Herbal supplements for good health and fitness-IV

The next item in the superfoods family of healthy diet plan is 'Honey'

STARPOWER:

Honey is made by worker bees from the nectar of flowers. It contain small quantities of antigens that are contained in flowers and pollens, and pushes the body to create antibodies or protective cells to build immunity. Being a pre-digested sugar, it is easily absorbed by the weak and frail.
Honey is not fattening despite its being sweet because of its invert sugar (a mixture of equal parts of glucose and fructose resulting from the hydrolysis of sucrose), which is why weight loss practitioners advice you to have it with lemon and hot water. Though, if you have honey with milk and almonds it will be fattening.

Honey is also a very good anti-bacterial agent helping in maintaining good health and fitness. It kills even the most potent bacteria by sucking out their water. It is also an excellent moisture retainer and often used for skin treatment. It is rich in enzymes that comes from the worker bees. Plus,it is a source of pre-digested sugar.

PRACTICAL CONSUMPTION:

Add honey to herbal tea to sweeten it since it doesn't lead to weight gain. Or add it to a glass of warm water and lemon to help in weight loss. Otherwise, you can eat it on toast or add it to oat porridge with a dash of cinnamon to make a nutritious breakfast dish for thin or normal weight
children.If you mix a teaspoon of honey with two teaspoon of powdered black pepper, a fewdrops og ginger juice and tulsi, you will get one of the most effective cough medication ever.

PRECAUTIONS:

Do not give natural honey to toddlers under two years old as their immune system may not respond to it well.

Superfoods for good health and fitness-III

Fruit and Vegetable juices are essential consituent of a healthy diet plan. They are blessed with three factors leading to good health and fitness.

(a) They are rich in antioxidants.

(b) They are full of live enzymes.

(c) They contain heat-labile vitamins (that is, the vitamins that are usually
lost while cooking).

Antioxidants are exceptionally important because they destroy the free radicals that are continuously created in our body due to toxins from fertilizers, pollution and so on. Free radicals lead to inflammation in the heart, arthritis, mutations resulting in cancers and other terrible diseases. The role of antioxidants was first discovered by the naturopaths, but laboratory confirmations using advanced scientific tools are relatively recent.

Fruit and Vegetable juices are also rich in live enzymes. Enzymes are a component of food with the power to transform. They transform plant energy to an energy form that we can utilize. This power also resides in our livers, but we tend to overload the liver to such an extent that the body is unable to handle food. All problems of fatigue, dark circles under the eyes and lack of facial glow result from under-metabolic food.

When we cook vegetables, all enzymes are lost due to the heat. So, when we drink vegetable juices, we also get enzymes. Enzymes are present in raw salads, raw vegetables and fruit.
The third important aspect of fruit and vegetable juices is that they are a storehouse of vitamins like B complex and C that are otherwise destroyed in cooking. Many disorders due to indiscriminate eating are miraculously cured by naturopathy techniques and fruit & vegetable juice therapy.

PRACTICAL CONSUMPTION

Make different juices every day. Try a juice of carrot and fennel, add some ginger or garlic according to taste to add to the nutritional benefits.

PRECAUTIONS

If you are used to a very unhealthy diet or refined or processed foods, begin with small quantities because sudden detoxification may overwhelm the system. Pregnant women and people with compromised immunity should also avoid vegetable juices. In this way you will be able to transform nature's life forces to human vitality.

Superfoods for good Health and Fitness -II

I am here with my next post in which I will discuss about the medicinal value of flowers:

STARPOWER:
Rather like homeopathy, flower therapy does not attack a disease head on. Instead, it activates cellular intelligence to fight imbalances within its immediate environment. Flower therapy is used in food, aroma oils and skin applications. Jasmine flower have a relaxing effect on the nervous system. Jasmine tea is the flower in a tea form(called an influsion). Rose petals are a great luxative and used in many medicines. Rose is also drunk in a sherbat form as it cools and relaxes the body.

Practical consumption:

Substitute late night beverages with flower infusions. They are great for relaxation. And have rose sherbet in summer.

Precautions:

Some people may be allergic to some flower components, so be careful if you have a family history of asthma

Superfoods for good health and fitness-I

In my earlier post, I talked about value of Superfoods in our life. In will present some of the vital foods that have a great medicinal value and possess the capacity to affect our body positively in number of ways.

FLAXSEEDS:

STAR POWER: Flaxseeds have rather humble origins, so the way they are venerated today by people interested in their health could be the subject of the rags to riches story in some tabloid.
They are an ordinary dull brown color and so inexpensive that they are fed to livestock for their health. The star qualities of flexseeds came to light when it was discovered that they are an excellent vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids (normally found in oily fish). Omega-3 fatty acids are one of the key recommendations for a heart healthy diet.

Flexseeds also have a balancing and therapeutic effect on the ovaries. They can be used as a food component to treat polycystic ovaries and insulin disorders.

Practical Consumption:

Roast flaxseeds and add to salads. They make them yummy and crunchy. Or make a fine powder and add it to vegetable juices

Precautions:

Do not consume in excess. Normal consumption is up to two teaspoons a day.