Posted on 02/02/2023 1:03:06 PM PST by nickcarraway
It varies on how it is used. It is like a stronger version of coffee. Traditional Chinese Medicine actually prescribes it, as well as the husks of the nut, as a medication to move Chi and aid digestion.
If you are an old person out of energy with a GI tract that is not moving and making you sick, and you are sitting on the couch all day, a few weeks of it can clear out your intestine, and give you energy as if you were getting shots of adrenaline.
If that gets you moving and at the end of the few weeks of taking it you are active physically and moving about, using your muscles and Cardiovascular system, taking it can be very beneficial.
But there are people who get addicted and end up taking so much they turn their teeth brown, and they cannot live without it.
“ If you are an old person out of energy with a GI tract that is not moving and making you sick, and you are sitting on the couch all day, a few weeks of it can clear out your intestine, and give you energy as if you were getting shots of adrenaline.”
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Sounds interesting. You just described someone I know who could use those benefits immensely.
Great “South Pacific” sub-reference!
It is a mild stimulant that turns your teeth black and makes a mess.
“Betel nut” is a misnomer. The “nut” is from the areca palm. The “betel” part is the leaf you wrap it in. Near Mrs. Flash’s neighborhood in Bangkok is a street “Soi Suan Phlu”, which means “street of the betel-tree farm”.
Betel-leaf chewing is a backward peasant woman thing. I’ve only seen a few older people use it, mostly in Thailand but once in the US by a Vietnamese woman who was visiting.
Tthanks. That’s what I was going for. I was in the chorus in high school.
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