Dates a wonder fruit of Arabia

Dates are the fruits of the date palm tree which is a food of high nutritional value. They are used abundantly in the month of Ramadan when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. The sweetness of the date takes the edge off hunger and this is another reason why fasts are opened with dates. This prevents a person from overeating after he has opened his fast.

Dates contain calcium, sulphur, iron, potassium, phosphorus, manganese, copper, magnesium, volatile oils, Vitamin-B6, folic acid, Potassium, Iron and Magnesium, proteins, sugars, vitamins and are rich in natural fibers which contribute to a healthy body and mind.

Dates provides natural sugar in the form of glucose and fructose which is ready for immediate absorption and, is infinitely far superior to cane-sugar.

Eating dates has great benefits which can be illustrated as follows:

1. Prevents Cancer: Dates are very nutritious and contain natural fibres. Modern medicine has shown that they are effective in preventing abdominal cancer. In general Bedouin Arabs, who eat them on a regular basis, show an extremely low incidence rate of cancer.




2. Weak heart: Dates are an excellent remedy for weak heart. Dates soaked overnight should be taken twice a week which strengthens the heart.
   Bedouin Arabs who regularly consume dates have shown an extremely low rate of heart disease.




3. Treatment for Obesity: The wide variety of nutritious elements in dates makes it hunger-resistive! So treatment by eating few dates when feeling hungry helps reduce hunger and be filled. These dates will provide the body with the necessary sugar and stimulate the intestine which reduce hunger greatly, and eventually, reduce food consumption.




4. Eases child-birth: Eating dates eases the pain of childbirth. Scientifically they are known to contain hormones which strengthen the uterus, help produce milk for nursing mothers and also prevent blood loss after childbirth. (The ripe fruit contains a substance that urges uterine spasms and increases contractions especially in the time of delivery. This substance resembles ‘oxytocin’ that is secreted by pituitary gland, which encourages contractions of the uterus. Dates contain some stimulants which strengthen the muscles of the uterus in the last months of pregnancy. This helps the dilation of the uterus at the time of delivery and reduces post-natal bleeding).




5. Ideal for breast-feeding mothers: Dieticians consider dates the best food for breast-feeding mothers. This is because dates contain elements that assist in alleviating depression and enrich the breast milk with the nutrients needed to make the child healthy and resistant to disease.




6. Bones: Calcium is important for strong bones so this is an additional benefit that dates provide. As dates are rich in calcium, they contribute to healthy bones. For this reason it is recommended that children and older adults, especially women, eat plenty of dates to strengthen their bones.




7. Modern science has also proved the effectiveness of dates, in preventing diseases of the respiratory system.




8. Intestinal Disturbances: Eating dates in the morning on an empty stomach kills intestinal worms and other parasites, for dates have an antidotal potency which restrains their growth. According to Metchnikoff, a great Russian scientist, liberal use of dates keeps in check the growth of pathological organisms and helps to establish a colony of friendly bacteria in the intestines.




9. Improves Eye sight: Dates are also important in maintaining good vision and are effective in guarding against night-blindness.




10. Cures constipation: Dates are also highly beneficial in the treatment of constipation as the roughage provided by it stimulates sluggish bowels. They should be immersed in water at night and taken after making them into fine syrup the next morning to secure laxative effect.




11. Remedy for Sexual Debility: Date syrup can be used as a treatment for weak heart. It can also be use for the treatment of sexual weakness. When it’s mixed with milk and honey, dates can be used as a tonic for the treatment of sexual disturbances for both sexes. And such syrup strengthens the body and raises its energy levels. The elderly would benefit from this syrup too. It improves their stamina and purges their bodies from the toxins that have accumulated in their cells along the years.




12. Remedy for Liver and Inflammations: Dates remedy Lever and purge it from toxins, Breaking the fast with dates, is one of the most magnificent of natural remedies for the maintenance and purging the Lever from accumulated toxins. And also drinking dates juice could be used in the treatment of sore throat, various types of fever, rhinorrhia and common cold.




13. Remedy for Intoxication: Dates are an excellent remedy for alcoholic intoxication. In such a case, drinking water in which fresh dates have been rubbed or soaked will bring quick relief




14. Children’s Disease: Dates tied to a wrist of the baby and allowed to be sucked during teething period hardens the gums and also prevents other complaints like restlessness and diarrhea.

In short sentence, one date satisfies the minimum requirements of a balanced and healthy diet – so cultivating a healthy habit of eating dates miraculously preserves our health and attains longevity.

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Avoiding FAST FOOD as much as possible

As the dangers involved in eating Fast Food is very high due to several reasons as listed below, we have to choose an alternative options of avoiding them as much as we can.

Unhealthy processed foods such as French fries, hot dogs, burgers, pizzas, snacks, chips etc. are a potential health threat since they contribute to the increased prevalence of obesity and chronic disease among both developed countries and developing countries.

Obesity is becoming the largest public health concern as we enter the new millenium, especially among children. Obesity increases the risk for high cholesterol and fatty streak development, which translates into greater risk for cardiac disease and cardiovascular related disease such as high Blood Pressure and Diabetes.

One meal at a fast food restaurant may contribute a significant amount of fat and sodium for the day. For example, McDonald’s new Spanish omelet bagel contains 710 calories, 40 grams of fat, 275 mg of cholesterol and 1,520 mg of sodium. High fat diets and bigger portions in combination with decreased physical activity play major roles in the obesity epidemic.

The high salt content of fast foods also has many threats to the health problems associated with high blood pressure, strokes, and kidney function.

Monosodium glutamate (also known Ajinomoto) is in almost all processed foods and certainly in almost all fast food out there. All sorts of medical studies have revealed that Monosodium glutamate causes obesity, along with a lot of other nasty things. It's a chemical we should never put in our bodies, and yet it's something that is in virtually every processed food we buy whether it’s fast food or snacks.

All the techniques used to process food - canning, dehydrating and freezing - virtually destroy the flavor of food, so chemicals under the guise of "natural flavors" have been added to enhance the flavor, while color additives are added to make the foods look fresh. It might make the food look and taste better, but it's not doing much for our bodies
There is little evidence that if children eat fast food on a very limited basis they are going to have dietary or weight problems. The big problem is that most children eat fast food more than once a week.
It is apparent that fast foods are always a temptation because they are widely available, convenient and cheap, but as parents and educators it is important to set examples for children to emulate. Encouraging the consumption of a balanced diet, high in complex carbohydrates such as legumes, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains may result in many health benefits. Parents and teachers can educate and empower children by involving them in creating simple, fun, and creative homemade alternatives.
The key is to limit your intake of fast foods-and choose wisely. Studies show the average fast food meal costs you 1,200 calories, but you can limit these drawbacks by keeping in mind the following guidelines / tips / alternatives:
1. Order grilled chicken sandwiches in place of fried chicken or fried fish sandwiches. Know the fat content of various food choices. For example, choose a grilled chicken sandwich without mayonnaise and a regular order of fries; or have a small hamburger or cheeseburger and skip the fries.
2. Avoid desserts, sweets, milk shakes, pies, etc.
3. To reduce fat calories, omit mayonnaise (one tablespoon=100 calories) add mustard, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles and /or onions as substitutes.
4. Avoid high-calorie beverages, such as regular soft drinks or milk shakes
5. Avoid fried foods. Calories can more than double in deep-fried foods.
6. Cut down on fat in fried foods by removing the outer coating before eating.
7. Order a small cheese pizza with low-calorie vegetables such as green peppers, onions or mushrooms, and eat just two or three pieces. Have a salad / garlic bread to help satisfy your appetite and boost fiber, nutrition and "fullness".
8. Eat lots of lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms. green peppers, carrots, celery and cucumbers.
9. Avoid french fries and opt for other sides like apples or a baked potato.

10. Free yourself from Monosodium Glutamate (Ajinomoto)by cooking at home.

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Reasons and the necessity of intake of Oranges regularly in our daily diet

Our sedentary, stressful life demands us to eat quality food. That’s why eating miraculously nutritious fruits like oranges regularly in our diet becomes vital and mandatory.

Orange is one of the finest fruits and gifts of nature. It is a rich source of protective food ingredients like Vitamin A, B , C and Calcium. Its also rich in minerals. Oranges keeps us strong, healthy and contributes towards healthy body and long life. Thus importance and benefits of eating oranges can only be emphasized and highligted as follows:

1. Fights Cancer: As oranges are rich in Vitamin C, they contains antioxidants which helps fight cancer in general and particularly gives some protection of cancers from mouth, skin, lung, breast, stomach and colon.
2. Rich in Fibre: Oranges are an excellent source of dietary fiber.
3. Recommended for heart disease :Oranges are an excellent source of nutrition for problems related to cardiovascular disease. Orange juice sweetened with honey is highly recommended and advisable for heart patients who have chronic cardiac conditions like coronary ischaemia and infarctioon. Besides, it is a safe energy producing liquid.
4. Lowers cholesterol level : Eating oranges regularly have found to be useful for lowering cholesterol level in the blood.
5. Lowers Blood Pressure : Oranges have also found to have the capacity to lower the high blood pressure level when taken regularly.
6. Diabetes: Intake of oranges regularly prevents diabetes.
7. Ailments for Children: Orange juice is a substitute for children who refuse to drink milk as it is a rich source of calcium. Besides orange juice is an excellent food for infants who are not fed on breast milk.
8. Bones and Teeth: As oranges are rich in calcium and vitamins, it is a valuable source of nutrition for bones and teeth. Dr. Harke, a Chicago physician claimed to have cured many patients of pyorrhea and dental caries by giving them orange juice in large amounts.
9. Kidney Stones: Oranges when included regularly in our diet have found to remove and sweep away the kidney stones.
10. Constipation: As oranges are rich in fibre, it is very beneficial in the treatment of constipation. Eating oranges at bedtime and again on rising in the morning is one of the best way to stimulating bowel action.
11. Orange juice is an effective remedy for tuberculosis, asthma, common cold, fevers, bronchitis and other conditions of cough associated with difficult expectorations.

That's why the importance of eating oranges regularly either as a whole or in the form of juice should not be underestimated.

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Different ways to protect our Liver

9 Ways how you can Love your Liver:

1. Liver stores the iron reserves you need, as well as a lot of vitamins and other minerals. Without liver, you wouldn't have the strength to carry on!

2. Liver makes bile to help digest your food.

3. Liver detoxifies poisonous chemicals you give it, and that includes alcohol, beer, wine and drugs (prescribed and over-the-counter) as well as illegal substances.

4. Liver stores energy, like a battery, by stockpiling sugar (carbohydrates, glucose and fat) until you need it. Without it, the sugar level in your blood could fall dramatically and you'd go into a coma.

5. Liver makes the blood that got your system going even before you were born.

6. Liver manufactures new proteins that your body needs to stay healthy and grow.
7. Liver removes poisons from the air, exhaust smoke and chemicals you breathe.

8. Liver makes clotting factors that stop the bleeding when you accidentally prick yourself.

9. Liver helps defend you against the germs going into your body all the time. It takes those cold germs, flu bugs and other germs you encounter, and knock them dead - or at least weaken them.

Now, let me tell you about a most common liver disease called as Fatty Liver.
What is Fatty Liver?
• Fatty liver is the collection of excessive amounts of fat inside liver cells, also called steatosis - mostly triglycerides.

Common types of Fatty Liver –
1. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) - affect people who drink little or no alcohol. simple fatty liver (steatosis), usually causes no liver damage
2. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a more serious type caused by hepatitis infection, malnutrition, obesity, diabetes mellitus, and Reye's syndrome.
3. Alcoholic steatosis – The cause is alcohol by abuse.

What are the symptoms?
Fatty liver usually produces no symptoms. Jaundice, right-side abdominal pain, abdominal swelling, fever.
· At more advanced stage, liver becomes cirrhosis
· Cirrhosis refers to scarring of the liver. It replaces healthy tissue.
· Scar tissue cannot do what healthy liver tissue does.
· Scar tissue also blocks the normal flow of blood through the liver.
· Cirrhosis can be life-threatening, but it can also be controlled if treated early.
How is it diagnosed?
• The liver may be tender when the abdomen is pressed.
• Blood tests - for liver function.
• Ultrasound or abdominal CT scan.

What is the treatment?
1. Treatment for fatty liver is aimed at eliminating or treating the cause of the condition.
2. In some cases, fatty liver is reversible if caught early in its development.
3. Pregnancy-related fatty liver is treated by delivering the baby, if viable.
4. Severe liver damage can occur if fatty liver is left untreated. In these cases, the patient may eventually require a liver transplant

Now, let me tell you some easy ways to take preventive actions to love your liver enough:
1. Don't drown liver in beer, alcohol or wine!
2. Watch those drugs! All drugs are chemicals, and when you mix them up without a doctor's advice you could create something poisonous that could damage liver badly. Medicine is sometimes necessary. But taking pills when they aren't necessary is a bad habit. All those chemicals can really hurt a liver.
3. Be careful with aerosol sprays! Remember, liver have to detoxify what you breathe in, too. So when you are cleaning with aerosol cleaners, make sure the room is ventilated, or wear a mask. That goes double for bug sprays, mildew sprays, paint sprays and all those other chemical sprays you use. Be careful what you breathe!
4. Watch what gets on your skin! Those insecticides you put on trees and shrubs not only kill bugs they can get to me right through your skin and destroy liver cells, too. Remember they're all chemicals. Cover your skin with gloves, long sleeves, a hat and mask every time insecticides are in the air or if you're handling them.
5. Don't eat too much fatty food! Liver makes the cholesterol your body needs, and it tries to make the right amount. Eat a good, well balanced nourishing diet.

We can thus protect our liver by taking enough careful precautions against the following above guidelines thus keeping our liver healthy and disease-free thus attaining good health as all of us yearn always.

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Microwave Ovens : Comfort vs. Health & Nutrition - Tips to Healthy Eating Practise

Yes, we all agree that nothing is far easy reachable than microwave as it cooks and reheats or even defrosts instantly but did we realize whether it’s worth it???

Since the microwave is so good at killing bacteria, it becomes obvious that it also will kill anything alive in our food. All those vital enzymes that help us digest our food, all the B, C and E vitamins and most trace minerals are destroyed in the microwaving process. As opposed to traditional means of cooking which heat the food from the outside in, microwave ovens heat from the inside out by hurling out high-frequency alternating power fields which forces the molecules within the food to align themselves with the rapidly alternating electric field and sends the molecules flying back and forth at the dizzying pace of about 5 billion reversals per second. This causes a great deal of intermolecular friction which creates heat to heat the food, but it also destroys the cellular structure of the food, and it can change the chemical composition of the food into something that the body no longer recognizes. And if the food was cooked in a plastic container or with plastic wrap on top, plastic molecules are now imbedded into the food, which creates a whole other disaster for the endocrine system.

So eating microwaved food frequently, is a problem because not only have the micro-nutrients (vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phyto-nutrients) been destroyed, but also the macro-nutrients (proteins, carbs, fats) have been molecularly damaged rendering it virtually useless to the body. You can even detect the compositional changes yourself. Don't microwaved eggs seem rubbery to you, too?
Physicians tell new mothers never to heat the baby's milk in the microwave, as it denatures the proteins in the milk. If something is not good for baby, surely it is not good for adults either.
More and more evidence is coming to the fore that electromagnetic fields are damaging to human cells, and the higher the frequency the bigger the problem. Food that is nuked at a rate of the typical 2.45 gigahertz frequency in the microwave has been "energized" and the food gives off that energy to the nervous system, which may cause a stress response of high blood pressure, anxiety, headaches, and dizziness. Eating zapped food can cause abnormal changes in the blood and in the immune system. The Russians, who did most of the research on microwaves, found that there were higher incidences of stomach and intestinal cancers, digestive disorders, and higher rates of all cell tumors in those that ate microwaved foods frequently. So, how does one live microwave free? The biggest thing is to get organized and get into the habit of taking out the frozen meat, poultry or fish in the morning, or to buy fresh on the way home. As for cooking, electric grill is a better option, as it cooks really fast because the grill folds like a waffle iron and grills both sides of the meat at once.
It’s time to stop using microwave at workplace or at home. Try taking your lunch in a Corniwingware lunch dish & using a mini oven, if they have one. Or try taking lunch that does not need reheating or re-heat using a gas oven with patience as it retains all nutritients and keeps the food far more tastier.
There was a time (not to long ago) that microwaves were not in every household or not even in existence. We just have to get back to that era!

Always remember one great formula – Health & Nutrition is our greatest wealth plus the food is tastier while using gas or electric oven or electric grill.

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Introduce and include OATS, a super-grain, a great joy to your health.

Oats ia source of excellent dietary fibre with low calories and and contains antioxidants. Therefore Oats should be used on daily diet compulsorily to attain good health and longevity.

Introducing Oats in your daily diet helps you attain a balanced diet as it has several benefits which are listed as below:

1. Oats lowers the cholestrol thus keeping your heart very healthy. Its unique antioxidants reduces and prevents the risk of cardiac (or heart related) diseases.


2. Oats is an excellent source of nutritious food for diabetic patients (also prevents diabetes, a major prevalent disease in the developed and developing countries) as it consistently stabilizess the blood sugar level upon including it in your daily diet.


3. Oats also contains nutrition that enhances health promoting activity either equal or more than that of vegetables and fruits.


4. Oats boosts our immune system thus us strong and healthy from any infections.


5. This (Oats), a super-grain contains phytochemicals called Phytic Acid that controls and prevents cancer, a malicious diseases of this century.


6. Oats also aids our digestive system organs by clearing all gastro-intestinal problems.


7. Oats also contains following nutrients which compels us to use this in our daily intake that aids in physical fitness and balanced diet:

• Thiamine (Vitamin B1), that needed to release energy from carbohydrates,


• Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) thats excellent for skin, eyes and nails,


• Foliate and Iron that is healthy growth and metabolism,


• Calcium which is essential for bones and teeth and also clotting of blood,


• Phosphorous is vital for metabolism and healthy growth of bones and teeth.

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Miraculous Cure in Pomegranate fruit - a great, happy, healthy news

Recent research in medical technology proves that pomegranite has great, immensively medical benefits in treating heart related diseases.
Pomegranate clears the blocked arteries thus preventing and reducing the heart attack, heart burn and keeping our heart healthy. Most of the Ayurvedic (life science) medicines use pomegranate as its basic ingredient. It behaves and does the job of a scavanger thus clearing the chlosterol deposited in our arteries thus keeping our heart healthy.
Besides pomegranate has other natual healing benefits which are listed as follows:

1. Digestive Disorders: The juice of pomegranate has great value in digestive disorders - it binds the stools and tones up the intestine,


2. Diarrhoea and Dysentry: The chief value of the pomegranate is its astringent properties which causes cells to shrink and is a valuable food for diarrohea and dysentry,


3. Intestinal Worms: The bark , both of the root and stem of pomegranate destroys the parasitic worms,


4. Kidney and Bladder Stones: The seeds of sour and sweet pomegranate are useful as a medicine to dissolve gravel in kidneys and bladder,


5. Teeth and Gum Disease: Powder of the dried rind of pomegranate strengthens the gums, cleans the teeth and preserves them for long time,


6. Fevers: The juice of the fruit with saffron is useful in fevers and is beneficial in gastric and asthmatic fevers.

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