Tips for long and healthy life.

My father once told me that his grandfather died at the age of 104 and his grandmother at the age of 97. They always lamented that nowdays people like to consumed food/drink that contains a lot of sugar. They say that most people consumed salty, sweet, sour food/drinks only. This practise is unhealthy and unbalance diet.

Their secret on long and healthy life was very simple. Besides taking salty, sweet, and sour food everyday, they also consumed bitter foods in order to have a balance diet. They always practise drinking herbal tea without sugar and they boil it in an earthen pot. Besides that, they eat slightly bitter young shoots of many edible plants as salad (ulam) and bitter gourd.

Before the arrival of modern medicine, the people of peninsular Malaysia has remedy for almost all illness just at their own backyard. Many people planted Brucea javanica plant ( Melada pahit)-(Picture above) and Catharanthus roseus (Kemunting cina)-(Picture below) around their house compound. Brucea javanica is a tall shrub that bear fruits all year round with hundreds of fruit. According to an old folk, if we swallow 5 to 10 fruits of Brucea a day we will be immune to mosquito borne diseases. They also said that when women had a swollen breast with pus, taking few fruits of Brucea in the morning and evening will heal the disease. Brucea is also the remedy for diabetic problem, especially those with gangrenes.

Catharanthus roseus (Kemunting cina) a small shrubs that grow freely in sandy soil on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia has been used to remedy Malaria, diabetes and blood disorder. They boil the whole plants including the roots and they drink the boiled water twice daily.