"Figs: Nutritional Powerhouse for Better Digestion, Skin Health, and Energy"

Long ago...

The Pharaohs knew the fig fruit and called it in hieroglyphics (Tun). We notice that this name is very similar to the current Arabic name. Drawings of fig trees and fruits are still engraved on the walls of many of the tombs of Beni Hassan, especially the tomb of King Kina.  The ancients used to eat it a lot as food and medicine to break up stones.

Figs had a special and sacred importance to the Pharaohs, who used them in food  and medicine. Figs were mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus as part of some therapeutic prescriptions  for diseases of the digestive system, to expel worms from the stomach and intestines, and to treat some  chest and heart diseases. While they were mentioned in the Hearst Papyrus to treat the lungs, liver,  bladder, and schistosomiasis.

Abu Bakr al-Razi said about him:

(Figs reduce acids in the body and repel their negative effects. They help with the appearance of smallpox rash and prevent palpitations and fever. Kidney tumors are treated with boiled figs and honey water as a compress.)

Ibn Sina said about him:

(Figs are very beneficial for pregnant women and infants. They are the most nutritious of all fruits. They are used to treat solid tumors, and are beneficial in cases of diarrhea and dysentery. Their leaves are beneficial for shingles and chronic pimples. If figs are used with pomegranate peels, they will cure boils.)

Ibn al-Baytar said about him:

(Fig juice is a pleasant fattening drink, and cooking it is beneficial for throat tumors. Its milk with honey, the foam removed from the eye membrane by distillation, and a drink of its infusion is beneficial for chronic cough and chest pain. It quenches thirst and is beneficial for the kidneys and bladder, and is resistant to toxins, tuberculosis, and sexual weakness.)

Nutritional benefits

Figs are of various types, including French white, creamy yellow, and the wonderful Arab purple. They are a moisturizer that is easy to digest and leads to a feeling of fullness, in addition to their high nutritional value, because every hundred grams of fresh figs contain a high percentage of sugars, reaching more than about 20% of their weight, and provide 80 calories, while this percentage increases in dried figs to reach about 370 calories, in addition to containing more than a gram of protein. As for fresh fruits, they contain about 0.4 grams of fats, 19.6 grams of starches, 54 mg of calcium, 6 mg of iron, 32 mg of phosphorus, traces of copper, and a group of vitamins, the most important of which is vitamin A, the value of which is 80 international units, 0.05 mg of vitamin B complex, and 2 mg of vitamin C.

 We note that all these nutritional components are necessary to build all the body tissues and maintain their safety and protect them from many diseases. It has also become clear that the components of figs have wonderful effects on the production of blood hemoglobin, which is considered a real protection against anemia - anemia - and provides the body with high thermal energy, and guarantees it a healthy life.

Therapeutic properties

One of the most important features of figs is their superior ability to treat constipation, high blood pressure, chest infections, and urinary tract infections. The milky substance that oozes when the stems of its leaves are cut is very useful for treating skin diseases, especially psoriasis and vitiligo. It has also been shown that soaking figs in water (khshaf) or milk is very useful for patients with smallpox, measles, and respiratory infections. Academic studies are currently being conducted to determine the extent of the therapeutic benefits of figs for digestive disorders and the possibility of lowering blood sugar levels.

Recently, scientists have been able to benefit from the white milky juice extracted from the stem of the unripe fig tree to make a medical drug with astringent effects to treat some respiratory diseases and skin diseases, especially herpes, psoriasis and scabies, as well as to make medical preparations in the form of a cream to restore the elasticity and smoothness of rough skin.

It is prescribed to treat cases of

Anemia, constipation, indigestion, gastrointestinal ulcers, respiratory infections during pregnancy and lactation, physical and nervous exhaustion, skin diseases.

Internal uses:

- To treat chronic constipation... there is an old successful treatment recipe... it consists of (5) fresh figs, each cut into small slices and placed in a glass or porcelain container, then (4) tablespoons of olive oil are added to it with the juice of two lemons and the container is left covered for a whole night - about 12 hours - then the mixture is filtered from the oil in the morning for the sufferer to take on an empty stomach.

- For cases of low blood pressure and respiratory infections...  use a fig-soaked drink in the appropriate dose (3 cups) daily, which the patient should take before the three meals. Also, use dried fig-soaked drink as a gargle to remove throat and bronchial infections at a rate of three times daily. Eating fresh or dried figs works to remove excess acidity in the stomach and blood circulation.

- For cases of indigestion, constipation, stomach and intestinal ulcers... fresh figs are used at a rate of (3 figs) daily on an empty stomach in the morning and after dinner in the evening. Dry figs are also soaked in the form of (Khashaf) and the appropriate dose is one cup in the morning and another in the evening. We can also benefit greatly from eating prickly pears in this regard.

For pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, convalescents, and anemia...  Eating figs in all their forms is very beneficial for these cases from a nutritional perspective, and the ability to increase milk production, reduce the effect of acids on the body, and eliminate cases of physical weakness, nervous exhaustion, and indigestion and absorption disorders.

External uses:

- For gum ulcers and mouth abscesses... Peel and mash a fig, put it in a cup of warm water, leave it for two hours, then use the mixture as a mouthwash. You can also use fig slices to apply as topical poultices on ulcers and abscesses in the gums, mouth, etc.

- For skin diseases, especially psoriasis and ringworm... The juice of the raw fruit stems - the milky liquid - is used as a topical ointment 2-3 times daily until complete recovery is achieved.

For minor burns and skin infections... fresh figs are used after cutting them into suitable slices to place them over the affected areas as bandages, securing them with a gauze bandage, then replacing them with other ones the next morning. If fresh figs are not available, dried figs can be used by mashing them well and then using them in the same way.

- For wounds and infected ulcers... bandage with a decoction of dried figs mixed with milk, and secure it directly over the affected area with a gauze bandage. Replace the bandage in the same manner 2-3 times daily, until the infection disappears and complete healing is confirmed.