RENEW THY REMEDIES AS IN ANCIENT TIMES

In the village of Karmel, in the Judean Desert above the Dead Sea, where Abigail, wife of Nabal, had captured David's heart, phytotherapy researchers now extracts alternative remedies from the region's herbs.  This is done in a research center supported by the Ben-Gurion University, and the Israeli Ministry of Science, after the unique effects of the region's ecology on plants has started to be discovered.    The research center was established in 1998, and has been directed since then by Dr. Amir Kitron, a chemical engineer, now aged 45.  Before that he worked for 6 years in research in classical chemical industry, but then decided to convert his focus to the natural chemistry occurring within plants.  "Plants synthesize hundreds, sometimes thousands of ingredients per single plants, without contaminating the environment- in fact, they do so frequently by enhancing the environment", says Dr. Kitron. In the Judean desert, the steep climatic transition, over 10 miles, between the cool, rainy Hebron hills, to the hot Dead Sea region (some 420 m below Sea Level), results in a high level of climatic stress in plants, the seeds of which are carried by the wind from one part of the Judean Desert to another.  One of the results is plants rich in specific phytosteroids called Brassinosteroids, which were discovered in the US in the seventies.  These phytosteroids were found by Dr. Kitron and fellow researchers to block prostate hyperplasia and androgenic hair loss ( a patent has recently been registered about this application).  They are also beneficial for treating arthritis, without the need for Cortisone, and various auto-immune diseases. Many plants in the region are very aromatic.  The special type of Oregano growing in this unique region (Origanum, dayi), and other related herbs, perhaps the Biblical Hyssop (attested to in the book of Psalms: "Thou shalt purify me with a Hyssop and I shall be purified")  are now cultivated to extract their aromatic oils.  These oils are used in disinfecting products such as nails affected with fungi, for acne treatment, and muscle inflammation relief.  Researchers such as Dr. Stephen Leu in the local Research Center have shown Thymol and Carvacrol to be chief antiseptic ingredients in the local plants.  Dr. Moshe Bronstein, another local researcher, is studying plants which can disrupt bacteria colonies by interfering with the communication signals within them; such plants help fight plaque, which is a sort of bacteria colony. Dr. Jonathan Gorelick, who recently came to the research center from New Jersey, now studies local plants as a remedy for diabetes.  Promising preliminary results have been obtained. In order to commercialize the research results, the company Herbs of Kedem has been established some 14 years ago.  The Hebrew stem Kedem means "antiquity" but also "forward"- and the idea of the name is that ancient remedies will be the basis for the remedies of the future.  The company initiated the cultivation of the local herbs, as well as herbs from other regions which produce exceptionally rich contents in the local climate.  The crops are utilized to make purely natural skin and body care products.  "Synthetic ingredients often block the natural breathing of the skin, and may cause various other problems", explains Dr. Kitron.  The company's crops also have the IFOAM organic farming label.

 

http://www.kedemherbs.com/index.php/vmchk/Nail-Fungus/SEPHORRIS