When did the use of tobacco spread in Europe?
Pope Gregory XIII was treated by a Canarian monk with the tobacco plant. The doctors in Europe gave him no hope of life, but the treatment with this plant made his Holiness a great follower of the medicinal treatments carried out with this plant. The monk Carmona had acquired his knowledge of tobacco from the Peruvian Indians in the 16th century.
In the course of the 16th century, tobacco spread widely throughout Europe, especially thanks to the French ambassador to Portugal, Jean Nicot de Villemain. It was in his honour that the name "nicotine" was introduced into the botanical classification of the plant. At that time, the most common way of consuming tobacco was in the form of "snuff", inhaling it through the nose.
The plant became famous thanks to the fact that Jean Nicot "cured" Queen Catherine de Médicis of her recurrent migraines, which is why tobacco became popularly known as the "Queen's herb".
Despite its popularity in Europe, it seems that the properties of tobacco were already known long before in America and that the first cultivations date back to between five and three thousand years BC in the Andean region between Peru and Ecuador.
In what other ways was tobacco consumed in those times?
In South America it was smoked (the action of inhaling and exhaling tobacco smoke), but this was only one of many varieties of consumption. It could be sniffed through the nose in the form of snuff, chewed, eaten, drunk and even smeared on the skin. There were tobacco eye drops and tobacco enemas for enemas.
Tobacco was widely represented in religious rites and social ceremonies, such as blowing it on the faces of warriors before they went to fight. It was spread in the fields before planting and offered to the gods. Women were washed with tobacco before sex, and both men and women used tobacco as a narcotic.
Nowadays, this gift of nature has ceased to adorn gardens and balconies, despite its beauty. Nobody (or almost nobody) snuffs snuff to soothe a headache or applies a tobacco poultice to heal a wound. But tobacco is still a powerful plant with many beneficial effects.
What are the medical uses of tobacco today?
- Against haemorrhoids: The maceration of the leaves is used to combat skin problems and haemorrhoids, thanks to its anti-inflammatory action.
- Vomiting: Tobacco is a great narcotic, sedative and vomitive. Tobacco helps to relax the nervous system.
- Digestive: For the treatment of intestinal parasites.
- As an analgesic: against headache and earache. You can also make poultices with the leaves to treat bruises, bumps and even in treatments for rheumatism or cancer.
What other uses is tobacco used for today?
- Insecticide: The nicotine contained in the dust or the agricultural or industrial remains of tobacco leaves and plants is successfully used as an agricultural insecticide. The use of tobacco as an insecticide provides an effective exterminator of pathogens and germs, without the negative effects (environment and health) that come with the use of chemical insecticides.
- Citric acid: Tobacco is rich in citric acid, especially some varieties can reach 6 to 8 % (lemon, considered the fruit richest in citric acid, does not reach 6 %).
- As paper: Cellulose can be extracted from tobacco stalks and processed into paper.
- Industrial oils: These are non-edible oils, but have a wide range of industrial applications, such as the manufacture of paints.
- Edible proteins: Proteins of high nutritional and dietary value have been extracted from tobacco leaves or whole plants.
And what is currently the best way to smoke tobacco?
The best way to enjoy your cigarettes today is to produce your own cigarettes, making you independent of the continuous price increases caused by taxes and industry.
If you also use an electric cigarette injector to make your own cigarettes, the appearance and taste of your cigarettes will be practically like those of industrial cigarettes.
Powerfiller offers you a wide repertoire of electric cigarette injectors so that you can find the one that perfectly suits your tastes and needs.
At Powerfiller Smoking we have proposed to put at your disposal high quality automatic cigarette injection machines at the best price, so that you can enjoy your cigarettes with absolute control of your expenses.
Do you think tobacco should be treated as a medicinal plant again, taking into account its risks but also its virtues?
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See you next week!
Your Powerfiller-Smoking Team