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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Opium is an energiser too!
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Opium seeds are rich in calcium, protein, and carbohydrates besides several fatty acids essential for the body
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OPIUM CULTIVATION predates written history, and the earliest written accounts of it are from circa 3400 B.C. The Sumerians were probably the first to cultivate opium, and they passed on their knowledge to the Assyrians and the Babylonians, who in turn taught the Egyptians. Hippocrates prescribed opium, but the name morphine (after the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus) arose in the 19th Century after German pharmacists discovered the active principles in opium.
The Hebrews knew about the narcotic properties of the opium plant nearly 2000 years ago. In the Roman Empire, soldiers who took pity on those being crucified gave them sour wine with poppy juice added to it to dull the pain.
The Opium Wars of the 19th Century won for Britain a monopoly on opium import into the Middle Kingdom and began the downfall of the Chinese empire.
The air-dried milky sap from cut unripe opium fruit is the source of alkaloid drugs like morphine, codeine, narcotine and illicit drugs like heroin.
Food uses: Opium seeds do not contain opium and are widely used in cooking and baking. Ground poppy seeds are a common thickening agent and ingredient in spice pastes in Moghul cuisine. In Europe, poppy seeds are a common ingredient in croissants and in strudel, an Austrian dessert. Sprinkling poppy seeds on bread and rolls just before baking adds energy and a nutty flavour. Poppy seedlings are popular in Iran and the seed oil is widely used in salads and cooking oil.
Nutrition: 100 gm of poppy seeds contain a whopping 523 , Calorie with 18 gm of protein, 45 gm of fat and nearly 24 gm of carbohydrate. The seeds are rich in calcium, iron, phosphorus and dietary fibre. They also contain valuable amounts of the B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin. The fat in poppy seeds is rich in the essential fatty acids like linoleic linolenic that the body must have in the daily diet to maintain health.
Medicinal uses: According to Ayurveda, poppy seeds are an all-purpose tonic, aphrodisiac and a remedy for diarrhoea. The Iranians use poppy seeds to treat nosebleeds and boils. In Algeria, folk healers stuff poppy seeds into tooth cavities, and the Lebanese use them to treat headache, tooth ache, dysentery and cough.
RAJIV. M
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