Haba/Faba leaf extract

My young kids have had pinkeye/conjunctivitis off and on for three months now.  Unfortunately it seems to be doing rounds in the entire community with different levels of symptoms-- the adults just get mild but annoying cold symptoms, kids get red weepy eyes and endless nose faucets.  I hardly know where to begin in a hypothetical disinfection of the whole house-- and then I'd have to do it repeatedly after that, if I'm to actually prevent re-infection that way.  It feels so futile when the kids rubbing their eyes all the time.  And the blankets we use are pretty heavy to deal with washing again and again.  Any ideas on that front are welcome!  I guess I'll wait this this "round" seems to clear up and try for a good overall disinfection.

Now for the point of my post.  More than one person in our neighborhood has told me the "cure" is to get a few tablespoons of juice out of a few haba plant leaves.  The haba is probably well known by other South American folks/residents on here, but in Americanese it might be better known as the Fava or Broadbean.  The plants are robust, almost succulent.  So I went ahead and ran a quantity through our extractor and then added a couple apples to help with the taste.  My kids still weren't thrilled with the taste, but considering the proportion of green to apple, I thought it was a smoother flavor than alfalfa, nevermind kale.

A quick internet search didn't yield this as a known plant to take juice from.  I was curious what some of its main nutrients might be.  I can imagine it's loaded, like many other green extracts-- whether it acts like an actual medicine to stop this infection, or just gives a fantastic immune system boost, I'm loving it.  

Fellow haba eaters/growers/knowers, do you have any knowledge to add here regarding juicing the leaves of the haba plant?

My kids _are_ getting better.  But they should be anyway by now.  I'm skeptical that the thimbleful of haba leaf juice that I got into them made a big difference, but I might try again in the few days and mix it with something red like hibiscus tea, so they don't recognize the grreen. ><)

yes I did.  Shoulda coulda woulda.

Hi, Hannah

I am glad your kids are getting better.

I was going to suggest making a tea with the leaves.

I am not clear if you feed it to them or put it on them.

It sounds like you feed them the juice to drink so if that is the case a strong brew of the leaves might be just as good as just the juice.

Anne Miller wrote:Hi, Hannah

I am glad your kids are getting better.

I was going to suggest making a tea with the leaves.

I am not clear if you feed it to them or put it on them.

It sounds like you feed them the juice to drink so if that is the case a strong brew of the leaves might be just as good as just the juice.

I just stumbled on your reply!  I didn't realize turning off email notifications would turn off the onsite notifications too.  

Yes, I fed them the extract.  Since the leaves are fresh and green, kind of thick, I'm not sure what to expect in a tea.  I could experiment with a cold brew, or maybe puree them in cold water and then strain it (which, if nothing else would be a faster process than using a juice extractor).