Striving4Zen

Did you know that shiitake mushrooms have been used medicinally by the Chinese and Japanese for thousands of years?

Today, we understand more about some of the reasons why. Shiitake mushrooms contain unique phytonutrients including lentinan and eritadenine. Among lentinan's many health benefits is its ability to boost the immune system, strengthening its ability to fight infection and disease. Lentinan provides anti-cancer protection by attracting immune cells that fragment and destroy cancer cells, and has also been shown to be more effective than prescription drugs when it comes to fighting influenza and other viruses. Eritadenine has been found to lower cholesterol levels, regardless of the type of fat in the diet. Preliminary animal research also suggests that it may help prevent the development of atherosclerotic plaques on arterial walls.

Shiitake mushrooms are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. They make a great addition to stir-fried vegetables seasoned with ginger and soy sauce. If you are not familiar with the wonderful smoky flavor and meaty texture of shiitake mushrooms, try an easy to prepare recipe using shiitake mushrooms.

Read More ...

Labels: eating healthy, healing with food, healthy food, mushrooms, phytonutrients, shiitake mushrooms, Traditional Chinese Medicine

- Blemishes are usually temporary and can be caused by anything from strong sun and wind to an excess of alcohol. A light dab of either sandalwood or turmeric powder mixed in a little water should clear the problem. Both of these have unique antiseptic properties. Carrots, known for their high vitamin A content, also make a wonderful treatment. Simply grate a carrot, squeeze out a teaspoonful of fresh saffron-coloured juice and then wipe over the blemished areas. Rinse off after half an hour.

- Enlarged pores are caused mainly by the over-stretching of pores that then fill with excess oil. The problems can be resolved by temporarily by closing the pores with astringents, so that the skin looks toned. Buttermilk or watered-down yogurt, a popular drink all over India known as chaas or lassi, works wonders, closing the pores to create the illusion of finely textured, perfect skin. Use it as a daily face wash and splash with cold water afterwards.

- Moisturizing forms an even more important part of your beauty routine during the winter months. Always remember to treat your neck to all the goodies you use on your face - otherwise you will end up with a lovely face on a crepey neck.

Night cream

The cocoa in this moisturizer will not stain the face. Instead the alkaloids it contains - mainly theobromine and caffeine - act as stimulants and rejuvenate the skin. Lanolin is available from health and specialist beauty shops.

2 tbsp almond oil

2 tbsp lanolin

1 tsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp rosewater

Put the almond oil, lanolin and cocoa in a heatproof glass bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of water and heat gently over a low heat till the mixture melts into a smooth cream. Use only a wooden spoon to stir as a metal one will react with the ingredients. Take off the heat and add the rosewater, stirring all the while. Allow the cream to cool and store in a glass bottle.

- Body cream, Aunt Malti swears by the juice of mint although she can't explain exactly how it helps. The almond oil has gentle lubricating properties, which help to dispel fine lines and dark patches due to dry skin. Honey is an ideal energizing food and according to Ayurveda has a tremendous healing effect on the body.

5 fresh mint leaves

1 tsp almond oil

1/2 tsp honey

Crush the mint with a little water in a mortar. Strain the juice and add to the almond oil and honey. Stir till completely mixed and apply a tiny amount under the eyes before going to bed.

- This body polisher is used by women all over India. The turmeric acts as a natural cleanser and disinfectant and will not turn your skin yellow. The chickpea flour sloughs off dead skin to give unimagined silkiness and the milk will firm up the entire body.

1 tablespoon chickpea flour

Pinch of turmeric

About 2 tsp of milk

Mix all the ingredients together and rub on to wet skin instead of soap.

- The most luxurious beauty treatment for the face is the application of a face mask. It deep-cleans, tones and moisturizes all at once, smells delicious and makes you feel relaxed and pampered. Face masks are simple to make and can easily save you money spent on commercial products.

For oily skin - Sandalwood is a natural astringent. Tumeric is antiseptic, and keeps spots in check, while the fruit acid in orange juice clears blemishes. Turmeric may stain the skin slightly, but this is temporary and will clear after a few washes. If you have a sensitive skin and are worried about staining, substitute the turmeric with geranium leaf juice (crush one leaf with a little water, strain and use 1/2 tsp of the liquid), reducing the quantity of orange juice by the same amount.

1 1/2 tbsp sandalwood powder

Tiny pinch (few grains) of ground turmeric

3 tbsp orange juice

Mix all the ingredients together and apply over the face and neck, avoiding the eye area. Allow to dry, then rinse off with cool water, without pulling the skin.

For dry skin - This mask conditions dry skin and leaves it supple and radiant.

1 egg white

1 tsp honey

1 tsp full-fat cream

Mix together all the ingredients and pat on to the face and neck. Rinse off after 20 minutes.

For normal skin - The protein in milk powder leaves skin petal-soft and the rosewater tones and refreshes.

2 tbsp milk powder

Rosewater to mix

Combine the ingredients into a thick paste and apply to the face and neck.

- Hair conditioners put the life back into dull hair and are simple to make at home. All kinds of wonderful herbs grow in India and can be grind up into conditioning hair masks.

Handful each hibiscus, marigold, balsam, basil and mint leaves

Handful of rose petals

Grind all of these (or as many as you can find) in a blender with a little water til you get an emerald-green, coarse, sticky mixture. Apply this directly to the scalp and hair and leave on for at least an hour. Wash off thoroughly. Your hair is sure to gleam like gold.

- Oiling the hair has been a highly regarded ritual in India for at least five thousand years. Even today wise old women are convinced that regular oiling maintains the natural color of the hair and prevents greying. Oil cools the head and promotes luxurious hair growth, whereas internal body heat does the opposite.

Oil for falling hair

The eucalyptus and clove oils in this preparation boost blood circulation that nourishes the root of the hair and prevents hair loss.

5 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp eucalyptus oil

1 tsp clove oil

Mix the three oils together and gently rub into the scalp at night.

- A nourishing hair pack that clears up dandruff can be made of four tablespoons rosemary infusion, an egg yolk and a pinch of borax: simple massage into the scalp before shampooing. Occasional bouts of scurfiness can be cleared up with a relaxing massage with warm olive oil.

Excerpted from India’s Beauty Secrets by Monisha Bharadwaj, Kyle Cathie

Source

Labels: ayurveda, beauty, beauty secrets, healing with food, healthy hair, India, natural health, skin care

While it’s not obvious (or pretty), scarring is actually our body’s healing mechanism for injured skin. Post-trauma, we produce more cells to stimulate re-growth of the affected area…which leads to new, excess tissue (read: scars).

Today’s technology has made scar removal more effective, but there are also helpful tools right in your kitchen. Try these natural remedies on old and new scars alike:

Cucumber: Putting cucumber juice on a scar can reduce its puffiness and eventually depth.

Honey: Naturally antiseptic, it will keep the area clean while softening and nourishing the skin (thanks to its abundant vitamin content).

Aloe: When applied, it can reduce the appearance of darkness and eventually fade the scar.

Olive oil: Just rub the oil into the scar consistently for a long period of time and you will eventually see an improvement in its appearance.

Source

Labels: aloe vera, healing with food, honey, natural therapy, olive oil, scars

Often called ginger root, this spicy Asian flavor enhancer is actually a rhizome — an underground, horizontal-growing plant stem. Much more than just a zesty accent to baked goods and sushi, ginger contains potent compounds that help quell inflammation, ease nausea, and potentially lower blood pressure.

Eat it

To soothe osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, mince about ¼-inch slice of fresh ginger and add to food every day. Or mitigate hypertension and relieve motion sickness by taking ginger in capsule or tincture form. Talk with your health care practitioner about an appropriate dose.

Drink it

Combat a queasy stomach or morning sickness with simple ginger tea. Place one or two ½-inch slices of fresh ginger in a mug of hot water. Let steep for a few minutes, and drink.

To eliminate gas, sip nonalcoholic ginger beer — as opposed to conventional ginger ales, which often don't include any fresh ginger.

Rub it on

When massaged into skin, ginger creates a warming sensation that helps increase circulation, soothe sore joints, and relax muscles. Plus, antioxidants in ginger boost skin's ability to fight free radicals. Mix a couple of drops of ginger essential oil into a carrier oil and knead into problem areas.

Source

Labels: arthritis, ginger, healing with food, Holistic Health, living holistically, rhizome

Bromelain is an enzyme that is extracted from the stems of pineapples. Taken orally, bromelain can aid with removing dead proteins in skin cells, but the effects are very gradual. As a supplement, it can help with the pain and inflammation of varicose veins. Used topically, bromelain speeds healing and dissolves cross-linked (read: dead) collagen cells, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and any uneven pigmentation. Bromelain also has been shown to reduce inflammation, which is believed to be a factor in the aging of skin.

Bromelain is found in a number of beauty products, including Z.Bigatti Impact Fruit Enzyme Mask, Murad Exfoliating Fruit Enzyme Mask, and Alba Organics Hawaiian Pineapple Enzyme Facial Cleanser.

Source

Labels: bromelain, bruises, eating healthy, healing with food, living holistically, pineapple, supplements

Snack-sized quantities of walnuts slow cancer growth in mice, reports a Marshall University pilot study published in the current issue of the peer-reviewed journal Nutrition and Cancer.

Researcher W. Elaine Hardman, Ph.D., of Marshall's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine said the study was designed to determine whether mice that got part of their calories by eating walnuts had slower breast cancer growth than a group eating a diet more typical of the American diet.

"When we fed the mice the walnuts, the growth rate of the tumors they had was dramatically suppressed," Hardman said.

The mice ate a diet in which 18.5% of the daily calories -- the equivalent of two servings for humans -- came from walnuts. Tumors in the walnut-fed group took twice as long to double in size as tumors in the control group, the article reports. The study is believed to be the first to look at the impact of walnut consumption on cancer growth.

"It's always very good to find something that will slow the growth of tumors without being toxic chemotherapy," said Hardman, who has spent 15 years studying the role of diet in cancer.

Walnuts have at least three components that could account for their cancer-slowing effect, Hardman said. They are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to slow cancer growth. They also include antioxidants and components called phytosterols, both of which have shown cancer-slowing effects in other studies.

While the pilot study was only designed to determine whether -- not why -- walnuts had a tumor-suppressing effect, Hardman said research as a whole is suggesting that Americans need to get more of their fat calories from fats rich in omega-3 fatty acids and fewer fat calories from saturated fat or foods high in omega-6 fatty acids.

In addition to walnuts, other good sources of omega-3 fatty acids are fish and canola and flaxseed oils, she said.

Medicine is increasingly looking at dietary changes as a way to reduce cancer, Hardman said.

"We're beginning to understand that your diet probably contributes to one-third to two-thirds of all cancers that develop, and making dietary changes to prevent cancer could do more to reduce the deaths from cancer than chemotherapy to treat cancer," she said.

"Changing our habits to reduce our risk not only of cancer but also of other chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, could reduce our health costs that are eating us up and provide better lives for a lot of people," she said. "I think in the future -- and probably the near future -- our diet, and making dietary changes, is going to become the biggest weapon for fighting cancer."

The project was funded through grants from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the California Walnut Commission, neither of which had input on the interpretation or reporting of the findings.

Source

Labels: cancer, diet, eating healthy, healing with food, study, Walnuts

Herbs and spices are rich in antioxidants, and they are also potent inhibitors of tissue damage and inflammation caused by high levels of blood sugar.

When researchers tested extracts from 24 common herbs and spices, they found a direct correlation between antioxidant phenol content and the ability of the extracts to block the formation of compounds that contribute to damage caused by diabetes and aging.

Spices such as cloves and cinnamon have phenol levels that are 30% and 18% of dry weight, respectively, while herbs such as oregano and sage are 8 and 6% phenol by dry weight. Blueberries, which are widely touted for their antioxidant capabilities, contain roughly 5% phenol by dry weight.

Source

Labels: antioxidant, cinnamon, cloves, healing with food, healthy diet, phenols, spices

Inflammation is linked to bad digestion, arthritis, heart disease and other ailments. Luckily, a naturally anti-inflammatory diet can help, says Ashley Koff, RD, author of Recipes for IBS.

Here are her tips for getting started:

Spice it up! Nature gives us potent anti-inflammatory weapons in the form of turmeric (curcumin) and ginger. Experiment with other spices for flavor and anti-bacterial properties.

Get protein from vegetable sources and grass-fed animals. Think quinoa, millet, pumpkin seeds, hemp, flax, walnuts, lentils and beans. When eating animals, choose lean sources like grass-fed chicken, eggs, buffalo, and wild fish like sardines and salmon (avoid fish high in mercury).

Consume natural sugar. Skip sweeteners and products with high fructose corn syrup and instead enjoy the natural sweetness and healing nutrients of fruits.

Eat foods instead of food products. Avoid preservatives, hormones, chemicals and partially hydrogenated oils in favor of healthy fats like those in avocado, walnuts, hemp and chia.

Source

Labels: eating healthy, healing with food, healthy diet, inflammation

Besides adding some crunch in your salad, cucumber is a treat for your skin. Below are some beauty benefits of cucumber:

Labels: cucumber, DIY, healing with food

Broccoli (as compared to other cruciferous vegetables) has a particularly powerful type of sulforaphane, which the researchers believe gives broccoli its particular cancer-fighting properties. It appears that broccoli contains the necessary ingredients to switch ON genes that prevent cancer development, and switch OFF other ones that help it spread.

There is plenty of evidence linking a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables to reduced cancer risk. But the study published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS One is the first human trial investigating the potential biological mechanism at work, Mithen added in a telephone interview.

The power of food in normalizing chronic disease and helping you achieve optimal health is quite profound....

Source & Source

Labels: broccoli, cancer, cruciferous vegetables, eating healthy, healing with food, Holistic Health