Cassia: a Key Food and a Natural Purgative


"You have given me, Madam, the
post of consultant doctor in your
house.  I am unworthy of this....  You
and I have...prevented illnesses with
a little (cassia)....  I cook it very
little.  It has an enhanced effect when
it is not cooked.  I am quite in favour
of these little remedies called 'minor-
itives' which we owe to the Arabs,
from whom we have inherited our
medicine and our almanacs.  I often
have recourse to the domestic purga-
tive, sometimes (cassia), sometimes
rhubarb, and I make bold to say that
it is not for nothing that the earth is
covered with such fruits".

  (Letter from Voltaire dated April
19, 1775 to Madam Du Deffand, who
asked his advice on the matter of her
health.)

	Cassia is the fruit of a plant that is found in most tropical
countries.  In appearance, it has the form of rods with a length of about
50 cm. and a diameter of 2 cm.  This fruit if very useful for
detoxification because it facilitates the elimination of toxins via the
biliary and intestinal route.  In particular, it triggers a biliary
release and activates intestinal peristalsis.  It is useful to utilize
cassia in the initial months of a natural diet in order to assist the
detoxification processes which dump toxins into the blood.  The
depurative virtues of cassia have long been known.  It is widely used in
Africa to counteract constipation, and there is even a manufactured
medication, called Pursennide, based on the active ingredient in cassia.
According to the brochure of the laboratory that manufactures this
medication, cassia is particularly indicated in the event of constipation
during infectious illness.  But how does cassia facilitate detoxification
and trigger the elimination of all kinds of abnormal material from the
body?  The exact mechanism is not known, but it appears that cassia acts
to permit large proteins to cross the intestinal membrane in order to
pass from the blood into the colon.  Cassia is a natural food which can
play a crucial role in the early stages of a raw food diet in order to
facilitate the detoxification processes.

	Between six and eight hours after cassia has been ingested, its
laxative effect manifests in the form of diarrhea which is abundant but
not painful.  Cassia is an original or natural food, and therefore your
body will provide some signal as to whether you should eat it, and in
what quantity.  When the body has need of this substance, it acquires the
delicious taste of chocolate, of coffee or of liquorice.  Oddly enough,
the natural form of cassia even suggests its use as a true original
medication: the tablets (that are edible) are enclosed withind a tube
(the outer pod) and, with the help of instinct, the dosage is provided on
the inside: the patient continues to eat for as long as the taste is
attractive.  It is enough to suck the pulp of the tablets, and to spit
out the central cartilage.  The result is a marvellous taste which, far
from poisoning the body, actually carries out detoxification.  It is
important, however, not to take too much cassia, especially at the
beginning.  The doses should be small at first, and gradually increased
until the point is reached where the regulation becomes instinctive.
This prevents excessive diarrhea.

typed by bodhi from
		    _maximize_immunity_
					by bruno comby
							(c) 1994