I recently read up on the healthy benefits of figs. I was surprised to see on several sites that consumption of the fig leaves was considered beneficial to diabetics due to some compound found in the foliage. Has anyone heard of this and do you have any specifics? Thanks.

John
Zone 7

I do know that many people have mild to not so mild allergic reactions to the latex sap in fig twigs and leaves, so you might want to approach that with some caution.

Yeah, I figured it would be dependent on the individual chemistry a bit. I have also read that prickly pear cactus acts similarly to the popular diabetic drugs when consumed daily. A number of studies have proven this bit of folk medicine to be true.
As for fig leaves, I am intrigued by this possibility. The thought of something natural aiding in the daily maintenence for what afflicts so many would be great. I have been able to control mine with exercise and diet so far, but it never hurts to have extra options.

John
Zone 7

Have you ever tried to clean a prickly pear?  Man, there's a chore for you.  We have a family with a gaggle of prickly pear cactus a few houses down, and I take a couple each year, and cleaning those things is a freaking chore and a half, and no matter how much protection I use, I always end up with those little tiny hair thorns in my skin, whether it be from getting them in my clothes, or them punching through the gloves or .... Meh.

John,

My concern (as much as if it does work) is consistency.  I can tell you, different varieties of figs affect my b/s differently.  It is also inconsistent with how "sweet" the fig tastes.  Aside from differences in varieties, there is the changes from year to year and location to location.  All one has to do is look at a vinophile's comparison of wines to see the inconsistencies.

There are so many variables in dealing with diabetes, it is important to be consistent when possible.

~james

As for them prickly pears - man I do love them.
From the oldie-country, best time to pick them
(by the bucket full) was very early morning while still
covered with dew (wimpy thorns), else beware!

Nowadays, I still buy a few supermarket USA/Mexico ones
that (somehow) have been "rubbed" off them nasty thorns.

I've ben told you can use a brush to brush them off under cold running water.  I did this, only to use that brush for cleaning under my nails a few days later and ... ouch.  I don't need to explain.

Yep, those little stickers really get you. Seems to be no way around it. I just planted a bunch next to the house.

John
Zone 7 NC

They are positioned under the windows - home security or hellish escape, depending upon which side of the window you are on I suppose. Hopefully, I won't ever have to test that theory.

John
Zone 7 NC

RE: pricky pears; "moisture/water" is one proven method to make them thorns
"placid and wimpy". Esle (when dry) they are very erect/brittle/penetrating/flying/ouch... 

I know the leaf sap is used to heal certain things like Worms and I dont mean earthworms.

Prickley pears man o man do I love those things me and my Father buy boxes every year the best way to eat them without getting any of those things in your hands is use a fork to get them from the box then cut each end off of the prickley pear with a knife while holding the pear with the fork and then cut the skin again from one end to the other then just spread the cut with the fork and knife and voila no spikes in the hands.

i just went on youtube to look and see how the pros peel the prickly pear.

apparently all you hafta do is take a flame to them, and it burns all the glochids (the spines) off.  after taking a flame to it, no more spines, just slice off the top (scalp it) and the bottom, make a thin slit vertically from top to bottom, and peel the skin off it like an onion, in one big piece.

Dad used to bring home prickly pears , these were red in color had little black things on it and we would get knife peel and eat. The seeds were very crunchy to chew sometimes hard and dad used to tell me not to eat so many at one time because of washroom problems.
Last season at the market i saw them and bought again.
Maybe these are different or the thorns have been rubbed off  ?

First of all, sorry John for we going OFF topic!
Re peeling prickly pears:
Simple, after them thorns have been neutralized (think water).
Lay the fruit on a flat surface. With a sharp knife, cut both ends
vertically down, ~1/2" from the extreme ends as the knife can go down.
Without moving, then slit the remaining top-most horizontal skin
(~1/4"+ deep).

Think cuts being something like this :    ( |----| )

Then using both hands, pry/peel open the fruit from that last slit,
and walla... 

In those good oldie days, I remember them  pears coming in white, yellow and red colors.
Yellow being the sweetest and red being the rarest.

Here in NM, we used to borrow from what the native americans used to polish the fruit using sand or a quick throw in some flames.

I have had those darn little needles in my mouth when I tried to eat one. Grandpa (no longer with us) showed me how to rub them in sand to that it doesnt happen.

No problem, Gorgi. I am enjoying learning more about the prickly pear. I've heard of blanching them in hot water and then peeling with a carrot peeler.

John
Zone 7 NC

I was sitting here reading thru the thread and waiting for someone to mention burning the fuzzy little spines off, preferrably while it's still attached to the mother plant, and then pulling the pads or tunas off and peeling them.

Ranchers will still flame cactus plants with these big propane tanks on wheels and a flame wand so their cattle can eat them.

I personally don't like the taste of the tunas... they have an unpleasant, musky taste. Makes beautiful jelly but blech, the taste....

There are spineless prickly pear available.  

There is also an insect, I think it's like some kind of white fuzzy scale bug, that attaches to prickly pear, it looks like cotton ball fibers stuck to the cactus. When scraped off and mashed it makes a bright red dye that Native Americans used to make dye for wool for their weavings and clothing.

Yes, that white fuzzy scale bug is called cochineal, and is used as a dye for many things--including a lot of foods, such as "ruby-red grapefruit juice."

Regarding prickly pear, if you just want to make jelly, an easy way to juice them is line a colander with a couple of paper towels (or I suppose coffee filters would work), fill it with "tunas," and freeze them. The ice breaks the cell walls, so when you thaw them (over a bowl) they kiind of disintegrate and the juice seeps through the paper, leaving the little spines (glochids), seeds, and fruit sludge behind.

Here is a post that might be of interest
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg1122282522015.html
Sal

Good info in that link. I am amazed by how much good stuff is packed into figs.

John
Zone 7 NC