Iron deficiency increases stroke risk

Besides causing anemia, according to a recent study conducted in the UK, iron deficiency may also increase the risk of stroke by making blood platelets stickier. 

Researchers at Imperial College in London conducted a study following 497 patients with pulmonary arteriovenous malformations for over 14 years. 

After adjusting for other risk factors, it was found that subjects with low serum iron levels were twice as likely to suffer a stroke compared with subjects whose iron levels were within the normal range. Iron-deficiency enhances platelet aggregation. And this heightens the stroke risk.

In fact, iron is a mineral much needed by our bodies. Iron is a part of many enzymes and is used in many cell functions. For example, iron (as part of the protein hemoglobin) carries oxygen from our lungs throughout our bodies. And many enzymes help our bodies digest foods and also help with many other important reactions that occur within our bodies. When our bodies don't have enough iron, many parts of our bodies are affected.

Mediterranean Diet Reduces Heart Disease Risk

What is “Mediterranean Diet”? Let’s show an example.

Taramosalata is a very well known in the Mediterranean Diet. It is a meze or mezze. Its ingredients include the following:

• Slices of dried bread without the crust 
• Tarama (preserved fish roe)
• Table spoons of Onion very finely chopped
• Fine olive oil or corn oil
• Lemon juice
• Spring onions, finely chopped
• Black olives for the garniture

You can see that it is rich in olive oil, fruit and onions, which are all good for our health. To illustrate this, we can use olive oil as an example.

In the past, the benefits of olive oil consumption have been attributed primarily to its oleic acid content. Now, it was found that its another constituent, hydroxytyrosol, might help protect against many of the usual manifestations of metabolic syndrome.

Already, the Mediterranean diet has been shown in a number of studies to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). A new study led by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Cambridge Health Alliance to follow the diet patterns of 780 male firefighters in the Midwest found that the diet can dramatically reduce the CVD risk in healthy young adults. 

After adjusting for other variables, higher adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet was inversely related to weight gain, body fat percentage, triglycerides, and total cholesterol to HDL ratio. 

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet was also independently associated with higher HDL levels. Subjects with the greatest adherence to the Mediterranean diet had a 35 percent lower risk of metabolic syndrome and a 43 percent lower risk of weight gain compared with subjects with the lowest level of adherence.

More egg yolks, Higher cholesterol level?

There are many controversies over the health affects of consuming eggs.

Some studies found that the reality about heart disease is that it is free flowing acids in our blood and free radicals that "scar" our arteries. As a repair mechanism, our liver secretes cholesterol to patch up the damage – a kind of repairing like healing a cut on our skin.

And so if  you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating processed sugar (like white sugar) and junk foods!

Whenever you want to eat eggs, make sure to eat the whole egg - the way it is supposed to be eaten.
When the egg yolk and egg white are eaten together, its nutrients are better absorbed because all the nutrients are working synergistically.

However, according to the view of Dr. Christopher, a well-known herbalist, on the Mucusless Diet, eggs should not be eaten in any form, not because they can cause heart disease, but because as they are extremely mucus forming. An overproduction of mucus in our body can occur, causing poor digestion, congestion in nasal passages, sinuses, throat and lungs or asthma.

Chinese Plant Ingredient Eases Chronic Pain

People with long term, low intensity pain found that there is a lack of analgesics for them. Most of the drugs only work against immediate or inflammatory pain. 

"We have good pain medications for acute pain: codeine or morphine, for example," Olivier Civelli, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, said.  

"We have pain medication for inflammatory pain, such as aspirin or acetaminophen. We do not have good medications for chronic pain.”

Now, a good news for these people.

Researchers have discovered a natural ingredient in an ancient Chinese plant that relieves chronic pain, including backache. 

The compound comes from the roots of the flowering Corydalis herb, a member of the poppy family. The Chinese have used it for centuries to treat pain. 

The Corydalis plant is grown primarily in central eastern China. For thousands of years, people in the Asian country have harvested the plant’s roots or tubers, ground them up and boiled them in vinegar.  The concoction, often processed into a tea, was given to treat pain.  

Although it is effective in easing all types of pain, including temporary and inflammatory joint pain, it has its greatest benefit in treating long-term nagging pain.

Researchers found that dehydrocorybulbine (DHCB), an agent isolated from the root of the plant, had a positive effect on the three primary types of human pain — acute, inflammatory, and chronic/neuropathic pain. And DHCB appears to be both effective and non-addictive in the treatment of persistent pain.

Magic of Baking Soda – how it can treat Cancers

Baking soda (scientific name: Sodium Bicarbonate) was confirmed in its inhibition of cancer cell growth. And so it is not only less expensive but also safer and effective.

The way to do it is to mix baking soda (one that is edible) with organic dark brown sugar in the ratio of 1:1 in warm water and take it orally.

The reason why it works is because cancer cell growth requires a lot of glucose for energy. Due to increased glucose metabolism, H+ production and excretion are generally increased in cancers. This, combined with poor perfusion, results in an acidic extracellular pH in malignant tumors (pH = 6.5 - 6.9) compared to normal tissue under physiologic conditions (pH = 7.2 - 7.4).

As extracellular pH of tumors is highly acidic, it results in acid diffusion into the surrounding stroma.

Thus the tumor cells create an acidic environment that is non-toxic to the malignant cells but, through its negative effects on normal cells and tissue, promotes local invasion. The propensity of cancers to invade adjacent normal tissues contributes significantly to local tumor growth and formation of metastases, which are largely responsible for tumor-associated morbidity and mortality. The regions of highest tumor invasion correspond to areas of lowest pH. Tumor invasion does not occur into regions with normal or near-normal pH.

When baking soda mixed with sugar, it attracts the cancer cells to go in, But as the pH of baking soda is alkaline (pH=8.3), it inhibits the cancer cell growth. The presence of sodium bicarbonate is sufficient to increase peritumoral pH and inhibit tumor growth and local invasion.

The great advantage to using bicarbonate orally (reinforced by strong magnesium and bicarbonate baths) is that one can dose during all the waking hours and receive a full course of treatment in about ten days.

Health Benefits Of Broccoli

Broccoli is one of the cruciferous vegetables which provide us with a lot of health benefits.

 

In recent years, three components found in broccoli have captured many people’s attention - indole-3-carbinol (I3C), sulforaphane and beta-carotene.

 

I3C is a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and it appears to block the growth of cancer cells in such area as breast and prostate.

 

Sulforaphane in broccoli, also an anti-cancer compound, helps increase the level of enzymes to block the growth of cancer but boiling broccoli reduces its levels with losses of 20–30% after five minutes, 40–50% after ten minutes and 77% after thirty minutes.

 

Regarding beta-carotene in broccoli, it would transform into vitamin A in our body and together with vitamin K, broccoli helps solve our vitamin D deficiency epidemic.  
Besides, the potassium in broccoli aids those battling high blood pressure, while a large amount of calcium helps combat osteoporosis.

 

The vegetable is also fiber-rich, which enhances the gastrointestinal tract to move. The fiber-related components in broccoli bind the bile acids in the digestive tract and make it easier for bile acids to be excreted, resulting in lowering the cholesterol levels.

 

Broccoli is a particularly rich source of a flavonoid called kaempferol, which has the ability to lessen the impact of allergy-related substances on our body. This kaempferol connection helps explain the unique anti-inflammatory benefits of broccoli.

 

Additionally, the health benefits of broccoli have been linked to preventing and controlling the following: Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, calcium deficiencies, stomach and colon cancer, malignant tumors, lung cancer, heart disease, arthritis and even the aging process as it is high in vitamin C which is an effective antioxidant that destroys free radicals (responsible for weakening the defense of cells).

Health properties of Black seeds and Chia seeds

Black seeds

The seeds of a flowering plant, Nigella Sativa, have been prized for their healing properties since time immemorial.  While frequently referred to as Roman coriander, black sesame, black cumin, black caraway and onion seed, it is known today primarily as black seed.  

 

Many health benefits of black seeds have been thoroughly confirmed in the biomedical literature.

 

In fact, there are over 40 health conditions that may be benefited from the use of the herb, including over 20 distinct pharmacological actions it expresses, such as:Analgesic (Pain-Killing), Anti-Bacterial, Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Ulcer, Anti-Cholinergic, Anti-Fungal, Anti-Hypertensive,  Antioxidant, Antispasmodic, Antiviral, Bronchodilator, Gluconeogenesis Inhibitor (Anti-Diabetic),  Hepatoprotective (Liver Protecting), Hypotensive, Insulin Sensitizing, Interferon Inducer,  Leukotriene Antagonist, Renoprotective (Kidney Protecting), Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Inhibitor.

These pharmacological actions are only a subset of a far wider number of beneficial properties intrinsic to the black seeds. Some of the most compelling applications include:

Type 2 Diabetes: Two grams of black seeds a day resulted in reduced fasting glucose and decreased insulin resistance.

Helicobacter Pylori Infection:Black seeds possess clinically useful anti- Helicobacter pylori activity, comparable to triple eradication therapy. 

Epilepsy: Black seeds were traditionally known to have anticonvulsive properties.

 

High Blood pressure: The daily use of 100 and 200 mg of black seed extract, twice daily, for 2 months, was found to have a blood pressure-lowering effect in patients with mild hypertension.

 

Asthma: Thymoquinone, one of the main active constituents within black seeds, is superior to the drug fluticasone in an animal model of asthma. The boiled water extracts of black seeds have relatively potent antiasthmatic effect on asthmatic airways. 

 

Acute tonsillopharyngitis: Black seed capsules (in combination with Phyllanthus niruri) have been found to significantly alleviate throat pain, and reduce the need for pain-killers, in human subjects.

 

Chemical Weapons Injury: A randomized, placebo-controlled human study of chemical weapons injured patients found that boiled water extracts of black seeds reduced respiratory symptoms, chest wheezing, and pulmonary function test values, as well as reduced the need for drug treatment.

 

Colon Cancer: black seed extract compares favorably to the chemoagent 5-fluoruracil in the suppression of colon cancer growth, without observable side effects.

 

MRSA: Black seeds have anti-bacterial activity against clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

 

Opiate Addiction/Withdrawal: A study on 35 opiate addicts found black seeds as an effective therapy in long-term treatment of opioid dependence.

 

Chia seeds

The same as black seeds with long time medical history, Chia seeds have been used as a food and raw material for medicines since as early as 3500 B.C. For centuries, chia seeds were a staple in the diets of tribes, now becoming one of best weight loss foods as people feel full after eating it.

 

According to the USDA, one ounce (28 gram) serving of chia seeds contains 9 grams of fat, 5 milligrams of sodium, 11 grams of dietary fiber and 4 grams of protein. The seeds have 18% of the recommended daily intake of calcium, 27% phosphorus and 30% manganese, similar in nutrient content to other edible seeds such as flax or sesame.

 

Chia seeds are regarded as super food. Its omega-3 fatty acid content is the highest among plants, while containing a lot of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and amino acids at the same time.

 

When we compare its nutrient content with other foods, we get surprising results: 

Calcium: 13-354 times as that of wheat, rice, barley, oats and corn, and five times as that of milk. 

Phosphorus: 2-12 times as that of wheat, rice, barley, oats and corn and 12 times as that of milk.

 

Magnesium: 15 times of broccoli.

Potassium: 1.6-9 times of wheat, rice, barley, oats and corn, 2 times of bananas, 4.6 times of milk.

Iron: More than 6 times of spinach, 1.8 times of lentils and 2.4 times of beef liver.

 

Antioxidant capacity: three times of blueberries.