14 Cara Membuat Jamu dan Herbal

Bagaimana membuat jamu herbal yang baik?? temukan jawabannya disini..
Hidup dijaman modern pasti ada kecenderungan masyarakat menggunakan obat Jamu dan Herbal untuk pengobatan. Kembali ke alam (back to nature) merupakan alternatif yang diminati banyak masyarakat sekarang ini, terutama dalam bidang pengobatan dan makanan sehari-hari.
Penggunaan Jamu atau herbal sebetulnya sudah lama dikenal oleh masyarakat. Walaupun sekarang sudah banyak Jamu diproduksi dan dikemas secara modern. Namun tradisi minum Jamu atau Herbal secara tradisional masih banyak ditemukan dimasyarakat Indonesia, terutama di desa-desa.
Sudah banyak terbukti keampuhan dan khasiat Jamu dan herbal. selain harganya lebih ekonomis, herbal juga mempunyai efek samping yang sangat kecil. Walaupun demikian, masih banyak masyarakat kita yang meragukan khasiat herbal. Memang diakui bahwa daya penyembuhan jamu dan herbal tidak sebaik obat kimia. Pengobatan dengan jamu dan herbal membutuhkan waktu lama.
Penyajian yang salah, waktu minum yang tidak tepat, dosis yang tidak tepat, dan ketidak sabaran pemakainya adalah faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan herbal tidak efektif. Prof. H.M. Hembing Wijayakusuma dalam bukunya “Ramuan Lengkap Herbal Taklukan Penyakit” menyebutkan hal-hal yang harus diperhatikan dalam mengkonsumsi herbal sbb:

1. Cuci simplisia tumbuhan obat (herbal) dengan air mengalir sampai bersih.
2. Segera gunakan herbal segar yang telah bersih untuk pengobatan. Jika bahannya besar, sebaiknya potong tipis agar saat perebusan zat-zat yang terkandung didalamnya mudah keluar dan meresap dalam air rebusan. Untuk herbal yang disimpan, keringkan lebih dahulu setelah dicuci agar tahan lama dan mencegah pembusukan oleh bakteri dan jamur. simplisia  lebih mudah dihaluskan untuk dijadikan serbuk (bubuk). Pengeringan dillakukan di bawah sinar matahari atau memakai pelindung. Dapat juga diangin-anginkan, tergantung dari ketebalan atau kandungan airnya.
3. Seduh bahan yang telah dijadikan bubuk (serbuk) dengan air panas atau mendidih.
4. Untuk bahan yang keras dan sukar diekstrak, harus dihancurkan dan rebus terlebih dahulu sekitar 10 menit.
5. Gunakan air tawar bersih yang tidak mengandung zat kimia berbahaya untuk merebus.
6. Untuk merebus bahan berkhasiat obat, gunakan wadah yang terbuat dari periuk tanah (keramik), panci enamel, atau panci beling. Jangan menggunakan wadah dari logam, seperti besi, aluminium, dan kuningan. Logam mengandung zat iron trichloride dan potassium ferrycianide. Zat itu menimbulkan endapan pada air dalam mengobati penyakit. Selama perebusan, jangan terlalu sering membuka tutup wadah agar kandungan minyak atsirinya tidak mudah hilang.
7. Gunakan api sesuai dengan jenis herbal yang direbus.
   • Api kecil : Gunakan untuk merebus herbal yang berkhasiat sebagai tonikum, seperti ginseng dan jamur ling zhi agar kandungan aktifnya terserap kedalam air rebusan
   • Api kecil : dengan waktu perebusan yang lama juga digunakan untuk jamu dan herbal yang mengandung toksin, seperti mahkota dewa agar kandungan toksinnya berkurang.
   • Api besar : Gunakan untuk merebus herbal atau simplisia yang berkhasiat diaforetik (mengeluarkan keringat) dan mengandung banyak minyak atsiri, seperti daun mint, cengkih dan kayu manis. Setelah mendidih, masukkan bahan dan rebus sebentar. Dengan cara ini, kandungan atsirinya tidak banyak hilang karena proses penguapan yang berlebihan.
8. Jika tidak ada ketentuan lain, perebusan dianggap selesai saat air rebusan tersisa setengah dari jumlah air semula,
9. Jika mengandung bahan kering, umumnya dosis (takaran) setengah dari jumlah bahan segar.
10. Pastikan dosis tumbuhan obat sesuai dengan yang dianjurkan. Umumnya, 1 resep tumbuhan obat dibagi untuk 2 kali minum sehari. Sisa ampas rebusan pertama dapat direbus sekali lagi untuk 1 kali minum pada sore atau malam hari.
11. Minum rebusan sari tumbuhan obat dalam keadaan hangat dan setelahnya pakai baju tebal atau selimut. Namun, untuk jenis herbal tertentu, seperti rebusan biji pinang harus diminum dingin untuk menghindari kotraksi dengan lambung yang mengakibatkan mual, muntah, dan kram perut.
12. Umumnya, rebusan herbal diminum sebelum makan agar mudah terserap. tetapi, untuk ramuan obat yang dapat merangsang lambung, minum setelah makan.
13. Lakukan pengobatan secara teratur. Yang perlu diingat, pengobatan herbal membutuhkan kesabaran karena tidak langsung terasa manfaatnya, tetapi bersifat konstruktirf (memperbaiki/membangun). Efek obat kimiawi memang terasa cepat, tetapi bersifat desktruktif. Karena sifatnya itu, herbal tidak dianjurkan sebagai pengobatan utama penyakit-penyakit infeksi yang bersifat akut (medadak), seperti demam berdarah, muntaber, dan lainnya yang harus segera mendapat pertolongan medis. Tanaman obat lebih diutamakan untuk pemeliharaan kesehatan dan pengobatan penyakit yang bersifat kronis (menahun).
14. Pengobatan herbal dapat dikombinasikan dengan obat kimiawi, terutama untuk penyakit kronis yang susah disembuhkan, seperti kanker agar diperoleh hasil pengobatan yang lebih efektif. Aturan minum obat herbal sekitar 2 jam setelah pemakaian obat kimiawi.

The land of Toraja’s Sizzling Highlights

Amelia Winnie, Contributor, Tana Toraja | Mon, 04/25/2011 9:06 PM

Rare skill: A Torajan woman weaves a tenun cloth. — Photo by Amelia Winnie
Known for its remarkable tenun or woven cloth and funeral ceremonies, Tana Toraja — “the Land of Toraja” — is a lot more than meets the eye.

Located in South Sulawesi, this prominent tourist destination in Indonesia is encircled by mountains, cliffs, forests and dotted with coffins as well as buffaloes.

It was an eight- to 10-hour drive from South Sulawesi’s capital city, Makassar. I did not want to close my eyes and fall asleep as the journey to Toraja offers a scenery I might regret missing.

Paddy fields and forests could be seen to the left of the road, and scary yet tremendous gaps to the right. The sky was bright blue and, through large clouds, the sun shone brightly.

Because it is a famous tourist destination, Tana Toraja is packed with visitors all year round, from backpackers to wealthy travelers.
Wealthy family: The number of horns in front of tongkonan, the traditional house in Tana Toraja, shows how prosperous their owner is. — Photo by Amelia Winnie
If you want to go to Tana Toraja’s famous spots in Makale, Rantepao and Batutumonga easily, you can rent a car, which costs around Rp 400,000 (US$46) a day (negotiable). You can also take public transportation, such as a minivan (angkot) or bentor — short for becak motor (motorcycle-pedicab) — if you want to tour around the city.

Torajan houses called tongkonan, built using carved-wood panels can be seen throughout Toraja. The word tongkonan comes from the Torajan word tongkon — which means “to sit”. The walls of tongkonan are incised with wood-carving detail and are mainly colored red, black and yellow.

In front of a tongkonan, you can usually see a string of buffalo horns that show how affluent and wealthy the owner is. Four or eight horns indicate average wealth. Any other amount means the tongkonan belongs to a prosperous family.

Nowadays, many Torajans own modern-looking houses, but they still have smaller-sized tongkonan houses, which they use as guest houses.
Down below: Londa, a natural cave, is the burial ground for Tana Toraja ancestors, located in Sandan Uai village in Sanggalangi subdistrict, 7 kilometers from Makale. — Photo by Amelia Winni
They are also used to store gabah (unhulled rice) or as the family grave. Indeed, there is something in Toraja you cannot and do not want to overlook: corpses, coffins and graveyards.

Before stepping into these spooky spots, you must visit Batu Tumonga. Located on the slopes of Mount Sesean, a one-hour drive from the center city in Toraja, Batu Tumonga offers a splendid view of Rantepao and Tana Toraja from its peak. Having a cup of robusta or arabica coffee (Torajan exclusive coffee) in a coffee shop there while looking at the views is very enjoyable.

On the way to Batu Tumonga, graves could be spotted everywhere. Interestingly, they didn’t look creepy — but culturally appealing.
Tree grave: Babies used to be buried in the Tarra’ Tree. — Photo by Amelia Winni
The next stop was the baby grave called passiliran in Kambira. The passiliran is only intended for babies who do not have teeth — they were considered sacred. Deceased babies are buried inside a hole in a tarra tree, as it is believed to place them back in their mothers’ wombs. Tarra has white sap symbolizing a mother’s milk. Approximately 80 to 300 centimeters in diameter, the hole is wrapped with enau leaves (solitary palm sugar) after the baby is in. There are 15 holes in the tarra now.

Social status, again, plays a role here. The higher the baby is placed inside the hole, the higher the social status of the family. By paying an entry fee of Rp 5,000, tourists can see and take photographs of the baby graves.

Twenty minutes from the baby grave, meet Londa — a natural cave, the burial ground for Tana Toraja ancestors. Located in Sandan Uai village in Sanggalangi subdistrict, 7 kilometers from Makale, it costs
Rp 5,000 to enter the site.

Here, visitors must follow community rules — one of which is we are not allowed to move or take away the human bones. Among the tombs, you can see tau-tau — wooden effigies representing the deceased — placed on the top of Londa cave.

When you look toward Londa’s entrance, there are erong — Torajan coffins that stick out of the cliff side — filled with human bones from hundreds of years ago. Similar to the baby grave, the higher one’s social status is, the higher the dead is placed on the cliff.

Then, explore the 1,000-meter depth of Londa cave by foot and witness this coffin-filled cave with sesajen (offerings to the spirit) and items belonging to the deceased alongside.

Be careful, the ground and rocks inside are slippery and wet. Witness the infamous tale from Londa inside the cave revolving around a couple of skulls claimed to be Toraja’s Romeo and Juliet. They were deeply in love, but both families’ refusal to welcome their commitment brought catastrophe: suicide.

Toraja people place importance on buffalos. Not only do buffalo horns present social status, Torajans also sacrifice as many buffaloes as possible at a family member’s funeral. The number of animals sacrificed — buffaloes or pigs — equates to the power of the dead and their family’s.

Tedong — as Toraja people call the water buffalo — are given time to bathe in mud. Albino buffalo are given special treatment. There’s one in Londa, named Tedong Bonga. The guide says Tedong Bonga is worth more than Rp 200 million.

Another enthralling spot is Ke’te Kesu, the most picturesque village in Tana Toraja. It has a shipshape row of tongkonan and the hanging erong coffins.

Ke’te Kesu has many tau-tau on its cliffs, photos of predecessors, and wooden-carving crafts and souvenir shops selling Torajan handicrafts such as tenun woven cloths, T-shirts, ethnic jewelry and even traditional South Sulawesi costumes.

It is believed to be the oldest graveyard in Tana Toraja. To fully experience Ke’te Kesu, you need to walk upstairs with the precipice on your right.

Many skulls and other bones are on the ground. Walking past flimsy, old coffins, you can sense the mystical atmosphere around.
Valuable asset: This water buffalo, Tedong Bonga, is worth more than Rp 200 million. Photo by Amelia Winnie
The last and hottest place to visit is Sa’dan To’barana. This is a special place to see the making of pattanun, Torajan tenun woven cloth.
You can also purchase cloth here. Sa’dan To’barana is a one-hour drive from Rantepao.

It is a traditional village in north Toraja where the pattanun fabric is originally made. Pattanun consists of a mixture of colorful tenun woven fabric and is sold at a reasonable price. You can have an authentic pattanun from Rp 100,000 to more than Rp 1 million.

You can also experience weaving with the traditional machine to make tenun woven cloth. One tenun woven cloth is 3.5 meters in size and takes two weeks to make.

Tasting Tana Toraja’s cuisine is also a must. Try pa’piong, beef/pork/fish mixed with vegetables such as utan bulunangko or jackfruit inside bamboo then roasted over a fire.

Do not forget to taste jipang Toraja, made from glutinous black sticky rice with brown sugar.

Tori cookies are also yummy and use similar ingredients to jipang but in a different form. Tori is made by adding sesame seeds and rice flour.

This superb city of graves and marvelous natural views invites those who visit the Land of Toraja to come back again.

Greece hacker accused of targeting US sites

Associated Press, Athens | Wed, 06/08/2011 5:31 PM

An 18-year-old Greek man has been arrested in Athens, accused of hacking into websites of the U.S. government and the international crime fighting agency Interpol, and engaging in redit card fraud, police said Wednesday.

It took Greek police two years to find him, with the help of authorities in France and the United States, and the investigation will consider whether the suspect had links to militants.

In a raid on the suspect's house in greater Athens on Monday, police seized computers, flares, shotgun cartridges, a homemade incendiary device, 130 fake credit cards, and euro7,850 ($11,500) and $300 (euro205) in cash hidden in a hollowed-out book, police said in a statement.

The suspect, who was not further identified, was arrested there on charges of computer fraud, forgery, illegal violation of privacy, and illegal weapons possession.

The police's cybercrime and anti-terrorism divisions are involved in the investigation, which also will examine possible links between the suspect and local militant groups that have carried out bombings in the past, mostly targeting Greek banks and government agencies.

The alleged cyber attacks occurred in 2008 and 2009 against the U.S. and Interpol sites, with the suspect using botnets: networks of computers carrying malicious software unknown to the users.

The police statement did not identify the computer sites that were allegedly hacked into.

US Senate report: Afghanistan's economy at risk

Donna Cassata, Associated Press, Washington | Wed, 06/08/2011 8:45 PM

Despite US$18.8 billion spent by the US to help stabilize and build upAfghanistan, that nation is at risk of falling into financial crisis when foreign troops leave in 2014, a new report from Senate Democrats says.

President Barack Obama's choice to serve as US ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, faced senators' questions Wednesday about the U.S aid and the size of t upcoming troop drawdown. He was to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The panel's Democrats issued the report that says stabilization programs in Afghanistan have had limited success. The $18.8 billion spent over 10 years is more than the United States has pent in any other country, including Iraq.

Misspent foreign aid can result in corruption, alter markets and undercut the ability of the Kabul government to control its resources, said the report, which was posted Tuesday night on the Senate committee's website. The World Bank found that a whopping 97 percnt of the gross domestic product in Afghanistan is linked to spending by the international military and donor community.

"Afghanistan could suffer a severe economic depression when foreign troops leave in 2014 unless the proper planning begins now," the report said.

Obama, after conferring with militry leaders and senior advisers, will decide this month on how many of the 100,000 troops to withdraw from Afghanistan. The drawdown is expected to begin in July.

The State Department and the US Agency for International Development are spending about $320 million a month on foreign aid there, relying on the money to "win hearts and minds." Among the successes has been a sevenfold increase in the number of children attending school and gains in health care.

But the report said the United States must take a closer look at how it spends the money, relying heavily on contractors. The U.S. must do a better job of oversight, especially as it funds more aid through the Afghan government. One recommendation was to standardize Afghan salaries and work with the government on staff limitations.

The panel's Democrats also suggested that Congress implement multiyear aid programs and closer scrutiny of stabilization programs

"Transition planning should find the right balance between avoiding a sudden drop-off in aid, which could trigger a major economic recession, and a long-term phase-out from current levels of donor spending," the report said.

At his confirmation hearing, Crocker is certain to face skeptical and war-weary lawmakers wondering about the U.S. investment in Afghanistan in the 10th year of the war and after the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Republicans and Democrats are pressing for a robust drawdown of the US forces from Afghanistan, especially in a time of serious US financial woes. The administration is seeking about $3.2 billion in foreign aid for Afghanistan in next year's budget, an amount likely to be closely reviewed.