OUR STORY
The story of Tropical Health & Wellness’ 100% natural products began in the Caribbean; which is a ‘regional garden of infinite herbs’ that has been providing the region, (and the world), with premium herbal plants and traditional medicines, since 3000BC. The indigenous populations of the region, Caribs, Arawaks and Tainos, being from Red Indian tribes, valued the land, as well as the significance and importance it holds for human kind. Living off these herbs for food and medicinal purposes, meant that our ancestors (and my grandmother), did not have to visit doctors’ surgeries, drink manufactured medicines from the West or died from food-related problems on the same scale as people in the West today.
The answer? The efficacious herbs and plants and foods the people knew so well, were their medicine chests, their supermarkets’ wellness supplies – all available in tremendous abundance, growing around them. However, in the Caribbean, tea has a wide frame of reference. Like the rest of the world, our tea is also brewed with Camellia sinensis, but covers more than beverages from this plant. In the Caribbean, green tea refers to anything from the Camelia sinensis plant, while blends made from plants, roots, leaves, barks, and flowers, are locally referred to as “bush tees,” which are often used for medicinal purposes.
My grandmother knew and taught me the medicinal benefits of every single herb and plant we were surrounded by, and I learnt the benefits of her herbally-infused baths, which contained a mixture of carefully chosen herbal leaves that laid and infused in water, warmed by the heat of the 90F degrees sun, for half of the day, before she bathed in it.
I learnt of such benefits to her body and that of her family before her. As a result, at the age of 76 years, she had her full set of brilliant ivory teeth, all still intact, (not once had the need for a dentist); physically and emotionally as strong as an ox; dressed like a lady, and oozed good health. No sickness or ailments were reported because preventative medicine was the practice of the older generation in the Caribbean region. This is long before companies offering organic brands on High Streets in European countries discovered the benefits of the natural herbs.
As a result they quickly monopolised the ingredients, by packaging, branding, and re-selling them to the region, so that today, they are seen as the “experts,” aggressively marketing the tropical products. However, every Caribbean adult (and later their off-spring), who knew how to, and have used those coveted ingredients on a daily basis, obtained freely from the landscape, did so for not only culinary, but also healing purposes; thus cooking with and drinking tea became our tradition and heritage.
Things herbal, Grandma used to teach
The High Street brands of teas, cannot be compared to the “Bush teas,” as we locally called them, and so we would like to share them with you, as well as create healthier communities, in mind, body and spirit; by taking you on a journey to experience these wonderful teas. Natural, hand-picked, expertly prepared, and ingested, these teas and their herbal benefits, formed part of our foundational health, in the Caribbean, and this enabled good healthy living, well into old age. These herbal medicines were freely picked to treat from an insect bite, stomach ache, sexual drive, oral and muscle pain, not to mention internal health problems: making the older men and women of the Caribbean, cultural ‘doctors’ within their families.
They were educators – those who passed on cultural wisdom, courage, and good sense; may not have had ‘book learning’ in the way we judge education today, but certainly their holistic knowledge of nature and the natural landscape around them, probably surpassed those you could find in a book today.
Therefore, in the same way my grandmother, a customary Herbalist, passed on this knowledge to me, as was done with the Caribbean folktales1 she also transmitted, I invite you to on a journey of discovery of wellness, as you bask in our transmitted knowledge of blending herbs, plants, fruits, flowers, dried leaves, spices, grasses, seeds, barks, nuts, and other extracts; we hope you will see and feel their various benefits.
Come and enjoy the fruits of such labour, that would bring health and wellness to you and your family, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
“That’s why the Caribbeanesque!® range of products are unique; in that they are our new, authentically sourced, high quality products, which are both delicious and nutritious; made based on traditional knowledge, specifically derived from the Caribbean island of Grenada.”
1The New Caribbean Folktales and Legends for the 21st Century (2018) by Roselle Thompson, Eagle Publications, UK.
OUR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
Tropical Health and Wellness is committed to making a difference to the lives of people in the Developing World, by selecting charities globally to support. Our social projects are focused on helping the least well off in society, to receive the basics that we believe everyone should have, such as: food, education, housing, water, medicine, and sanitation.