Re: Tamarind/Fluoride Detox thoughts...Re: Detox keeping your drops low? Maybe not!

We use tamarind for cooking everyday.  In india, we used to get the tamarind with the fruit and seed.  Here in USA, it is more convenient to use tamarind paste.  We prepare nice soupy gravies and use tamarind to impart sourness and taste into the dishes.  I don't know how pure the paste is, but if you happen to buy the fruit with the seeds, here's an easy way to get the juice out of it.  That is what we used to do daily.  Wash it lightly if you like and then put a handful of fruits with the sees into a bowl of hot water (warm to hot) and let it sit for a few minutes.  You will get a nice juice after a few minutes.  It is quite sour and hard to drink directly though.  We use enough to add sourness to the dishes we prepare. 

Uses

The fruit pulp is edible and popular. It is used as a spice in both Asian and Latin American cuisines, and is also an important ingredient in Worcestershire sauce and HP sauce. The hard green pulp of a young fruit is very sour and acidic and is most often used as a component of savory dishes. The ripened fruit is sweeter, yet still distictively sour, and can be used in desserts and sweetened drinks, or as a snack. In Thailand, there is a carefully cultivated sweet variety with little to no sourness grown specifically to be eaten as a fresh fruit.

In temples especially in Asian countries, the pulp is used to clean brass shrine furniture, removing dulling and the greenish patina that form [1] .

The wood is a bold red color. Due to its density and durability, tamarind heartwood can be used in making furniture and wood flooring. A tamarind switch is sometimes used as an implement for corporal punishment.

Tamarind trees are very common in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. They are used as ornamental trees and to provide shade on the country roads and highways. Monkeys love the ripened tamarind fruit.

The pulp, leaves, and bark also have medical applications. For example, in the Philippines, the leaves have been traditionally used in herbal tea for reducing malaria fever. Due to its medicinal value, tamarind is used as an Ayurvedic Medicine for gastric and/or digestion problems.

Tamarind is a staple in the South Indian diet, where it is used to prepare Kuzambu or Sambhar (spicy lentil soup vegetables and tamarind), a soupy preparation called pulikkuzambu popular in Tamil Nadu, Puliyodarai rice, and various types of chutneys. In another south Indian State Andhra pradesh 'Pachi Pulusu' is a famous dish made of tamrind syrup diluted with water then boiled with spices, salt and Chopped onions, other dish pulihora and for coastal districts of this state enjoy the Chepa Pulusu and Royya pulusu.

In Egypt, there is an acidic chilled drink made from tamarind which is popular in summertime. It is called "tamr hindi".

Tamarind is available in Indian stores worldwide. It is also sold as a candy in Mexico (see for example pulparindo), and in various snack forms in Southeast Asia (dried and salted, dried and candied, as a cold drink). Pad Thai, a Thai dish popular with Europeans and Americans, sometimes includes tamarind for its sour taste (though lime juice and/or white vinegar are more commonly used). A tamarind-based sweet-and-sour sauce served over deep-fried fish is also a common dish in Central Thailand.