about mastiha

healing properties

healing properties

a history of healing

Mastiha is known to have many health benefits, including prevention and treatment of stomach pains, gastric disorders and digestive problems (like ulcers, acid reflux and Crohn’s Disease), and healing of the skin and its rejuvenation.

Subcomponents of mastiha have properties of being anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory & antii-oxidant effects, as well as significant activity against diabetes (lowers blood glucose levels).

There are over 20 modern, published medical studies that prove that mastiha kills h. pylori, which is the bacteria that causes peptic ulcers, gastric cancer, and acid reflux.  

Please see more info on published studies
here.

HEALTH BENEFITS

Good for GUT health

European pharmaceutical companies have been using mastiha for years as the main ingredients for pills for people that have Gastro-Intestinal problems. Studies show that 1 gram of mastiha per day is enough for gut health.

While the Chios residents have used the tree’s resin as a cure-all for thousands of years, today pharmaceutical companies and supplement manufacturers are taking close notice. “We’ve always known that mastic is good for health. Now we’re learning the reasons. It has huge potential.” As Leandros Skaltsounis, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Athens, said.

Read more about this ancient greek medicine here.

MIRACLES OF MASTIHA

the STORY of St. Isidore

St. Isidore was a rich Alexandrian who made the "mistake" to be a Christian during the reign of emperor Decius, the most notorious prosecutor of Christianity.  He arrived in Chios in 250 CE as a military officer. With his house adjacent to brothels, he made the acquaintance of working girls, 2 of whom he converted to Christianity.

The General Numerianus ordered Isidore arrested, and demanded he repent.  When Isidore refused, he was condemned by death by fire.  He was put into a furnace, and when he did not burn, he was tied to a horse and dragged through the countryside of southern Chios.  As was usual with Christian martyrs, he was also beheaded to thwart the possibility of resurrection.

Years later, when Christianity prevailed, the Chians linked their mastiha to the new religion by way of their St Isidore, proclaiming that the skinos trees before which the saint was martyred, miraculously wept and that the mastiha was their tears.  Smart marketing on the Chians part---they essentially increased the value of mastiha by making deeming it holy, and gained access to the lucrative incense market in the Christian churches.

The 17th century Chian scholar Leon Allatius, recognizing that the "miracle" of Isidore did not hold water, modified the original legend.  He admitted mastiha existed before Isidore's time, but added that it acquired its distinctive aroma only after the skinos trees witnessed his martyrdom.

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