Dianne Onstad
See book keywords and concepts |  Also Known As: Barbary Pear, Cactus Pear, Indian Pear, Indian Fig
Here we go round the prickly pear PRICKLY PEAR prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o'clock in the morning.
—T. S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men"
Opuntia was an old Latin name used by Pliny for this plant, probably derived from Opus, a town in Greece. Ficus-indica means "Indian fig"; megacantha is a term meaning "of great angle." The English name prickly pear is an apt description of the fruit's appearance. |
Rebecca Wood
See book keywords and concepts |  PRICKLY PEAR
Cactus Pear, Indian Fig, Tuna
(Opuntia ficus-indica)
Here we go round the prickly pear prickly pear, prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At 5 o'clock in the morning.
T. S. Eliot, The Hollow Men
The sweet and juicy fruits of the opuntia cactus are popular in local cuisines worldwide. As its name suggests, the fruit is shaped like a pear and covered with glasslike prickles. Remove these little spines along with their coarse skin—which is colored green, orange, red, or mauve. The tangy pulp, which contains many hard edible seeds, is most often a ruby red. |
Andrew Chevallier
See book keywords and concepts |  Habitat & Cultivation prickly pear is native to Mexico and naturalized in semi-tropical regions around the world. The fruit is harvested when ripe; the stems when required.
Parts Used Flowers, fruit, stems. Constituents The fruit of prickly pear contains mucilage, sugars, vitamin c, and other fruit prickly pear fruit acids. The flowers contain a flavonoid.
History & Folklore prickly pear fruit is used to make conserves and an alcoholic drink in Mexico. The split stems have been bound around injured limbs as a first-aid measure. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
See book keywords and concepts |  Because it grows in clusters on certain varieties of desert cactus, the prickly pear is technically a berry. The fruit is oval and has spiny thorns, which should be removed before handling. The skin and flesh have several hues—orange, red, and purple. The firm flesh tastes something like watermelon and contains edible seeds. The Aztecs used prickly pears to mitigate fevers and soothe irritated livers. The Pima Native Americans apply prickly pear pads to the breasts of nursing mothers to increase milk flow. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
See article keywords and concepts |  Here in the desert, rabbits and Javelina will eat just about anything: Palo Verde leaves, prickly pear cactus pads, flowers and roots. But they won't eat aloe vera because the leaf and resin are too tough and bitter. If you slice open an aloe vera leaf, however and place that on the ground, the desert animals will gladly eat the gel! (I know because I've tried this experiment. Rabbits love the gel!)
So when it comes to aloe vera, what you want is the gel, not the leaf or the resin. "Whole Leaf" aloe vera products are sort of a marketing gimmick. |
Gabriel Cousens
See book keywords and concepts |  These desert plants used to capture and store life-giving water, are the same agent that makes beans, mesquite, plan-tago, belotas, chia seeds, nopalitos, and prickly pear fruit effective regulators of blood sugar. Because of their interface with Western culture and diet, and certain shifts that limited their access to anti-diabetogenic foods, they shifted to a high-refined-sugar and cooked-animal-fat diet.
Most foods high on the glycemic and insulin indexes greatly accelerate the metabolic imbalance. |
Michael Friedman, ND
See book keywords and concepts |  CLINICAL STUDIES
Jambul Seed, prickly pear Cactus, Devil's Club, Milk Thistle, and Globe Artichoke
One clinical trial using 650 mg of herbal capsules 3 times a day consisting off jambul seed, prickly pear cactus, devil's club, milk thistle, and globe artichoke resulted in lowered fasting blood sugar levels by 33% in the majority of adult onset diabetics, while also raising blood sugar levels in patients with reactive hypoglycemia.5
Hypoglycemic Score
Hypoglycemic patients were able to lower their hypoglycemic score index by 67% after 6 weeks administration of this formula. |
Andrew Chevallier
See book keywords and concepts | | Constituents The fruit of prickly pear contains mucilage, sugars, vitamin c, and other fruit prickly pear fruit acids. The flowers contain a flavonoid.
History & Folklore prickly pear fruit is used to make conserves and an alcoholic drink in Mexico. The split stems have been bound around injured limbs as a first-aid measure. Medicinal Actions & Uses prickly pear flowers are astringent and reduce bleeding, and are used for problems affecting the gastrointestinal tract - particularly diarrhea, colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. They are also taken to treat an enlarged prostate gland. |
Michael Friedman, ND
See book keywords and concepts | | Nopal (Nopal opuntia spp)
Also known as prickly pear and beaver tail, nopal is native to arid and semi-arid areas of North America and
South America. Nopal has no leaves, except at the start of new growth. These leaves are actually stems called cladodes that grow one on top of another in an irregular, beaver-tail pattern. It has spiny, thickened stems that form the plant and produce yellow, orange and red rose-like flowers in the spring. These flowers mature into prickly pears, which are yellow, orange, red, or purple. The fruits are sweet, with numerous hard seeds. | | CLINICAL STUDIES
Jambul Seed, prickly pear Cactus, Devil's Club, Milk Thistle, and Globe Artichoke
One clinical trial using 650 mg of herbal capsules 3 times a day consisting off jambul seed, prickly pear cactus, devil's club, milk thistle, and globe artichoke resulted in lowered fasting blood sugar levels by 33% in the majority of adult onset diabetics, while also raising blood sugar levels in patients with reactive hypoglycemia.5
Hypoglycemic Score
Hypoglycemic patients were able to lower their hypoglycemic score index by 67% after 6 weeks administration of this formula. |
Andrew Chevallier
See book keywords and concepts | | Constituents The fruit of prickly pear contains mucilage, sugars, vitamin c, and other fruit prickly pear fruit acids. The flowers contain a flavonoid.
History & Folklore prickly pear fruit is used to make conserves and an alcoholic drink in Mexico. The split stems have been bound around injured limbs as a first-aid measure. Medicinal Actions & Uses prickly pear flowers are astringent and reduce bleeding, and are used for problems affecting the gastrointestinal tract - particularly diarrhea, colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. They are also taken to treat an enlarged prostate gland. |
Gabriel Cousens
See book keywords and concepts | | NOPAL CACTUS
Nopal is prickly pear cactus, widely used as a traditional food throughout Latin America. Researchers57 gave eight fasting diabetics 500 grams of nopal. Five tests were performed on each subject, four with different cooked or raw preparations and one with water. After 180 minutes, fasting glucose was lowered 22-25 percent by nopal preparations, as compared to 6 percent by water. In a rabbit study, nopal improved tolerance of injected glucose by 33 percent (180-minute value for comparison) as compared to water. |
Ben-Erik van Wyk
See book keywords and concepts |  Farming has been practised in Mexico at least since 7000 bc Important and well-known crop plants of Mayan origin include amaranth, grain amaranth, various custard apples, cacao, ceriman, dragon fruit, prickly pear, papaya, sweet potato, various pumpkins, cho-cho, black sapote, corn (maize), pecan, avocado, yam bean, runner bean, common bean, vanilla, winter purslane, white sapote, sapodilla, bell pepper, tabasco pepper and tomatillo.
North America
This region contributed relatively few but important food crops. |
Mike Adams
See book keywords and concepts |  If you want it a little sweeter, add some stevia or natural sweeteners that are very low on the glycemic index such as agave nectar or prickly pear cactus juice.
You can also go the spicy route and add some Cajun flavoring, red peppers and boiled shrimp to make a pearled barley gumbo.
You get the idea. With boiled pearled barley as the base, you can add practically any flavoring you want to make a healthy, delicious and filling meal.
Another of my favorites is to add cinnamon powder, coconut oil, rice protein powder and stevia. |
Alex Steffen
See book keywords and concepts |  Many of the native plants that Native Seeds/SEARCH has helped reintroduce to the region are specifically well suited to controlling diabetes; prickly pear paddles, for instance, are a great source of nutrients and of soluble fiber, which slows the rate of digestion, keeping the body's glucose levels more stable. Other crops simply serve as nutritious, high-protein staples that cost very little to cultivate.
Native Seeds/SEARCH has proven that traditional crops have a future. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
See article keywords and concepts |  Kevala: Pomegranates, prickly pear cactus.
Mike: Lots of cactus.
Kevala: They actually do bear fruit, too.
Mike: Again, let me give you the web site for those reading, raw4real.net, and that's Kevala Karen Parker, master raw foods chef and, as you can tell, someone who lives this and doesn't just approach it from a technical point of view. You're not a technical assembler of food ingredients; you embody this; you live it; this is what you eat for yourself.
Kevala: That's true. |
Ben-Erik van Wyk
See book keywords and concepts | | Perhaps the best-known cactus fruit is the prickly pear or Indian pear (see Opuntia ficus-indica) but other edible cactus fruits include the Mexican strawberry (Echinocereus), the pitayo dulce (Lemaireocereus) and the pitahaya or dragon fruit (see Hylocereus undatus). Young stems of cadushi (Cereus repandus) are despined and eaten as a vegetable. Origin & history The cactus apple is indigenous to Mexico and Central America but the exact origin has never been traced. It is a cultigen and traditional food source that has not yet been found in the wild. |
Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
See book keywords and concepts |  We heard several years ago from a physician who said one of his diabetic patients had improved his blood sugar control with prickly pear tea. This cactus, called nopal in Mexico, has been studied primarily in animals. That research indicates that the cactus can help lower blood sugar.252,253 Research in humans is preliminary, but it suggests that nopal may also be useful in helping to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes.254 Close monitoring and medical supervision are advised. lama family practitioner and want to share an herbal remedy with you. |
David Wolfe
See book keywords and concepts |  Have you ever tried a black sapote, cherimoya, durian, eggfruit, elderberry, galia melon, habanero pepper, jackfruit, lemonade berry, loquat, lychee, mamey, mountain apple, pomegranate, prickly pear, sapodilla, suriname cherry, or white sapote? Have you ever tried butterleaf lettuce, chicory, dandelion, dinosaur kale, fennel, lamb's quarters, lemon grass, miner's lettuce, nopal cactus, sorrel, watercress, wild mustard, wild onion or wintercress? Obviously I have only just touched on some of the variety of edible plants that are out there. |
Michael Friedman, ND
See book keywords and concepts | | For example, jambul (Syzygium jambolana) not only lowers blood sugar but also decreases secondary complications. prickly pear cactus (Nopal opuntia) is also very effective. In a trial of 29 subjects including 8 healthy subjects, 14 obese subjects, and 7 diabetic subjects, glycemia decreased a mean of 63.4 mg/dl 93.5 mmol/l) in diabetics and 3.86 mg/dl (.21 mmol/l) in non diabetics, an insignificant change. complications. In the treatment of rats, silibin prevented the onset of diabetic neuropathy, possibly by inhibiting excessive protein mono-ADP-ribosylation. | | Dose: 100 grams of nopal stems grilled, or 3 tablespoons of prickly pear fruit concentrate daily.
Jambul (Syzygium jambolana)
Jambul is native to southern Asia, India, Indonesia, and Australia. The seed is hard, oval, and red brown to brown. Jambul fruit is eaten as a preserve; it tastes faintly astringent and aromatic, like a ripe apricot. The fruit contains volatile oil, fixed oil, resin, tannins, and gallic acid, as well as phenols, tannins, triterpenoids, glycosides, volatile oils, and alkaloids (jambosine).
Pharmacology: Animal studies have shown a pronounced hypoglycemic effect. | | Pectin isolated from prickly pear (Opuntia sp.) modifies low density lipoprotein metabolism in cholesterol in guinea pigs. New York, NY: Publication of the American Institute of Nutrition, 1990:1283.
6. Frati-Munari F, Raul T. Effect of Nopal (Opuntia sp.) on serum lipids, glycemia, and body weight. Arch. Invest. Med Mex 1983;14:117.
7. Wang J, Chi J, etal. Multicentre clinical trial of serum lipid lowering effects of Monasscus purpurues (red yeast) rice preparations from traditional Chinese medicine. Curr Theory Res 1997; 58(12) ;964-78.
8. Carlson L, Hamsten A, Asplund A. |
Joseph E. Mario
See book keywords and concepts |  Healthwatchers' System Bells of Ireland, Horsetail, prickly pear, Skullcap, and Sweet Flag.
SourceNaturals' Nutra Sleep with Taurine, GABA, etc., and AminoNight. Yogi Tea's Calming Tea with Gotu Kola, Raspberry leaf, Fennel, Alfalfa, Licorice, Cardamon, and Barley; calms Type-A persons.
Homeopathic: Ignatiaamara(3x, if dark-haired); Pulsatilla(3-30x, if light haired); Nux Vomica (if with upset stomach); Aconite (if from sudden shock, panic, or fear). |
David Wolfe
See book keywords and concepts | | Avocados contain a seven-carbon sugar that depresses insulin production, which make them an excellent choice for people with hypoglycemia. prickly pear cactus fruit juice (panini juice), mesquite beans (mesquite powder), yacon root and yacon root syrup are raw food choices with some satisfying sweetness that also help control hypoglycemia.
Diabetes (type II) is one-step beyond hypoglycemia, when too little insulin is secreted into the blood. |
Joseph E. Mario
See book keywords and concepts | | Type B's, Avoid lectins in chicken, shellfish; com, sesame and sunflower oils; mostnuts and seeds; ryeand wheat; chickpeas, lentils, black-eye peas, and pinto beans; tomatoes, persimmons, pomegranates, and prickly pear; white and black pepper cinnamon, barley malt, aloe vera, coltsfoot, fenugreek, linden, and mullein. Avoid vaccinations' neurological damage from B-antigens, walking, crawling, personality changes; pregnant Type-B's avoid flu vaccinations, esp. | | Tinctures of Blackberry, Centaury Agave, Chamomile, Eucalyptus, Jasmine, Manzanita, prickly pear, Nettle, or Yarrow.
Poultices: Onions (on ball of the foot and at toe base in a plastic bag), Clay, Potato, or Swedish Bitters poultice. | | Healthwatchers' Stress Pattern Remedies with Bright Star, Wild Buckwheat,
Camphorweed, Thistle, Black Locust, Desert Marigold, Fendler Hedgehog
Cactus, Evening Star, Periwinkle, Spanish Bayonet Yucca, Bourgainvilla,
Footehills PaloVerde, Fire prickly pear, Klein's Cholla, Smartweed, Vita
Fluorum, Toxoid Solution, Nutri-Trace Minerals, Pangamic acid, and brandy, with specific formula attenuation. Mady' s Tranqui 1 Tea of Oriental herbs calmative and relaxing, reduces tension, with
Prunella, Chrysanthemum, Unicaria, Grataegus, and Trichotomun. | | URINARY PROBLEMS Take Buchu leaf; UvaUrsi/Bearberry; Cubeb berries; Marshmallow root; and fortaste, Anise; Licorice; Hydrangea leaf; Prickly Pear; St. John's wort; and Saw Palmetto.
I Jrine Incontinence/Enuresis More in pregnant women (take laxatives and rest); in children with worms (drink little, and drain the bladder before bedtime, and again in 2-3 hours); in the aged from worn bladder neck muscles (take Iron), or from stones. Sometimes, the bladder has simply si ipped out ofposition (1 ie upside down on a slant-board or recliner for 10 minutes twice daily). |
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ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.
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