Herbal Household Remedies

Via: The News-Press

Salsa plus avocado equals lower cancer risk

While salsa alone is super healthy, this pairing helps you soak up four times more cancer-fighting lycopene and almost three times more immune-boosting beta-carotene, finds an Ohio State University study. You can thank the fat in avocado for the lift.

Equally good: Use cubed avocado and salsa as an omelet filling for breakfast.

Iron-fortified cereal plus glass of orange juice equals more energy

Eating iron-fortified cereal can help enhance your energy, but consuming a half cup of orange juice along with it increases the amount of iron absorbed sixfold, says Joan Salge Blake, R.D., an assistant clinical professor of nutrition at Boston University.

Equally good: Mix one-half cup fresh orange juice, 1 tablespoon grated ginger and 2 minced garlic cloves; add iron-packed tofu and marinate for 30 minutes. Grill over medium heat.

Teaspoon of peanut butter plus glass of milk equals stronger bones

“Drinking milk while snacking on a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat like peanut butter helps you absorb as much bone-building vitamin D as possible,” says Susan Kraus, R.D., a clinical dietitian at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.

Equally good: Mix 8 ounces skim milk, 1 teaspoon peanut butter, 1 cup fresh fruit and one-half cup ice in a blender for a bone-strengthening smoothie.

Cantaloupe wedge plus yogurt equals immunity boost

The vitamin A in cantaloupe helps ward off viruses, but “enjoying it with foods that are high in zinc, like yogurt, ensures that your body can utilize almost 100 percent of the nutrient,” says Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., author of The Most Effective Natural Cures.

Equally good: Mix 8 ounces nonfat plain yogurt, one-fourth cup unsweetened applesauce, one-half teaspoon cinnamon and one-quarter cup honey. Dip cantaloupe pieces in it for a snack.

Spinach, carrots, tomato, tablespoon olive oil plus marjoram equals healthy skin

Veggies need one tablespoon of full-fat dressing with olive oil in order for the body to absorb many of the antioxidants that are good for your immune system, skin and heart, says Bowden. To up the antioxidant capacity by 200 percent more, top with the herb marjoram.

Equally good: If you’re not into fatty dressings, put pine nuts, walnuts, avocado or a bit of blue cheese in your salad instead. They all offer the same benefits.

Mug of green tea + lemon equals heart help

Squeezing a lemon into green tea makes five times more catechin, a heart-healthy antioxidant, available for your body to use than if you sipped sans citrus, notes a Purdue University study. (Vitamin C slows the breakdown of catechins in the digestive system.)

Equally good: Add a 6-ounce can of lemon-juice concentrate to 12 ounces green tea, chill, and top with 12 ounces club soda, a lemon wedge and a few mint leaves.

Via: NaturalNews

The demands on a woman’s body during pregnancy often leave her feeling depleted, physically and emotionally. Depression is common among pregnant women. Concerns have been raised about possible harm from antidepressants which might affect both mother and child. Mothers-to-be and their health care providers often look for other choices than pharmaceuticals.

Researchers at China Medical University Hospital in Taiwan noted a possible reason why many women experience depression during pregnancy, reports Reuters Health. Depression is often associated with lower levels of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

Dr. Kuan-Pin Su and colleagues presented their findings in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Dr. Su supplemented subjects’ diets with 3.4 grams Omega-3 each day. Control subjects received an olive oil derived placebo. At 6 and 8 week follow up testing, the Omega-3 receiving women scored lower on depression measuring scales than the placebo group. These scores indicated less depression. Two thirds of the women consuming the PUFAs showed significant improvement, the study said, compared with 27 per cent of the control group. Many became free from depression altogether.

The best news came when researchers noted the absence of negative effects on either mothers or their newborn babies. A few mothers experienced minor stomach upset the first few days while their systems got used to the new substances.

Many pregnant women are deficient in a variety of nutrients, including Omega-3 PUFAs. In an effort to provide for the baby’s needs, a woman may lose 3 percent of her brain mass during the last trimester. This loss is thought to be responsible for postpartum depression. The diminished supply of Omega-3 PUFAs can have far-reaching effects on both mother and baby beyond perinatal and postpartum depression. Deficiencies in these PUFAs can lead to pre-eclampsia, prematurity, and low birth weight babies.

The American Chronicle reports that Omega-3s consumed during pregnancy are also beneficial for the baby. EPA and DHA, components of Omega-3 oils, make up nearly 70 percent of the developing baby’s brain, nervous system, and the retinal tissue of the eyes. The article summarizes findings presented in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The need for these PUFAs, the article goes on to say, begins even before conception. Omega-3 oils are required to produce healthy and vigorous eggs and sperm.

The Chronicle article suggests salmon and fish oil as good sources for these essential Omega-3 oils. Yet, there are concerns about mercury contamination in fish, points out an article from Reuters Health. The solution recommended by the researchers: avoid farm raised fish and large long-lived fish like swordfish and tuna. They also call for lowering levels of environmental contamination with mercury. Over-all these researchers suggest that mothers-to-be should eat at least two servings a week of fish lower in mercury.

According to The World’s Healthiest Foods Omega oils are best absorbed from whole foods. If you choose to use supplements: “remember that these oils are highly sensitive to damage from heat, light and oxygen. Choose a certified organic product that has been refrigerated and is packaged in a dark brown or green glass jar and be sure to store the product in your refrigerator or freezer.”

Nutrition Data gives a comprehensive list of food sources for Omega oils. Most of those listed at the top are concentrated oils, fats, and salad dressings, beginning with flax seed oil. Within the top ten, these concentrated oils begin to be interspersed among food sources:

• Whole flax seed appears first among the actual food sources with 22,813 milligrams per 100 grams –- far above the others.
• The next highest source from food: chia seeds with 17,552 milligrams per 100 grams.
• Foods following these include English walnuts (9,079) and butternuts (8,719). Black walnuts offer 2,006 and beechnuts contain 1700 milligrams per 100 grams. Toppings of nuts in syrup (2,420) and pecans (1031) are also on the chart.
• Surprisingly high on the list we find familiar spices like clove (4,279), oregano (4,180), marjoram (3,230), and tarragon (2,955). Other spices offering more than 1 gram in 100 grams of mass include: Spearmint (2,792); yellow mustard seed (2,680); basil (1509); saffron (1,248); sage (1,230); rosemary (1076), and bay leaf (1050). Of course, we do not use these in large quantities, but we see how they can add more than flavor to our meals.
• Fish are numerous at the top of this list. Among the fishes we first encounter caviar (6,789) and mackerel (5,134). Finally, at number 58, we come to Atlantic native red sockeye salmon with skin, which has received so much press, weighing in at 2,865 milligrams per hundred grams of fish. These are followed by another variety of mackerel (2,670), shad (2,649), wild Atlantic salmon (2,586; farmed - 2,260; canned - 1,480), herring (2,418 and kippered - 2,365), and sardines (1,480). Note that varieties and sources for the same species of fish can have widely differing amounts of nutrients.
• Among soy foods we find: tofu dried (2,024) and fried (1,346); roasted soybeans (1,694); soy flour (1,458); and raw soybeans (1,330).
• These are the stellar sources which offer more than one percent of their substance as Omega-3 oils. Many other foods are considered good sources, even with a lower density of the nutrient. The World’s Healthiest Foods recommends cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collard greens and Brussels sprouts as good sources in addition to many of those listed above.

Pregnancy is a good time to take extra special care of yourself, even if you fall short at other times. Indulge in the sheer delight of sampling the vast variety of nutrient dense foods. Your body –- and your baby –- will reap abundant benefits.

Read about the author

Via: Otago Daily Times Online

Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst
Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine
Review by Ted Nye

Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst explore the merits of alternative medicines.

If responsibility for the production of this book could be laid at the door of any one person, it would probably be HRH the Prince of Wales - the writers virtually say as much.

It would appear that HRH is sympathetic to the claims of Complementary/Alternative Medicine (CAM) but, quite reasonably, says that as millions of pounds are spent annually on the product it would be good to know if people were getting value for money.

The writers rise to the challenge in this careful review of the many claims made for CAM, either in the forms of diagnostic gadgetry or physical procedures, such as acupuncture and chiropractic, or medicinals, such as homoeopathy or herbal remedies.

The authors point out that the claims of any method of treatment can, and should, be tested using rigorously designed trials, placebo-controlled and double-blinded so that neither patient nor therapist know which treatment is being used until the completion of the trial.

New, mainstream, pharmaceuticals must go through the process before being approved by the drug regulating agencies.

Promoters of snake-oil for almost any common condition you could name bypass the process.

However, the claims of homoeopathy, based on an early inspiration by a German physician named Hahnemann in the late 18th century, have been tested.

Complete Review