Eat Shrink And Be Merry

I’ve always been a big fan of cilantro. I just love it in salsa, in fresh salads, and in Asian dishes, and I even put handfuls of the green stuff into my vegetable juice concoctions that I make faithfully pretty much every day. Turns out I’ve been adding more than just flavour: a recent study in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry showed that cilantro can prevent salmonella and other food-borne illnesses.

Apparently there’s a compound in cilantro leaves and seeds called “dodecenal,” and the guys in white lab coats found it was twice as strong and more effective than “gentamicin,” the typical antibiotic treatment for salmonella. They also discovered dozens of other antibiotic compounds in the leafy, green herb. (Might be a good idea to add generous portions of cilantro to your food while vacationing in tropical destinations or in places where the food is questionable. Go crazy with salsa!)

Funny how some people describe cilantro’s distinctive, pungent odour and taste as “soapy.” They knew what they were talking about! You obviously want to wash your mouth out with cilantro–and your insides, too! It’s also one of the very few substances that can help remove toxic heavy metals like mercury, lead and aluminum from the central nervous system. That’s great news for those with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression, and other neurological disorders worsened by toxic overload, but it’s also useful for the rest of us who are bombarded with harmful heavy metals from environmental pollutants, cosmetics and other consumer products. No doubt in my mind. Cilantro’s “The Soaperb Herb!”