The witches of Macbeth evidently thought highly of eye of newt and toe of frog. But can a case be made we should take newt eye and frog toe for our cll? Absolutely. A fair argument can be made that eye of newt and toe of frog can cure just about anything that ails you.
Lets start with eye of newt. I think many scientists and doctors would agree that eye of newt can relieve headaches, improve digestion, make us younger, lower blood sugar, boost heart health and, yes, fight cancer.
How about toe of frog? Toe of frog is great for arthritis and skin problems. But can it cure cancer? Sure it can. Toe of frog is known to have various medicinal phytometabolites that induce the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of cancer cells or enhance immune activities.
So, should you take eye of newt and/or toe of frog for your cll? I say that's up to you, your body, your choice. I would not recommend it though, even though I believe both do likely have some anti-cancer qualities. Aside from me not being qualified to suggest someone treat themselves, there is no proof how safe newt and frog is for humans and at what dose might be toxic.
I also think wool of bat, tongue of dog and adders fork all potentially have great health benefits. One might try making a tea out of wool of bat to treat pneumonia and flu. Tongue of dog is great for digestion and pain relief. Adders fork can treat gout, tumors and even be used as a contraceptives'.
And don't get me started on blind worms sting. Its a potential cure-all, I wouldn't be surprised to see it replace ivermectin for covid.
I suppose this could all be confusing for someone who is not an herbalist familiar with witches brews. Maybe I should have started by writing that all of the ingredients in the Macbeth witches brew are merely ancient terms for herbs, flowers and plants. It is conjectured that witches gave these plants odd and disturbing names to deter other people from practicing witchcraft.
Eye of newt is just a mustard seed (a newt is a salamander with a yellowish eye that looks like a mustard seed). Mustard seeds are known to have many health benefits.
Toe of frog refers to a buttercup, of all things. Maybe its stem looks like a frogs toe? Despite safety concerns, some holistic doctors use buttercup for all sorts of illnesses. Buttercups have these cancer fighting phytometabolites you might have read about.
Wool of bat is thought to mean holly leaves, tongue of dog refers to the toxic hounds tongue plant used to make some medicines, and blind worms sting is likely the wormwood plant (I used oxford comma here in a nod to Newdawn and Jackie, you know how Brits can be such grammar nerds).
One might argue that the witches of Macbeth were just into alternative medicine and preferred colorful names for all their medicinal herbs.
The point of this rambling parable type analogy is not to dismiss herbs and such as crackpot pseudo science remedies. I think there is real science to support the fact that many herbs and plants contain cancer fighting properties and other health benefits, green tea included.
But until they are proven safe and effective in humans, anyone advising me to take x amount of green tea and curcumin might just as well be telling me to try eye of newt (mustard seed) and toe of frog (buttercup). Green tea, curcumin, mustard seed and buttercup very probably do have some anti cancer properties, as I suspect many, many other herbs and plants do. But taking the wrong dose could be toxic, or fatal.
Taking a couple tylenol has proven pain relief. More would be better, right? No, more than 4 grams of tylenol in a day can cause irreversible liver damage. We know that because its been tested and fda approved for a certain dose. So how do we know how much green tea and eye of newt is safe? How much us needed to be effective? How do these herbal remedies interact with our other meds?
My thoughts are to keep an open mind, be respectful of people's choices, be aware of the dangers of unregulated substances and seek medical advice over any advice you get on a message board from a cajunjeff or whoever.
That said, if you can score some good lizards leg or owlets wing, I would do the leg before lunch and the wing at bedtime. Just be sure they don't interact with any newt eye you might be on. 😎
Nice post. My grandmother took to the woods when many childhood ailments could sooth her children's symptoms. All modern medicine is beholden to the starting blocks of nature's provisions.
It seems that it is when the pendulum swings too far one way or the other in our own choices that we set ourselves back, and that is fine too - as long as, it is based on personal autonomy. Yet, there is a responsibility we all owe to each other, to do no harm, sadly it can be caused in ignorance or in a misplaced enthusiasm.
Now in my mother's case, she had to trust to the odds as her strep throat turned, to rheumatic fever, to a heart murmur, that did resolve later in life. Penicillin in the mid- 1930's was still experimental and not available for her.
If and when, my CLL progresses I have choices because we came so much further down the road. So I sip my tea, because I like the tea, but when it comes to being sick or preventing illness vaccines, medicines and surgery is as balanced as I can be. 🙂
My grandfather who cut his finger off via a radiator fan belt and pulley wheel immediately wrapped the bleeding stub in chewing tobacco spit. It never got infected and so he would apply his tobacco juice to all our cuts as well if we complained. Needless to say if I cut myself I never told him or showed him. Maybe I missed a good thing, but I sure am glad I never missed knowing the humor of cajunjeff. 😁🤣😉🥰
I have a distinct recollection of my dad putting tobacco on a bee sting I got as a child. It’s not as goofy as it sounds, nicotine has some anesthetic pain relieving qualities. Go figure.
My distaste was not for the chewing tobacco, but rather whose chewing would I want to apply. Just as an end note my grandfather claimed that had he been able to find the lost portion of the finger it would have been attached with the tobacco and grown back together without surgeon. Apparently the pully wheel or radiator fan blade caught the stub and tossed it out of sight. They searched for the stub for a while, but there were cows to be milked, sheep to be sheared and fences to be mended. The post WW2 men were a tough breed back than.
well, I wasn’t expecting that this morning! I think I used to say double bubble toil and trouble (never knew the rest) but it never sounded right. You certainly peaked my imagination. Good start to the day. Thanks, loved it
For UK readers I would point out that the Great Crested Newt is afforded protection under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010.
One should refrain from disturbing this species, which is in the latter stages of its breeding season. To go out at night with a torch to your local pond to spotlight their watery mating dances is considered not only rude, but also illegal!
Good stuff Benne, thx to healthunlocked my fund of knowledge is expanded. I have never heard of the great crested newt.
Folks in the US might confuse a newt with the Geico gecko, but they could not be more wrong. Not only are newts and geckos from a different genus or species, they are from different families. Newts are amphibians while geckos are reptiles.
And while eye of newt might help your cll and other cancers, the rest of the newt will not. Like some poisonous frogs, some newts can have a powerful toxin coating their skin that makes them unappetizing to their predators.
I had a cane toad take up residence in my garage. I was never tempted to try to get high by licking it, though that practice was part of cane toad mythology. Addicted pet dogs were reportedly sniffing them out to get their daily fix. One newspaper led a protest that this "native species" should be left to thrive undisturbed.
wether your breaking down CLL in a way I can understand or writing a lighthearted clever post but with a cautionary warning you are always a pleasure to read
I don't think the Oxford comma (also known as the serial or Harvard comma), is necessarily grammatically correct or incorrect, it’s grammatically optional.
That said, I consider the Oxford comma necessary when it removes ambiguity. Suppose I had dedicated this story about eye of newt to my girlfriends, Peggy and Newdawn. This phrase absolutely needs an Oxford comma, otherwise our newer health unlocked members might be confused and wonder whether Peggy and Newdawn are my girlfriends. 😛
I might be more clear by adding an Oxford comma (after Peggy): I dedicate this post to my girlfriends, Peggy, and Newdawn.
See the difference? This is the stuff I imagine british grammar nerds love to discuss over a cup of tea, mushy peas and fish and chips. Lol. See how this needed an Oxford comma after mushy peas to know that “fish and chips” go together? I submit I should have written “discussing commas over a cup of tea, mushy peas , and fish and chips”, which would have been more clear.
Sofia, I think our Brit friends love their mushy peas. It sounds like Gerber baby food to me. 🤮. But I like my boudin and boiled crawfish, so who am I to judge?
I'm not talking about tasty mushy peas with fish & chips, I am talking about how a misplaced comma could make one assume the fish, chips, and peas were all mushed together. Which IMO sounds dreadful lolol! US Green Giant Prince of Wales peas have nothing on marrowfat peas IMO
Ah, but mushy peas are usually considered a de rigueur accompaniment for fish and chips. Having said that, I am British to the core, long in the tooth, love peas, but have never been near a mushy one. Maybe my mother traumatised me with some when I was a baby.
Thank you for this important message that also started my day with laughing. I showed this to my husband because it was so wonderful. I just loved this post.
I have had numerous people over the years suggest I eat this/don’t eat this, try this for numerous ailments for me or someone else. In the end, I trust my CLL specialist, believe sleeping and eating well are important, and try to exercise everyday.
Do I trust my GP? Do I trust my son’s GP? No but my response is to change our medical team. We have applied to Kennedy Krieger Institute who has a medical staff devoted to people with Down Syndrome. I am hopeful they will accept him as a patient and understand my son’s needs better than his current GP.
So now I'll go out and spend a few hundred bucks on some pills and see what happens when I ingest them. I'm sure the random Far East supplier will provide quality newts and they won't kill me with overdosing.
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