Reduce Cholesterol the Natural Way

Lauki (Latin Lagenaria siceraria) belongs to the curcubitaceae family and is also known as Bottle Gourd.
A glass of Bottle Gourd juice along with 1 tsp lime juice taken every morning on an empty stomach has been known to reduce cholesterol.

Benefits of Apple Cider

Apple Cider is made by fermentation of apples. Not until Folk Medicine: A Vermont Doctor’s Guide to Good Health, written by D.C. Jarvis, M.D., was published in 1958 that the medicinal use of apple cider vinegar was known. Jarvis recommended apple cider vinegar as a cure-all. He said that mixing the apple cider vinegar with honey, a mixture he called “honegar,” enhanced the healing power of the vinegar. Jarvis also wrote that apple cider vinegar could destroy harmful bacteria in the digestive tract and recommended as a digestive tonic to be consumed with meals. Apple cider is also known to have a favourable effect on blood sugar and helps lower glucose levels. Studies have shown that vinegar can lower the post-meal rise in glucose. The acetic acid in vinegar is thought to slow starch digestion and reduce the glycemic index of starchy foods.

Some of the benefits according to Paul C Bragg in Miracle of Fasting are:-


Apple Cider promotes youthful skin and a healthy vibrant body
Helps remove artery plaque and body toxins
Helps fight bacteria, viruses, germs and moulds naturally
Helps retard onset of aging
Helps regulate calcium absorption
Helps normalize urine pH
Helps in digestion
Helps regulate body weight
Helps fight arthritis and removes toxins and crystals from joints and organs

Views and comments are welcome.

Recipe for Reducing Your Weight

Always eat breakfast! Skipping breakfast sends the message to your body that you're starving because you haven't had food in 18+ hours. As a protective mechanism, your metabolism slows down. Food, especially complex carbohydrates, fuels your metabolism.

Eat earlier in the day! Research has demonstrated that you can lose weight simply by eating a substantial breakfast and lunch, and a light dinner. Dinner should be eaten as early as possible, preferably at least four hours before bedtime.

Never eat less than 1200 calories per day! Less than 1200 is usually not enough to support your basal metabolism and thus will slow your metabolism.

Snack frequently! Complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, and grains) fuel your metabolism. Also, snacking prevents you from becoming too hungry. The hungrier you are, the less control you have over what and how much you eat.

Eat more carbohydrates (food from plants), and less fat (food from many animals and other food with added fat)! Carbohydrates boost your metabolism and have fewer calories per weight than fat.

Do some type of aerobic exercise (walking, jogging, swimming, stationary cycling, aerobic dancing, etc.) on a daily basis (preferably in the morning)! Forget this twice-a-week stuff. Our bodies were designed to be active on a daily basis!

In addition to your regular aerobic exercise, take a brisk 10 to 15 minute walk at lunch or in the evening. This serves to boost your metabolism even more!

Tone your muscles with weight training three days per week. Toned muscles send your metabolism through the roof. Do it!

Look for situations to be active. Park as far from the store as you can rather than looking for the closest parking spot. Use the stairs rather than the elevator, a broom rather than a blower, etc. Look for the "hard" way to do things!

Avoid alcohol! YES! Alcohol depresses your metabolism and stimulates your appetite.

Drink 60+ ounces of water a day. Your metabolism needs plenty water to function properly. Carry a bottle of water with you and drink frequently throughout the day.

Wisdom of Peasants

In this age of mass global tranportation, exotic fruits and vegetables are moved across the seas to cater to different palates. Does consumption of these foreign foods affect our well-being and how?

Watch the peasants, it is said. The Japanese fisherfolk eat oysters, rice and sea-weed and live long and healthy lives. This is what is available locally and is akin to the region. Mountain people anywhere in the world are known to enjoy highly healthy lives. Again thier staple diet is grown around the region. There is wisdom in this. Nature meant it to be that way.

I do not understand how one can eat New Zealand grown apples on a hot and humid Indian summer afternoon, when you should be relishing the numerous juicy and pulpy home grown mangoes. I do not mean that one should never try exotic stuff and food from different lands. NO. Far from it. But to make the locally grown food a major portion of your intake is wisdom. Everything in moderation. And you'll never need to visit a doctor again. That is the recipe for a long life and this is the wisdom of the peasants.

What the Indian Yogi's say

Breakfast -- Like a King.
Lunch -- Like a common man.
Supper -- Like a beggar.

The Russians have a similar saying.

Breakfast -- Eat alone.
Lunch -- Share it with friends.
Supper -- Give it away.

Recipe for skin care

Skin irritation? Painful pimples on shoulders and back? Skin condition? Here is an excellent recipe for any skin condition. Take Neem leaves and grind to a fine paste. While you shower apply your normal soap. Take a tablespoonful of neem paste and apply on the soap to form a rich lather. Leave for five minutes and shower. You will have glowing clear skin in a few weeks. Neem is an excellect anti-bacterial. Neem oil is used for preparing cosmetics (soap, shampoo, balms and creams). Neem oil is useful for skin care such as acne, and keeping skin elasticity.

In India, the tree is variously known as "Divine Tree", "Heal All", "Nature's Drugstore", "Village Pharmacy" and "Panacea for all diseases". Products made from neem have proven medicinal properties, being antihelmintic, antifungal, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-infertility. It is considered a major component in Ayurveda

Cabbage Soup Diet

Here is a good recipe for losing as much as 10 pounds in a week thanks to the powerful fat-burning properties of cabbage? That's the hopeful promise of this classic fad diet that's been around for decades. Instead of counting calories, the Cabbage Soup Diet has dieters fill up on cabbage soup (recipes vary but it's generally made from cabbage, green peppers, onions, celery and water) for a seven-day period. In addition to soup, dieters are also allowed to have certain foods, such as tomatoes, meats, vegetables and skim milk, depending on the day of the week. (Certain versions of the diet may call for different portion sizes of these foods.) However, the diet stresses that the more soup you eat in lieu of these additional foods, the more weight you'll ultimately lose. After one week, dieters are expected to go back to their regular eating habits for two weeks before attempting the diet once more. Although there doesn't seem to be any limited set number of times you can keep use the plan, it's recommended to check with a physician beforehand each attempt.

Sweet Potato - A recipe for good health

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), commonly called a yam in parts of the United States (especially in the southern and western portions of the country; this terminology causes some confusion with true yams) is a crop plant whose large, starchy, sweet tasting tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. The sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato (Solanum tuberosum). It is even more distantly related to the true yam (Dioscorea species) which is native to Africa and Asia.

The genus Ipomoea that contains the sweet potato also includes several garden flowers called morning glories, though that term is not usually extended to Ipomoea batatas. Some cultivars of Ipomoea batatas are grown as houseplants.

This plant is a herbaceous perennial vine, bearing alternate heart-shaped or palmately lobed leaves and medium-sized sympetalous flowers. The edible tuberous root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin whose color ranges between red, purple, brown and white. Its flesh ranges from white through yellow, orange, and purple.

Sweet potatoes contain plant sterols, compounds that help lower cholestrol.

Eat with jacket to reap the benefits of soluble and insolubel fibre. Fibre reduces cholestrol and divericulosis.

Beta carotene is a powerful antioxidant that lowers risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin C, B6, folate and potassium.

Sweet potatoes are nutritious and have a rich flavour.

When buying sweet potatoes, choose firm ones with no cracks or bruises. The flavor of raw sweet potatoes might be altered if they're kept in a refrigerator. They should last for two weeks or more if stored in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place and handled with care. If the temperature is too warm -- above 60° F. -- they'll sprout sooner or become woody. Once cooked, sweet potatoes can be stored for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Like potatoes, sweet potatoes are always eaten cooked, but their sweetness makes them versatile. They can be used in a wide variety of dishes, both savory and sweet, and go well with cinnamon, honey, lime, ginger, coconut and nutmeg. Enjoy them in baked desserts and quick breads, puddings and custards, casseroles, stews or croquettes.

Here is a great and fast recipe.

Sweet potatoes, baked with honey and butter.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 sweet potatoes

Method:

Combine honey, butter and salt. In a greased baking dish, layer the sweet potato slices and honey-butter mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Baste frequently.


Serves 6

Benefits of Drinking Tea

Drinking tea regularly, known to have several health benefits, may be good for the bones too, say researchers in Australia.

Health experts in Perth studied 275 elderly women aged 70-85 and found that those who drank tea had higher bone density at their hips and less bone loss than women who didn't drink tea.

It was a larger five-year study of calcium supplements and osteoporosis - a disease that weakens the bones and increases the risk of fractures. The researchers led by Amanda Devine of University of Western Australia, Perth, measured the bone density of the hip at the beginning and end of the study and also kept a tab on the amount of black and green tea the women drank.

Although the study did not find a link between the cups of tea consumed per day and bone mineral density, it found the bone density at two places at the hip was higher in tea drinkers than in non-tea drinkers, the online edition of health Magazine WebMD reported.

Tea drinkers also had less loss of bone density over a four-year period compared to the women who did not drink tea.

These results took into account factors such as smoking history and use of calcium supplements, according to the study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed.

"Other variables, such as dietary calcium and coffee intake, physical activity, and smoking did not appear to be important confounders of the relation between tea and bone density," the researchers said.

People in the past have been using tea in managing and preventing allergies, diabetes, bacterial and viral infections, cavities and to reduce inflammatory diseases.

A previous study by the Yale School of Medicine had indicated that those who consume green tea on an average of 1.2 litres a day get several health benefits.

Separate studies have also revealed that tea can help improve gastrointestinal functions, alcohol metabolism, kidney, liver and pancreatic functions and protect the skin and eyes.

Courtesy Hindustan Times

Foods that Heal - Hypertension

High blood pressure or hyper tension --a major cause for heart attacks, is very common condition of body that is faced by majority of the people in today's fast paced world .Many are unaware of the semi permanent state of tension they live in. Those who have accepted HBP as part of their life are dependent on treatments with antihypertensive or tranquilizing drugs.

Foods that are natural and easily available in kitchen can help in preventing and controlling HBP in a natural way. Following are free foods that heal. Foods which are rich in potassium, calcium, Vit-E, A, B3 , Choline, Inositol, and Chromium help control HBP and prevent HBP.

Foods rich in potassium

Raw banana

Beetroot

Peas

Baked potato

Tomato

Orange

Peanuts

Raisins

Skimmed milk

Yoghurt

Split green gram

Cow peas

Split red green gram

Moth beans

Lotus stem

Sword beans

Bael fruit

Colocasia(arbi)

Foods rich in calcium

Peas

Baked potato

Tomato

Orange

Peanuts

Raisins

Skimmed milk

Yoghurt

Split green gram

Cow peas

Split red green gram

Moth beans

Lotus stem

Sword beans

Bael fruit

Colocasia(arbi)

Foods with vit-E

Wheat germ

Sun flower seeds

Safflower oil

Sun flower oil

Soy bean oil

Eggs

Sprout seeds

Butter

Foods rich in calcium

Milk

Yoghurt

Spinach

Cucumber

Red gram

Parsley

Drumstick leaves

Turnip greens

Cabbage

Indian gooseberry

Country guavas

Foods rich in vit-A

Colocasia leaves

Turnip leaves

Drumstick leaves

Beet greens

Radish leaves

Carrot

Lettuce

Mango

Apricots

Passion fruit

All leafy vegetables

Liver of sheep butter

Foods rich in vit- B3

Rice bran

Ground nut roasted

Liver of sheep

Barley

Par boiled rice

Turnip greens

Almonds

Sun flower seeds

Foods rich in Choline

French millet

Field beans

Lentil

Peas dry

Beetroot

Ground nuts

Apples

Indian goose berry

All sea foods

Foods rich in Inositol

Grape fruit

Wheat germ

Peanuts

cabbage

Foods rich in chromium

Areca nut

Betel leaves

Almonds

walnuts

Kiwi Fruit - Foods that Heal

The Kiwi fruit originated in China and was known as the Chinese gooseberry until New Zealand fruit growers named it for the their national bird and began exporting it. Kiwi fruit was once considered an exotic fruit, but is now available in all metros atleast. The fruits are eaten raw. It is advisable to defuzz the skin and eat the fruit along with the skin.

Benefits
Excellent source of Vitamin C.
Has a good source of Potassium.
Is a good source of fiber.
The fruits have huge amounts of phytochemicals.
Pectin, a soluble fiber is known to reduce cholesterol.
Kiwis also contain lutein and zeaxanthin which are good for the eyes.
The fruit has very low levels of calories.
Kiwis are also used as meat tenderizers.

Go ahead and enjoy nature's gifts. More on foods that heal in next posts. Till then Bon Appetit.

Sleep

A good eight hour's sleep will do wonders for your brain and your skin -- Yoga

Exercise

A 30 min walk will do wonders for your appetite and complexion.

Foods for Love

Want to improve your love life? Try the following foods. As an added gain these foods are good for general well being and other health benefits. These foods are known to have an aphrodisiac effect. Named after the Greek Goddess of Love, aphrodisiacs have been used by every civilization.

Chocolate

That brown gooey stuff that is loved by young and old alike. Chocolate = cocoa + latte (milk).Chocolate releases the same feel good-hormone Phenylethylamine (PEA) that is released during love making. The other foods that contain PEA are almonds, soya, avocadoes, peanuts to name a few.

Garlic

Garlic is known to boost libido in both men and women. It helps in increasing desire and performance during love making. In Indian homes infants with colds and stomach ailments are given a spoonful of milk with a clove of garlic lightly crushed in it.

Ginger

The Chinese always believed it to be an aphrodisiac and used it to treat impotence. The Greeks ate it folded in a piece of bread and hence the name - gingerbread. In India ginger is used for various ailments. A thin slice of ginger kept under the tongue is a surefire cure for motion sickness. Headache? Apply a paste of ginger and lemon juice for instant relief. (It will burn though)

Honey

Honey is a well known aphrodisiac. Young newly-weds took honey mixed with wine to boost their performance and build stamina. Hence the name - honeymoon. One month full of honey and of course lovemaking. Honey has other uses as well. Apply a mixture of honey and glycerin to cure mouth sores.