among other commercial vegetables studied.

“Sweet potatoes contain protein, dietary fiber, lipid, and essential minerals and nutrients such as calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfur, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, aluminum and boron. Sweet potatoes are also important sources of vitamin A,thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and ascorbic acid.”

Camote

In the case of Salaga, he bought five sheaves (bugkos/ bigkis) of camote cuttings. Each sheaf consists of about 12 cuttings. Each cutting measures about one foot. A sheaf costs about P5.

Camote tops are boiled in water to extract the juice. The boiling lasts for about five minutes. A little salt is used to give flavor to it. The patient is made to drink slowly and gradually. The body’s immunity system is thus revived, making dengue helpless against the body’s natural defenses. Camote enables the body to heal itself.

Now you know why I earlier said that my friends’ revelations shocked me. They were shocking because people are needlessly dying all around us from dengue, while their very cure is also all around us.

In the past, many were fond of using the derogatory statement, “Go home and plant camote.

” Now, camote is big news. It can save lives. What could be bigger than that?

So, to fortify your family against dengue, “Go home and plant camote!”

(Engr. Lita Budiongan and Mr. Nepomuceno Salaga personally related to me their experiences with their respective daughters. I asked their permission to use their names.)

8 comments:

Yoolees said...

Hello... I just tagged you.. check it out at Space of Reality

Anonymous said...

Hello!

Nice to stumble upon your site. Thanks for popping into my site as well. I am also a Pinay living here in the UK.

Dito, mahal po ang camote. And i miss camote tops so much! Thanks for sharing this information.

Do come by my site again, please!

Aisha said...

This is really good information re dengue fever. I am amazed because one of the most deadly diseases of the country can only be cured with sweet potato leaves. :) Hope to see your wedding photos soon! God bless you!

Sreisaat said...

Hello Ramil, visiting from Liza's (Moms, Check Nyo) blog...
This is interesting - the saying "go home and plant camote" has taken on a new meaning! I remember my teacher reprimanding a classmate who got a failing score in one of our tests - sabi niya, umuwi ka na lang at magtanim ng kamote. Sad, ano?

Liz said...

hi ramil. thanks for visiting. hindi naman all women blog yun hahaha. nagkaton lang ang usual visitors ko eh women ;)

Liz said...

oh ayan, para mafeel mo naman na men-friendly din ang site ko, i'm tagging you ;)

http://mlizcochico.blogspot.com/2008/03/tha-friendsgip-chain.html

SheR. said...

We're scared of Dengue Fever in Singapore too. Especially when one gets bitten by a mosquito. Hope they find a way to exterminate the aedes mosquito!

Nicasio Martinez said...

16 March 2012 and people are still dying in ever increasing numbers-- why? Is it a case of; "I believe help my unbelief"? Many of my cynical friends will always trust in what the pros say, and they will have the standard outdated treatments for worse and worser. When my wife's teen son contracted dengue, we advised the doctor to let him drink camote tea, he consented. Three days Kim was ready for discharge but they kept him an additional two days until we paid the total bill in cash. People talk a good game when the sun is shinning on them, but one day, they may have to remember what we told them about camote, papaya leaf extract, neem, and the one to use with caution tawa tawa. I to blog on this DF heartbreak disease at www.senior1938voice.wordpress.com....