More and more experts are agreeing that seaweed can be categorized as a superfood. That claim is being supported by investigations that reveal that seaweed, which is a variety of algae, contains more calcium than cheese, more fibre than you will find in prunes and more iron than a sirloin steak. All these comparisons are weight for weight.
Other important vitamins and minerals contained in seaweed are potassium and iodine and it is the sole plant that is a source of vitamin B12. The most recent studies on seaweed revealed that its bioactive substances aid in reducing blood pressure and cholesterol, plus its ability to deal with free radicals that are the cause of cancer.
The American Association for Cancer Research has recently published their initial research that revealed how extracts of seaweed was able to inhibit cancer cell growth that would otherwise lead to lymphoma. They were interested to know the connection between seaweed and cancer reduction on account of the Japanese who eat more seaweed per capita than any other nation and have low cancer rates in their women.
The University of Newcastle conducted research that showed how seaweed fibres (alginates) were responsible for reducing the absorption of fat by the body and could thus be considered a viable weightloss ingredient.
From Newcastle University, research associate in human nutrition, Dr Iain Brownlee said: “We’ve found that by adding these natural fibres to food products, up to 75 per cent of the fat we consume could simply pass through the body – so in theory it could be used to fight obesity. Alginates could be used in place of the fat that gives food its flavour. In tests, people have actually preferred bread with small levels of alginate in it – so it’s not something you have to force yourself to eat.
Have you ever even comtemplated making your own shampoo? I must admit I never have!!
But,people making herbal shampoo at home are claiming that it is making their hair grow faster. Although hair loss is a natural, although unwanted result of getting older, many people go to great lengths (excuse the pun) to stop it disappearing. Several herbs have been discovered to help in reducing the extent of hair loss and actually encourage healthy hair to grow faster.
Natural herbal shampoos work by enabling the herbs to be absorbed into the scalp and it is the effect of these herbs that lead to hair growth. The reason why homemade shampoos are proving more successful over their commercial counterparts is because they do not contain the damaging chemical agents that the commercial one does.
The main advice given to anyone wanting to get their hair back is to clean their scalp with a mild cleansing soap that does not contain any petroleum products. Castile is recommended. Essential oils or herbal tinctures can then be added so long as they are alcohol free. Add one teaspoon to the soap base. You will be able to get these from any health store.
If you are making a shampoo for more than one session, then make a volume of soap base and add the herbal tincture, herbal nettles (dried is fine) or Rosemary to the base and store it in a glass container. When taking a shower it is wise to take the amount of shampoo needed in a separate plastic container into the shower with you, sop as to avoid the chance of breaking the glass.
As homemade shampoo is totally natural and has no preserving chemicals it cannot be kept at room temperature .
So thats the report- its healthier- and cheaper to make your own shampoo, I will be trying this and will report back, and i hope that some of you will do the same and let us now?
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has discovered that 92% of mothers are duped by artificial food labeling. Only 8% of mothers rejected all claims made by food companies on their packaging labels. This was the result of mothers being shown a variety of slogans that are found on popular foods that kids eat. They were asked if the label meant the food was healthy to eat or not. The BHF chief executive, Peter Hollins, said: ”Mums are having the wool pulled over their eyes by food manufacturers,” adding that ”Smoke and mirror tactics means that foods targeted at children and high in fat, salt and sugar are being disguised with partial health claims suggesting they’re a healthy choice.” Such slogans such as ”a source of calcium, iron and six vitamins’,” can be found on the side of milk bars and Coco Pops ceareal when in actual fact they contain more sugar and saturated fat than a chocolate cake. ”Regularly eating these types of foods could have serious implications for kids’ future health.”,” says Peter Hollins. Nestlé’s Honey Shreddies are described as ”wholegrain” and can ”keep your heart healthy and maintain a healthy body”, despite the fact that a serving of 45g contains 13.6g of sugar. A ring doughnut has 9.2g. The answer says the BHF is for the traffic light labeling system to be used by food manufacturers on the front of the products. ”Partial health claims and the mish mash of food labelling systems serve only to confuse shoppers about the nutritional value of what they’re putting in their shopping baskets,” said Hollins. He gave a clear message to food manufacturers by saying: ”It’s time for food companies to stop making excuses, support one system and ensure shoppers are given ‘at a glance’ information about the foods they’re giving their kids.”
Scientists are concerned that there is no safe level of trans fat consumption. Despite a large amount of negative press about trans fast, they are still being widely used by food manufacturers in the UK. Scientists say that that they are not even necessary as an ingredient in food and a safe level of trans fat consumption does not exist.
The majority of people are now aware that fats essentially fall into two categories. One is good fats that are unsaturated and the other is bad fasts that are saturated. The saturated fats are mostly found in fried foods, dairy products and meat and eating too much of them puts the person at risk of heart problems and stroke. Unsaturated fats such as polyunsaturates and monounsaturates are mostly obtained from plants and are beneficial to health.
Trans fast are industrially produced trans fatty acids and are much more damaging to the arteries and heart than saturated fats. They are created by turning liquid vegetable oils into solid fats via an industrial process called hydrogenation. For this reason trans fats are also known as hydrogenated fats. For more than 100 years food manufacturers have been using them in products such as cereals, pastries, cakes, chips, biscuits as they provide a longer shelf life.
In the UK, there is no legal requirement for retailers or food manufacturers to mention that their products contain trans fats. However, they are obliged to mention the presence of hydrogenated fats. (They are the same thing.) These will be listed as Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (PHVO) or hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (HVO). Also the word ‘shortenings’ indicates trans fat content.
Many countries have banned the use of trans fats but in the UK there is only a “Voluntary agreement adopted by the British Retail Consortium, representing 85% of retailers in the market, to phase out trans fats as an ingredient in their own-brand products. However, there are no sanctions for those producers who drag their heels, and the voluntary commitment does not cover imported foods.”
So at the moment it seems that the consumer will have instigate the boycott!
They are very rich in vitamins and minerals, which makes them filled with antioxidants. It is these that help your body fight diseases like cancer.
Tomato is one of the richest vegetable in antioxidants, which makes its popularity even bigger. Its benefits for our health do not stop when it is consumed raw. Yes- tomato ketchup is practically a health food!! No joke! The process used to make ketcup increases the anti- caner abilities!
lycopene found in tomatoes is resistant to pretty much all cooking methods, so no matter how hard you try to nuke it- tomato power still stays!!.
In fact, the lycopene molecule is only released when the tomato is double boiled. In other words, in order to gain as much as you can from the lycopene you have to put the tomato through the double boiling process. It helps neutralize the free radicals of the cancer cells and that is why it is considered a significant aid in the cancer treatments.
And this is not all. Even the healthy people can benefit from lycopene because it decreases the risk of getting cancer and heart disease.
Another good way to do it is to mix the tomato with corn or some corn oil. From this combination of the antioxidants from the tomatoes and the ones in corn oil is released the largest amount of lycopene.
So thats why you need to eat your fruit and veg, the tomato is just one example!!
This is the recently published list of all the disorders that a banana a day can help overcome!! Pretty impressive really!
So Bananaman really had it right! There are so many benefits of fresh fruit and veg that often get swept under the mat especially at snack time when the biscuit tin seems to be calling….
So do you eat yours? And do you insist that your family get theirs? May be worth a trip to the local grocers..
Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
PMS: Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
Anemia : High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness
Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology inAustria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips.. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady..
Ulcers:The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases.. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a “cooling” fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.
Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance.. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!
Yoga for Kids is taking off in the UK, with the rising obesity levels linked to inactivity in children, this is surely a good thing?
Britain is also experiencing an increased interest in yoga for children. One such programme is called Yoga Bugs. Founder and director Fenella Lindsell recently turned down a £200,000 funding offer from the Dragons on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den. She works with children up to age 13 and has 40,000 of them taking her classes via the franchises she is licensing.
She says the way to keep the little ones interested is by asking them questions at the same time as they are doing the class…..that way she can keep their attention……..and a bit of education at the same time!
Fenella adds, “Yoga is truly holistic. Children get physical, emotional and mental benefits from it. Sporty ones can improve their performance. Not-so-sporty children can find a flexibility they didn’t know they had,” adding that “We also teach the techniques to teachers, who use them in short bursts throughout the day in order to calm children down, or energise them.”
Sosend them off and await the return of a calm and relaxed vibe!!
Leading docs are demanding a complete ban on the use of man-made fats found in thousands of foodstuffs such as biscuits, ready meals and margarine, because they can damage health.
The UK Faculty of Public Health is urging ministers to eradicate artificial trans fatty acids, known as trans fats, from the British diet. The move is needed to reduce people’s risk of suffering a cardic arrest or a stroke, says the faculty, which represents 3,300 doctors and public health specialists in the NHS, local government and research.
Trans fats, found in many cakes, pastries, pies, chips and fast foods, are chemically altered vegetable oils used to bulk up foods and increase their shelf life. They have no nutritional value and boost levels of “bad” cholesterol, thereby increasing the chances of a heart attack. Trans fats also occur naturally in meat and dairy products, but these pose no risk.
The World Health Organisation believes artificial trans fats are harmful to health and wants them to be minimised or eliminated altogether. They have also been blamed for causing fertility problems in women.
The UK should follow the example of Denmark, New York, California, Switzerland and Austria in banning trans fats, said Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, the faculty’s president. Other countries and regions are planning to take similar action.
“Trans fats are much less well-known than saturated fats but are much more damaging. They are very bad for the heart, play a key role in the UK’s very high levels of heart disease and contribute to a large number of the excess coronary deaths we have in this country,” Maryon-Davis said. “Foods can be made perfectly well without trans fats. The government should move to ban them as soon as possible because eliminating them completely would help save many lives.”
The call to legislate against trans fats is backed by the Royal Society for Public Health, which has produced a joint manifesto with the faculty suggesting such a measure among a series of policy changes to tackle obesity, alcohol problems, sexual infections and food quality. Every year some 141,000 Britons suffer a heart attack and 86,000 die as a result, while another 111,000 have a stroke, of whom 53,000 die.
Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: “The evidence is indisputable that trans fats raise your risk of having heart disease and so they can ultimately kill you. They also might give you Alzheimer’s disease and make you infertile. Do you need to know any more? If people really understood what they were eating and the harms caused by trans fats, they would stop eating foods containing them.”
The National Heart Forum, which represents medical organisations and charities involved in combating heart disease, said: “Artificial trans fats in food present a significant health hazard and there is clear agreement that removing them from the food supply would improve public health,” said Dr Jane Landon, its vice-chairman. “We are recommending to our members the need for government action to eliminate artificial trans fats.”
Although food producers had made progress in cutting their use, and average intake was below officially designated safe levels, Landon said: “We are concerned that some sections of the population, especially poorer consumers who eat more processed and fried foods, are exposed to unacceptable health risks.”
In 2007 Alan Johnson, the then health secretary, asked the Food Standards Agency to investigate trans fats. It concluded that no action was needed because average consumption was half of what government scientific advisers said should be the maximum – for 2% of all energy to come from trans fats. The Department of Health last night reiterated that view. However, Maryon-Davis insisted that “as with cigarettes there is no known safe level of consumption”.
The British Heart Foundation did not endorse a ban but warned that official figures “could be masking the true extent of trans fats that some people are eating, putting their health and arteries at risk”. It wants better labelling to tell consumers how many trans fats are in products they plan to buy. Food manufacturers are currently not obliged to declare trans fat content on packaging.
The food industry’s trade association rejected the faculty’s call. “Our members have voluntarily made such significant progress in reducing trans fat levels in their products that I feel that the proposal to introduce legislation is not justified”, said Barbara Gallani, director of food safety and science at the Food and Drink Federation. Food producers’ voluntary action had led to average UK intakes falling to 1% of total energy and they were committed to making further reductions in levels of trans fats, she said.
The British Retail Consortium said its members – which include Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Iceland – had fulfilled pledges made in 2006 to remove trans fats from their own-brand foodstuffs.
The faculty also wants smoking to be banned in cars containing children, in order to reduce their exposure to toxic secondhand smoke. Dr Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said it was “a proposal worth considering” to protect children’s health.
Dr Tony Jewell, Wales’s chief medical officer, said the Welsh assembly planned to look at the issue of children and young people’s exposure to tobacco smoke in private cars when it draws up its new tobacco control strategy later this year.
The Department of Health hinted that ministers may take action on the issue. It stressed that “exposure to secondhand smoke is very dangerous, especially for children” and that “in enclosed spaces, and especially in cars, levels of secondhand smoke can be high. Parents have a responsibility to protect their children in any environment.”
Digestive health therapy is a way of making sure that you have the right type and amount of digestive enzymes. Although the body manufactures its own digestive enzymes in the pancreas, a lot of help is received from the enzymes that exist in the food you eat. However, due to eating over processed or over cooked food most if not all of the enzymes contained in the food are destroyed. This means that the body has to work harder to compensate for the lack of natural enzymes. It also means that the food is not digested as completely as it should be.
enzymes also help in building strong bones, purifying the blood, fixing connective tissue, detoxifying the body and reducing inflammation. The enzymes most concerned with digestion are amylase, lipase, and protease. The biggest source of these enzymes is from fresh raw foods such as fruits and vegetables. As they are often destroyed in cooking a lot of people are taking to a raw food diet; if not completely then partially.
Another reason why the raw food diet is becoming more popular is because it is predominantly alkaline and as the body itself is more alkaline than acidic, there is a natural synchronicity. The more that food is processed and cooked, the more it becomes acidic and brings with it potential digestive problems. Moving to a completely raw food diet may be a huge undertaking, but just a little fresh food will go a long way to assisting your body with what is a pretty huge task; that of digestion.
However, it is not to be said that gains cannot be made just by slight modifications to your existing diet, steam and stir fry veg a bit more, add a little salad to your sandwich, and much on an apple a day…….
UK researchers have conducted experiments that resulted in the discovery that mint tea can relieve pain. Brazilian mint tea otherwise known as hyptis crenata appears to have equal analgesic qualities as proprietary pain killers.
A team of researchers from Newcastle went to Brazil to discover how the Brazilian tea medicine is traditionally prepared so they could recreate the same thing at home. They found that the most common method of preparation was to boil the dry leaves for 30 minutes and allow the concoction to cool before use.
Graciela Rocha, the lead researcher of the project said: “Since humans first walked the Earth we have looked to plants to provide a cure for our ailments – in fact it is estimated more than 50,000 plants are used worldwide for medicinal purposes. Besides traditional use, more than half of all prescription drugs are based on a molecule that occurs naturally in a plant.”
So, there! Here is me wondering how hard the pharmaceutical companies are going to be working to sit on that one!!
They certainly are not too forthcoming about shouting the benefits of sports massage for long term pain relief!
