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Miriam Kwari
Hello friends and welcome to this week’s edition of making your food, your medicine. Today we are right in the mouth, talking about gingivitis.
Gingivitis is a common disease nowadays with the many diets that we have which lack vitamin C and calcium. Gingivitis simply means, the inflammation of the gums. Symptoms of gingivitis include, swollen gums which are bright red coloured, with the whole mouth and teeth feeling achy. Most people also bleed when they brush their teeth. Gingivitis may be as a result of poor dental hygiene while at times it can be as a result of an over-acidic body system caused by eating too much protein. It is important to consult your dentist and they will help you or refer you to other specialist doctors in that field.
However, while waiting and preparing to do that, one can use a fall back on plan on herbs in order to alleviate the pain and to limit the spread of the infection. Herbs can be used internally and externally to help tone bleeding gums and swollen ones too. A vitamin C-deficiency needs to be corrected internally. Your dentist may get rid of the deposits on your teeth that are causing the problem, while you are in the meanwhile, taking herbs to strengthen and tighten your gum tissue to fight the infection before, during and after the dental treatment. That is why, you see, we always say herbals and conventional treatments complement each other Long ago, when we were growing up and going to herd cattle in the fields, we were lucky to be exposed to these sour leaves and roots that would be chewed on, raw.
On reflection, these chews helped cleanse our mouths of different sorts of infections and they cleansed our gut too. Our parents showed us these roots and leaves, specifically for cleansing the mouth. We would also use the stems for brushing our teeth. One would just remove the skin of a little stem and brush the teeth away to cleanliness.
It would not do you anyone harm, if you can still find these and use them for gingivitis infections. The roots maybe chewed on and the leaves used as bitters or warm gurgle. Do you remember, for instance that Mukute and Muchakata were used as tooth brushes?
Sourfig is a common flower in Zimbabwe which is in the succulent family. It may also be used for fighting infections in the gums and to stop the bleeding. One may take sourfig topically, in small doses as a rub on gums that are swollen and bleeding.
Method
◆ Rinse your mouth with cold water.
◆ It would be commendable to add some peppermint or spearmint to the water if is available. This brings us to the need to have that first aid kit in the kitchen, the spice rack, that carries all sorts of herbal spices.
◆ The peppermint or spearmint will help tighten your gum tissues
◆ Add some sour fig finger leaf into the mix, crushing it to ensure that the juicy liquid from the plant mixes well with the peppermint or spearmint.
◆ When the herbs have soaked in well enough, drain and use the liquid to disinfect and wash and tone your mouth. Keep the water/ juice in the mouth for some few minutes before spitting it all out. Some people like to use it as a gurgle too after adding a bit of coarse salt.
◆ A little clove oil may be used after the cleansing s finished. The clove oil will serve as an analgesic to help relieve some of the soreness.
Sourfig is therefore, a strong astringent herb that will help shrink swollen tissue and also to stop bleeding gums. There are people who have used it on its own by packing it into the mouth around the gums. They take advantage of its capacity to tighten, dry and restricting properties, to heal them.
Other uses for sour fig may include the those listed. However, one has to remember the need to know the right combinations and quantities for the different ailments.
◆ Leaf pulp and -juice contains tannins
◆ Antiseptic, Antibacterial, Anti-fungal
◆ Vasoconstrictor effect -reduce fluid loss from wounds and burns
◆ Enhance tissue regeneration in bleeding gums
◆ Apply pulp/juice: eczema, wounds, burns and to stop bleeding
◆ Gargle — infections mouth/ throat
◆ Treat ear/tooth ache and oral and vaginal thrush
◆ Chew and swallow juice to treat mouth/stomach ulcers, dysentery, digestive troubles, diarrhoea
◆ Tuberculosis relief when made as tea with gum leaves
◆ Rub juice against a babies gums when teething.
If your gingivitis is caused by over-acidity in the body, try and eliminate or rather lower high protein foods from your diet. I have always spoken of green juicing, and l recommend this at this stage. Green drinks, made from veggies are a good food supplement to heal gingivitis. They help neutralize body acids. Also remember to take on Graviola, sipping on the tea daily with your friends and family, making your food your medicine. Look after yourself and each other.
Online Reporter