Archive for the ‘health conditions’ Category

Cinnamon As A Treatment For Diabetes And Digestion

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010



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While waiting in line at the pharmacy, recently, I noticed that next to the supplies for diabetics—glucose tablets, lancets, and alcohol wipes—they displayed cinnamon capsules. “Why?” I wanted to know.

A quick search in my library turned up that cinnamon (cinnamomum verum) can be used to lower blood glucose levels. According to a study discussed in Prescription for Natural Cures by James F. Balch, MD and Mark Stengler, ND, 30 men and 30 women were given a controlled amount of cinnamon each day. After 40 days of consuming cinnamon and 20 days of abstaining, researchers found that “cinnamon reduced the mean fasting serum glucose (18-29%), triglyceride (23-30%), LDL cholesterol (7-27%), and total cholesterol (12-26%) levels.” These doctors recommend that diabetics take 500 mg of cinnamon extract twice daily as it “improves insulin sensitivity and utilization.”

Retired USDA ethnobotanist James A. Duke, PhD, in his book The Green Pharmacy, says, “There are a number of spices that research shows can help the body use insulin more efficiently.” He goes on to list cinnamon as one of those spices.

Indigenous to southwestern India and Sri Lanka, this wonderfully delicious kitchen spice is now widely cultivated in many tropical regions of the world.  Its medicinal properties come from the inner bark and the essential oil squeezed from the bark and leaves. But regulating insulin levels is just one of the benefits of consuming cinnamon. Its volatile oil, cinnamaldehyde, has antiviral and stimulating properties.

Other Uses of Cinnamon

  • Historically, cinnamon has been used for easing the stomach, relieving gas, and aiding digestion. A preparation of cinnamon bark, cardamom seed and nutmeg is recommended for nausea. “For flatulence, take 20 drops with water up to 4 times a day.” – Andrew Chevallier, FNIMH, Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine
    .
  • Added to massage oils or lotions, cinnamon reportedly reduces pain and relaxes muscles. “Add cinnamon essential oil to salve recipes and use them topically as analgesics and as warming, stimulating balms.” – Rosemary Gladstar, Family Herbal.
  • Cinnamon counteracts bacteria and fungi, including candida, and disinfects wounds.
  • It is a powerful insect repellent.
  • Having antiviral properties, cinnamon is a choice herb to add to anti-flu remedies. This, and its antiseptic activities, makes it valuable for fighting infections. “Add five drops of true cinnamon oil to a tablespoon of water, and use it several times a day at the very onset of a flu epidemic or immediately after you think you have been exposed to flu.” – Dian Dincin Buchman, Herbal Medicine.

Because of its wonderful flavor, cinnamon is often added to preparations to mask the unpleasant taste of stronger herbs. It is rarely taken by itself, except for the prescription for diabetics, because it combines so well with other herbs: ginger or peppermint for digestion, chamomile for insect repellent, garlic for infections, and elderberry for flu remedies.

Is there anyone who should not take freely of cinnamon? Sometimes, extremely sensitive people may develop contact dermatitis when exposed to the essential oils. Perhaps you’ve noticed a small child contract a red face after eating cinnamon-laden pastries. But this reaction soon disappears and the child is happy to have enjoyed such a delicious snack with no real harm done.

With all this in mind, have a little cinnamon on your toast or applesauce, eat liberally of apple butter, and add a little to your peppermint tea. Your health may be the better for it.

Photo by FotoosVanRobin

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What Are Symptoms of Gluten Allergy

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010



Post image for What Are Symptoms of Gluten Allergy

Gluten: in the natural health community, it’s become a dirty word, because more and more people are realizing that they are either sensitive to or have an allergy to gluten.

What is gluten? Why are so many people finding out that they have a gluten allergy or sensitivity? Here’s a closer look at gluten and the symptoms of gluten allergy.

What is Gluten?

Gluten is a protein that comes from grains. Although gluten is most often associated with wheat, other grains also contain gluten, including barley and rye.

“Gluten” itself is a Latin word that means “glue”, and that is an apt description of gluten. A gluey substance that is insoluble in water, gluten is used in most processed breads. When bread dough made of wheat flour is kneaded, the gluten forms and makes the dough thicker. It is when gluten works in combination with yeast, in fact, that actually causes the bread dough to rise. As the yeast ferments, it releases carbon dioxide bubbles. Instead of escaping the mixture, the bubbles are trapped by the gluey gluten, and the dough expands.

Elastic and sticky, the more gluten in a bread product, the chewier it becomes. Pizza dough, bagels, and most standard breads all tend to contain a good amount of gluten, whereas cakes and other pastries contain less.

The Good and the Bad of Gluten

As previously mentioned, gluten is a protein, and it’s a protein that accounts for a large share of the world’s protein intake. Gluten is usually the basis of imitation meats, such as the popular faux meat brand, Tofurky. Textured vegetable protein, or TVP, a common protein source for vegetarians, also contains some gluten. Even pet foods contain gluten as a way to increase their protein source.

Because modern food manufacturing uses wheat and wheat products in many different foods, you’ll also find gluten in unusual places, such as ice cream and ketchup. In fact, because the FDA classifies gluten as “GRAS”, or “generally recognized as safe”, gluten is sometimes used as an additive but not even mentioned in the label. Products labeled “gluten free” may still have trace amounts of gluten in it, because it is very difficult to remove all of the gluten from a product containing wheat.

Although gluten is a good source of protein, it’s also difficult to digest. Remember, the word “gluten” means glue. When you eat products with a high gluten content, you’ll get protein, but your body will also have a hard time breaking it down.

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease, also spelled coeliac outside of North America, is a genetic disease of the small intestine that leads to chronic diarrhea, fatigue, and in children celiac disease is associated with developmental delays – for example, many children with autism also have celiac disease.

Celiac disease in essence is an adverse reaction to gliadin, a protein in gluten. The immune system reacts to the protein and inflames the small intestine. The effects of the inflamed small intestine then ripple outward, adversely affecting the rest of the body. Because the disease affects the small intestine, people with celiac disease often have trouble absorbing iron, vitamin B12, folic acid, calcium, and vitamins A, D, E, and K. As a result, people with celiac disease often suffer from anemia, hyperparathyroidism, and osteopenia/osteoporosis. It can start in infancy, or it can set in later in life. Approximately 1% of the population has celiac disease, but the disease is often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic fatigue syndrome, anemia, or a similar problem.

Gluten Allergy Symptoms

Although everyone with celiac disease is allergic to gluten, not everyone with a gluten allergy also has celiac disease.

The allergy is actually rather common. About 1 in 167 children have a gluten allergy, and 1 in 111 adults also have a gluten allergy. Gluten allergies are even more common in people who have frequent complaints about gastrointestinal problems. In these people, about 1 in 40 children and 1 in 30 adults are eventually diagnosed with a gluten allergy. Symptoms of a gluten allergy include the following:

  • The same symptoms of celiac disease mentioned above, such as fatigue, anemia, osteoporosis, and diarrhea
  • Frequent upper respiratory infections
  • Asthma
  • Mouth sores or ulcers
  • Constipation
  • Diverticulitis
  • Depression
  • Attention deficit disorder
  • Skin conditions, such as keratosis pilaris and eczema

Even if you do not have all the symptoms listed above, if you have several of these symptoms, you may have a gluten allergy, or at least a gluten sensitivity, also known as gluten intolerance.

Is Gluten Intolerance on the Rise?

You may have noticed that more and more items in your grocery store or health food store are appearing with the “gluten free” label. Is gluten intolerance on the rise?

The simple answer is “yes”, but a better answer is more complex. Gluten has never been particularly easy for the human body to digest; it has been a part of our diet since we started making breads. However, gluten probably wouldn’t be so bad for us if we weren’t eating so much of it.

The average American is ingesting way more gluten than the body is prepared to handle. Gluten is omnipresent in snack foods, condiments, and even “health” foods like the aforementioned meat substitute products. Anything that’s instant, fast, or processed probably has gluten in it, which means we have exponentially increased the amount of gluten we’re putting into our bodies. We also tend to be deficient in vitamins that usually keep our immune system in check. Vitamin A, for example, is one vitamin that stops the immune system from attacking harmless proteins.

As we overload our system with gluten, we naturally weaken our body’s ability to properly digest it. With an already imbalanced gut due to the sheer quantity of things like sugar, alcohol, and antibiotics common to the western diet, our gut’s ability to handle gluten has been compromised.

To avoid gluten intolerance or gluten allergies, follow these simple tips:

  1. Don’t introduce grain into your child’s diet until well after infancy.
  2. Eat more raw and living foods.
  3. Balance the flora of your gut by eating fermented foods (such as sauerkraut and kim chi) and probiotic foods (such as kefir).
  4. Keep processed foods, snack foods, and fast food to a bare minimum, or avoid it altogether.

Photo by pickled_newt ( Very busy – on and off )

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What Are Symptoms of Gluten Allergy

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010



Post image for What Are Symptoms of Gluten Allergy

Gluten: in the natural health community, it’s become a dirty word, because more and more people are realizing that they are either sensitive to or have an allergy to gluten.

What is gluten? Why are so many people finding out that they have a gluten allergy or sensitivity? Here’s a closer look at gluten and the symptoms of gluten allergy.

What is Gluten?

Gluten is a protein that comes from grains. Although gluten is most often associated with wheat, other grains also contain gluten, including barley and rye.

“Gluten” itself is a Latin word that means “glue”, and that is an apt description of gluten. A gluey substance that is insoluble in water, gluten is used in most processed breads. When bread dough made of wheat flour is kneaded, the gluten forms and makes the dough thicker. It is when gluten works in combination with yeast, in fact, that actually causes the bread dough to rise. As the yeast ferments, it releases carbon dioxide bubbles. Instead of escaping the mixture, the bubbles are trapped by the gluey gluten, and the dough expands.

Elastic and sticky, the more gluten in a bread product, the chewier it becomes. Pizza dough, bagels, and most standard breads all tend to contain a good amount of gluten, whereas cakes and other pastries contain less.

The Good and the Bad of Gluten

As previously mentioned, gluten is a protein, and it’s a protein that accounts for a large share of the world’s protein intake. Gluten is usually the basis of imitation meats, such as the popular faux meat brand, Tofurky. Textured vegetable protein, or TVP, a common protein source for vegetarians, also contains some gluten. Even pet foods contain gluten as a way to increase their protein source.

Because modern food manufacturing uses wheat and wheat products in many different foods, you’ll also find gluten in unusual places, such as ice cream and ketchup. In fact, because the FDA classifies gluten as “GRAS”, or “generally recognized as safe”, gluten is sometimes used as an additive but not even mentioned in the label. Products labeled “gluten free” may still have trace amounts of gluten in it, because it is very difficult to remove all of the gluten from a product containing wheat.

Although gluten is a good source of protein, it’s also difficult to digest. Remember, the word “gluten” means glue. When you eat products with a high gluten content, you’ll get protein, but your body will also have a hard time breaking it down.

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease, also spelled coeliac outside of North America, is a genetic disease of the small intestine that leads to chronic diarrhea, fatigue, and in children celiac disease is associated with developmental delays – for example, many children with autism also have celiac disease.

Celiac disease in essence is an adverse reaction to gliadin, a protein in gluten. The immune system reacts to the protein and inflames the small intestine. The effects of the inflamed small intestine then ripple outward, adversely affecting the rest of the body. Because the disease affects the small intestine, people with celiac disease often have trouble absorbing iron, vitamin B12, folic acid, calcium, and vitamins A, D, E, and K. As a result, people with celiac disease often suffer from anemia, hyperparathyroidism, and osteopenia/osteoporosis. It can start in infancy, or it can set in later in life. Approximately 1% of the population has celiac disease, but the disease is often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic fatigue syndrome, anemia, or a similar problem.

Gluten Allergy Symptoms

Although everyone with celiac disease is allergic to gluten, not everyone with a gluten allergy also has celiac disease.

The allergy is actually rather common. About 1 in 167 children have a gluten allergy, and 1 in 111 adults also have a gluten allergy. Gluten allergies are even more common in people who have frequent complaints about gastrointestinal problems. In these people, about 1 in 40 children and 1 in 30 adults are eventually diagnosed with a gluten allergy. Symptoms of a gluten allergy include the following:

  • The same symptoms of celiac disease mentioned above, such as fatigue, anemia, osteoporosis, and diarrhea
  • Frequent upper respiratory infections
  • Asthma
  • Mouth sores or ulcers
  • Constipation
  • Diverticulitis
  • Depression
  • Attention deficit disorder
  • Skin conditions, such as keratosis pilaris and eczema

Even if you do not have all the symptoms listed above, if you have several of these symptoms, you may have a gluten allergy, or at least a gluten sensitivity, also known as gluten intolerance.

Is Gluten Intolerance on the Rise?

You may have noticed that more and more items in your grocery store or health food store are appearing with the “gluten free” label. Is gluten intolerance on the rise?

The simple answer is “yes”, but a better answer is more complex. Gluten has never been particularly easy for the human body to digest; it has been a part of our diet since we started making breads. However, gluten probably wouldn’t be so bad for us if we weren’t eating so much of it.

The average American is ingesting way more gluten than the body is prepared to handle. Gluten is omnipresent in snack foods, condiments, and even “health” foods like the aforementioned meat substitute products. Anything that’s instant, fast, or processed probably has gluten in it, which means we have exponentially increased the amount of gluten we’re putting into our bodies. We also tend to be deficient in vitamins that usually keep our immune system in check. Vitamin A, for example, is one vitamin that stops the immune system from attacking harmless proteins.

As we overload our system with gluten, we naturally weaken our body’s ability to properly digest it. With an already imbalanced gut due to the sheer quantity of things like sugar, alcohol, and antibiotics common to the western diet, our gut’s ability to handle gluten has been compromised.

To avoid gluten intolerance or gluten allergies, follow these simple tips:

  1. Don’t introduce grain into your child’s diet until well after infancy.
  2. Eat more raw and living foods.
  3. Balance the flora of your gut by eating fermented foods (such as sauerkraut and kim chi) and probiotic foods (such as kefir).
  4. Keep processed foods, snack foods, and fast food to a bare minimum, or avoid it altogether.

Photo by pickled_newt ( Very busy – on and off )

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What Are Symptoms of Gluten Allergy

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010



Post image for What Are Symptoms of Gluten Allergy

Gluten: in the natural health community, it’s become a dirty word, because more and more people are realizing that they are either sensitive to or have an allergy to gluten.

What is gluten? Why are so many people finding out that they have a gluten allergy or sensitivity? Here’s a closer look at gluten and the symptoms of gluten allergy.

What is Gluten?

Gluten is a protein that comes from grains. Although gluten is most often associated with wheat, other grains also contain gluten, including barley and rye.

“Gluten” itself is a Latin word that means “glue”, and that is an apt description of gluten. A gluey substance that is insoluble in water, gluten is used in most processed breads. When bread dough made of wheat flour is kneaded, the gluten forms and makes the dough thicker. It is when gluten works in combination with yeast, in fact, that actually causes the bread dough to rise. As the yeast ferments, it releases carbon dioxide bubbles. Instead of escaping the mixture, the bubbles are trapped by the gluey gluten, and the dough expands.

Elastic and sticky, the more gluten in a bread product, the chewier it becomes. Pizza dough, bagels, and most standard breads all tend to contain a good amount of gluten, whereas cakes and other pastries contain less.

The Good and the Bad of Gluten

As previously mentioned, gluten is a protein, and it’s a protein that accounts for a large share of the world’s protein intake. Gluten is usually the basis of imitation meats, such as the popular faux meat brand, Tofurky. Textured vegetable protein, or TVP, a common protein source for vegetarians, also contains some gluten. Even pet foods contain gluten as a way to increase their protein source.

Because modern food manufacturing uses wheat and wheat products in many different foods, you’ll also find gluten in unusual places, such as ice cream and ketchup. In fact, because the FDA classifies gluten as “GRAS”, or “generally recognized as safe”, gluten is sometimes used as an additive but not even mentioned in the label. Products labeled “gluten free” may still have trace amounts of gluten in it, because it is very difficult to remove all of the gluten from a product containing wheat.

Although gluten is a good source of protein, it’s also difficult to digest. Remember, the word “gluten” means glue. When you eat products with a high gluten content, you’ll get protein, but your body will also have a hard time breaking it down.

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease, also spelled coeliac outside of North America, is a genetic disease of the small intestine that leads to chronic diarrhea, fatigue, and in children celiac disease is associated with developmental delays – for example, many children with autism also have celiac disease.

Celiac disease in essence is an adverse reaction to gliadin, a protein in gluten. The immune system reacts to the protein and inflames the small intestine. The effects of the inflamed small intestine then ripple outward, adversely affecting the rest of the body. Because the disease affects the small intestine, people with celiac disease often have trouble absorbing iron, vitamin B12, folic acid, calcium, and vitamins A, D, E, and K. As a result, people with celiac disease often suffer from anemia, hyperparathyroidism, and osteopenia/osteoporosis. It can start in infancy, or it can set in later in life. Approximately 1% of the population has celiac disease, but the disease is often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic fatigue syndrome, anemia, or a similar problem.

Gluten Allergy Symptoms

Although everyone with celiac disease is allergic to gluten, not everyone with a gluten allergy also has celiac disease.

The allergy is actually rather common. About 1 in 167 children have a gluten allergy, and 1 in 111 adults also have a gluten allergy. Gluten allergies are even more common in people who have frequent complaints about gastrointestinal problems. In these people, about 1 in 40 children and 1 in 30 adults are eventually diagnosed with a gluten allergy. Symptoms of a gluten allergy include the following:

  • The same symptoms of celiac disease mentioned above, such as fatigue, anemia, osteoporosis, and diarrhea
  • Frequent upper respiratory infections
  • Asthma
  • Mouth sores or ulcers
  • Constipation
  • Diverticulitis
  • Depression
  • Attention deficit disorder
  • Skin conditions, such as keratosis pilaris and eczema

Even if you do not have all the symptoms listed above, if you have several of these symptoms, you may have a gluten allergy, or at least a gluten sensitivity, also known as gluten intolerance.

Is Gluten Intolerance on the Rise?

You may have noticed that more and more items in your grocery store or health food store are appearing with the “gluten free” label. Is gluten intolerance on the rise?

The simple answer is “yes”, but a better answer is more complex. Gluten has never been particularly easy for the human body to digest; it has been a part of our diet since we started making breads. However, gluten probably wouldn’t be so bad for us if we weren’t eating so much of it.

The average American is ingesting way more gluten than the body is prepared to handle. Gluten is omnipresent in snack foods, condiments, and even “health” foods like the aforementioned meat substitute products. Anything that’s instant, fast, or processed probably has gluten in it, which means we have exponentially increased the amount of gluten we’re putting into our bodies. We also tend to be deficient in vitamins that usually keep our immune system in check. Vitamin A, for example, is one vitamin that stops the immune system from attacking harmless proteins.

As we overload our system with gluten, we naturally weaken our body’s ability to properly digest it. With an already imbalanced gut due to the sheer quantity of things like sugar, alcohol, and antibiotics common to the western diet, our gut’s ability to handle gluten has been compromised.

To avoid gluten intolerance or gluten allergies, follow these simple tips:

  1. Don’t introduce grain into your child’s diet until well after infancy.
  2. Eat more raw and living foods.
  3. Balance the flora of your gut by eating fermented foods (such as sauerkraut and kim chi) and probiotic foods (such as kefir).
  4. Keep processed foods, snack foods, and fast food to a bare minimum, or avoid it altogether.

Photo by pickled_newt ( Very busy – on and off )

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The Important of Heart Attack Statistics and Facts

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010



heart attack statistics The Important of Heart Attack Statistics and FactsWe advice you to take your time reading this heart attack statistics, as many people experience many form of stressor from daily living, the incidence of heart attack increases. Usually, stress is normal and even healthy for people so they can be challenged and live normally.

Unfortunately, once stress surpass the levels that a human being can deal with, certain health conditions like cardiovascular diseases can develop too.

Heart attack statistics from many countries illustrates the fact that heart attack is one of the leading cause of death worldwide.

The Heart Attack Statistics Reports

One of the most credible source of information for heart attack statistics is World Health Organization. According to their 2002 report, 49 % of heart attack was mainly triggered by high blood pressure. Hypertension is a result of poor diet choices like fatty food which can lead to obesity.

Those who suffer from hypertension most of the time lack exercise. Once blood pressure elevates, chest pain and shortness of breath is felt which can lead to heart attack. A lot of times, stress caused by worrying and emotional anxiety can contribute to hypertension. Hence, heart attack statistics points out to us the necesssity of living a healthy life and active lifestyle for our own good.

Furthermore, other metabolic disorders are also connected to heart problems like diabetes. In the heart attack statistics reported by Australia’s health in 2004, 3.3% of adults who sought medical treatment from diabetes and had a heart attack. Diabetes.org states that 2 out of 3 people afflicted with diabetes can die from heart attack or stroke. Thereby, heart attack statistics are extremely important because they not only supply us data but tells us about other diseases related to this condition.

Bad Habit – A Sign Of Heart Attack Statistics

Another very important information about heart attack statistics is that it tells people about the connection between bad habits like smoking and likelihood of heart disease. The World Federation Fact Sheet 2002 states that Myocardial Infarction, or commonly known as heart attack has 4 times higher rate to happen among people who smoke heavily. This is the reason why doctors often advise their patients who have heart problems to quit smoking as soon as possible since their arteries are already damaged.

Heart attack statistics are not numbers but good data that gives us valuable insights that can even save our lives.

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