When I first read the claim that a papaya leaf dried and put in hot water makes a tea that can treat, slow down, or prevent cancer, I was highly skeptical. Having lost my mother, Julia Ruffin Robertson, to cancer when she was only 55, just at the point where she was becoming recognized for her work as both an artist and art historian (and certainly not because she had done anything to “deserve” cancer), my first thought was, “How dare this person make this claim”. My mother had lived the life of a saint; always two steps behind my father, holding him up and accompanying him to Africa because he wanted to be a missionary, only to succumb to cancer just at the most rewarding time of her life. So to me, the idea that a simple papaya leaf tea could perhaps have added years to her life was not anything to be taken lightly.
Archives for the day Sunday, February 15th, 2009