Leaves of Avocado Plants Are Edible and Medicinal

I wasn't able to find as much information that I would have liked, but am going to post what I did find. It turns out that some Mexican people use avocado leaves in their cooking and when they are lightly toasted in a skillet with oil, it gives a flavor like anise....

Poor Richard's Almanac: "Gourmet Sleuth notes that the fresh leaves are used as a flavoring for tamales and made into a bed for barbecuing meats, and the dried leaves can be used in bean dishes, soups and stews. They point out that Mexican cooking authority Diana Kennedy recommends them as a substitute for hoja santa, aromatic leaves of another Mesoamerican plant (Piper auritum) that’s related to black pepper."

Flavors of the Sun: Avocado Leaves: A Secret Mexican Ingredient: Avocado Leaves: A Secret Mexican Ingredient by Victoria Challancin Love at First Bite I can still remember my first encounter with the exot...


Health and Beauty Pages"Uses of Avocado Leaves: Avocado leaves, both fresh and dried are used for wrapping tamales, or seasoning for barbecues and stews. Some also use avocado leaves for medicinal purposes. Dried leaves will keep for several months in a tightly-closed container."

Here's some information about possible health benefits of the avocado leaves from Medicinal Herbs 4U.com:

"The tea is very beneficial for diarrhea, high blood pressure and it is an excellent blood purifier. The dried powdered seeds of avocado leaves can be applied to hemorrhoids which can result in natural healing.
A poultice of the warm leaves of avocado is used externally for pains, sprains as well as headaches. In regards to arthritis and rheumatism, add the leaves to a small amount of rubbing alcohol and water and used it to rub the painful areas to alleviate pains.
The tea can also be used for colds, coughs, asthma and high blood pressure remedy..."

GMO Trees Are to be Released into the Environment (if they haven't, already)

I was wondering how long it would be before we'd hear about GMOs being released into the natural environment, including our permaculture, and low-and-behold, I came across this article on the Facebook, 'March Against Monsanto' page:

Post by March Against Monsanto.

Article via: GM Watch

Serious unintended effects in bees from GM dsRNA

A new study shows major unexpected effects in bees from dietary GM dsRNA.
Early this year, a peer-reviewed study was published by Prof Jack Heinemann and colleagues suggesting that government GMO regulators are failing to consider important risks of new kinds of GM plants and co-technologies.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412013000494
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php/news/rss/14920
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php/news/archive/2013/14699
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php/news/archive/2013/14694
These new-type GM plants and products are designed to make a form of genetic information called double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). While most existing GM plants are designed to make new proteins, the new GM plants and products make dsRNA in order to alter the way genes are expressed.
This process of gene expression alteration is called RNAi or RNA interference, or post-transcriptional gene silencing.
Research has shown that dsRNAs can transfer from plants to humans and other animals through food.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21931358
The Australia/New Zealand GMO regulator FSANZ dismissed Heinemann and colleagues' study, using spurious reassurances about dsRNA risks.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php/news/rss/14920
The Science Media Centre of New Zealand joined in the chorus to silence concerns raised by the study.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php/news/archive/2013/14703
Now a new study in honey bees shows that Heinemann and colleagues were right to warn about the unintended effects of dsRNA-type products.
The new study revealed that the expression of nearly 1,400 of the bees' genes was altered in response to a certain type of dsRNA administered in their food - representing around 10% of known honey bee genes.
http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/4/1/90/pdf
Interestingly, this particular dsRNA has been used as a control dsRNA in honey bee experiments, since its gene sequence does not exist in honey bees and thus it was not expected to trigger RNAi responses in the bees.
http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/4/1/90/pdf
It seems this was yet another assumption about GMO safety that has been proven wrong by further scientific research.
The authors of the new study noted: "Expression changes appear to be the result of both direct off-target effects and indirect downstream secondary effects."
Do these effects matter? Apparently, yes. The authors explain: "In general, the affected genes are involved in important developmental and metabolic processes associated with RNA processing and transport, hormone metabolism, immunity, response to external stimulus and to stress."
Another surprise was that only a small number (less than 11) of matches between the dsRNA and non-target gene were enough to cause off-target effect in the bees.
Let's hope the risk-deniers in regulatory agencies read the study and take note.