Wild Harvest Pharma: November 2008

Monday, November 24

Sustainability Of The Baobab The Tree of Life

Maybe there has been a little confusion over the sustainability of the tree of life, The Baobab. First off carbon dating done on a great Baobab in S.A. has revealed that this particular tree is over 5000 years old. But to put things in perspective a baobab reaches maturity at 60 and with an average life-span of 500 years.

I got involved in the commercial processing of this mighty tree of Africa when i was doing research into Mandinka tribes in The Gambia. Getting back to the article, indeed the Madagascan Baobab fruit is endangered however this are not exported and are only used for local consumption. The next point is that last year S.A. alone consumed over 100,000 tons of Baobab, with a tree population of over 28 Million this figure far exceeds the projected demand from Europe and the U.S.

Baobab has the potential of changing lives here in Africa, not for big businessmen but for rural communities and those that need and want additional income. Baobab trees are being felled right now to build houses and shops. When farmers understand that this tree can provide income for themselves, their children and their great great grandchildren they are going to protect these trees.

So the demand in Europe and the U.S. will fuel the protection of the tree. Wild Harvest Pharma have already embarked on a planting project where we plant hundreds of trees each year for the community, that way when they bear fruit that community will benefit directly.

We are also looking to employ disabled workers in our processing facility to empower the most disadvantaged workers. Baobab is great news for Africa and fantastic news for the Europeans that will benefit from the health and nutritional value of this amazing tree of life.

Dr Baobab

Wild Harvest Pharma
Kairaba Spa Resort
Gambia W.Africa
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Friday, November 14

Wild Harvest Depression Detox Diet

Wild Harvest Depression Detox Diet
Many detox diets simply claim to help depression. However, your best choice may simply be a healthy, varied, low sugar, low fat diet plan.

Research and studies have shown that a major cause of depression is a lack of a balanced diet with the right nutrition. The nutrients imbalance is believed to trigger hormonal imbalances and that would lead to depression. Depression is becoming common with our busy modern life styles and baby boomers in their 30 and 40 are prone to depression and sleep disorders.

Depression can certainly be relieved with the proper supply of nutrients to the body, Mojoba powerful combination of nature rich in phyto-chemicals, antioxidants, vitamins, carbohydrates and dietary fiber. When taken regularly it can help lessen the impact of certain diseases and improve quality of life.

Will A Depression Detox Diet Work?
There’s not much science backing up any specific detox diet for depression. Research surrounding toxins and other unhealthy chemicals in foods proves many are dangerous, ridding your body of these unhealthy toxins can only do you good.

A Depression Based Detox Diet
If you start a detox diet and feel sick, overly tired, or your depression seems worse, you need to quit the diet plan and tell your doctor. A basic healthy diet can help with depression, because a healthy body does in fact deal with emotional issues better.

It’s widely believed by the medical community that a healthy, depression-fighting, general detox-like diet can be achieved by the following:
• Drinking 6-10 glasses of water a day
• Eating a mix of whole grains, veggies, and fruits
• Eliminating refined sugars and extra salt
• Eliminating saturated fats
• Eliminating all processed foods

The components of this diet plan lead to a healthy body and a natural detoxification combined with a daily intake 5-15g (1-3tsp) Mojoba Health Mix 6 times a day blended with water, juice, fresh fruit or soya milk. In addition to the above, it’s smart to get plenty of exercise. While food for depression is controversial, exercise is not. Exercise has been shown time and time again, in numerous studies to ward off depression and even help cure it.

Wild Harvest Pharma
Kairaba Spa Resort
Gambia W.Africa
Antioxidant Baobab Baobab Africa Baobab Diet Baobab probiotic Baobab Health Benefits Baobab Facts Baobab Nutritional Baobab Powder Mix Baobab Tree Baobab Beauty Cosmeceutical Baobab Buy Baobab Nutriceutical Baobab Phytochemical Baobab Prebiotic Baobab Probiotic Baobab The Baobab Tree Mojoba Health Supplement Baobab Botanical Facial Masque..........

Thursday, November 13

Baobab A New Opportunity for Africa Lishe akili

The fruit of the highly revered African baobab tree is being seen as a great new opportunity for the poor, after a decision by the European Commission to allow its importation. According to one study, gathering the fruit has the potential to earn an extra US $1 billion a year for Africa, and bring work and income to 2.5 million households, most of them African bush dwellers (Britain’s Natural Resources Institute).

The fruit of the African baobab tree is mostly collected in the wild from the ancient trees, which can live for 500 years, with some as old as 5,000 years. The baobob enjoys the veneration and respect traditionally accorded to age in Africa, and features in many stories and myths.

The fruit is seen as highly nutritious and a new taste option for the European market. This could be a major potential boost to Africa; the European Union is the world’s biggest trader, accounting for 20 percent of global imports and exports, and a major trading partner of most African countries. South Africa alone exports Euro 20.9 billion a year to Europe (2007).

But serious concerns have been raised about how the harvesting of the fruit will be done, and under what conditions. Getting this right is critical if the sustainability of the fruit is to be maintained, local populations are to benefit, and local use of this food source — eaten by both people and animals — does not suffer.

European food and drink companies are looking to use the fruit of the tree to flavour a large range of products, from cereal to drinks.

Baobab fruit is valued for its alleged medicinal properties in treating fevers and diarrhoea, and as a calcium supplement.

“The potential is huge … We’re quite confident that it’s going to represent significant returns for rural producers,” Dr. Lucy Welford, marketing manager of PhytoTrade Africa, a trade organisation that campaigns for the sustainable use of African natural products, told Reuters.

“I’d say it’s somewhere between grapefruit and tamarind as a kind of flavour,” said Welford, who expects baobab fruit to be used at first to flavour smoothies and cereal bars. It could also be used in juices, ice-creams and jams or bakery products.

PhytoTrade works with South African firm Afriplex, which supplies baobab fruit pulp and extracts.

A refreshing juice made from baobab fruit pulp, known as “bouye” is widely served.

“The tart flavour, the interesting vitamin and nutrition profile and the sexy story that goes with it — that it’s wild harvested from a very lovely tree — these things add value to the existing products,” said marketing economist Ben Bennet, who wrote the 2007 Natural Resources Institute’s report.

In the baobab forests around Tandene village in Senegal, local farmers said they looked forward to earning much more from the trees.

“If people know (that European consumers will buy the product) then they’ll look after the trees better and feed them less to their animals,” said farmer Alassane Sy.

Chido Makunike, an active commentator on food and agricultural issues in Africa, raises some serious concerns about how this is handled. “Being a non-cultivated forest product, who ‘owns’ the baobab fruit? Can anybody just take a truck into the forest, collect the fruit and export it? Obviously the sudden dramatic change in the economic importance of the baobab will open up many questions that will need regulation.”

He worries the fruit will just be exported in its raw form, and processed into products in Europe - leaving Africa and Africans the ones who benefit least economically.

“Yet baobab is a dry, not-easily perishable, easy to process fruit,” he said. “It would not be difficult to have the smoothies and cereal bars that are being contemplated for its use made in Africa and exported as finished product, producing many downstream benefits and keeping more of the wealth to be generated within the continent.”