Psoriasis remedy made in your kitchen… also works on acne

Stevia Salve: a psoriasis remedy made in your kitchen

BANGALORE, INDIA---Researchers at St. John’s College of Pharmacy recently sent me details of a wound-healing preparation they tested. They wanted to see if it was a viable alternative to the povidone-iodine ointment commonly used in this country. (Povidone-iodine is commonly sold as Betadine and used to prepare a patient’s skin prior to surgery and for cleaning minor wounds.) In India, they made a wound ointment from stevia extract and soft white paraffin.

Stevia extract has a long history of traditional uses in South America, where it is typically grown. However, the Asian markets consume over 85 percent of the global supply of stevia. In this country, we typically use it as a natural sweetener, but in Brazil and Paraguay, it has been used topically to enhance healing and reduce scarring of cuts, burns, wounds, acne, dermatitis, seborrhea, and even psoriasis.

In animal studies, stevia ointment was equal or, in some cases, better than the povidone-iodine.

Additionally, the wounds treated with stevia had no scarring, but the povidone-iodine treated wounds had prominent scarring.

The ointment was only tested on open wounds, so I don’t know how it actually works on something like psoriasis or burns. But the fact that it kept a scar from forming is amazing. If you have any of the skin conditions I’ve mentioned, this ointment is easy to make and very inexpensive.

Making Stevia Salve

All you need is liquid stevia extract (containing 80 percent or more glucosylsteviosides, which is the standard for these extracts) and some soft white paraffin.

NOW Foods sells BetterStevia Organic Liquid Extract, which is pure stevia extract. It is primarily used to sweeten foods and beverages. An 8-ounce bottle sells for around $16 (luckyvitamin.com). Since it takes only a few drops to sweeten a drink or make this ointment, an 8-ounce bottle will last a long time.

Soft white paraffin is also called white petroleum jelly (commonly found as Vaseline Pure Petroleum Jelly, available at almost all pharmacies and discount retailers).

In the study, the liquid stevia was mixed with the petroleum jelly at a ratio of 5/95. Unless you have the right equipment, it would be hard to get an exact mix. I don’t think it’s really that critical.

Personally, I mix a couple drops with a teaspoon of petroleum jelly or whatever amount of ointment I need at the time. After all, the stevia is the primary healing agent and the petroleum jelly is the carrier that provides a barrier to moisture and air.

Having this anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial ointment may one day prove to be a godsend with more and more bacteria becoming resistant to standard antibiotics.

It's kind of nice to have something you can drink, eat, and rub on your body as medicine