Feeling depressed? Anxious? Moody? Apart from relaxation exercises, you may wish to consider eating certain mood-boosting food to get you out of your funk and back into sweet serenity! Here are some food that are known to positively turn sad into glad!
WALNUTS
Walnuts (available in most supermarkets like SM) contain omega-3s, vitamin B6, tryptophan, protein and folate. Higher blood levels of omega-3s have been linked with better mood and lower rates of depression, while lower blood levels of omega-3s have been associated with higher rates of depression and negative feelings. Omega-3s and uridine (another substance found in walnuts, which plays an important role in helping metabolize carbohydrates) worked in the same way as standard antidepressant medications.
SUNFLOWER SEEDS
Sunflower seeds contain folate and magnesium. These two substances aid in regulating and boosting mood. A handful of sunflower seeds delivers half the daily recommended amount of magnesium.
Let us tackle magnesium first. When magnesium is deficient in the body, a person will have feelings of fatigue, nervousness and anxiety. Proper magnesium levels, help us achieve a calm and relaxed state which is important in order to achieve a good mood. Magnesium supplements have been prescribed by doctors in order to treat major depression, suicidal tendencies, anxiety, irritability and insomnia.
Folate (also known as vitamin B9 and as folic acid) is a B-complex vitamin that’s closely linked with nervous system function. Folate deficiency may result in feelings of irritability, depression and brain fog, as well as insomnia which easily leads to depression and irritability.
Sunflower seeds are also a good source of tryptophan and are often recommended by nutritional experts as a natural method of boosting serotonin levels (serotonin is the chemical that is present when one is happy).
CHOCOLATE
There is a very good reason why depressed people eat lots of chocolate! Chocolate contains a several substances that elevate mood, including fat, sugar, caffeine, phenylethylamine, flavonols, theobromine and tryptophan.
Caffeine and theobromine are two naturally occurring stimulants found in chocolate. Along with sugar and fat, these substances provide a swift burst of energy and mood-lifting power. Chocolate also contains the mood-boosting compounds phenylethylamine, tyramine, tryptophan and magnesium. Chocolate also has the ability to lift our moods by just being itself! It has a rich, mouth-pleasing texture; an intense taste; and an appealing aroma. It does not matter if you are eating the locally-produced Choconut or the relatively expensive Ferrero Roche, chocolate tastes, smells and makes us feel good!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Foods That Lift Your Mood
Posted by Lisa at Monday, March 19, 2012Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Health Benefits Of Ginger
Posted by Lisa at Wednesday, February 29, 2012Ovarian Cancer Treatment
Ginger may be powerful weapon in the treatment of ovarian cancer. A study conducted at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that ginger powder induces cell death in all ovarian cancer cells to which it was applied.
Colon Cancer Prevention
A study at the University of Minnesota found that ginger may slow the growth of colorectal cancer cells.
Morning Sickness
A review of several studies has concluded that ginger is just as effective as vitamin B6 in the treatment of morning sickness.
Motion Sickness Remedy
Ginger has been shown to be an effective remedy for the nausea associated with motion sickness.
Reduces Pain and Inflammation
One study showed that ginger has anti-inflammatory properties and is a powerful natural painkiller.
Heartburn Relief
Ginger has long been used as a natural heartburn remedy. It is most often taken in the form of tea for this purpose.
Cold and Flu Prevention and Treatment
Ginger has long been used as a natural treatment for colds and the flu. Many people also find ginger to be helpful in the case of stomach flus or food poisoning, which is not surprising given the positive effects ginger has upon the digestive tract.
Migraine Relief
Research has shown that ginger may provide migraine relief due to its ability to stop prostaglandins from causing pain and inflammation in blood vessels.
Menstrual Cramp Relief
In Chinese medicine, ginger tea with brown sugar is used in the treatment of menstrual cramps.
Prevention of Diabetic Nephropathy
A study done on diabetic rats found that those rats given ginger had a reduced incidence of diabetic nephropathy (kidney damage).
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Curing Your Own Depression
Posted by Lisa at Thursday, February 09, 2012Even though the effects of depression might be all too real in your life, depression is not real. If you're suffering from depression, you're only imagining it because depression is the direct result of your subconscious mind's obsession with useless thoughts that were impressed upon it during your formative years. I know that this may seem completely unreasonable to anyone who is trapped in the dark by depression - or, indeed, to anyone whose life is deeply affected because a loved one or family member suffers from depression. But it is a psychological fact. Not only that, it's the way every single person's mind works. In other words, it's normal for your subconscious mind to focus on the past - everyone's does - it's just that the psychological snapshots that your subconscious is focused on are more negative - and the subconscious mind loves negative. This is not your fault - it's the way we're all wired. Nor is it your fault that you're carrying more negative baggage than someone else. Your subconscious mind was impressed with those thoughts by others, people and events that made you feel bad, guilty, useless, upset or traumatised during your childhood years.
Now, whilst it is normal for your subconscious to focus on past deeply-rooted thoughts, it's doing you damage - you can see it and feel the all too obvious results in your everyday life. Again, there's no need to feel bad about this - everyone's subconscious mind is doing them damage - at least you have the advantage over other normal people in realizing that you've got a problem.
But that problem is solely down to what your subconscious mind is focused on - there are no other broken pieces in your make up, no damaged hard-wiring. It follows then that medication is not going to treat your problem, it's only going to ease the symptoms. What you have got to do is tear your mind's attention away from those self-destructive thoughts. This is easier said than done for two reasons. First of all, your mind has been 'comfortable' in focusing on those old childhood snapshots for all of your adult life - you're trying to break the habit of an adult lifetime. Secondly, your mind's 'default settings' are set to pay attention to what you do not want to pay attention to - it's the way you're wired as a normal adult.
So, whilst your depression's cause is rooted in your own brain - the ultimate and permanent solution to your depression is also in your own head. This solution is found by embarking on a 'self-training course' in paying attention to the only place and time that's real, the only place and time that you can really live - the here and now. This training course requires daily commitment - perhaps only five or ten minutes, but five or ten minutes every single day - otherwise your mind will drift back to its default settings. But the good news is that you won't be training yourself to do something that's foreign to you. When you were a child, you paid full attention to the here and now - that's how you took those negative snapshots in the first place. Do you think that five or ten minutes each day might be worth the bother? Could ten minutes each morning make the remaining twenty three hours and fifty minutes that much better? The answer is a resounding Yes! But five or ten minutes doing what?
You make 'sense' of your life by noticing what your five senses are telling you and then interpreting that information using your childhood snapshots. As a result, you make nonsense of the reality of the information being fed to you be your five senses. You've got to take your childhood snapshots out of this process entirely, by deliberately, for ten minutes each morning, only paying attention to what you see, feel, hear, smell and taste. For those ten minutes, you simply notice what's going on, you don't interpret it, you simply observe. When you get frustrated because your mind starts wandering - or your subconscious tries to tell you that the exercise is a complete waste of time - you simply see, feel, hear, smell and taste. I believe that the best way to relearn how to pay attention to the reality of your five senses is meditation - preferably, for starters, guided meditation. It will take you a while to get into it, you will find it difficult or strange or both but a little commitment will yield enormous benefit. And remember, you will be meditating to clear your mind - not to ascend to some other spiritual plane (if there is one) but to prevent your mind paying attention to the unreal conditioning that's playing havoc with your life.
If you do manage to turn your attention to the reality of the here and now you will experience something that you probably have never experienced before - there's no such thing as depression, there's no such thing as fear or worry, there's only a world full of possibilities and potential. Pills or medicine won't enable you experience the difference between reality and the illusion of depression - they might make the pain go away for a while but your subconscious mind will always wander back to those thoughts that are not real but just an imprint of a past long gone. The only way you will experience reality - one without depression - is to learn how to clear your mind.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Kidney Cleanse
Posted by Lisa at Tuesday, January 31, 2012Parsley is known as best cleaning treatment for kidneys and it is natural!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Why Lemons Are Good For You
Posted by Lisa at Wednesday, January 25, 2012A glass of warm lemon or lime water first thing in the morning is surprisingly helpful in several ways. This Yogic or Ayurvedic ritual was primarily for stimulating digestion and eliminating ama, the Ayurvedic term for toxic slime that builds up in the gastro-intestinal or GI tract. This ritual has even more health benefits.
1) The warm lemon water helps purify and stimulate the liver. Lemon/lime water liquefies bile while inhibiting excess bile flow.
2) Warm lemon/lime water aids digestion. It’s atomic composition is similar to saliva and the hydrochloric acid of digestive juices.
3) The liver produces more enzymes from lemon/lime water than any other food, according to A.F. Beddoe, author of Biological Ionization as Applied to Human Nutrition.
4) The lemon/lime water helps bowels eliminate naturally and easily.
5) Lemons and limes are high in potassium. Potassium is an important mineral that works with sodium for smooth electrical transmission in the brain and nervous system. Depression, anxiety, fogginess, and forgetfulness can often be traced to low potassium blood levels. That same nervous system needs potassium to assure steady signals to the heart. So your heart health is improved from the lemon water’s potassium.
6) Calcium and magnesium are plentiful in good ratio to each other in lemon/lime water. Magnesium is important for heart health and calcium prevents rickets.
7) Lemon/lime water can help lower blood pressure.
8) Lemon/lime water has an alkalizing effect in the body as it is buffered. Even if you drink it just before any meal, it will help your body maintain a higher pH than if you didn’t drink it. The higher or more alkaline your pH, the more your inner terrain is resistant to minor and major disease.
9) Helps dilute uric acid, which if it accumulates it creates arthritic pain or gout.
10) Helps reduce phlegm in the body.
At least a half of a lemon or lime should be thoroughly squeezed into a half glass of the warm water without any sweetener. It’s better to use a lemon/lime squeezer to get maximum juice with minimum seeds and effort. This should be done first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, and don’t start eating breakfast right away. Some recommend an hour before eating for maximum results.
One technique to assure proper timing would be to heat up water and put it into a thermos before going to bed. Then mix that hot water with room temperature purified lemon or lime water upon arising. Drink it down quickly, then go about your other morning routines before eating breakfast.
The warm lemon/lime water daily habit is as cheap and easy as it gets to help you improve and maintain your health. Bottoms up!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
At A Japanese Restaurant
Posted by Lisa at Sunday, January 01, 2012And here's my pic which I asked hubby to take while he was eating and he was not too happy to be interrupted. I was having a bad hair day that time, too bad.
Meanwhile, hubby was having a hard time choosing what to order so I asked the waitress which is their bestseller and she said it's the salmon fillet with sprouted mung beans and rice so I ordered that for the hubby. It took around 15 minutes to wait on our orders. When it came, hubby tasted his food and he said the price of his food is not worth it. The price was P300 and it just consisted of 2 salmon fillets, sprouted beans and rice. See pic below.
Look at hubby's facial expression while eating his food. He was not satisfied.
He said he liked my foods better and so he ended up exchanging his food to mine. I'm generous so I gave my food and I got his but to my dismay, there was only a little piece of salmon left in his bowl and more rice and sprouted beans. I was tricked, lol! That's the reason why he's getting fatter and fatter everyday.