Comments on: a powerful antidote to love

Question: a powerful antidote to love

bluefly — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:03:31 -0800

Is the dietary advice the doctor gives the captain to help his hemorrhoids in the novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin good advice in the real world for this condition?

The doctor's advice:

'The answer to your problem is to eat a lot of onions, tomatoes, parsley, basil, oregano, and garlic. The garlic will be an antiseptic for the fissures, and the other things, taken together, will soften the stools. It is very important not to strain at all, and if you eat meat, it must always be accompanied by a great deal of fluid and a sideplate of vegetables.'

The part about eating vegetables and lots of fluids makes sense. In particular, I'm curious the about the advice with the onions, tomatoes, parsley, basil, oregano, and garlic.

By: SyraCarol

SyraCarol — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:19:59 -0800

The allicin in garlic has antiseptic properties. I don't know about the rest.

By: ubiquity

ubiquity — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:44:39 -0800

It's all good advice, but if it worked, no one in Italy would have hemorrhoids.

By: MrOlenCanter

MrOlenCanter — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:26:48 -0800

My friend has hemmorrhoids, and his doctor told him to avoid tomatoes, I think because the acid would be irritating. It was a real sacrifice for him!

By: Under the Sea

Under the Sea — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:55:25 -0800

A high fibre diet is recommended. Cooked onion and whole or raw tomatos are good sources of fibre, not nearly as good as raw apple with its skin on though.

By: bluefly

bluefly — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 05:16:04 -0800

The allicin in garlic has antiseptic properties. I don't know about the rest.

I've heard of using garlic for yeast infections -- directly applied to the affected area. If you eat garlic, would the antiseptic properties last until it came out on the "other end"?

Tomatoes seemed a weird suggestion to me, too.

Thanks for entertaining my question.