Dates - Natural Sustenance
From Ancient Mesopotamia

Posted November 3rd, 2008 By: Rod Newbound

Although the exact origin of the date palm is lost in antiquity, it is known to have been used in construction of the temple of the moon god near Ur in Southern Iraq (Mesopotamia) as early a 4000 BC.

Dates were considered very important in both the Jewish and Islamic religions, and were believed to be a curative for many ailments.

Ancient Phoenicia was known as “the land of palms” and no doubt dates sustained them as they sailed around the Mediterranean and became the predominate maritime trading culture of the time.

Nutritional Powerhouse

Dates are one of the most nourishing natural foods. Containing 3,000 calories per kilogram (2.2 lbs.), just a handful taken with a glass of milk, can provide all the nutrition a person needs for the entire day. And because the natural sugars in dates are fructose and glucose, diabetics can safely consume them.

Dates are also high in dietary fiber and low in sodium and fat. They are also a valuable source of antioxidants (ranked #11 out of 100 fruits and vegetables in ORAC score).

100 grams (about 3 ½ oz.) of dates contains

• Carbohydrates 75 gm (including 63 gm sugar)

• Dietary fiber 8 gm

• Protein 2.5 gm

Full to the brim with super-healthy benefits this dry fruit is a must-have in your kitchen.

Cancer Fighter

Fresh, dried, or semi-dry dates pack a nutritious punch when it comes to getting your daily requirement of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and especially magnesium.

One study indicates that 64% of men and 67% of women fail to get enough of this important mineral. Bone density, blood pressure and insulin activity are just some of the things affected by magnesium levels.

A Swedish study, conducted over 14.8 years among 61,433 women showed that a diet high in magnesium rich foods cut the risk of colon cancer by 34%. And the evidence is clear that a high fiber diet is very important in the prevention of colon cancer.

It is known that date consumers in Saharan areas have the lowest incidence of cancer, which is attributed to the high magnesium content of dates.

Top 5 Things to Know About Dates

• Fresh dates are a useful source of Vitamin C and when dried, they are richer in potassium than bananas.

• Dates can have a mild laxative effect, making them ideal for children and convalescing adults who need to clean up their intestines.

• Dried dates are a rich source of niacin, copper, iron and magnesium. Just drinking a juice made of dates soaked overnight in water will strengthen the heart and purify the blood.

• Certain cultures use dates to provide all the body’s necessary nourishment by stuffing dry dates with nuts and raisins to use as a snack during fasts. This is an easily made treat for those suffering from low blood sugar. Eating just two stuffed dates can quickly raise your blood sugar to normal levels.

• Dates are also rich in calcium, and date syrup added to milk strengthens bones. Even breast-feeding mothers can benefit from dates, because it is known to enrich the milk and boost the child’s immune system.

Caution: Use moderation. Eating too many dates at a time could lead to dental caries and gum disease as the sugar in the dates is fermented in the mouth and forms plaque. Dates are also known to trigger migraines in some people.

Quick and Easy Ways to Use Dates

• Chop and add to the dough when you are making cookies or brownies

• Put some in your milkshake instead of sugar or honey

• Dice and serve with ice cream or yogurt

• Blend with milk and use as syrup

• Stuff with nuts and a chunk of cheddar cheese

• Add to hot cereal to punch up the nutritional value

• Dice and put in your pancake or waffle batter

• For a super healthy snack, stuff with raw chocolate nibs

More exotic dishes include Moroccan tajines (a slow-cooked spicy stew) and ka’ak bi ajwa (an Arab cookie filled with ground dates). In Manila, a cake similar to fruitcake made with nuts and dates is called “Food for the Gods”.

It is estimated that there are 100 million date palm trees growing today. And because of that, you can easily enjoy one of the most nutritious and sustainable fruits in the world without traveling to Mesopotamia.

Photo credit: kspoddar

Posted in Food & Diet, Medical | 2 Comments »

Make Your Own Probiotic

Posted October 27th, 2008 By: Rod Newbound

Perogies and Sauerkraut

What are Probiotics?

The word probiotic (from the Greek) means “for life”.

Probiotic: (1) A beneficial bacterium found in the intestinal tract of healthy mammals or (2) Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.

Probiotics are “friendly bacteria”. Yogurt with live cultures is one natural food that has become mainstream in society, but there are others…

Fermented foods are part of nearly every traditional culture. As far back as Roman times, people ate sauerkraut because of its taste and benefits to overall health. In Asian cultures, pickled fermentations of cabbage, turnips, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, squash and carrots still exist today.

Probiotics Promote Health

Probiotics are thought to promote health by:

• Suppressing the growth of potentially harmful bacteria

• Improving immune function

• Enhancing the protective barrier of the digestive tract

• Helping to produce vitamin K

• Helping replace the good bacteria that have been destroyed by medicines or illness

An analysis of studies in the journal of Alternative Medicine Review found that chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and Rheumatoid arthritis may be associated with fewer friendly bacteria in the gut.

Sauerkraut: A Probiotic Food You Can Enjoy All Winter

The best, most hypoallergenic and digestible form of probiotics is sauerkraut. It’s loaded with extra B vitamins and vitamin C.

Make it using ancient sea salt like Redmond’s Real Salt and you’ll have a food product loaded with trace minerals like phosphorus, sulfur, magnesium, zinc, iodine and others… Trace minerals missing from many of our foods today due to depleted soils.

Cancer Fighter

One study done by Michigan State University and Warsaw’s National Food and Nutrition Institute found women who eat at least three servings per week of sauerkraut or raw cabbage are significantly less likely to develop breast cancer than those who have only one serving.

One possible explanation for how cabbage could reduce breast cancer risk… Researchers at the University of Illinois identified compounds in cabbage and sauerkraut that block the action of estrogen.

And a study from Finland found that fermenting cabbage produces isothiocyanates, compounds with recognized anti-cancer properties.

“We are finding that fermented cabbage could be healthier than raw or cooked cabbage, especially for fighting cancer,” says Eeva-Liisa Ryhanen, Ph.D., research manager of MTT Agrifood Research Finland.

Sexy Food

To make matters even better, sauerkraut may give your libido a boost.

Bestselling author of You Are What You Eat, Dr Gillian McKeith says, “The sexiest food of all is raw sauerkraut. Honestly! Research carried out in the US found that 90 percent of men were more ‘up for it’ after eating the pickled cabbage.”

Fun and Easy to Make Your Own

Most commercially available brands of sauerkraut have been pasteurized to allow for easier transport and shelf stability. But pasteurization destroys any probiotics within the vegetables. So, too, does the use of sodium benzoate, a common preservative.

While there are sources for non-pasteurized kraut, they are quite expensive, and it’s fun and easy to make your own. Since I’m about ready to make my yearly batch, I decided to share my thoughts with you. An Internet search will turn up a variety of recipes, but some of them are complicated (and a few are in error).

The recipe I’ve used successfully for the last 2 years is from Purdue University Extension. It’s a simple pdf download, which you can print out for your recipe book or save on your computer.

Good sources to find the right cabbage for kraut are your local farmer’s market, a roadside stand or a local fruit and vegetable market. I’d avoid buying your cabbage in the grocery store, as it likely won’t be the right kind for kraut.

So, gather the family and spend the afternoon making your own probiotic you can enjoy all winter. When you’re ready to start eating it, Great Lakes Kraut Company has dozens of mouth watering recipes from appetizers to desserts. They even have one for kraut pizza!

Photo credit: mpich3

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Trade Your Sheep for Ginger

Posted October 13th, 2008 By: Rod Newbound

Abundant Remedies

Head to Toe Remedy

Aromatic, pungent, therapeutic, and flavorful — ginger’s claim to fame is but natural.

An old Indian folk song sums it up perfectly: “Ginger’s curative properties have no restrictions, one cannot say that it can only cure this and not that. From a migraine or a blocked nose right down to aching feet and sprains, you could never go wrong with a bit of ginger.”

This spice has been used for thousands of years to treat many ailments and one pound of it was once worth the price of a sheep.

Digestive Spice

The brown knobby-shaped root of ginger is used as a spice in many Asian countries and is becoming indispensable in several western cuisines as well. But this condiment shouldn’t be limited to just making food taste better. It’s quite effective in making you feel better.

Not only does it aid digestion, ginger also gets rid of such nasty stomach disorders such as constipation, diarrhea, bloating and flatulence. My father introduced me to ginger tea for diarrhea at an early age, and it’s never failed me. There is even evidence it can reduce food cravings by helping to maintain consistent blood sugar levels.

Because ginger works its wonders in the stomach it is considered to be a great alternative to all those allopathic tablets that are meant to ward off nausea, dizziness and to some extent even altitude sickness.

Ginger’s Arsenal

Closely related to turmeric, ginger owes its awesome powers to chemicals called volatile oils, especially zingerone, gingerols and shogaols. These oils stimulate your body’s production of saliva and digestive juices that counteract stomach acids, which may be causing cramps, nausea, or other disorders. As a decongestant, ginger is best administered in hot soups.

7 Ways to Use Ginger

Get your daily dose of ginger by munching on some gingerbread or sipping some ginger soda, tea, or soup. For those with painful ailments, here is what you can do:

• Backaches: Apply ginger paste on the area, followed by eucalyptus oil

• Muscle pain: Massage a few drops of ginger oil that has been mixed with almond oil

• Headaches: Heat up a little ginger paste and apply it on the forehead. Be warned, the skin will burn a little

• Sore throats: Chew a small piece of ginger slowly or crush it and add a spoonful of honey to it

• Flatulence: Make a paste of ginger and asafoetida to apply on the navel

• Motion sickness: Eat some ginger about 3-4 hours before you leave home and at regular four hour intervals as needed (if you can handle the spicy flavor)

• Earaches: A few drops of ginger juice in the affected ear

Cautions: Studies warn that those with gallbladder stones should not eat ginger and those undergoing chemotherapy should not take ginger on an empty stomach. Heartburn is inevitable if you eat too much ginger.

We should all be thankful this useful spice is now much cheaper than a sheep. The last time I checked it was even cheaper than a coffee at Starbucks.

Photo credit: JimReeves

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Body Clock Missing a Stroke?

Posted October 2nd, 2008 By: admin

Keeping Time

Why you should repair your body clock

All ye who work on night shifts pay heed. And all those who have been binging on high-calorie food on weekends, here’s a word of caution: when your body clock is out of whack, expect some serious trouble.

About time

The biological marvel that is the circadian rhythm regulates the body’s temperature and pressure according to the time of day – this means we feel alert after a good rest and feel tired and sleepy towards the end of the day or after a huge meal. The 24-hour circadian cycle is deeply ingrained in our body and is in charge of switching on and off various biological functions, such as oxygen requirements, waking up, being active, feeling hungry, hormone production and even feeling sleepy.

Alarm bells

Those who consistently defy this rhythm and set their own pace of waking, sleeping, eating at irregular intervals or drinking a lot of alcohol, eventually experience problems with their body’s functions. Studies show that a faulty body clock stops correctly regulating your hunger and metabolic rate, which increases your chances of obesity and diabetes. Other studies prove that alcoholics tend to suffer from poor sleep, depression, low immunity and disrupted neuroendocrine functions, because the alcohol interferes with those physiologic functions that depend on the circadian rhythm.

On time

One of the latest branches of medicine is called chronotherapy, which uses cues from the body’s own clock to treat illnesses and get into shape. So there are best times for taking medicines, exercising, studying, trying for a baby (sperm production is highest in the morning), eating, cleaning the house and even taking a bath. One study has found that the clock can be shifted an hour back or forward after exposure to bright pulses of light.

Top 5 Signs
Your Clock’s Going Cuckoo

1. Sleeping all the time or not sleeping at all

2. Depression that is related to the weather; such as feeling low during winter

3. Hallucinations, exhaustion or paranoia due to lack of sleep

4. Putting on weight despite eating healthy foods and exercising regularly

5. Waking up feeling tired with stiff joints and muscles

Winding up

One way of getting your clock right is to get plenty of sunlight. This will aid the production of melatonin, a powerful anti-aging hormone that is manufactured by the pineal gland and helps set the body’s internal clock. The biorhythms are set by light cues - therefore melatonin is produced each evening after sunset and before dawn. Melatonin also affects the body’s reproductive functions, metabolic rate, hunger and other bodily processes. Little wonder then that it is prescribed as a supplement to those suffering from sleep disorders due to long night shifts.

Setting your clock right

1. Set a fixed time for waking, sleeping, and eating. Start with a good breakfast followed by a light lunch and dinner to regulate your weight. The body converts food into heat and energy in the morning, but in the evening, food is stored as fat.

2. Don’t binge on high calorie foods for two or more days in a row. This disrupts the clock by slowing down the stomach and in turn affects your metabolism, leading to obesity or diabetes.

3. Get at least half an hour of early daylight to give your body clock the necessary light cues to regulate your body temperature, energy levels, etc

4. Your threshold of pain is higher in the afternoon, so if you need to do some really heavy work or visit the doctor for a shot - after your lunch break is a good time.

5. Your heart, blood vessels, lungs, ovaries, muscles, liver, and kidneys have their own clock and achieve their peak performance at certain times in the day. So if you have problems staying alert when you should, or a tendency to put on weight, eat when your stomach will function at its best.

6. Those who have to cope with jet lag or shift work should gradually shift the time of eating and resting to their normal routine

Photo credit:col_adamson

Tags: body clock, chronotherapy, circadian rhythm
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Does Your Doctor Know Your Real Blood Pressure?

Posted July 21st, 2008 By: Rod Newbound

Tips On How To Be In Better Control of Your Blood Pressure Even When You Go to the Doctor

Things You Should be Aware of While Testing Your Blood Pressure

Have you ever thought about the fact your blood pressure can vary significantly during the day depending on your level of stress? And stressors can come in many forms, such as…

• Stimulants like a cup of coffee, a can of Mountain Dew, the latest “power drink” or a cigarette

• Maybe you worked all day before your appointment

• Or you failed to have a restful night’s sleep because you were a bit anxious about the appointment

• Someone cut you off in traffic, or you were late because of road construction

• Your boss just told you you’re working Saturday (and you were planning to go fishing)

And what if the person taking your blood pressure is lazy, or hasn’t the necessary training to understand the importance of being accurate, or worse, just doesn’t really care. Think this can’t happen? It certainly can (and does). When I was finishing up my nurse’s training, I was assigned to shadow the nurse in an OB/GYN clinic. Specifically I was there to learn more about prenatal care. I watched the LPN take one blood pressure after another as these pregnant women came in for their appointments. The blood pressures she wrote down didn’t vary 10 points in the readings. For this to happen with 16 patients is a statistical anomaly. In other words, the likelihood of all these readings being accurate is very slim.

Because these readings were also in the “normal” range, they were unlikely to be checked by the doctor. And in many health care settings, even abnormal readings are rarely rechecked unless there is another reason. This means you could have a blood pressure reading high enough for your doctor to prescribe a medication that either isn’t accurate or isn’t normal for you in a less stressful situation.

So what can you do about it?

6 Ways You Can Be in Better Control of Your Blood Pressure

1. Listen to classical music just before going into your doctors appointment. One study showed just 3 minutes of classical music will lower your blood pressure to pre-stress levels (add some deep breathing and it will plummet even faster). If you happen to have a portable CD or digital music player, take your tunes in with you

2. Meditate for a few minutes before your appointment taking deep slow breaths

3. Take a leisurely walk

4. Use visual imagery – imagine yourself sitting in a high mountain meadow of wild flowers on the side of pristine lake surrounded by snow-covered peaks. Now change the season to winter where you’re enveloped with absolute quiet.

5. Ask to sit in a regular chair in the exam room when you have your blood pressure taken

6. And most important of all – know your normal everyday blood pressure..

How To Know More About Your Blood Pressure Than Your Doctor

Go to your local pharmacist and have them recommend the right size blood pressure cuff for you. Yes size matters. If your arm is small, you need a small cuff. The same applies if your arm is larger than normal. Tell them you want to monitor your own blood pressure at home. Avoid cheap equipment, especially if you decide to purchase an electronic blood pressure cuff. In my experience most of the cheaper models are unreliable. Remember, you want accuracy. After all, it’s your health. Right?

It’s really not too difficult to take your own blood pressure with a manual cuff, but if you just feel uncomfortable or prefer to use an electronic model, I suggest you check out Omron Healthcare Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor with ComFit Cuff.

However you decide to do it, blood pressure is composed of 2 numbers, the systolic and the diastolic. The systolic reading is the pressure created against the artery walls when your heart beats. The diastolic is the resting pressure between beats. Although blood pressure is generally considered normal in a 10-point range either side of 120/80, everyone is different. So it’s important to know your normal range.

Once you’ve decided on a machine, make a commitment to take your own blood pressure regularly at home. Choose a quiet time, preferably the same time each day you take it. Be sure you’re rested and haven’t had any strenuous exercise, stimulants or depressants like alcohol for at least 30-60 minutes. Take two or three readings over about 15 minutes and record them in a journal with the date. Average the results of readings over two or three days a week. You’ll then know your real resting blood pressure. The next time you visit your doctor, bring along your journal for comparison.

Image Credit: ahhyeah

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