Hello, I'm Eliseo Cheo Torres, administrator and professor at the University of New Mexico. And today, we have a part of a series of classes that you will be enjoying on traditional medicine of Mexico and the Southwest and with us is Dr. Tomas Enos. Tomas, welcome. We're glad to have you. Dr. Enos is a good friend of mine, and is part of the summer course on curanderismo that we teach every July on the University of New Mexico campus. He's also a PhD, a doctor of ethnobotany medicine, and has done a lot of research. A lot of his work has been in Oaxaca, Mexico with curanderos. Now he's the owner and President of Milagro Herbs in Santa Fe New Mexico where he has a number of preparation of herbs, he offers classes, short classes and at eight months classes. Eight months or eight weeks, Tomas? >> Eight months. >> Eight months so it's intensive. If any of you are interested in taking a long course, or a short course. And we're so glad he's here to share with us some of his wonderful knowledge of traditional medicine, especially medicinal plants. So, Tomas, it's all yours and thank you for being here. >> Thanks for inviting me, yeah. I'll be talking about some of our native medicines and the history of herbal medicine in the Southwest United States. We have a very interesting history here, dating back thousands of years, using native plants that are indigenous to this area. And then over time, as population has changed and culture's changed, we have the Spanish influence, and some European medicines from Spain and North Africa. And then we have other herbs that came from other parts of the world, the Orient and from Central Asia. This plant, this root is from Yerba mansa and in Mexico, it's known as and a fantastic plant that grows along our small streams and rivers. And we gather this in the fall and dry it and we make some really fantastic remedies that are anti inflammatory. Very good for stomach upset, any kind of inflammation of the stomach area, the colon, and in the throat. And so we boil the tea and have the person drink that for two or three times a day. And it's so interesting that our traditions are cross-cultural because the border with Mexico is just a fine line and the cultures. And the uses of plants are very similar between New Mexico and Old Mexico. And or Yerba mansa is one of our more well known plants. A very beautiful white flower grows on the top. And we know where it grows every year, and are very fortunate to be able to use that. Secondly, we use a lot of the pine pitch from the pinyon pine, which is our native pine tree. It's a desert pine tree. And the pitch is used and ground up in a lot of topical remedies, in a salve or an ointment for all kinds of wounds where there are rashes or cuts or possible infection. And so when I gather this remedy, this sap, I go around to the pine trees and there'll be dry sap on the side. And I pull that off, and take it back and grind it up. And it's known in New Mexico as [FOREIGN] and we use quite a lot of that as well, very, very good antibiotic topically. Third, we have here another shrub that grows in our desert southwest, it's in English called a silk tassel or in the native language. It's a shrub that grows prolifically and in dry lands and has very green kind of resiny tough leaves like a lot of desert plants. And silk tassels are a fantastic plant for any kind of cramping. So stomach cramps, or intestinal cramps, menstrual cramps. We use this quite often. We'll use it as a tea, it's a little bitter. Or we'll make an extract using water and alcohol to extract the elements into a liquid such as these. This is a liquid extract made with different plants. So instead of drinking tea the person can drink what's called a tincture. Maybe 40 drops 2, 3 times a day depending on the remedy. That's where we make a recommendation as herbalists, what amount of the plant should be taken, and what time of day, and how often, and so forth. So silk tassel is really fantastic plant, and grows abundantly in our desert southwest area. This root is called osha, a very famous plant from our area of the world, grows up very high in the mountains, above 8,000 feet, and it's in the parsley family. So the leaves look like parsley and the flower top looks like a kind of a carrot top, they're all related. In Mexico and New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, California, we use this plant a lot for viruses and for bacterial infections, particularly having to do with the lungs and the stomach. It's kind of a spicy flavor. And when it comes to the fall and the cold weather sets in, most people carry around a little bit of the root in their pocket to chew on in case of possible cold and to prevent a cold from coming on. And in Mexico the name is chuchupate. It's a very beautiful plant, very strong plant. And we a lot of times will make liquid extracts or we'll steep it in honey for people to taste a little bit, to prevent colds. And we also put it in ointments to rub on the body in case there's some cold areas of the body that need to be warmed up. Even our desert cowboys use this root. They'll carry a little piece of it in their pockets or in their boots to ward off rattle snakes is the folklore. And I've carried one around for years and I've never seen a rattle snake where I've seen them before. So there must be some truth to that folklore. Nonetheless, it's been tested many times and been used for thousands of years by our native peoples. And we've found it very effective against the flu, or colds, or head congestion, and allergies. So this is a fantastic plant to have on hand. Most people have this in their emergency kit at home just in case they need a remedy that will fight off any kind of infection. Next, we have, of course, aloe vera. This is an aloe vera leaf. Also known in Spanish as sabila, the plant that knows all and it cures all. And of course the gel inside this leaf here is really where the healing properties are. It's very Jello like and grows in hotter areas of Southern Arizona, Southern New Mexico, and South Texas. So we'll peel off a leaf and scrape out the gel and then drink it for any kind of stomach inflammation. And then, of course, topically for sunburn or skin rashes, anything where there's a hot condition. So a lot of our traditional medicines operate on the premise of knowing whether the ailment is either hot or cold. And then we can design and recommend the right plant accordingly. So aloe vera is used very much, very frequently, for hot conditions. You can find it in your health food store, of course. This plant is known as a desert sage, Artemisia tridentata, and sage brush and it smells like sage, a very strong smell. And we use that for stomach ailments, stomach parasites, and also, infections of many kinds, it's very soothing and aromatic. And it's a very effective plant against infections. So a lot of times, we'll take baths in this plant to assist in arthritis, removing arthritis from the body, and helping in pain remedy. Our next plant is called the creosote bush, gobernadora in Spanish, and also known as chaparral. It's very aromatic, very strong smell to it, and very bitter. So this one helps people with liver conditions and also with pain and arthritis. But when there's some kind of digestive problem in the stomach or the liver or gallbladder we recommend chaparral. With all these plants, you need to talk to someone who's very well schooled in how to use them, and how often to use them, and how to prepare them. Because that makes all the difference in how the remedy works. So for chaparral we always recommend a very kind of what we call a weak tea, not a very strong tea. We don't steep it very long because it's so strong. We only steep is for a couple of minutes and then drink it two or three times a day to get the most effective medicine from it. Chaparral grows super abundantly in our desert southwest for thousands of acres and it's very plentiful and very effective. Next we have here, of course, when of our more famous plants of the southwest is the chili pepper. And we actually have a native chili pepper, this little round berry here is a hot pepper. And we call it in Spanish. And it's a native berry that's very, very hot. And it's ground up a lot of times into a powder and sprinkled on food. Or we'll make an oil from it and steep in an oil or a vinegar to use on salads or onto meat, or beans, or other dishes that we cook with vegetables. And these are other varieties of chilis of course, these are cayenne peppers, which are all related to this chili here. Which has been growing in a native desert for thousands of years before people even grew peppers, this pepper was growing on bushes. Big bushes from all over the desert. And mostly in Southern Arizona and South Texas. And of course chilis are hot and so they're very good for cold conditions. So we eat a lot of hot pepper in the fall, and in the winter, when it's cold out, to keep us warm and keep our circulation healthy. And of course, they found hot peppers to be very effective for the heart, for heart conditions, where there's a weak heart and poor circulation. And believe it or not also for digestive problems where there's maybe sluggish digestion and we need to speed up the digestive process. So it's very clearing and should be used with caution, but it's very effective on a lot of cold conditions. Also, topically, we'll rub it on for sore muscles and sore joints. Because the warmth really helps the person move easier when their bodies are cold or if it's in the middle of winter. The last three plants I have here are mainly from our European influence that came later on, mostly from the 1600s on. We've got rosemary, oregano, and lavender. They all came from Europe with the Spanish and grow abundantly in the Mediterranean. And they've adapted very well to our desert climate. So with a small amount of water and lots of sunshine, these plants really thrive. And they have a great aroma that I wish you could smell here on camera. But these are fantastic, of course, culinary plants, but also used as medicinal plants. So rosemary grows all over the Mediterranean and now grows very easily in Southern New Mexico, Southern Arizona, California, and Texas. And grows into a very large shrub and rosemary is for remembrance. And a lot of information's coming out now that rosemary leaves and rosemary leaf tea or rosemary extract is very effective in preventing memory loss. So a lot of people are interested in that and preventing loss of memory, and dementia, and Alzheimer's. And one of the main plants that we recommend is rosemary to be used every day on a regular basis, maybe one cup of tea or at least used on the food in cooking and used on a long-term. It's also helps prevent infections. So it's antioxidant and used very effectively for skin conditions and also hair conditions. So it makes a great hair rinse and helps the scalp to heal when there's a rash in the scalp. Next, we have oregano. Of course, a lot of us have heard about oregano used in food in Italian cooking for pizzas and pastas and all kinds of foods. We use it a lot in our southwest cuisine, but it also has antibacterial qualities and prevents infections and helps to remove infections from the body. So oregano oil or oregano leaf is very, very good for any kind of infection, be it a throat cold or a stomach problem, anywhere where there's some type of infection that would be compromising to a person. And probably the best way to take oregano on a regular basis is to put in your food, into salad dressings, into sauces, and any number of dishes. And last I have lavender, this beautiful purple flower here is the flower of lavender. And there are many varieties of lavender that are cultivated now and are desert climate. Lavender grows very well and very large and we have lots of the flowers available for us. So other than the aroma, which is an anti-depressant and very pleasant to have around the home. Lavender flowers are also very good for infections as well. So we use it in a mouth rinse for gum problems, for tooth problems. It's anti-septic and it also has an ability to numb pain, so it's very good when there's a toothache. And when there's a problem with any kind of digestive problem. So a tea of just a few flowers makes a very delightful tea to drink after a meal to help settle the stomach. And also to stop any kind of gaseousness or any kind of problem where there's compromised digestion. So lavender's used quite extensively here, and of course came from the Mediterranean originally, but now is naturalized along with oregano and rosemary. So they've become naturalized to our area. And chili peppers are grown extensively in New Mexico, so we have a wide variety of chilis available to us and we use them quite a lot in our herbal traditions. And then the plants that I spoke about earlier are quite abundant in nature and we have a lot of open space here where these plants grow. And that are abundant from Northern New Mexico all the way into Mexico. So a lot of the plants are well known in our traditional herbal medical field. So that's what I have to offer as far as the herbal trade goes. There are many products available on the market today, you can order tonics, tinctures. I have here a cream that we make in our store in Santa Fe, and there a lot of different remedies available that could be beneficial for you. It's always good to have someone recommend the right product for you as you need it and as the occasion might come. So I hope you can use this information for your health benefit and that you can find some use for all this information. If you'd like more information, please go our website at milagroherbs.com and you'll find more information about the Latin names and the habitat that's available for these plants. Thank you. >> Doctor Enos, thank you for an excellent presentation. You have a lot of knowledge of herbs. In fact, you take students on herb walks, don't you? >> We take the students on herb walks through the mountains and the desert, and we stay out there and study the plants. >> Well, thank you so much, this has been very exciting. And thank you for being a professor in our summer class, also. >> Yeah, thank you. >> We appreciate it, so until next time, it's Dr. Tomas Enos talking to us about medicinal plants of the southwest. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> You bet.
