PARSLEY – Medicinal Uses

• Tea may be used as an enema. Chinese and German herbologists recommend parsley tea to help control high blood pressure, and the Cherokees used it as a tonic to strengthen the bladder. It is also often used as an emmenagogue.
• Parsley also appears to increase diuresis by inhibiting the Na+/K+-ATPase pump in the kidney, thereby enhancing sodium and water excretion while increasing potassium reabsorption. It is also valued as an aquaretic.
• When crushed and rubbed on the skin, parsley can reduce itching in mosquito bites.
• When chewed, parsley can freshen bad breath.

Health risks

• Parsley should not be consumed as a drug or supplement by pregnant women. Parsley as an oil, root, leaf, or seed could lead to uterine stimulation and preterm labor
• Parsley is high (1.70% by mass,  in oxalic acid, a compound involved in the formation of kidney stones and nutrient deficiencies.
• Parsley oil contains furanocoumarins and psoralens which leads to extreme photosensitivity if used orally.
• Parsley seeds contain a high level of oil and are a diuretic.

Pets could be called ‘wonder drugs’

COLUMBIA, Mo. (UPI) — Pets lower hypertension, spur exercise and improve psychological health, and if this appeared in pill form it would be called a wonder drug, a U.S. expert says.

“Research in this field is providing new evidence on the positive impact pets have in our lives,” Rebecca Johnson, an associate professor in the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, the College of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction, says in a statement.

Johnson says the International Society for Anthrozoology and Human-Animal Interaction Conference in Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 20-25 will include conference discussions on ways that human-animal interaction benefits humans and animals.

“Pets are of great importance to people, especially during hard economic times,” Johnson says. “Pets provide unconditional love and acceptance and may be part of answers to societal problems, such as inactivity and obesity.”

ReCHAI sponsored the Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound and Stay Fit for Seniors program that matched older adults with shelter dogs, while another group of older adults walked with humans. For 12 weeks, participants were encouraged to walk on an outdoor trail for one hour, five times a week.

“The older people who walked their dogs improved their walking capabilities by 28 percent,” Johnson says. “They had more confidence walking on the trail, and they increased their speed. Those who walked with humans had a 4 percent increase in their walking capabilities.”

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 7th Oct 2009