Make your own Aspirin

The average adult who is about 40 years old must have used Aspirin at one point or the other, especially in managing body pains, fever and inflammation.

In recent times, researchers even claim that the drug could also be used to treat or prevent heart attacks, strokes, and chest pain (angina). It is also an ingredient in many teething gels.

They also note that, under the supervision of a competent physician, Aspirin could be used for cardiovascular conditions — that is a class of diseases that involve the heart and the blood vessels (arteries, capillaries, and veins).

Again, a study published in the scientific journal, Lancet, notes that Aspirin not only lowered the incidence of colon cancer among the subjects used for an experiment, but it also lowered the mortality from other common cancers.

The researchers also suggested that in people with an initial diagnosis of cancer, Aspirin decreased the frequency of the spread of their cancers (metastasis).

But while this class of drug could be indicated in the treatment of a wide array of health issues, not everyone can tolerate it, hence the fatal reaction that some users sometimes experience.

A General Practitioner, Dr. Tomi Abegunde, warns against using Aspirin if you have a bleeding disorder such as haemophilia, a recent history of stomach or intestinal bleeding, or if you are allergic to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

She also says the medication must not be administered on a child or teenager who has a fever, flu symptoms, or chicken pox.

Worse still, she notes, when used by children, Aspirin can cause Reye’s syndrome — a potentially fatal disease that affects many body organs, especially the brain and liver; and it may also cause a lower than usual level of blood sugar (hypoglycemia).

She warns that the classic features of Aspirin intolerance include rashes, vomiting, and, in extreme cases, liver damage; and that those who are in the habit of combining drugs, especially the ones doctors have not recommended, stand the risk of fatal reactions.

Abegunde says “this is because when over-the-counter painkillers are mixed, chronic, long-term health problems can result.”

She advises those who have asthma, stomach ulcers, liver disease, kidney disease, bleeding or blood clotting disorder, heart disease, high blood pressure, or congestive heart failure, among others, must seek and obtain doctor’s permission before popping this drug.

For an expectant mom, Abegunde says, Aspirin may be harmful to an unborn baby’s heart, it may reduce birth weight or have other dangerous effects.

And for lactating mothers, she warns that the medication could pass into breast milk and thus harm a nursing baby. She says to play safe, you should not breast-feed while using this medicine.

Better than Aspirin

A Chiropractor and Chairman, Natural Health Practitioners in Nigeria, Prof. Magnus Atilade, notes that in line with global practices that now tend towards disease prevention instead of management, in addition to nourishing the body, eating fresh foods that contain natural Aspirin holds diseases, pain and infections at bay, thereby allowing you to live optimally.

An online portal, allergyuk.org, advises that salicylates (a major ingredient of Aspirin and other pain-relieving medications) in foods may be important for the prevention of cancer and heart disease.

In general, researchers say, the simple chemical, salicylates, are found naturally in plants. They are also found in many fruits and vegetables, as well as in many common health and beauty products.

Dark green apples

Generally, apples are considered the world’s healthiest food. A research scientist, Robert Hatherill, notes that in addition to the numerous health benefits that are accruable from eating apples, some preliminary results show the fruit’s benefits for several different cancer types (especially colon and breast cancers).

Researchers also claim that though many studies show an impressive ability of overall fruit and/or vegetable intake to lower lung cancer risk, very few individual fruit shows up as protective against lung cancer as do apples.

Other fruits

Researchers at the Human Nutrition Unit, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, led by Dr. Anne R. Swain, opine that most fruits contain considerable amounts of salicylates. They say raisins and prunes have the highest amounts, while most berry fruits are significant sources of the chemical.

While apples reportedly show considerable variation of salicylate content between varieties, the researchers give dried fruits thumbs-up, saying they have relatively high salicylate contents, compared with their fresh counterparts.

“This is because of the removal of water during the drying process,” Swain says.

And as strong as this chemical is, the researchers note that even heat processing for canning foods that contain salicylates does not seem to affect appreciably the salicylate content of fruit.

Within the vegetable group, they say, salicylate content varies widely among raw foods such as dried beans, green cabbage, celery, lentils, lettuce, and dried peas.

“While fresh tomatoes contain only small amounts of salicylates, many commonly used tomato products such as canned tomato, tomato sauce, and tomato ketchup are considerable sources of salicylates,” Swain says.

Condiments

Some of the herbs and spices we use in cooking contain much more salicylates than has previously been reported for any food, researchers claim. Says Swain, “We found that curry powder contains 218mg salicylates per 100g. Others almost as high were paprika, thyme, dill powder, oregano and turmeric.”

Other foods

According to scientists, other foods that contain high levels of salicylates include soya sauce, tea (except fruit and camomile tea), coffee, dried herbs and spices, black pepper, cherries, strawberries, fruit juices, cider, wine, peppermints and liquorice.

Others are peanuts, avocados, blueberries, dates, peaches, grapes, and grapefruit.

Vegetables such as cucumbers, mushrooms, broad beans, eggplant, spinach, broccoli, and hot peppers are also rich in salicylates.

So, eat on!