Bixa orellana (Annatto)

[Auxin]

Does anyone have any experiences with the medicinal aspects of this plant?

I originally got a pile of seeds as a food colorant, and because its a pretty plant I tossed a few in soil to see if theyd grow... when they did I looked up ethnobotanical/pharmacological info and was surprised to see that the leaves are used as a hypocholesterolemic (lowers cholesterol), hepatoprotective, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, digestive stimulant and that the seeds are also hypotensive and hypocholesterolemic (5-20 mg of seed powder/day being said to produce a measurable decrease in serum cholesterol... 10-seed weight = ~260mg).

Its the hypocholesterolemic property that captivated my attention more than anything. I'm underweight and I cant gain weight.. as a result I eat any damn thing I want but the danger with that is cholesterol build up in my arteries, my dad was the same and he ended up with massive arterial clogging so I figure 1 little seed (~26 mg) a day isnt much of an inconvenience... that is if the 'measurable' lowering of cholesterol is enough to have a positive effect. I'm also prone to high blood pressure.

Thoughts?

[planthelper]

hi, chris good 2 c u!

i know nothing about this seeds, but i am interessted in the same properties.

the doc told me ther are no ways to find out if the arteries are clogged up, apart from the intrusive methode of sticking the wire brush thingy up your blood vessels.

the pills which get used to bust the deposits accumulating in the arteries by the doctors,i will try to avoid as they can cause strokes.

i stopped having full fat milk and butter to lower my cholestrol.

unfortunately those deposits come back very fast even if cleaned out with the bottlebrush type thingy, so your one seed a day methode has enourmous apeal to me.

i tried beta-blockers but they worsend my dizzy spells if i move up suddenly from a squatting position or similar.

i found fibers as natural beta blocker very effective, apples and porridge for breakfast instead of bacon and eggs!

auxin, i miss your posts, anyway please take care of youreselfe.

[Auxin]

Thanks

I havent gone anywhere, just been quieter having gotten tired of running in circles talking about the same 50 or so plants, lol... been silently watching waiting for cool new questions/topics to crop up. I didnt want to turn into one of those grumpy sorts that responds to most questions by telling folks to use the search engine and/or read a chemistry 101 book.

[Auxin]

Digging up an old post after cracking open my fresh copy of 'Tocotrienols: Vitamin E Beyond Tocopherols'.. which will take a while to read since I have a lot more to learn about medical biochemistry

ok I didnt keep up with 1 seed/day as they were too hard to chew LOL

But in recent years more and more good data has been coming out about getting dietary vitamin E equivalents from tocotrienols instead of tocopherols. Tocotrienols seem to have all the same benefits as tocopherols and on top of that they seem to reduce cholesterol, reduce LDL, inhibit cancer, reduce damage from strokes, and as an antioxidant its more available to the brain and liver than tocopherols. However a good source of tocotrienols is needed since its rare in nature and tocopherols compete with it. Enter Bixa orellana.. turns out its the most potent edible source known at 0.15% seed weight of δ + γ tocotrienols and it is virtually 100% tocopherol-free.

I'mma extract seeds into cooking oil for frying up my shiitake & vegetable breakfast sandwiches

[Wiki]

[mescalito]

Annato is also 160b causes allergic reactions,sleep disturbance and weird dreams.

I don't tolerate it well,I think it has carcinogenic properties from memory too.

[Auxin]

What is it with foreigners replacing every food name with a number nowadays?

I'll have some E047 with a side of 197b all slathered with hot 64-R, and make it snappy!

Sorry.. as an american its one of the few things I can still be proud of

But yeah, it is an allergen for some people, and also a diuretic. I've never heard of it being carcinogenic everything I've seen says it inhibits cancer and has not been observed to be carcinogenic or mutagenic, tho one study did say that in insanely high concentrations (over 1% in an in vitro cell culture) it boosted the effect of a known mutagen.

Perhaps you were thinking of the two synthetic yellow food dyes? Both are suspected carcinogens and one is suspected to cause ADHD in kids.