Parsley is like a Multi-vitamin - a powerhouse of nutrition. Older
folks will remember when you used to eat out, there was usually a big
spring of Parsley on your plate. The smart ones ate it.
Parsley Contains high levels of beta
carotene, vitamin B12, chlorophyll, calcium, more vitamin C than citrus
fruits, and just about all other known nutrients.
Physiologically: restores digestion,
supports the liver, kidneys and adrenal glands, purifies blood and body fluids.
Health Benefits
Parsley helps the body’s defensive mechanisms, it
chokes
out negative bacteria. A great immune booster.
Parsley is just like an immune-enhancing multi-vitamin and mineral
complex in green plant form. It is one of the most important herbs for
providing vitamins to the body. Parsley is made up of proteins (20 per
cent), flavonoids (maintain blood cell membranes, antioxidant helper),
essential oils, iron, calcium, phosphorus, manganese, inositol,
sulphur, vitamin K, beta carotene, and especially vitamin C.
Parsley is a ‘warming’ food, pungent with a slightly bitter, salty
flavor. It is moistening, nourishing and restoring. In addition to
providing essential nutrients, it balances and stimulates the energy of
organs, improving their ability to assimilate and utilize nutrients.
• Parsley enriches the spleen and stomach, thus
improving digestion.
• It enriches the liver, thus nourishing the blood
and body fluids.
• It benefits the kidneys and uterus and has a
beneficial effect on the adrenal glands.
The high vitamin C, beta carotene, B12, chlorophyll and essential fatty
acid content render parsley an extraordinary immunity enhancing food.
If you want to boost your immune system,
then parsley is the answer.
Valuable Nutrients
Parsley contains particularly high
levels of the following nutrients:
*Beta carotene - It is an
adequate source of beta carotene, which the body needs for the correct
use of protein. This nutrient will benefit the liver and also protect
the lungs and colon.
*Chlorophyll - Parsley
is abundant in chlorophyll, thus purifying and inhibiting the spread of
bacteria, fungi and other organisms. When tested in laboratory
research, chlorophyll from parsley showed slight anti-bacterial and
anti-fungal activity. Thus, it may be used to enhance immune response
and to relieve mucus congestion,
sinusitis and other ‘damp’ conditions. A food which exhibits
anti-bacterial activity can, therefore, aid digestive activity.
Gastrointestinal organ function is not choked by negative organisms.
Parsley may be used medicinally in cases of cystitis, since it has an
anti-bacterial effect, and the ability to flush out waste. Chlorophyll,
high in oxygen, also
suppresses viruses and helps
the lungs to discharge residues from environmental pollution.
*Vitamin B12 Parsley contains
traces of B12 producing compounds. Such compounds are needed for the
formation of red blood cells and normal cell growth, important for
fertility pregnancy, immunity and the prevention of degenerative
illness. The action of vitamin B12, however, is inhibited by birth
control pills, antibiotics, intoxicants, stress, sluggish liver, and
excess bacteria or parasites in the colon or digestive tracts. Parsley
helps to counteract these inhibitors.
* Fluorine - Fluorine is
an important nutritional component abundantly found in parsley.
Fluorine has an entirely different molecular structure from
chemically-produced fluoride. Tooth decay results from a shortage of
fluorine, not fluoride. It is the combination of calcium and fluorine
which creates a very hard protective surface on teeth and bones.
Fluorine also protects the body from
infectious invasion, germs and viruses.
*Essential Fatty Acids -
Parsley is also a source of alpha-linolenic acid, an important
essential fatty acid that is too frequently deficient in today's diets.
The Therapeutic Benefits
Digestion
Parsley is an excellent digestion restorative remedy. It promotes
intestinal absorption, liver assimilation and storage. A vast majority
of people today have weakened digestive function and impaired toxin
elimination, Therefore, any extra help in that area is a welcome
addition. Because of its high enzyme content, parsley benefits
digestive activity and elimination. The parsley root in particular
strengthens the spleen, and can, therefore, treat malabsorption, bad
breath, weight loss, loose stools, anorexia and fatigue. It also
improves the digestion of proteins and fats.
Liver
In the Manual of Pharmacology, physicians claimed that parsley is very
effective in remedying liver disease. It enriches the liver and
nourishes the blood. Parsley helps reduce liver congestion, clearing
toxins and aiding rejuvenation. Stamina loss and low resistance to
infection, point to a sluggish liver. This can manifest itself in blood
deficiencies, fatigue, a pale complexion and poor nails, dizzy spells,
anemia and mineral depletion. In women, parsley improves estrogen and
nourishes and restores the blood of the uterus. Conditions like delayed
menstruation, PMS, and the menopause (dry skin, irritability,
depression and hair loss) can often improve.
Kidneys
Parsley is effective for nearly all kidney and urinary complaints. It
improves kidney activity. Parsley is not a treatment for severe kidney
inflammation, but it can help eliminate wastes from the blood and
tissues of the kidneys. It prevents salt from being reabsorbed into the
body tissues; thus parsley literally forces debris out of the kidneys,
liver and bladder. It helps improve edema and general water retention,
fatigue and scanty or painful urination. It has been used to help with
dissolving of gall stones and in cases of gout.
Note:
I started making Green Smoothies with organic baby spinach and fresh
parsley on "Smoothie" cycle in blender with a little cold water and
some fruits - banana, individual serving size of applesauce, grapes,
Clementine oranges, whatever I had on hand. When I didn't feel
like making a smoothie, cut a
amount off bunch of parsley with scissors, washed and put on our plates
to eat. The first time I drank my Green Smoothie, within an hour, I
could feel my bronchial tubes opening up......very good!
Green Smoothie is mixture
of 40 % greens - I like baby spinach and parsley and 60% fruit -
whatever kind you like - put in blender on "Smoothie" cycle - drink 2-3
cups a day or whenever you feel like a smoothie. We share a blender
batch which is about 2 cups for each of us. Don't make it everyday, not
even every week. There are all kinds of variations on the web - just
google Green Smoothie. For older people, blending the veggies helps to
digest them better.
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