Tropical Rainforests: The Lungs Of The Earth
Tropical Rainforests make up only about 2% of the world’s resources but they give us the air we breath. They take in large amounts of Carbon Monoxide and clean it up through photosynthesis and return it to us as breathable air. We need our tropical rainforests for life, as we know it. Destroy the rainforest and you destroy life as you currently live. The tropical rainforests are one of the greatest gifts on earth we have!
Tropical rainforests the world wide are a vast source of medicines. We have yet to test more than 1% of the plants that are endemic of the rainforest for medical properties. For generations the indigenous people have used the vastness of the plants found here to provide for their health. Health without modern medicine and all the many side effects that come with it have been the norm. The indigenous peoples world wide have remained healthy, living to a ripe old age. Not until they started eating Western diets did they cease to live long and healthy lives. Nearly 70% of all the plants that have been identified to contain anti-cancer properties come from the rainforest. Modern medicine has yet to even consider over 90% of these plants. Out of the plants of the rainforest came cures and treatments for leukemia, breast cancer, high blood pressure, and asthma. What a gift to mankind we have in the rainforest. Make it your time to discover this vast resource!
Those of us who have studied nutrition know that fruits and vegetables should be the number one staple in our diet. Foods that we use today which originated in the rainforests world-wide include many herbal teas, coffee, cocoa, many fruits and nuts, spices, and rice. Out of the rainforest comes over 1,650 new edible plants for our consideration. These are foods that we have yet to try. Yet so often we limit ourselves to those we know. Just as coffee and tea were once foreign and are now staples, so could be others. Out of the rainforest comes the call to broaden our horizons beyond what we currently have experienced. On your next trip to The Philippines take time to eat and discover the many known plants of the rainforests. They are endless and the so are their benefits. Rainforests offer a bounty of foods! Is it not time to expand our vision?
Many of the things we use in our modern homes have their humble beginnings in the tropical rainforests. Products such as rubber, gums, resins, dyes, tannins and cane all had their beginnings in the tropical rainforest. What would our cars look like without tires? Tires that are made from rubber. How many resins and dyes are used in our homes? So much of what is “modern” came from the indigenous peoples living in the jungles of Asia, Africa, and South America.
Listen to the call of the tropical rainforest! Expand you horizons to include something new. There are yet 75,000 new edible plants to consider in nature world-wide. Agriculture has discovered a mere 150 of these and only a few make it to the consumer. Make this the year that you change those statistics for you and your family. Come on over to The Philippines and dare to try the many edible plants and flowers that make up the indigenous diet. Who knows, you may change your life.
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