This is a prime example of universal accessibility tourism on an international scale. Jaco has been enforcing new building codes for new developments which has opened the door to disable tourists who in the past were unable to enjoy the natural beauty of Jaco. Lack of building codes which did not offer ramps, or elevators are a thing of the past. Now disabled tourists and physically challenged tourists can visit Jaco and Carara National Park without worrying if they will have access problems found in other beach destinations. Disabled travel in Costa Rica just got a thumbs us, at least here in the metro Jaco area.

As Green Noise said, the trail is a model on an international scale and proves that universal access to parks is now a reality. In recent years, as a result of the improvements and enforcement of universal access building codes Jaco has seen a boost in disabled tourism. Now with the national park located minutes away, disabled tourism will be more opportune and open to those physically challenged tourists.

A fellow Jacobeño said that he is excited for the new universal access trail because he can now take his children along with a buggy and explore the depths of the rainforest as never before.  This is exciting news for everyone and Costa Ricans should be proud that their country is the first in Central America to offer this access to its national treasures.

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For only $125 you can get full access to the conference, attendees, workshops and training.
For only $200 you get access to conference, workshops, training and lunch. Also, if you want to have a booth at the conference the cost is $ 500 (includes conference, workshop, cocktail, training and feeding). The space is limited. We only have 3 spaces available. This is a great opportunity to introduce your business to approximately 500 attendees.

If you are involved or interested in Medical Tourism, Real Estate, Development or are a medical practitioner this summit is an excellent opportunity to network and learn.

Listen to keynote speaker on the following topics plus meet buyers and investors in the Costa Rica medical tourism business.
1) Medical Tourism: A Development Opportunity for Latin America.
2) Business climate in Costa Rica for Medical Tourism and Retirement Living Investments
3) Medical Travel: The US Perspective
4) Receive training on how to create a medical tourism package

For further information or to purchase your $125 or $200 entrance please contact the Chamber office at 8405-0840 or cenpac.chamber@gmail.com or for more information you can visit here

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 Video from AOL

So many of our men in service do not get to come home and reunite with their children. Putting aside your opinions of politics about war, you can see the very real and very human aspect of soldiers in the armed forces. History will be the final judge of what is America’s complicity in escalating world wide conflict but until then, enjoy the video and know that despite soldiers roles they are no different than anyone one of us. Happily, this story ends with a reunion of a family. Our prayers go to those who are not so fortunate and all the children who are left behind to wonder whether it was worth the ultimate sacrifice or not.

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I’m definitely one who can appreciate a good workout and am very impressed with the new fitness gym in Jaco. The facility is comparable with what you’d find in San Jose or in any U.S. city, featuring brand new equipment and weights. Trainers speak both English and Spanish, and classes include cross-fit training, yoga, kickboxing, spinning, martial arts, and many others. What’s terrific about living in Jaco, Costa Rica is that you can find private trainers that will charge less than $8 an hour! Compare that to the U.S. where trainers typically charge $30-50 an hour. If you are visiting here on vacation, you can have your personal trainer back home provide you with a regiment that can be fulfilled by local trainers. Many of the local trainers are serious about their work and take great pride in helping their clients achieve fitness using best practice stretching, weight training, and conditioning techniques.

And if the new gym is too aggressive for you there is still the Corpus Cristi and Platinum gyms which have been a staple for fitness buffs in Jaco for years now.  Some people choose Platinum because they like the air conditioning while working out and others like the beach front ambiance Corpus Cristi gym.  I’m sure many don’t consider a gym to be a priority in where they choose to live, but those small amenities are one of the main reasons why I enjoy living in the Jaco metro area.

Original Article by David Karr and edited by The Jaco Blog

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If you have spent any time monitoring the security of your internet servers, computers, routers, networks you would have noticed that in recent years the majority of hacking attempts and surveillance queries are coming from IP addresses originating in China. Before you write this off as a technical article, if you are reading this be-aware you are running multiple servers within your own home right now. This information is not just for the “big boys” to worry about but most common hacks are directed at individuals. In fact, a DDOS attack could not possibly be successful unless hackers were able to hack into your computer/server/network.

Chinese hackers are becoming the most common and pervasive as evidenced by the US government’s Titan Rain investigation covered in this article by Time magazine back in 2005.  For years conspiracy theorists and spy thriller writes have talked about China’s cyber threat/warfare plans and their “Unit 61398″ which houses their clandestine efforts at spying around the world via the internet. Just last month, the gloves came off when the US government finally came public with information about China and their hacking efforts resulting in losses due to cyber espionage in the billions of dollars. You can read more about this here.

The government in China does nothing to stop or even discourage hackers or the illegal copying of copyrighted material created in the US (movies, music, and other intellectual property including your website). As such, the general public must protect themselves from these Chinese hackers and content thieves. You cannot allow yourself to be lulled into thinking that having a anti-virus software such as Norton will protect you. Your computer, your wireless router, and your local area network can easily be hacked by a determined criminal. As Costa Rica gets very cozy with China, the guard must go up for all expats and Costa Rican businesses and we are not talking about them scraping your iTunes songs which you may or may not have paid for.

Fortunately, to protect yourself it is not hard to do. We are talking about using an .htaccess file which servers running Apache use to filter out http requests. However, all is not lost for some local businesses in Jaco that I personally know whom are using a Windows-based Web server (IIS) there are other methods of protecting these servers which tend to be a little more complicated since Windows OS has far more exploits available than a Linux operating system does.

For all the expats who work online and manage bank information with wireless laptops, iPhones, iPads, desktop PC’s and even Apple computers are vulnerable and need protection. Your network, whether, it is wired or wireless needs constant attention to hacking attempts and these are not the type we hear about such as: Is next the door neighbor is using your wireless internet signal? Costa Rica identity theft and computer hacking is a real problem for expats living in Costa Rica.  The US Embassy offers regular warnings on potential problems while traveling or living in Costa Rica, so be sure to check it out. If you are running a Linux router or firewall that can use IP tables, you can visit Wizcraft block lists here and find lists of IP ranges you should block. While blocking ranges of IP addresses from  China may block some honest traffic, the lack of interest by the Chinese government in cleaning up their act leaves all of us with little choice but to deny all access from Chinese based computers.

Last year we took some measures and I can, without hesitation, report that since we started blocking Chinese and malicious proxy IP’s there has been a significant decrease in the number of hacking probes directed at us and virtually no infections on our network of sites.

We monitor our raw access logs every day, watching for undesirable activity, such as hacking attempts, from humans and bots or for proxy servers that hide the IP of the person that is requesting one of our web pages.  Sometimes criminals hide behind circumvertor proxies to spam your blogs and/or websites. Others, called CGI proxy’s may rob your of your site’s ranking in the search engines results page a.k.a. SERPS, by passing all of your web pages through proxies on their servers, usually replacing your links or meta tags with theirs, depriving you of potential sales you might have earned had these visitors landed on your actual site. For example, last year a large property management company here in Jaco had their search results hacked and ended up showing Viagra advertisments as the results when searching for e.g. XYZ Properties in Jaco

When we detect unwanted activity in our server/router access logs we note the IP addresses. Then we run them through specialized nslookup tools to determine whether they came from residential or business computers – via an ISP, hosting company, a proxy service, or from a co-located server in a data center. Since residential customers usually have dynamic or semi-static IP addresses, which are frequently changed by their ISPs, it makes no sense to block them. The next person who is assigned that IP at Starbucks may be a potential customer! Instead, we concentrate our efforts on blocking servers, which have static IP’s. Additionally, we can identify businesses with static IP’s, who have compromised computers and servers that are controlled by hackers and spammers and which are trying to mess with our or our clients website security. With the exception of co-located and privately owned servers, almost all of these offending visitors (human and robot) come from companies that are assigned ranges of IP addresses, which are called Classless Inter Domain Routing or CIDR. Some CIDRs are very small (4 to 8 IP’s), while others may include thousands of usable addresses. Once a hostile action came from a server, you can by yourself lookup their CIDR and add it to your IP blocklist. There are many blocklists available online

Lets add a littler more clarification to understanding why protecting your website is important and relatively easy. The work you put into your website(s) is meant to be consumed by human beings who are interested in your information and/or services. People visit websites through Internet Service Providers or ISP’s, not through servers. If you are reading this article in Jaco, your ISP would be RACSA. If you are in Chicago, it might be Comcast. When attempts to spam our sites are traced, we usually discover that the traffic comes from another web hosting server, some with actual real live websites, which should never be trying to contact our web server. Unless, they are using a specific protocol such as WordPress Pingbanks or a RSS ping which basically communicates to your site that says “Hey I like your content and we are posting it!” and they are notifying the search engines as to the origin of the content. Blocklists are created to see to it that exploited and hostile servers only get an “Access Denied” page, when they try to exploit our or our clients websites and/or networks. It is a daily battle and IP’s are added daily to publicly posted blacklists, if you do not have the resources to compile your own.

Blacklists or IP blocklists are used by many webmasters to deny access to hackers, spammers, xrumer scrapers, content harvesters and server exploiters. These same IP blocklists are available in a format suitable for use in many software and hardware firewalls, especially those running on Linux based operating systems on the internet. These are not advanced policy firewall rules, just straight, one-per-line IP addresses, or CIDRs, that are used in advanced policy firewalls (APF) as include files.

This page is not a tutorial in the use of these blocklists but a notification that your computer, website, router, LAN is vulnerable and can be hacked unless sufficient measures are not taken to protect yourself. You can visit R-FX Networks for details about their APF project. The blocklists listed below are for people who already know how to apply them to their servers and/or firewalls. You must have root level access to your server to install these IP blocklists. WordPress is especially vulnerable to exploits and using a updated blacklist, can prevent you from getting your site hacked. It is important that people understand that blacklists are only one safeguard for automated attacks. Best practice rules still apply in creating passwords and login names. For example, if you have installed a WordPress site with the login name being “admin” hackers can run a script just looking for your site and then use a brute-force attack to try and gain access to your website.

Today there are hundreds of hijacked sites occurring daily and often the result is a ransom must be paid for the website owner to re-gain access to it. This is called Internet extortion and involves hacking into and controlling various industry databases, promising to release control back to the company if funds are received. Similarly, the subject will threaten to compromise information about consumers in the industry database unless funds are received. If you are a victim of an internet crime such as extortion, you can file a complaint here.

If you find that your company, home, business, and/or personal network is compromised or hacked you can contact us here to request a consulting visit from our experts.

If you are not sure, it is better to be safe than sorry. Contact us here to request a low cost flat fee general security visit from us to gauge whether or not your systems are at risk.

If you know your systems have not been hacked but want to HARDEN your network, devices, routers, etc contact us here to request a security visit from us and we can harden, anonymize your internet access to prevent hacker and/or prying eyes from tracking your online activity and networked device usage.

Most popular blacklists available to the general public in one page can be found here

Those interested in spamming can use domain name blacklists or DNSBL’s

More information about China and their state sponsored hacking read this article

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Their Facebook page tells a broader story “There are more then 500 children that may potentially be drowning in disease caused by toxic dust. The solution: Pave the Roads. Please be part of our cause to stop this now.” The group succeeded in getting the initial funds together to put a layer of molasses on the road surface to reduce the amount of dust. However, a much more permanent solution is needed and the project also raises awareness for the problem which faces many rural areas in Costa Rica. My own son was affected and has asthma as a result of living off a road in a pueblo which lacked the funds to pave it correctly. When the Caldera highway was opened, funds became available to pave the road since many locals would use old road to bypass the toll road to Orotina.

Some might ask why not just move the school Escuela Futuro Verde and remove the children from the hazard? While it might be a simple question, it is not such a simple solution. Furthermore, just saying move the children does not address the issue of the toxic effects of the dust. Kelly Mason who is the film producer has found evidence of silicosis which has asbestos like damage on the lungs. Silicosis is like asbestos poisoning. Anyone who is a parent knows that children’s lungs are the last thing that gets developed and is often prone to environmental effects which adults have the ability to remove from their lungs.

Watch the video here of the upcoming documentary and if you are moved by “Pave The Road” concept try and get involved.

While the issue is centered in the area of Montezuma, Mal Pais, Santa Teresa barrios of the Nicoya Peninsula, this is a issue which affects all people living in Costa Rica and if we have the chance to make a difference in the lives of our young, it is our duty to take those steps to affect change for the better.

Kelly Mason is seeking to meet with Laura Chinchilla for the post production parts of the documentary and in addition, to hopefully rally her to the concern which should be a national issue and not a local one.

Help raise awareness for the “Pave The Road” project by visiting their Facebook page and by liking it as well. Share their page with your friends so we can build a grass roots consensus of a solution and bring about the end of the avoidable modern day tragedy brought about by high speed vehicles on rural dirt roads. You can also learn more about Pave The Road visiting here

If you wish, you can write us here to learn how you can get involved in the Pave The Road project at the grass roots level.

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During the 10 years that we have been active in this area, our organization has rescued many animals, and some of them end up with seemingly little chance to ever find a home, as they have needs and/or conditions that make it difficult to properly care for them – too old, too sick or just plain too afraid of people. At this time we have 4 animals that we refer to as very “cost intensive” dogs, who thanks to our efforts pretty much recuperated from the disease they were rescued with, but they still need lifelong special care, which includes special diet, meds, lab costs etc.

DUKE
Do you remember Duke, the abandoned dog with terminal kidney disease? Here he is, 12 months later, living a very happy life with Doris and Dieter. His disease can be perfectly controlled with a special diet, regular i/v treatments and meds. Duke needs sponsors for his happy, but unfortunately expensive life. The monthly costs of his maintenance are: $67.00 for k/d food, $24.00 for i/v treatments, $24.00 lab costs, $30.00 treatment with a hormone erythropoietin (which is expensive and available only in the human hospital Cima), $15.00 other meds (Omeprazol, Ulcogant, Vitamins). All together we need $157.00 every month for Duke. Please help us maintain this great dog – look at his new pictures, doesn’t he look happy?

LUCKY
This beautiful and furry little lady named Lucky “adopted” Mari from the shop Matis. She followed her all the way from the beach to work, waited there for 8 hours and then followed her home. There was no way Lucky would leave, so Mari offered to be the foster home for her. Unfortunately Lucky has a chronic kidney insufficiency caused by a case of ehrlichiosis that was not properly treated. She has a good quality and happy life, made possible only by the special and very expensive care she receives every month. Her monthly maintenance costs: $50.00 for k/d food, $24.00 for i/v treatments, $24.00 lab costs and $30.00 for treatment with the hormone erythropoietin. So far she doesn’t need any additional meds, which is very unusual. Mari and Paco decided to keep her together with their own dog Zaguate, and she is dearly loved, and even though her life won’t be long it will be very happy. The monthly cost for Lucky is $128.00

CHINO was Jerry Hallstrom’s (Bubba’s) dog. When Bubba passed away in November 2010, Chino, together with all Bubba’s pets, were adopted. But his life with his new family was short, and a few months later we found him abandoned, wandering on the streets all by himself, emaciated and with a terrible eye infection, so we took him in. Chino is old and has permanent eye problems, and needs a special eye cream for the rest of his life, and this is very expensive. Now, after he suffered from bladder stones, he also needs a special, very expensive diet. Besides this 2 health problems Chino is a very happy guy, and lives with Karin and Adrian Muri from the Big Bamboo restaurant. They gave this guy not just a foster home for life, but also a lot of love and attention. I meet Chino every day on the beach during his daily long walk – he loves the beach and he enjoys the walks. He is one happy guy who deserves to spend the last years of his life in the comfort which only his diet and medication can provide. His monthly maintenance is: $50.00 for s/d food, $22.00 for the lab costs and $44.00 for Cyclosporina eye cream, which comes to a total of $116.00

I am sure you all remember BUDDY, the dog from the Turtle Farm who miraculously survived despite the horribly neglected condition we found him in. He works at the library now, and as he loves to always have people around, he also represents both McKee and the library at all the events we attend together. He lives with Liana, who not only is his foster home, she is his family and he follows her around like a shadow. Buddy, because of his age and because of the car accident he had 2 years ago at the refuge, has problems walking. These problems are controlled with oral meds, but lately it’s not enough, and Buddy now needs the famous (and expensive) miracle medicine called Legend. It works quite well, and he can walk again pain – free and even can play with his brother Charlie. We were never able to take him off the special food, as his kidneys are chronically compromised due to the extremely dehydrated condition that we found him in at the refuge. His monthly expenses are: $50.00 for k/d, $16.00 for vitamins, $20.00 for ArtriTabs, $16.00 for Hympirin, $40.00 for Legend (treatments of 3 injections every 3 months costs $120.00) $24.00 lab costs, which adds up to a monthly tab of $166.00

If you would like to help one of these great guys, please let us know. So far we received help specifically for these animals from: PikoTravel – Herradura, Dennis Ward – Herradura, Nancy Fernandez Fedullo – Jaco. Thank you!

Katja Bader

Asociación Pro Bienestar Animal (McKee Jaco)

Please use our contact form if you would like to help

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The 1st Annual St. Patricks Day barcrawl in Jaco Beach is a grassroots event and is depending on all the lushes in Jaco to come out and get hammered on Sunday. Here is a list that Vanessa put together to be used as a guide for the crowds to drink and walk together throughout Jaco enjoying each bar’s drink specials and food.

Check back here for drink and food specials for each bar in the Jaco Beach St. Paddy’s Pub Crawl

Jaco Beach St. Patrick’s Bar Crawl Schedule

• 3:00-4:00 Clarita’s Sports Bar and Grill
• 4:00-5:00pm Papi Chulo’s Sports Bar and Grill
• 5:00-6:00pm Jaco Taco
• 6:00-8:00 Surf Dogs Daiquiri Bar & Restaurant
• 8:00-9:00pm Los Amigos Sports Bar and Restaurant
• 9:00-10:00pm Plankton Lounge
• 10:00-12:00am Le Loft Jaco Beach

No official van’s have been reserved for moving between bars during the crawl but with Jaco being so small it will be easy to follow the crowds. Below is more information about each bar in the 1st Annual Jaco Beach St. Patricks Day Bar Crawl:

Clarita’s Sports Bar and Grill

Claritas is the place in Jacó, Costa Rica to eat, drink, party and play on the beach. Clarita’s world famous open-air Beach Bar provides complete sports coverage on 7 large screen satellite TVs, free wi-fi, pool table, darts and music that puts the Waco in Jacó!

SPECIALS: 1 beer and 1 good old fashion Clarita corn dog for 1000 colones

Papi Chulo’s Sports Bar and Grill

Papi Chulo’s Sports Bar and Grill now open! Located 200 meters north of Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BCR). A/C always cool, LCD TV’S, Great food, Delicious ribs, and cold beer

Jaco Taco Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s Jaco Taco is the place for you! Lively Latin American music, delicious Mexican food, ice cold Margaritas made from the finest tequila & an electric party atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re at the biggest fiesta in Costa Rica!

Surf Dogs Daiquiri Bar & Restaurant
Opened in January 2012 and we offer a full line of Daiquiris, Smoothies, Coffee Smoothies, Beer and a Full Bar. We are a Surfer Bar. All of our tables are surf boards. We have foosball tables, dart boards and an XBOX, plus the best sound system in Costa Rica.

Los Amigos Sports Bar and Restaurant
Located in Playa Jaco, Costa Rica…Smack Dab in the center of downtown Jaco. Los Amigo’s proudly offers a non smoking air conditioned dining and drinking experience as well as open air outdoor seating for all you dedicated smokers. Serving lunch and dinner from 12pm – 11pm Sun thru Thurs and 12pm – 1am Fri & Sat 365 days a year! 7 – 42” plasma TV’s, 3 projectors, 6 satellite feeds hosting every sporting event known to man or women, an extreme sports VOD (Video on demand) system and local DJ’s…mix this with over 45 local and import beers, a full liquor bar and some of the best food and service on the Pacific coast and you really don’t have an excuse not to join us.

Plankton Lounge

The Plankton Lounge bar is typical Costa Rican style disco. The decor and ambiance has a black theme with flashing disco lights. The Plankton Lounge is located on the main street of Jacó, on the 2nd floor of the Galeone Commercial Center, just beside Tsunami Sushi.

Le Loft Jaco Beach

If you want to feel like you are in SOBE Miami, then Le Loft is for you unless you forgot you are visiting Jaco Costa Rica. Mostly locals with a regular VIP crowd by reservation only. Hip Hop music with the latest mixes along with luxurious ambiance sets this Jaco Beach nightlife club apart from any other on the Central Pacific coast. Reviews for Le Loft

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Why Jaco?
Well, we loved the ease of access from the airport.  We could easily travel down from the states and be at the ocean in just over an hour.   We wanted an ocean front town that was walkable with several choices for dinning and entertainment.  Jaco meet these needs and still had a Costa Rican feel to it.  In other beach towns we had visited we were only seeing North Americans, we wanted the culture and experience of being in another country, but with all the conveniences and amenities we were use to in the states.

Our favorite part of Jaco?
We love the slow pace.  I can almost feel myself relaxing when we get close to Jaco.  That does not mean we do nothing while we are here.  Strolling in to town to try a different restaurant or to get ice cream is almost a daily event.  We also like to try something new on each visit.  We never seem to run out of new experiences. On the last trip we went on a crocodile tour, did Adventure in Dinning (a must!), went horse back riding, spent the day in National Park, enjoyed the surf competition at The Backyard, shopped at the Farmer’s Market, did yoga most mornings, and took the time to watch the sunset every evening.

I feel like we got in on a secret.  Jaco has not always been the town it is today.  Many people pass it by because they think it is full if drugs and prostitution.  The town has been cleaned up and I feel perfectly comfortable taking my 5 year old out at night.  We even attended a production as a family of the Christmas Carol two years ago.   How many beach towns in Central America have live theater?

Advice for buying property?
Make sure you choose a realtor that is honest.  We talked with three before really realizing what a difference this could make.  Get a referral or if you don’t know anyone to ask talk to several.  Ask them the same questions.   You will quickly understand who is honest and who is just trying to make a sale.   The other advice is to just do it!  You will not regret this decision.

Original Post

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The creepy feature of RLS is that it only seems to come alive when you want to go to sleep. I cannot characterize it but if you experience it, you will never forget the feeling. I think calling it Restless Leg Syndrome is a misnomer since it should be called “Want to Chop Your Legs Off Syndrome.” It is that frustrating and I could not sleep until I was totally physically exhausted.

So what does all of this have to do with miracles? I just spent the first two paragraph explaining a nightmare story which I would not want anyone to go through. Unfortunately as our species moves about in jet planes our immune systems ability to combat virus vectors is pushed to the limit. The result is fast moving viruses that are becoming more and more virulent.  Alright, so what is the good news?

After my initial treatment to prevent dehydration, the Cuban doctor named Hector began to treat the symptoms which was primarily severe stomach cramping and continuous diarrhea. He started me on a typical regimen of peristaltic anti-spasmodic medicine to relieve the cramping in my intestines. However after 3 days the symptoms still persisted and the pain was terrible that taking the medicine every four hours was simply not enough. My son’s grandmother suggested that I use Guava leaves to alleviate the diarrhea. Since I was so desperate, I was willing to try anything. So Guava leaves were brought to my house fresh off of a tree on Calle Nacion here in Jaco and strip from the branch and then rinsed lightly to clean them and then added to water and set to boil until it became the color of dark tea or light coffee. I am not what you would call a holistic or natures remedy person but I must proclaim that this was a miracle. Within, 20 minutes my stomach pain went away and I no longer was having to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes. The Guava leaf tea reduced my diarrhea to once every hour and then the next day once every six hours and then finally I was beginning to get hungry. After, 6 days I got an appetite and I can truly say that this Guava leaf tea was directly responsible for the quick recovery I experienced after being treated conventionally with Western medicine. For those who want to know, I was told to drink the tea, one cup, every 12 hours but I drank it more like once every 6 hours since it really was the only thing that tasted good and did not cause cramping in my stomach. I literally lived on it for 3 days until the 6th day where I was able to begin eating chicken flavored rice. I will add a link at the bottom for those who are interested in learning more about Guava Leaf Tea or Guava Leaf Extract.

Right outside my front door

However, there is more to this story. So once I began to get better, I began to suffer from the electrolyte imbalance which according to the doctor was causing my Restless Leg Syndrome. The solution for this was not Gatorade since it has sugar. The solution Hector explained was outside my front door, Coconut Water or what we call here in Costa Rica Agua Pipa. It turns out that Coconut water is gods miracle water or natures Gatorade without the sugar and massive sodium. With the help of the next door kids, they picked and cut me 6 pipa’s each day which gave me about half-gallon of Coconut water. After 4 days of drinking the Agua Pipa my RLS symptoms began to disappear.

So the moral to this story is that I will no longer turn a blind eye to nature rememdies but will explore them with a new light from this experience. I am glad to know that here in Costa Rica nature provides us with a bounty of natural medicinal products which we can harvest sustainably to promote our health and treat the sick. I can assure you the next time when I experience diarrhea I will be sending someone to Calle Nacion to grab a branch of leaves from the Guava tree and brew me up some of natures great tea.

Now that you heard this story, there is more. Apparently, Ticos use the Guava leaves for more than just what I needed it for, and here is a brief excerpt and link that explains more about Guava leaf tea.

Guava — botanically known as Psidium guava — is an evergreen shrub native to Mexico and Central America. Guava leaves are a traditional cure for diarrhea among Indians throughout the Amazon, and are also chewed as a remedy for sore throats and bleeding gums; decoctions made from the leaves are applied to wounds. Drugs.com notes that guava leaves contain beneficial phenols, triterpenes and flavonoids, and are rich in quercetin, a natural antioxidant. Guava also has antimicrobial and antispasmodic effects that make it useful in treating diarrhea. Consult your doctor before using guava to treat any condition. Read More

More information about Guava below. No I am not selling Guava tea leaves, so please do not write us and ask. Nor are we building a MLM to distribute this natural remedy. But I guess if you are no longer in Costa Rica, you might need to find dried and/or prepared solutions at your local Whole Foods or wherever you get your natural products from. The information below is derived from a commerical site which sells all types of natural products and we in no way are promoting them but using their information to provide more background for our readers.

The guava is a plant in the myrtle family. It is primarily known for its edible fruit that is used for many culinary purposes. The leaves of the guava plant are tough, dark colored and range in size from 5 to 15 cm. The guava leaves can be dried and boiled to create guava leaf tea. According to Dietary Fiber Foods.com, guava leaf tea has long been used in folk medicine to treat a variety of ailments.

Diabetes

Guava leaf tea may be effective in lowering blood glucose levels. According to a study published in 2010 in “Nutrition and Metabolism” and conducted by the Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research in Tokyo, Japan, consumption of guava leaf tea inhibits alpha-glucosidase enzymes. The inhibition of these enzymes results in reduction of blood glucose levels; the suppression of elevated blood glucose levels is critical in the prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Diarrhea

Guava leaf tea is also a popular treatment for diarrhea. Diarrhea is caused by toxins produced by germs that colonize on the lining of the intestinal tract. According to the Nigerian Tribune, the consumption of guava leaf tea will prevent the germs from producing toxins that cause diarrhea. In addition, guava leaf tea will also inhibit the activity of the toxins that may have already been produced.

Mouth Ailments

Guava leaf tea is useful in treating ailments associated with the mouth. According to “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth” by Jonny Bowden, the tea made from the guava leaf can treat ulcers in the mouth. In addition, as a gargling agent, guava leaf tea can alleviate discomfort associated with sore throats, laryngitis and mouth swelling.

Infections

Guava leaf tea has shown effectiveness when used as a topical treatment of skin and soft tissue infections. A study conducted at Federal University of Technology in Yola, Nigeria revealed the components of the guava leaf extract promoted anti-bacterial properties, which prevented infections in surgical wounds and other skin and soft tissue infections.  Originally posted here

Also, apparently I am suffering from the slow pace of beach front living. It turns out that Coconut water has been the latest fad among health conscious consumers. I was looking for a photo to post here of a Coco Tree and all that came up was Coconut water this and Coconut water that e.g.  see this link

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