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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsYou put the lime in the coconut
Last edited Tue Nov 19, 2013, 07:36 AM - Edit history (2)
So my wife is pretty sick today and I went to the pharmacy and the produce stand down on the main road. I had my pharmacy bag and I was picking up some veggies when the subzwalla (the guy that sells vegetables) asked if I was sick, looking at the bag.
"No, my wife. Stomach problems."
"Oh" he said, and handed me a coconut. "You put the lime in the coconut." Just like that, he said it.
I looked up, ready to laugh, when I saw he was dead serious. And come to think of it, that song was probably never big over here, and even if it was, this guy can't be more than 25 and has probably never heard of it.
I'm clearly looking confused and he says "you cut open the coconut and you put the lime in it. She will feel better."
I'd never thought about this being an actual remedy, but the Caribbean has a ton of Indian immigrants so it wouldn't be surprising at all if an Indian folk remedy made its way into an Caribbean song.
"Why not?" I say to myself, and get a lime from the citrus basket on the sidewalk and hand it to him too. "I'll need this also for that."
He stops and laughs, "oh, the 'lime', very funny sir." and puts it back in the basket.
I'm clearly looking very confused, and he absolutely dies laughing. "No, no sir, not that lime!" And he points to a tobacconist two stalls down. Since I'm still not getting it, he takes my wrist, drags me over to the tobacconist, and points at the chewing tobacco shelf.
When the light hit me, it was almost blinding: Indian chewing tobacco, due to anti-tobacco regulations, has to be sold in three separate pouches. One contains the tobacco, one the betel leaf and spices, and one calcium hydroxide, to raise the tobacco's pH.
Calcium hydroxide, better known in most of the English speaking world as "slaked lime".
The song is telling you to put, not the fruit, but calcium hydroxide or calcium carbonate into green coconut water to raise its pH and help settle your stomach if it's too acidic. The coconut water also contains some sugar and potassium, which helps with the electrolytes you may have lost if you've been sick.
(EDIT: raise the pH, not lower it. Chemistry was a while ago...)
Fridays Child
(23,998 posts)Who knew?
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)always heard it was about smoking weed (isn't everything?)
Tried to find somewhere where this is backed up, but found more weed, some other drugs (coke, opium...) and even pregnancy was mentioned with lime and coconut juice as an abortifacient.
I could keep looking, but this doesn't seem like a well known home remedy.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Instead of searching on lime and coconut, I googled "calcium hydroxide or calcium carbonate in green coconut water home remedy."
In India, tender coconut water is used as a cooling medicine and as a most sacred and pure water from vedic period. ....
...
The author is using tender coconut water in the treatment of various diseases with very effective results. Particularly, tender coconut water with fresh lime juice is a boon to infants, children and adults, to cure dehydration. Giving a teaspoon at a time every ten minutes not only quenches thirst but also restores the electrolyte balance in infants and children where emergency saline transfusion facilities are not available.
For vomiting in children due to ascending of a roundworm in the stomach, tender coconut water with lime juice is a specific medicine. Parents are afraid of giving tender coconut water to infants and children. It is assured that there is no harm in giving 4 to 6 ounces of tender coconut as a routine food to every infant after the third day of birth. Mixing tender coconut water instead of plain water in milk, not only nourishes the child, but also prevents the curdling of milk in the stomach and prevents vomiting, constipation and indigestion. Tender coconut water in which a well ripe banana is mashed can be regularly given as a perfect food instead of milk. Children grow healthier by regular use of this food.
...
http://www.niir.org/books/book/herbal-foods-its-medicinal-values-h-panda/isbn-8186623744/zb,,60,a,0,0,a/
vanlassie
(5,637 posts)of life???" Oh my god that is BAD advice.
But for older kids and adults, meh.
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)AnneD
(15,774 posts)Harry Nilsson.
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)AnneD
(15,774 posts)he died too soon.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)Interesting! Thanks.
rrneck
(17,671 posts)MicaelS
(8,747 posts)lame54
(35,141 posts)Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)So that, at least, is "really Indian". And I grew up taking calcium hydroxide (or baking soda, when CaOH wasn't around) in water for a stomachache. We only mixed it with a little of the coconut water (no sense ruining the taste of the rest), but it certainly didn't make things worse...
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)It actually works as well as many expensive medicines.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Milk, too.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)You have to stir it nine times widdershins.
trof
(54,255 posts)eppur_se_muova
(36,227 posts)so a *small* amount of MOM might work if lime is not available. At higher doses, MOM is a laxative, and overuse can lead to lowered potassium levels, so caution is advised.
Interestingly, coconut milk already contains more magnesium than calcium -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_water#Composition
This got me thinking about the oral rehydration salts (ORS) developed by WHO several years back -- see http://www.who.int/chd/publications/cdd/meded/2med.htm -- and it sounds like coconut water may very well be a pre-packaged ORS product. http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3709?fg=&man=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=25&offset=&sort=&qlookup=coconut+water includes sodium content, missing from the Wikipedia article.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)And adding to the alkali content with slaked lime would just increase that...
nolabear
(41,915 posts)And thus was the internet born...
And an ear worm started. ("you put de lime in de coconut and call me in the mo-o-orning."
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)Rigjt now i want to make chicken pakora with a tomato and ginger dipping sauce and naan to wrap it up in.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Fresh lump crab curry. Holy crap that was good.
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)Got dough for naan rising, and batter for pakoras. The craving would not go away.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)That was exactly what the lamb I'm making tonight calls for...
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)Served with a spicy tomato and garlic dipping sauce.
lastlib
(22,981 posts)...and now I've got an earworm. Thanks a lot! (Excuse me while I put on some Zeppelin......A little "Stairway to Heaven" is in order here...)
DebJ
(7,699 posts)I was taking Driver's Ed the summer that this song was out. Unlike all of the other students driving in the same
training car, I had never been behind the wheel at all, and I was terrified.
The Driver's Ed teacher had us drive to a highly congested street in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. The student
driving parked the car and the teacher put me behind the wheel, where my first driving experience would be to
pull out of a parallel parking spot into heavy traffic... fun,huh?
Then the coconut song came on, and the teacher jacks up the volume to blaring, and he leans out of his window
and begins banging on the outside of the car door in time to the music while singing along with the song at
high volume.
Somehow this wasn't helpful for me. But it made for a unique memory.