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.

The Drink Your Body Loves

Many women see comfort in a cup of chamomile tea, thanks to its slightly sedating effect and its ability to ease anxiety, menstrual cramps and skin problems. Your bloodstream finds it comforting, too. Because there’s something in chamomile that not only helps keep blood sugar stable (at least in the lab), but also guards against the tsunami of damage that high blood sugar can do.

Too-high levels of blood sugar can act like scouring powder on your arteries, weakening junctions between cells, allowing nicks between cells that encourage an ugly pileup of inflammation and plaque. Everything that’s happening in there eventually makes itself known in the form of a heart attack, stroke, memory loss, impotence, wrinkled skin and more. But chamomile can change all that.

If you don’t like tea (and even if you do), there’s plenty more you can do, with next to no effort, to keep blood sugar even and its damage at bay (in addition to eating well and exercising):

Fill up on broccoli. It’s rich in a compound called sulforaphane, reputed to cut blood sugar damage to arteries.

Spice things up with cinnamon. This favorite spice may turn on insulin receptors and help your body use glucose better (no pileups of sugar in your blood). Cloves and allspice also may help prevent diabetes damage.

Say yes to spinach. People who fill up on this green have lower rates of diabetes, possibly because of its magnesium content.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 19th October 2009

The Body Part

That Wants You To Go Green

Your knees love it when you go green. We don’t mean environmentally green, although they appreciate it when you take the stairs and when you take your bike for a spin instead of the car (strong leg muscles keep your joints healthy). We mean eating green. Filling your meals with this color can go a long way to preventing arthritis. Here’s what to reach for:

Leafy greens. A killer, flavor-filled salad or side dish could mean one less knee replacement surgery in the world. The vitamin K in leafy greens — think cabbage, spinach and Swiss chard, for starters — reduces your risk of joint damage. People who have the highest levels of K are less likely to develop the bone spurs and cartilage damage that are common in osteoarthritis. (A word of caution: If you’re on a blood thinner, check with your doctor about whether K is safe for you.) Leaves just not your thing? No problem. Broccoli and asparagus make tasty alternatives.

Green tea. Potent compounds in green tea — EGCG and ECG — may help battle cartilage and collagen destruction in arthritic joints. The EGCG and ECG found in green tea are powerful flavonoids known as catechins. These particular flavonoids fight inflammation and some of the underlying mechanisms that mess with knees in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Bonus: Sipping it before you do that knee-preserving workout may help you burn fat faster.

Chlorophyl is a powerful antidote for cellular regeneration.

It can be obtained from your local chemist or drug store cheaply.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 19th October 2009

Eat The Whole Thing And Watch Cancer Risk Drop
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D.

Juicier than the latest celeb gossip and more crisp than HDTV, apples may do a lot more than be the perfect fruit. The type of fibre in apples, called pectin, lowers your colon cancer risk by bumping up colon-protective compounds and clamping down on cancer-causing ones. In the lab, apple pectin increased levels of butyrate, a fatty acid that manages to do this colon-health double duty. That’s fabulous, since colon cancer is the third most common type of cancer for both men and women.

Unlike chocolate cake or entire buckets of wings, apples are one case where you really want to eat the whole thing. In other words, don’t peel it first. If you pitch the skin, you’re ditching compounds called triterpenoids (we’re not going to test you on that), which have strong potential against colon cancer and against breast and liver cancers, too. More reasons to go whole: The peels also contain quercetin, a compound that may bolster your immune system (it may even help stave off the flu when you’re under stress), and that can help defend your body against cardiovascular disease and even Alzheimer’s.

Of course, apples aren’t the only thing you should do to keep your colon cancer risk down. You also need regular screenings. Do an annual Hemoccult test after age 40 (available at pharmacies and not as gross as you think) and colonoscopy screening every 10 years, starting at age 50.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 7th Oct 2009

The Care And Feeding Of Nature’s Best

Detoxifier

Your liver isn’t just a place to filter tequila.

Although it never gets the attention your heart, eyes or other body parts get (know of any odes to your liver?), it performs biological miracles daily. All blood that has visited your small intestine flows through the liver, where it gets detoxified and where all the nutrients go before they get passed to the heart for generalized distribution. A big job, but something has to do it. So help your liver help you with these four strategies:

1. Live clean. Reduce your personal pollution so that there’s less to filter out. Drink filtered water, eat unprocessed foods, choose veggie protein over red meat and practice safe sex. And yes, keep the mojitos to a minimum.

2. Add crunchy veggies. Cruciferous produce (like broccoli and cabbage), B-rich foods (like whole grains) and high C items (like citrus fruits and leafy greens) assist the liver’s detoxifying process.

3. Consider a supplement. Lecithin (egg yolks and soybeans are good sources) and zinc (turkey) support liver function, and you may want to consider supplementing your diet with them if you don’t get much naturally (men should get 550 mg and women 425 mg a day of lecithin; 15 mg a day of zinc). Herbs like milk thistle and dandelion may help liver function, too, but consult your doctor before taking them.

4. Don’t take too much vitamin A. If you do, you risk liver problems, including cirrhosis.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 8th Sept 2009

• No-Pill Ways To Reduce Blood Pressure

No-Pill Ways To Reduce Blood Pressure
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D.

You thought you were ready to roll … until you’re standing in front of the room and realize that the thing you felt rolling around by your feet on the plane was the thumb drive with your presentation on it.

Of course your blood pressure is going to go up. It even will when someone gets crazy in traffic or when you think you’ve lost your credit card. That’s what your body is designed to do when there’s stress: Run away. But that’s not always an option today (you can’t very well run away from the podium or the traffic jam). So try these YOU Docs strategies for helping you stress less and stay healthier:

1. Lose it. We mean weight. The more body fat you pack, the more trouble your body will have getting your blood pressure down after stress.

2. Work it. Build some muscle. Your blood pressure returns to normal more quickly after a stressful event if your blood vessels are toned. And the stress of building muscle (that’s good stress) through physical activity tones your blood vessels.

3. Leave it behind. When college students recalled an injustice that had been done to them, their blood pressure went up. And it stayed elevated longer in those who couldn’t muster up any forgiveness for what happened. Forgiveness is a simple way to make yourself seriously healthier without a prescription.

Published by Henry Sapiecha 7th Sept 2009

The Four Moves That Change Your Health
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D.

Want health reform? Don’t wait for consensus in government (it might take a while). Start your own personal health reform by doing just four things. The result: You can dramatically change your health by cutting your stroke risk in half. Yes, half. Considering that someone dies from a stroke every three to four minutes, that’s a blockbuster-size change.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Don’t smoke. And if you do, quit (check out RealAge.com for a “breathe free” program that really works).

2. Stay active. In the study, desk sitters who did 30 minutes of physical activity a day, or people whose jobs kept them active (and didn’t work out in their off hours), saw this reduced risk of stroke. Note the key words: “Every day!”

3. Drink one or more alcoholic drinks a week (but less than 14). What’s a drink? A small glass of wine, a single shot of spirits or a half pint of beer. Fine to keep up this habit if you already do it, but don’t take it up just for your health.

4. Eat nine or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day (the study found that five was effective; we say you shouldn’t stop there). The researchers didn’t just go on hearsay, asking participants to recall what they ate; they checked vitamin levels to be sure.

That’s beyond easy. It’s tasty, smart and makes you feel great. What happens in government is still important ,

but change starts with YOU.

Published by Henry Sapiecha 25th August 2009