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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Benefits Of Cucumber

Spice up your 8 glasses per day of water with a slice or two of cucumber. It's wonderfully refreshing, but there are amazing benefits to cucumber as well. Cucumbers are cooler than you think ...

1. Fat busting: Do you ever wonder why women put cucumbers on their eyes to relieve puffiness? The photochemical in cucumbers makes the collagen in your skin tighten, thus the lack of puffiness. Did you know that you can rub a cucumber on a problematic spot of cellulite anywhere on your body to lessen the visibility of it? Did you also know that it has the same effect on wrinkles? Wow, it makes purchasing those fifty dollar creams seem a little silly, doesn’t it? You can also rub a little bit under your kiddo’s eyes after a long bout of crying to avoid that puffy ‘I cried for an hour straight’ look.

2. Defogger: Do you get annoyed when you get out of the shower and you have to fight the fog on the mirror? Who has time for that when the kids will be awake at any moment? Try rubbing a slice of cucumber on the mirror before you hop in and not only will you get a fog-free mirror, but you’ll have a nice smell that will boost your mood.

3. Headaches: If you suffer from headaches from chasing your babies all day (or pets or your husband), or had a little too much wine with dinner and want to avoid a hangover, eat half of a cucumber before bed. Cucumbers are high in B vitamins, sugar, and electrolytes, and they replenish the nutrients missing in your body to help you avoid a hang over or to beat that headache that’s been threatening to take over.

4. WD-40 replacement: Did you know you can get rid of a squeak by rubbing a cucumber on the hinge? Wow, now you don’t have to tear your garage apart looking for that little can with the red straw, and the baby won’t wake up when you slowly open the nursery door to check on him.

5. Crayon on the walls: Take an unpeeled cucumber and rub the crayon off of the walls in the event that your kiddo left you some art. You can also use this technique to erase a pen mistake.

6. Halitosis killer: Take a slice of cucumber and put it on the roof of your mouth. Hold it there with your tongue for 30 seconds. The photochemical that you love for cellulite and puff reduction will also kill the bacteria that is causing your bad breath.

7. Tarnish remover: If you’re finding tarnish on your stainless steel kitchen faucets and appliances? Rub it off with a cucumber slice. Not only will it remove years of tarnish, it will leave it streak free and your hands will thank you, and your kids won’t be put at risk from a dangerous chemical.

8. Energy booster: If you’re feeling tired in the afternoon, don’t give Starbucks your five bucks. Instead, grab a cucumber. There are just enough carbohydrates and B vitamins to give you a longer-lasting and healthier boost of energy than soda, coffee, or those health hazard energy drinks.

9. Munchy madness: Did you know that European trappers ate cucumbers for energy and to keep from starving to death? If those big burly manly men can eat a cucumber to keep from starving, you can eat one as a healthy choice when the munchies hit. Slice some up and take them in a small plastic container to the movies if your theater doesn’t offer healthy alternatives to munching on butter soaked popcorn.

10. Frugal facial: Slice up a cucumber and boil it in a pot of water. The chemicals inside of the cucumber will mix with the steam. Remove the pot from heat and lean over it, letting the steam hit you. Your skin will be more radiant and healthy, and you will feel relaxed and rejuvenated.

11. Shoe polish: Cut a slice off of your cucumber and rub it on your shoe. It will not only shine it up, but it will repel water.

12. Pest control: Put three or four slices of cucumber in a small pie tin and place them in your garden. The chemicals in the cucumber have a reaction that pests hate. You won’t smell it, but it will drive them from your garden all year long. Replace them periodically.

13. Sunburn: Sometimes sun block doesn’t always protect your little ones from sunburn. If you have burnt little kiddos you don’t have any aloe, rub some cucumber on them. Many doctors even use cucumber to treat patients with irritated skin and sunburns.

14. Blood pressure: Cucumber has been long used to treat high blood pressure. If you have it, add cucumbers to your daily diet. There is also ongoing research into the use of cucumbers for lowering cholesterol.

15. Constipation remedy: The seeds of a cucumber are a diuretic. If you’re constipated, try eating a cucumber. If you suffer from chronic constipation, add cucumber to your daily diet.


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Celery, Nutrition Information And Facts

The health benefits of celery are more than just lowering blood pressure. They also contain at least eight families of anti-cancer compounds to combat cancer

Celery is from the same family with parsley and fennel, the Umbelliferae family. It can grow to the height of up to 16 inches. The white celery is grown shaded from direct sunlight, thus has less chlorophyll, compared to its greener counterparts.

The ribs of celery are crunchy and are often used to make soup or salad. It has a salty taste, so celery juice is a good mix with the sweeter fruit juices. Depending on variety, some may taste very salty.

Nutritional Benefits

Celery leaves has high content of vitamin A, whilst the stems are an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C with rich supplies of potassium, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, sodium and plenty essential amino acids.

Nutrients in the fiber are released during juicing, aiding bowel movements. The natural organic sodium (salt) in celery is very safe for consumption, in fact is essential for the body. Even individuals who are salt-sensitive can safely take the sodium in celery, unlike table salt (iodised sodium) which is harmful for those with high blood pressure.
While many foods lose nutrients during cooking, most of the compounds in celery hold up well during cooking.

Health Benefits

Celery has always been associated with lowering of blood pressure. When combined with other juices, it provides different formula that help other conditions.

Recent studies have shown that celery might also be effective in combating cancer.

Some of the health benefits of celery juice:

Acidity:
The important minerals in this magical juice effectively balance the body's blood pH, neutralizing acidity.

Athletes:
Celery juice acts as the perfect post-workout tonic as it replaces lost electrolytes and rehydrates the body with its rich minerals.

Cancer:

Celery is known to contain at least eight families of anti-cancer compounds. Among them are the acetylenics that have been shown to stop the growth of tumor cells. Phenolic acids which block the action of prostaglandins that encourage the growth of tumor cells. And coumarins which help prevent free radicals from damaging cells.

Cholesterol:
This humble pale juice has been shown to effectively and significantly lower total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Colon and stomach cancer:

The phytochemical coumarins prevent the formation and development of the colon and stomach cancers.

Constipation:

The natural laxative effect of celery helps to relieve constipation. It also helps relax nerves that have been overworked by man-made laxatives.

Cooling:
During dry and hot weather, drink a glass of celery juice two or three times a day, between meals. It wonderfully helps to normalize body temperature.

Diuretic:
The potassium and sodium in celery juice helps to regulate body fluid and stimulate urine production, making it an important help to rid the body of excess fluid.

Inflammation:
The polyacetylene in celery is an amazing relief for all inflammation like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, asthma and bronchitis.

Kidney function:

Celery promotes healthy and normal kidney function by aiding elimination of toxins from the body. While eliminating toxins, it also prevents formation of kidney stones.

Lower blood pressure:

Drinking celery juice every day for a week significantly helps lower blood pressure. A compound called phtalides help relax the muscle around arteries, dilating the vessels and allowing blood to flow normally. To be effective, drink the juice for one week, stop for three weeks, and start over.

Nervous system:
The organic alkaline minerals in celery juice has a calming effect on the nervous system, making it a wonderful drink for insomniacs.

Weight loss:
Drink celery juice frequently throughout the day. It helps curb your cravings for sweets and rich food.

Urinary stones, breaking of:
The diuretic effect of celery juice also aids the breaking and elimination of urinary and gall bladder stones.

You can expect many more healing benefits from celery juice as you consume its natural sodium. Read how our body lacks and have been deprived of, natural salt.

Consumption Tips
Choose green celery where possible for its chlorophyll. Ensure that the ribs are still firm, not limp. To store in the fridge, wrap celery in a sealed container or wrap in a plastic bag or a damp cloth.
Do not leave it at room temperature for too long as it tends to wilt quickly. If your celery has wilted, sprinkle it with a little water and put it in the refrigerator for a few hours. It will regain its crispness.

Caution
Celery is such a succulent plant that it produces its own "pesticide" to protect itself from fungi. This protective layer is called psoralens which although protects the celery, may not go down so well with some people.

If you begin having skin problems after eating celery, it might mean that you have some sensitivity to psoralens.

Some people with low blood pressure had complained that celery makes their blood pressure even lower. I personally didn't encounter that problem so I believe it is also your overall make-up. But, you might want to avoid celery if you have low blood pressure. Listen to your body when you take celery.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Malunggay

I love eating malunggay leaves and its fruits not only because of its nutritional benefits but it also taste so good to me. I love to mix the leaves when cooking beans and the fruits when cooking pinakbet. It's a good thing we have a lot of malunggay plants in our yard so we don't have to buy it. I know some benefits of malunggay but I read more of its benefits from an FB friend so I just want to share it here. The more will I eat malunggay now. Yummy!

Here are the health benefits of Malunggay:

1. Malunggay leaves helps strengthens the immune system.

2. Malunggay can help restores skin condition, controls blood pressure, relieves headaches and migraines.

3. Malunggay tea can help strengthen the eye muscles.

4. Malunggay tea can help heal inflammation of the joints and tendons.

5. Malunggay tea can prevent intestinal worms.

6. Malunggay can help increase semen count.

7. Malunggay help normalize blood sugar level therefore preventing diabetes.

8. Malunggay has anti-cancer compounds (phytochemicals) that help stop the growth of cancer cells.

9. Malunggay helps relax and promotes good night sleep.

10. Malunggay tea is used to treat fever and asthma.

11. Malunggay help heals ulcers.

12. Malunggay is high in calcium (four times the calcium in milk), therefore lactating mothers are advised to consume malunggay leaves to produce more milk for their babies. The young malunggay leaves are also boiled and taken as tea.

13. Malunggay contains three times the potassium in bananas.

14. Malunggay contain four times the vitamin A in carrots. An ounce of malunggay has the same Vitamin C content as seven oranges.

 15. Malunggay leaves contain two times the protein in milk.

16. Malunggay seed is used to clean dirty or polluted water. Malunggay is a very diverse plant in terms of its medicinal characteristics. It is universally known as Moringga. It is a rich source of vitamins, amino acids, and various nutrients which provides the needed energy to the body.

Its pods are edible. malunggay is mostly grown in the backyard. You can ask for them from a neighbor and they are given for free. They are cooked together with eggplant, ampalaya, tomatoes, and sitaw in a dish called pinakbet.

Its leaves are also incorporated in various dishes such as tinola, monggo and other kinds of meat dishes. They are used mostly by postpartum mothers in order to produce breast milk for the baby. These leaves are added to soups which the mother drinks in large amount. Nowadays, malunggay leaves are already available in capsule form and can be bought as over the counter drugs for breastfeeding women.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Eggplant

Eggplant (or talong, a Philippine vegetable) is loaded with vitamins and minerals and appears to play a vital role in managing and preventing serious conditions including Cancer and Type 2 Diabetes.

1. Prevents Cancer

Eggplant can provide many health benefits, including being important in the treatment and prevention of cancer.

1.1 Fiber
Eggplant has been found to be especially useful in the treatment of colon cancer due to the high amount of fiber found within eggplant. Fiber is important in the treatment of colon cancer because it is a relatively porous nutrient, and because of this, as it moves through the digestive tract, it has the tendency to absorb toxins and chemicals that can lead to the development of colon cancer. For best results, individuals who are interested in reducing their risk for the development of color cancer should be sure to include the skin of the eggplant during consumption. Research has found that the skin of eggplant may contain more fiber that the actual eggplant itself.

1.2 Chlorogenic Acid
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service found chlorogenic acid to be the dominant antioxidant compound in eggplant. They report that this is significant because chlorogenic acid has a great capacity to fight free radicals. It is also antimutagenic, which means it can protect cells from mutating into cancer cells; and it is also antimicrobial & antiviral.

1.3 Nasunin
Nasunin is an antioxidant compound found in the peels of eggplant. The August 10, 2005 issue of the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry" reports that a study shows the nasunin in eggplant has anti-angiogenic abilities. The Cancer Center at the Angiogenesis Foundation explains that when something is angiogenic, it stimulates new growth of blood vessels and blood supply. Cancerous cells can gain angiogenesis ability, which means they can develop a means to increase their own blood supply, which can cause a cancerous mass or tumor to grow rather quickly. Nasunin in eggplant has the ability to prevent angiogenesis from occurring.


2. Promotes Weight Loss

As stated above, eggplant contains high amounts of fiber, making it a great food in the fight against cancer. But, the fiber found in eggplant has other uses–namely, its ability to be a useful tool for people who are trying to lose weight. Fiber is a relatively “bulky” food, meaning that is takes up a lot of room in the stomach. Therefore, by eating eggplant in a salad or appetizer before a meal, dieters are likely to have a greater feeling of satiety, and generally eat fewer calories (thereby achieving a substantial weight loss with time). In addition, fiber is slow digesting, and takes a long time to move from the stomach to the digestive tract. Because of this, the eggplant keeps dieters feeling full for a longer period of time–and therefore, they won’t be as tempted to snack between meals, which will again aid in weight loss.

3. Better Skin Tone

Finally, eggplant contains a high amount of water–and similarly, aside from fat and bone, our bodies are composed of almost primarily water. Water has important roles in a variety of pathways through the body, but has been found to be especially important in the maintenance of healthy skin and hair. Individuals who are dehydrated are more likely to exhibit hair that is thin, dry and has split ends, along with skin that appears to be flaky, dry, with a greater number of lines and wrinkles. Consuming adequate amount of water through either water itself or through food items such as eggplant can not only improve the quality of your hair and skin, but also the general performance of your body. For best results, eat the eggplant raw–research has found that cooking it removes some of the water that is so beneficial.

4. Prevents Cellular damage in Brain

Along with manganese, eggplant skin contains the antioxidant nasunin. A study in the journal "Toxicology" published in August 2000 found that nasunin from eggplants helped prevent cellular damage in the brains of rats.

5. Lowers Cholesterol

Chlorogenic acid in Eggplant is able to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

6. Manages Type 2 Diabetes

The National Diabetes Education Program, Mayo Clinic and American Diabetes Association recommend an eggplant based diet as a choice for management of type 2 diabetes. The rationale for this suggestion is the high fiber and low soluble carbohydrate content of eggplant.

Study results indicate that phenolic-enriched extracts of eggplant inhibit enzymes that provide a strong biochemical basis for management of type 2 diabetes by controlling glucose absorption and reducing associated high blood pressure (hypertension).

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Okra For Diabetes

Within two weeks, your will see remarkable result in reduction of blood sugar.

Take two pieces of okra and remove/cut both ends of each piece. Also put a small cut in the middle and put these two pieces in glass of water. Cover the glass and keep it at room temperature during night. Early morning, before breakfast simply remove two pieces of lady Finger from the glass and drink that water. Keep doing it on daily basis. Within two weeks, you will see remarkable results in reduction of your SUGAR. My sister has got rid of her diabetes. She was on Insulin for a few years, but after taking the lady fingers every morning for a few months, she has stopped Insulin but continues to take the lady fingers every day. But she chops the lady fingers into fine pieces in the night, adds the water and drinks it all up the next morning.

Please. try it as it will not do you any harm even if it does not do much good to you, but you have to keep taking it for a few months before you see results, as most cases might be chronic.



www.way2usefulinfo.blogspot.com

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Dengue Fever Remedy

I read this from my FB account and I would like to share it here.

I would like to share this interesting discovery from a friend's classmate's son who has just recovered from dengue fever. Apparently, his son was in the critical stage at the ICU when his blood platelet count dropped badly after 15 liters of blood transfusion. His father was so worried that he sought another friend's recommendation whose son was saved. He confessed that he gave his son raw juice of the papaya leaves. After drinking the raw papaya leaf juice, his platelet count rose up instantly to a good level..

Even the doctors and nurses were surprised. After the second day he was discharged. So he asked me to pass this good news around. Accordingly it is raw papaya leaves, 2pcs just cleaned and pound and squeeze with filter cloth. You will only get one tablespoon per leaf.. So two tablespoon per serving once a day. Do not boil or cook or rinse with hot water, it will loose its strength. Only the leafy part and no stem or sap. It is very bitter and you have to swallow it like "Won Low Kat". But it works.

The papaya juice is a natural cure for dengue fever. As dengue fever is rampant now, I think it's good to share this with all. Please spread the news about this as lately there are many dengue cases. It's great if such natural cure could help to ease the sufferings of dengue. Furthermore it's so easily available. Blend them and squeeze the juice! It's simple and miraculously effective!!