Selasa, 01 November 2011
The World's Healthiest Foods
130 foods that can serve as the basis of your Healthiest Way of Eating. Links to the articles about these foods can be found below.
Of course, there are many other nutritious foods other than those that we have included on our list that we feel are wonderful, health-promoting foods; if there are other whole foods - such as fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, whole grains, etc - that you like, by all means enjoy them. Just because a food is not on our list doesn't mean that we don't think that it can be included in a diet geared towards the Healthiest Way of Eating as long as it is a whole, natural, nutrient-rich food.
To find out why some of your favorite nutritious foods are not included in our list, read The Criteria Used to Select the World's Healthiest Foods.
Source : http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php
© 2001-2011 The George Mateljan Foundation
Selasa, 25 Oktober 2011
www.suaramedia.com
Budidaya Tanaman Obat, Lahan Bisnis Potensial
Senin, 30 Mei 2011 03:46
Lintas Berita
E-mail Cetak PDF
Previous
Left arrow key Next
Right arrow key Close
Tanaman jahe. Pengembangan agribisnis hilir komoditas tanaman obat diarahkan untuk pengembangan produk turunan berupa produk jadi, pengembangan industri hilir temulawak, kunyit, kencur, jahe dan purwoceng yang dilakukan dengan diversifikasi produk dalam bentuk yang lebih sederhana yaitu simplisia atau ekstrak. (foto: Google)
Tanaman jahe. Pengembangan agribisnis hilir komoditas tanaman obat diarahkan untuk pengembangan produk turunan berupa produk jadi, pengembangan industri hilir temulawak, kunyit, kencur, jahe dan purwoceng yang dilakukan dengan diversifikasi produk dalam bentuk yang lebih sederhana yaitu simplisia atau ekstrak. (foto: Google)
Bibit tanaman yang mengandung obat khususnya yang ditanam di pot berprospek baik dalam bisnis tanaman hias.
"Penggemar tanaman hias kini gemar mengoleksi bibit tanaman yang mengandung obat, apalagi memasuki awal musim hujan permintaan cenderung meningkat," kata M Nazir petani dan pedagang tanaman hias asal Kabupaten Sleman, Yogyakarta.
Ia mengatakan tingginya permintaan bibit tanaman yang mengandung obat tersebut menyebabkan para pedagang tanaman hias menambah stok yang didatangkan dari berbagai daerah. "Bibit tanaman yang mengandung obat tersebut banyak dicari para penggemar tanaman hias. Mereka menilai bibit tanaman itu berkhasiat serta dapat dijadikan tanaman hias," katanya.
Menurut dia jenis tanaman yang mengandung obat itu harus didatangkan dari berbagai daerah di luar Kota Yogyakarta, karena di daerah ini sudah jarang ditemui terutama yang berkhasiat.
Mengenai prospek bisnis tanaman hias di DIY, ia mengatakan makin ramai karena banyak pemain baru, baik dari dalam maupun luar daerah, yang menekuni dan terjun ke bisnis itu. "Hampir setiap hari selalu ada penyelenggaraan pameran dan bursa tanaman hias, bahkan tidak hanya di satu tempat, tetapi di beberapa tempat secara bersamaan," kata Nasir yang memiliki sejumlah kios tanaman hias di Yogyakarta.
Hartono pedagang tanaman hias di Kabupaten Bantul mengatakan meski saat ini bisnis tanaman hias saat ini masih ramai, karena mungkin dulu mereka masih sebagai konsumen dan pembeli, namun kemudian ikut menggeluti bisnis tanaman hias.
Ia mengatakan DIY hingga saat ini masih menjadi pasar potensial untuk bisnis tanaman hias, bahkan sebagai pasar potensial Yogyakarta belum tertandingi karena hampir setiap hari ada pameran dan bursa tanaman hias.
Temulawak, kunyit, kencur dan jahe merupakan kelompok tanaman rimpang-rimpangan (Zingiberaceae) mempunyai potensi yang sangat besar untuk digunakan dalam hampir semua produk obat tradisional (jamu) karena paling banyak diklaim sebagai penyembuh berbagai penyakit masyarakat modern (degeneratif, penurunan imunitas, penurunan vitalitas). Sedangkan purwoceng sangat potensial untuk dikembangkan sebagai komplemen dan substitusi ginseng impor sehingga dapat menghemat devisa negara.
Produk yang dihasilkan dari tanaman temulawak, kunyit, kencur dan jahe adalah produk setengah jadi (simplisia, pati, minyak, ekstrak), produk industri (makanan/minuman, kosmetika, farmasi, IKOT dan IOT), produk jadi (sirup, instan, bedak, tablet dan kapsul). Sedangkan untuk purwoceng, produk setengah jadi berupa simplisia dan ekstrak, produk industri dalam bentuk jamu seduh, minuman kesehatan (IKOT/IOT), pil atau tablet/kapsul (farmasi).
Arah pengembangan tanaman obat sampai tahun 2010 masih diarahkan ke lokasi dimana industri obat tradisional berkembang yaitu di Pulau Jawa dengan target luas areal 1.276 ha untuk temulawak, 1.527 ha kunyit, 3.270 ha kencur, 7.124 ha jahe dan 154 ha purwoceng.
Target produksi sampai tahun 2010 dengan asumsi produktivitas per tahun rata-rata 7-8 ton/ha, maka produksi temulawak diperkirakan mencapai 14.020 ton, kunyit 15.426 ton, kencur 26.290 ton dan purwoceng 850 ton. Kecuali ada permintaan khusus, setelah 2010 areal pengembangan temulawak, kunyit, kencur, jahe dan purwoceng dapat diperluas ke luar Pulau Jawa yang ketersediaan lahannya lebih luas.
Pengembangan agribisnis hilir komoditas tanaman obat diarahkan untuk pengembangan produk turunan berupa produk jadi, pengembangan industri hilir temulawak, kunyit, kencur, jahe dan purwoceng yang dilakukan dengan diversifikasi produk dalam bentuk yang lebih sederhana yaitu simplisia atau ekstrak. (fn/ukm/sc) www.suaramedia.com
Source : Copyright © 2009 suaramedia.com All Rights Reserved
Sabtu, 22 Oktober 2011
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu
The Nutrition Source
Ask the Expert: Coffee and Health
the-expert (The-Expert.gif)
Dr. Rob van DamDr. Rob van Dam
Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health
* Drinking up to six cups a day of coffee is not associated with increased risk of death from any cause, or death from cancer or cardiovascular disease.
* Some people may still want to consider avoiding coffee or switching to decaf, especially women who are pregnant, or people who have a hard time controlling their blood pressure or blood sugar.
* It's best to brew coffee with a paper filter, to remove a substance that causes increases in LDL cholesterol.
* Coffee may have potential health benefits, but more research needs to be done.
1. The latest Harvard study on coffee and health seems to offer good news for coffee drinkers. What did the research find?
We looked at the relationship between coffee consumption and overall mortality in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which together included about 130,000 study volunteers. (1) At the start of the study, these healthy men and women were in their 40s and 50s. We followed them for 18 to 24 years, to see who died during that period, and to track their diet and lifestyle habits, including coffee consumption. We did not find any relationship between coffee consumption and increased risk of death from any cause, death from cancer, or death from cardiovascular disease. Even people who drank up to six cups of coffee per day were at no higher risk of death. This finding fits into the research picture that has been emerging over the past few years: For the general population, the evidence suggests that coffee drinking doesn't have any serious detrimental health effects.
2. So for coffee drinkers, no news is good news? Why is this finding so important?
It's an important message because people have seen coffee drinking as an unhealthy habit, along the lines of smoking and excessive drinking, and they may make a lot of effort to reduce their coffee consumption or quit drinking it altogether, even if they really enjoy it. Our findings suggest that if you want to improve your health, it's better to focus on other lifestyle factors, such as increasing your physical activity, quitting smoking, or eating more whole grains.
3. Is there an upper limit for the amount of coffee that is healthy to drink each day?
If you're drinking so much coffee that you get tremors, have sleeping problems, or feel stressed and uncomfortable, than obviously you're drinking too much coffee. But in terms of effects on mortality or other health factors, for example, we don't see any negative effects of consuming up to six cups of coffee a day. Keep in mind that our study and in most studies of coffee, a "cup" of coffee is an 8-ounce cup with 100 mg of caffeine, not the 16 ounces you would get in a grande coffee at a Starbucks, which has about 330 mg of caffeine.
Also keep in mind that the research is typically based on coffee that's black or with a little milk or sugar, but not with the kind of high-calorie coffeehouse beverages that have become popular over the past few years. A 24-ounce mocha Frappachino at Starbucks with whipped cream has almost 500 calories—that's 25 percent of the daily calorie intake for someone who requires 2,000 calories a day. People may not realize that having a beverage like that adds so much to their energy intake, and they may not compensate adequately by eating less over the course of the day. This could lead to weight gain over time, which could in turn increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, and that's a major concern.
4. Is there any research that suggests coffee may have some beneficial health effects?
Yes, research over the past few years suggests that coffee consumption may protect against type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, liver cancer, and liver cirrhosis. And our latest study on coffee and mortality found that people who regularly drank coffee actually had a somewhat lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease than those who rarely drank coffee; this result needs to be confirmed in further studies, however. This is a pretty active area of research right now, and it's not at the stage where we would say, "Start drinking coffee to increase your health even if you don't like it." But I think the evidence is good that for people in general—outside of a few populations, such as pregnant women, or people who have trouble controlling their blood pressure or blood sugar—coffee is one of the good, healthy beverage choices.
5. Why does it seem like scientists keep flip-flopping on whether coffee is bad for you or good for you?
Often people think of coffee just as a vehicle for caffeine. But it's actually a very complex beverage with hundreds and hundreds of different compounds in it. Since coffee contains so many different compounds, drinking coffee can lead to very diverse health outcomes. It can be good for some things and bad for some things, and that's not necessarily flip-flopping or inconsistent. Few foods are good for everything. That's why we do studies on very specific health effects—for example, studies of how coffee affects the risk of diabetes—but we also conduct studies such as this most recent one looking at coffee consumption and mortality over a long period of time, which better reflects the overall health effect.
Coffee is also a bit more complex to study than some other food items. Drinking coffee often goes along together with cigarette smoking, and with a lifestyle that's not very health conscious. For example, people who drink lots of coffee tend to exercise less. They are less likely to use dietary supplements, and they tend to have a less healthful diet. So in the early studies on coffee and health, it was hard to separate the effects of coffee from the effects of smoking or other lifestyle choices.
Over the several decades that coffee has been studied, there have been some reports that coffee may increase the risk of certain cancers or the risk of heart disease. But in better conducted studies, such as the one we just published—larger studies that have a lot of information about all other lifestyle factors and make a real effort to control for these lifestyle factors—we do not find many of these health effects that people were afraid of.
6. What is the latest research on the risks of coffee or caffeine during pregnancy?
For pregnant women, there has been quite a bit of controversy over whether high intake of coffee or caffeine may increase the risk of miscarriage. The jury is still out. But we know that the caffeine goes through the placenta and reaches the fetus, and that the fetus is very sensitive to caffeine; it metabolizes it very slowly. So for pregnant women it seems prudent to reduce coffee consumption to a low level, for example one cup a day.
7. Should people with high blood pressure consider reducing their coffee or caffeine intake? What about people with diabetes?
We know that if people are not used to using any caffeine, and they start to use caffeine, their blood pressure goes up substantially. Within a week of caffeine consumption, however, we see that the effect is less pronounced—there is less of an increase in blood pressure. After several weeks of continued caffeine consumption, however, a little bit of increase in blood pressure remains. In studies that look at the incidence of hypertension in the general population, drinking caffeinated coffee is not associated with a substantial increase in risk. But if people have hypertension, and are having a hard time controlling their hypertension, they could try switching from caffeinated coffee to decaffeinated coffee, to see if it has a beneficial effect.
With diabetes, it's a bit of a paradox. Studies around the world consistently show that high consumption of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee is associated with low risk of type 2 diabetes. But if you look at acute studies that just give people caffeine or caffeinated coffee, and then have them eat something rich in glucose, their sensitivity to insulin drops and their blood glucose levels are higher than expected. There isn't any long-term data on coffee consumption and glucose control. But if people have diabetes and have trouble controlling their blood glucose, it may be beneficial for them to try switching from caffeinated to decaffeinated coffee. Making the switch from caffeinated to decaf may be better than quitting coffee altogether, because some research suggests that decaffeinated coffee actually reduces the glucose response.
8. How do you explain the paradoxical findings on coffee and caffeine consumption and diabetes?
It's possible that there are simply different effects for short-term and long-term intake of coffee and caffeine. And, as I mentioned before, it's becoming increasingly clear that coffee is much more than caffeine, and the health effects that you see for caffeinated coffee are often different than what you would expect based on its caffeine content.
For example, if you look at exercise performance, it seems that caffeine can be somewhat beneficial, but caffeinated coffee is not. Or if you look at blood pressure and compare the effects of caffeinated coffee to the effects of caffeine, you'll find that caffeinated coffee causes blood pressure increases that are substantially weaker than what one would expect for the amount of caffeine it contains. The same is true for the relationship between coffee, caffeine, and blood glucose after a meal. It's possible that there are compounds in coffee that may counteract the effect of caffeine, but more research needs to be done.
9. Is drinking coffee made with a paper filter healthier than drinking boiled coffee or other types of coffee?
Coffee contains a substance called cafestol that is a potent stimulator of LDL cholesterol levels. Cafestol is found in the oily fraction of coffee, and when you brew coffee with a paper filter, the cafestol gets left behind in the filter. Other methods of coffee preparation, such as the boiled coffee common in Scandinavian countries, French press coffee, or Turkish coffee, are much higher in cafestol. So for people who have high cholesterol levels or who want to prevent having high cholesterol levels, it is better to choose paper filtered coffee or instant coffee, since they have much lower levels of cafestol than boiled or French press coffee. Espresso is somewhere in the middle; it has less cafestol than boiled or French press coffee, but more than paper filtered coffee.
10. Do tea and coffee have similar beneficial effects?
One could expect some of the beneficial effects of coffee to be similar for tea, since some of the compounds are similar. A study in China has found that drinking large quantities of Oolong tea—a liter a day—is beneficial for glycemic control in people with diabetes. But research on tea in the U.S. has not shown the type of beneficial effect we see for coffee, probably because people in the U.S. tend to drink tea that is weaker in strength and tend to drink less of it.
References
1. Lopez-Garcia E, van Dam RM, Li TY, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Hu FB. The Relationship of Coffee Consumption with Mortality. Ann Intern Med. 2008; 148:904-914. Summary for patients.
Terms of Use
The aim of the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Source is to provide timely information on diet and nutrition for clinicians, allied health professionals, and the public. The contents of this Web site are not intended to offer personal medical advice. You should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this Web site. The information does not mention brand names, nor does it endorse any particular products.
Harvard School of Public Health · 677 Huntington Avenue · Boston, MA 02115
Copyright © 2011 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Rabu, 12 Oktober 2011
Jauhi Kanker Payudara dengan Jalan Kaki
KOMPAS.com — Untuk mengurangi risiko
kanker payudara, kita tak perlu sampai berolahraga ekstrem. Bahkan
dengan melangkahkan kaki saja kita sudah bisa menjaga kesehatan payudara
secara signifikan. Tidak ada kata terlambat untuk bisa merasakan
manfaatnya.
Dalam studi yang
dipublikasikan di Journal of the American Medical Association, para
ilmuwan menemukan bahwa perempuan yang rutin melakukan olahraga jalan
cepat di akhir usia 30 dan 40 tahun memiliki risiko terkena kanker
payudara lebih rendah dibanding rekan mereka yang malas bergerak.
Penelitian ini melibatkan 74.000 perempuan
menopause berusia 50-79 tahun. Mereka adalah responden dalam studi
Women's Health Initiative tahun 2002. Hasil studi tersebut antara lain
menyimpulkan manfaat terapi sulih hormon untuk mengurangi risiko kanker
payudara.
Hasil penelitian mengenai
manfaat jalan kaki ini menguatkan berbagai studi yang menyebutkan
olahraga secara teratur efektif mengurangi risiko kanker payudara. Selain itu,
ternyata tidak ada kata terlambat untuk memulainya.
Responden yang hanya berolahraga jalan
cepat 1,5-2 jam setiap minggu dan dimulai saat mereka berusia 35 dan 50
tahun juga mendapatkan manfaat penurunan risiko kanker hingga 18 persen.
Namun, tentu saja manfaatnya akan lebih bermakna bila olahraganya
dimulai sedini mungkin.
Selain
berjalan kaki, jenis olahraga lain yang bersifat fun seperti berenang
dan bersepeda, jika dilakukan secara teratur, maka akan mengurangi
risiko terkena kanker lebih besar lagi. Tak ketinggalan, ada bonus
jantung lebih sehat sekaligus menjaga agar berat badan tetap ideal.
Sumber: KOMPAS.com
Selasa, 11 Oktober 2011
5 Makanan Pencipta Efek Senang
APAKAH Anda merasa secangkir kopi di pagi hari mampu
membuat terjaga dan segar? Atau, sebatang cokelat bisa membuat hati Anda
senang? Itu bukan hanya perasaan, penelitian di Universitas Ohio
mengungkap beberapa makanan yang bisa memengaruhi suasana hati kita.
Seperti halnya alkohol dan narkoba yang memengaruhi kejiwaan, makanan juga bisa membuat kita merasa bersemangat ataupun tenang.
Peneliti Gary Wenk, dari Ohio State University and Medical Center sekaligus penulis buku bertajuk,
Your Brain on Food mengutarakan setiap makanan menstimulasi area berbeda pada otak, melepaskan berbagai zat kimia seperti dopamine dan serotonin. Di sisi lain, kekurangan asam amino bisa menyebabkan depresi.
Berikut beberapa makanan beserta cara kerja yang ujungnya akan memengaruhi suasana hati kita:
a. Cokelat
Melepaskan suatu senyawa kimia yang menimbulkan perasaan gembira disertai sedikit zat mariyuana sehingga tak mengherankan apabila banyak orang suka sekali melahap camilan yang satu ini dalam berbagai variannya.
b. Kentang
Makanan ini membuat kita merasa tenang karena melepas glukosa ke dalam darah seperti halnya efek ASI pada bayi.
c. Kacang, telur, dan susu
Makanan ini memproduksi asam amino tryptophan yang menghasilkan hormon rasa senang serotonin. Kekurangan kadar tryptophan, kita akan cenderung merasa mudah marah dan depresi.
d. Saffron, kayu manis, dan adas
Bumbu-bumbuan ini mengandung zat kimia serupa dengan mescaline. Dalam jumlah banyak, mengonsumsi bumbu ini bahkan bisa menimbulkan perasaan euforia.
e. Gula
Gula vital bagi otak dan membatu kita berkonsentrasi serta mempelajari banyak hal baru. Kekurangan gula akan membuat kita selalu lapar. (Pri/OL-06)
Seperti halnya alkohol dan narkoba yang memengaruhi kejiwaan, makanan juga bisa membuat kita merasa bersemangat ataupun tenang.
Peneliti Gary Wenk, dari Ohio State University and Medical Center sekaligus penulis buku bertajuk,
Your Brain on Food mengutarakan setiap makanan menstimulasi area berbeda pada otak, melepaskan berbagai zat kimia seperti dopamine dan serotonin. Di sisi lain, kekurangan asam amino bisa menyebabkan depresi.
Berikut beberapa makanan beserta cara kerja yang ujungnya akan memengaruhi suasana hati kita:
a. Cokelat
Melepaskan suatu senyawa kimia yang menimbulkan perasaan gembira disertai sedikit zat mariyuana sehingga tak mengherankan apabila banyak orang suka sekali melahap camilan yang satu ini dalam berbagai variannya.
b. Kentang
Makanan ini membuat kita merasa tenang karena melepas glukosa ke dalam darah seperti halnya efek ASI pada bayi.
c. Kacang, telur, dan susu
Makanan ini memproduksi asam amino tryptophan yang menghasilkan hormon rasa senang serotonin. Kekurangan kadar tryptophan, kita akan cenderung merasa mudah marah dan depresi.
d. Saffron, kayu manis, dan adas
Bumbu-bumbuan ini mengandung zat kimia serupa dengan mescaline. Dalam jumlah banyak, mengonsumsi bumbu ini bahkan bisa menimbulkan perasaan euforia.
e. Gula
Gula vital bagi otak dan membatu kita berkonsentrasi serta mempelajari banyak hal baru. Kekurangan gula akan membuat kita selalu lapar. (Pri/OL-06)
-
Good
Foods for Good Mood
FEATURES : Profil Perusahaan | Sejarah Singkat | Profil Pembaca | Karir
© 2004 - 2011 Media Indonesia. All rights reserved.
Manfaat Buah Apel
Manfaat Buah Apel Bagi Diet Menurunkan Berat Badan
Manfaat buah apel – Anda pasti mengenal
yang namanya buah apel, tapi tahukah Anda bahwa dalam buah apel
terkandung banyak manfaat buat untuk kesehatan , Apel bagus sekali
digunakan sebagai buah favorit untuk diet
menurunkan berat badan. Apel mempunyai kadar lemak yang rendah
tetapi serat yang ada dalam buah apel sangat tinggi, serat ini akan
membantu Anda merasa cepat kenyang. Terdapat banyak manfaat buah
apel untuk kesehatan.
Ketika
kita lapar sebenarnya yang terjadi adalah munculnya rangsangan dari
lambung. Otak diperintahkah untuk segera mencari makanan dan mengisi
perut oleh lambung yang kosong tadi. Jika lambung telah terisi maka
secara alami kita akan merasakan rasa kenyang dan akan segera
menghentikan asupan makanan.
Manfaat buah apel: makanan yang kaya serat dan berkadar air tinggi.
Pilihlah makanan dengan kadar serat seperti buah, sayur,
sereal, gandum. Apel bersama dengan pir, jeruk adalah termasuk buah
berkadar serat tinggi. Buah dengan kadar air yang tinggi juda bisa
membuak lambung meregang. Buah melon dan semangka dengan kandungan air
nya yang tinggi meskipun berserat rendah bisa mudah membuat lambung
terisi dan mengenyangkan.
Apel ketika
dikonsumsi bersama kulitnya akan membuat kadar glukosa dalam darah
lambat naik. Apel berkulit mempunyai glicemic index yang rendah.
Kecepatan naiknya kadar gula darah dapat dikurangi dengan makanan
berkadar glicemic index yang rendah. Selain Apel berkulit tersebut,
sayur sayuran rata rata juga mempunyai kadar glicemic index yang rendah
yang ditandai dengan banyaknya serat pada daun dan batangnya.
Manfaat apel yang lain
Apel mengandung antioksidan yang tinggi, Anti oksidan ini juga
dapat membantu menurunkan kadar kolesterol jahat,
rendahnya kolesterol jahat ini akan melindungin Anda dari penyakit jantung.
Selain itu, masih banyak manfaat apel
yang dibuat jus, antara lain sebagai berikut.
- Meredakan diare
- Melancarkan pencernaan dan mengurangi berat badan
- Sari buah apel dapat menangkis serangan infeksi virus
- Membantu mengobati asma
- Mencegah kerusakan gigi dan penyakit gusi
- Memperkuat ginjal
- Menurunkan tekanan darah
- Melawan radang sendi
- Menstabilkan gula darah
- Sebagai agen antikanker
Minggu, 21 Agustus 2011
BROCCOLI: THE CROWN JEWEL OF NUTRITION
Broccoli at a Glance
Looking for a vitamin C fix? Make a beeline for the broccoli. Are your potassium stores low? Partner up with broccoli. Is fiber on your shopping list? Bring home the broccoli. Need an iron boost? Look no further than broccoli.
Though we presently recognize broccoli's many attributes and relish it for its lusty flavor, it was a hard sell in the ancient world. It was so obscure, in fact, that food historians find little written mention of its early beginnings.
It wasn't until the 20th century that broccoli was appreciated in the United States for its culinary attributes, and, more recently, for its exceptional health benefits. Centuries earlier, broccoli made frequent appearances on the dinner plates of the Roman Empire.
Broccoli Ancient Beginnings
We usually associate the Etruscans with Italy, but these people, originally called the Rasenna, came from Asia Minor, now Turkey. It was in this region that the Rasenna began cultivating cabbages, the precursors to broccoli. These cruciferous vegetables were also grown along the Eastern Mediterranean. During the 8th century BCE, the Rasenna began their migration to Italy.
The ancient Rasenna actively traded with the Greeks, Phoenicians, Sicilians, Corsicans, and Sardinians. No doubt their broccoli cultivation spread throughout the region and eventually reached Rome when they settled in what is now known as Tuscany. It was the Romans who called these immigrants "Tusci" or "Etrusci" and referred to ancient Tuscany as Etruria.
The Romans were enamored with broccoli almost immediately. Pliny the Elder, an Italian naturalist and writer, 23 to 79 CE, tells us the Romans grew and enjoyed broccoli during the first century CE. The vegetable became a standard favorite in Rome where the variety called Calabrese was developed. The Calabrese is the most common variety still eaten in the United States today. Before the Calabrese variety was cultivated, most Romans were eating purple sprouting broccoli that turned green when cooked.
Apicius, the beloved cookbook author of ancient Rome, prepared broccoli by first boiling it and then bruising it "with a mixture of cumin and coriander seeds, chopped onion plus a few drops of oil and sun-made wine."
Long before the modern European cooks were serving broccoli with rich sauces, the Romans were presenting this vegetable with all sorts of creamy sauces, some cooked with wine, others flavored with herbs.
Roman Emperor Tiberius, 14 BCE to 37 BCE, had a son named Drusius who took his love of broccoli to excess. Excluding all other foods, he gorged on broccoli prepared in the Apician manner for an entire month. When his urine turned bright green and his father scolded him severely for "living precariously," Drusius finally abandoned his beloved broccoli.
Broccoli Visits Europe
Catherine de Medici of Tuscany may have been the first to introduce broccoli to France when she married Henry II in 1533, but the first mention of brocoli in French history is in 1560. Catherine arrived in France with her Italian chefs and armfuls of vegetables, including broccoli.
Miller's Gardener's Dictionary, in its 1724 edition, gave one of the earliest accounts of broccoli in the United Kingdom, referring to it as a stranger in England and calling it "sprout colli-flower" or "Italian asparagus." This account assumes that broccoli came from Italy.
When broccoli arrived in England in the early 18th century, no one spread the welcome mat. In fact, the English were soon turning their noses up. The French, too, had little enthusiasm for broccoli.
In 1883, Vilmorin, a French horticulturist, theorized that broccoli developed before cauliflower. He believed that when the ancient farmers were cultivating cabbages, they experimented with trying to develop the shoots rather than the tightly compacted heads. The result was the beginnings of broccoli cultivation that later lead to development of the highly prized white heads of cauliflower.
Broccoli Comes to America
Thomas Jefferson, often called the farmer president, was an avid gardener and collector of new seeds and plants of fruits and vegetables to arrive in the United States. In 1766 he began keeping detailed notes in his garden book of any seeds or seedlings planted in his extensive garden at Montecello, his home near Charlottesville, Virginia. He recorded his planting of broccoli, along with radishes, lettuce, and cauliflower on May 27, 1767.
As early as 1775, broccoli was described in A Treatise on Gardening by a Citizen of Virginia by John Randolph who writes, "The stems will eat like Asparagus, and the heads like Cauliflower." Despite this encouraging description of broccoli, the poor vegetable received nothing more than indifference in the United States.
The one exception was the early Italian immigrants who grew broccoli in their backyard gardens and frequently enjoyed this green treasure at the family table.
Although broccoli entered the United States more than 200 years ago, it was not adopted into popular circles until the D'Arrigo brothers, Stephano and Andrea, immigrants from Messina, Italy, came to the United States along with their broccoli seeds. The D'Arrigo Brothers Company began with some trial plantings in San Jose, California in 1922. After harvesting their first crop, they shipped a few crates to Boston.
Meeting with success, they went on to establish their burgeoning broccoli business with the brand name Andy Boy, named after Stephano's two-year-old son, Andrew. They advertised by supporting a radio program and featured ads for broccoli on the station. By the 1930s the country was having a love affair with broccoli. People were convinced that broccoli was a newly developed plant.
Though some folks devoured broccoli enthusiastically, many gave it a definitive thumbs down. The New Yorker magazine once published a cartoon some time between 1925 and 1930 of a desperate mother trying to convince her child to eat broccoli. The cartoonist was E.B. White who preferred to be anonymous. The caption read as follows:
"It's broccoli, dear."
"I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it."
Throughout history, mention of broccoli seems to drop out of the historical accounts for long periods of time, indicating that it was so unpopular that it was simply not in use during those times. Broccoli
The Naming of Broccoli
It's not uncommon for horticulturists to bestow names upon newly developed fruits or vegetables that describe their appearance or their attributes. Broccoli has many strong branches or arms that grow from the main stem, each one sprouting a sturdy budding cluster surrounded by leaves. It was only fitting that the name broccoli came from the Latin bracchium, which means strong arm or branch.
Roman farmers called broccoli "the five green fingers of Jupiter."
In late 16th century England our familiar head of cabbage was called " cabbage," while the entire plant was called cabbage-cole, cole or colewort. To confuse matters further, broccoli and cauliflower were also called colewort.
Throughout its travels during 17th century Europe, broccoli was often confused with cauliflower as well as cabbage, the names often used interchangeably. It was even called broccoli cabbage or Calabrian cabbage.
Growing
Broccoli is in the Brassicaceae family and is classified as Brassica oleracea italica belonging to a family whose other members include cauliflower, kale, cabbage, collards, turnips, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts, and Chinese cabbage.
The Brassica vegetables all share a common feature. Their four-petaled flowers bear the resemblance to a Greek cross, which explains why they are frequently referred to as crucifers or cruciferous.
Though the public can easily distinguish broccoli from cauliflower, botanists have difficulty with classification. Both broccoli and cauliflower are akin to the cabbage family. These members develop flower buds that remain in the bud form and do not open. The buds of the cauliflower grow in a tightly clustered manner, while broccoli buds are more definitive and separate from each other.
There are three main types of broccoli, sprouting, calabrese, and romanesco. Calabrese is most familiar because of its large heading portion and thick stalks. Calabrese is what most farmers grow and bring to market. This variety was developed in Calabria, a province in Italy, and is planted in the spring for harvesting in summer.
The sprouting broccoli has smaller flowering heads and many thinner stalks. This type is planted in April and May for harvesting the following winter and spring. Some may be harvested in December.
The romanesco reaches maturity in the fall and is distinguished by its yellowish-green multiple heads.
Though most commercial markets sell only green broccoli, there are cultivars that produce purple and white broccoli. These are more common in Italy and so closely resemble cauliflower in appearance they are easily confused.
With selective cultivation over the centuries, farmers were able to develop broccoli varieties with larger and larger budding heads. In this way they were able to create cultivars that were lighter and lighter in color, until eventually the result was cauliflower.
In recent years, horticulturists have developed the broccoflower, a hybrid combination of broccoli and cauliflower that looks more like cauliflower with a yellow-green color and a flavor that resembles both its parents.
Broccoli When broccoli is left on the plant too long, its sugars develop into a type of fiber called lignin, creating stems that will be tough no matter how long the cooking process.
Broccoli rabe is native to the Mediterranean region. It is also called Italian broccoli, di rape, rapini, broccoli raab, Chinese broccoli, and Gai Lon. Another member of the cruciferous family, this variety of broccoli is recognized by its thin stems, tiny budding heads, and abundant leaves with jagged edges. Though it's equally as nutritious as our familiar broccoli, its flavor is more pungent and slightly bitter.
Once a wild herb, broccoli rabe is now cultivated in the Italian provinces of Campania and Puglia as well as in the United States.
Ninety percent of the broccoli grown in the US comes from California's Salinas Valley in North and Santa Maria in the Central region of the state. Other states that grow broccoli include Arizona, Texas, Florida, Washington, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon, Maine, and both North and South Carolina.
Broccoli prefers a cool climate, between 40 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and moist soil to mature in 100 to 120 days. It does not tolerate frost.
Nutritional Benefits
Broccoli is the superhero of the vegetable kingdom with its rich vitamin A content--notice broccoli's dark green color as an indicator of its hearty carotene content. Though a bit on the bitter side, broccoli leaves are completely edible and also contain generous amounts of vitamin A.
With one half-cup of cooked broccoli providing 1083 IU of vitamin A and raw offering 678 IU, this veggie should make a frequent appearance at your dinner table. Folic acid is also abundant with one-half cup cooked registering 39 mcg and raw 31.2 mcg.
Broccoli offers 71.8 mg of calcium for a whole cup of cooked, as much calcium as 4 oz. of milk. That cup of raw contains 42.2 mg.
A cup of broccoli gives you 10% of your daily iron requirement, and the vitamin C content helps the body to absorb the iron.
One cup of cooked broccoli has as much vitamin C as an orange, and one third of a pound has more vitamin C than two and one-half pounds of oranges. A serving of one-half cup cooked broccoli offers 58.2 mg while the raw stores 41 mg. A cup of broccoli actually fulfills your daily vitamin C requirement
If you're a calorie counter, count broccoli in with only 22 calories for one-half cup chopped and boiled and 12 calories for one-half cup raw chopped.
Though this exceptional vegetable is not a powerhouse of protein, it does contain 2 grams for one-half cup boiled, and 1 gram for the same quantity of raw. These same figures apply to fiber as well with 2 grams, for the boiled and 1 gram for the raw broccoli.
Across the nutrition scale, broccoli contains all the nutrients mentioned above in addition to vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.
It is important to note that though the figures listed for raw broccoli seem lower, it is not because raw broccoli is inferior to cooked. Because raw broccoli contains more bulk or volume than the cooked, one must eat more to equal the figures for cooked. Cooking breaks down the volume of broccoli, making it easier to consume larger quantities.
Frozen broccoli contains about 35% more beta carotene than the fresh because the frozen packages consist mainly of the florets. Most of the beta carotene is stored in the florets. But don't jump too quickly. There's plenty of nutrition in those stems, such as extra calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin C.
The darker colors of the florets, such as blue green, or purplish green contain more beta carotene and vitamin C than those with lighter greens.
Medicinal Benefits
Though definitive proof is not yet published, the National Cancer Institute suggests that broccoli, along with its cruciferous family members, may be important in the prevention of some types of cancer.
Because of its impressive nutritional profile that includes beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium, fiber, and phytochemicals, specifically indoles and aromatic isothiocynates, broccoli and its kin may be responsible for boosting certain enzymes that help to detoxify the body. These enzymes help to prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure.
Broccoli along with onions, carrots, and cabbage may also help to lower blood cholesterol. At the U.S. Department of Agriculture's regional research center in Philadelphia, two researchers, Dr. Peter Hoagland and Dr. Philip Pfeffer, discovered these vegetables contain a certain pectin fiber called calcium pectate that binds to bile acids, holding more cholesterol in the liver and releasing less into the bloodstream. They found broccoli equally as effective as some cholesterol lowering drugs.
Broccoli's wealth of the trace mineral, chromium, may be effective in preventing adult-onset diabetes in some people. At the Beltsville, Maryland, Human Research Laboratories of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dr. Richard Anderson, a diabetes expert, found that chromium boosts the ability of insulin to perform better in people with slight glucose intolerance.
Purchasing
Though broccoli is available year round, its peak season is from October to April. Prices may be higher in July and August when broccoli is less productive.
Look for compact crowns that have dark green, blue-green, or the purplish-green, tightly closed buds with dark green leaves that are strong and upright. Intense colors are a good indicator of hearty nutritional content. Yellow or yellowish-green broccoli heads and leaves indicate the vegetable is not fresh and has lost nutrients. Pass on the limp stalks and choose only sturdy, crisp, bright green stems.
Look carefully at the cut ends of the broccoli stalks and choose those that are completely closed. The stalks that have open cores on the bottom tend to be older, woodier, and tougher.
Allow 1/2 pound per serving. A medium bunch, about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds, will serve 3 to 4 people.
Storage
Wrap your broccoli in a plastic bag or plastic wrap and refrigerate as soon after purchase as possible. Though this vegetable is a great keeper and will still look good several days later, it's best if used within three days after purchase.
Refrigeration is a good way to protect broccoli's nutrients, especially the vitamin C, which is easily lost if not kept cold. Quite often, broccoli is shipped to market in boxes packed with ice.
Another storage suggestion, though uncommon, is to submerge the stem portions of an entire bunch of broccoli into a wide-mouthed pitcher filled with ice water. Cover the broccoli crowns loosely with a plastic bag, and change the ice water daily. This unique method will keep the bunch fresh and crisp for a whole week.
Never wash broccoli before storing in the refrigerator. The excess moisture promotes mold.
Raab Preparation
For the best flavor and nutritional benefit, cook broccoli soon after purchase. Any vegetable that sits around for a week, even if refrigerated, will lose considerable vitamin value along with flavor.
Wash broccoli thoroughly just before using. Trim tough portion of the stem about one inch from the bottom. How you cut the broccoli prior to cooking is a matter of preference and the nature of the dish you are planning.
For salads and stir-fries, cut the broccoli into bite size pieces. Include the stems, too. Many classic cookbooks will direct the cook to discard the leaves and peel the stems, but think of all the nutrients and fiber you would lose. Keep those stems in tact, and simply chop them or cut them into julienne strips to take advantage of their valuable vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.
RAW
Chop or dice broccoli florets and stems into your salad bowl along with crisp romaine lettuce and an array of fresh vegetables.
Enjoy a broccoli slaw by shredding the stems on a coarse grater or the shredding disc of your food processor. Combine with shredded carrots and other veggies of your choice, add a little extra virgin olive oil, some lemon or lime juice, and season to taste.
Add broccoli to a blended raw soup preparation for a vitamin C boost.
Toss chopped broccoli, stems and all, into a blended green drink with water, kale, celery, and cucumber, and sweeten with a chopped apple.
Feature broccoli as the centerpiece of your own original salad with vegetables of different textures and colors.
Broccoli makes a dramatic sauce when combined in a blender with garlic, extra virgin olive oil, vegetable juices of your choice, and your favorite seasonings.
Include broccoli florets in your crudite platter as an appetizer, and serve along with your favorite dip.
STEAMED
Cut broccoli into florets and steam in a covered saucepan with a small amount of water for 4 to 5 minutes.
For a different look, you can cut the broccoli into trees by keeping the stems intact and simply cutting lengthwise through stems and flowering portion. Cook until just tender, taking care not to overcook or you'll lose those precious nutrients. Color can be your guide. At the just tender point, the broccoli will retain its brilliant green color and actually increase in nutrient value. However, when the broccoli turns to a dark olive green color, its nutritional density has been considerably diminished.
An alternative steaming method is to lift the cover several times during cooking to release steam, thus preserving the bright color of the broccoli.
If you choose to steam an entire stalk of broccoli, rather than cutting it into smaller servings, you might consider cutting through the stalks about half-way up the stem. This method will produce stems that cook tender in the same length of time as the florets.
If the broccoli is fresh, it should have a delicate and pleasing sweetness without any seasoning at all. When broccoli is lacking flavor, you can assume two things -- either it is not fresh or it has been grown in depleted soil, soil that is lacking in minerals. Sprinkle with lemon juice and a touch of extra virgin olive oil to bring up the flavor if needed.
Take care not to overcook broccoli or your kitchen will be engulfed with the odor of rotten eggs from the sulphur compounds that include ammonia and hydrogen sulfide released with long cooking.
Broccoli raab cooks more quickly because of its thinner stalks. Time carefully to avoid overcooking. Cooking this vegetable directly in a small amount of water may help to diminish its bitterness rather than steaming above the water. Cook no longer than 3 to 5 minutes.
STIR FRIED
Chop broccoli into bite-size florets and stir-fry in a small amount of olive oil, about 1 teaspoon, combined with water or vegetable broth. Flavor with Bragg Liquid Aminos or tamari, lemon or lime juice, a touch of your favorite vinegar, and finish with seasonings and herbs of your choice.
For an Asian touch, add a tablespoon or two of sesame oil to the stir fry and sprinkle natural sesame seeds over broccoli as a garnish.
SAUCE
Though it may be an unfamiliar way to prepare broccoli, you can create an outstanding sauce with visual appeal. Simply put steamed broccoli into the blender or food processor along with vegetable broth, a little olive oil, and seasonings to create a delicious sauce over brown rice, baked potatoes, polenta, or even pasta.
SOUPS
If you plan to add broccoli to a vegetable soup, cut the stems and florets into bite-sized pieces and add during the last few minutes of cooking.
BOILING We do not recommend boiling broccoli. Too many nutrients are lost in the pot of water.
Here's a sauce that is not for the faint-hearted or for those timid souls who shy away from garlic -- it definitely has a punch. If the quantity of raw garlic is a bit too lively for your taste, you can easily reduce the quantity to one or two cloves. This truly all-purpose sauce is delicious as a topping over all grain dishes, polenta, pasta, and baked potatoes.
BROCCOLI GARLIC SAUCE
1 large bunch fresh broccoli
2 to 4 large cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 C. (79 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 t. salt or to taste
1 T. + 2 t. lemon juice
1 C. (237 ml) water
Trim off and discard bottom inch of broccoli stems and cut broccoli into large chunks.
Put them into a 4-quart (4 liter) saucepan with a steamer insert* and steam 4 to 5 minutes or until just tender. Transfer broccoli to the work bowl of a food processor.
Start with 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, add remaining ingredients to food processor, and process until pureed. Adjust seasonings for varied size of broccoli, and add more garlic to taste.
If desired, turn out into a 2-quart (2 liter) saucepan, and warm over medium heat for about 3 minutes to tame the garlic just a bit. This makes a very thick sauce that can be thinned with water if preferred. Adjust seasonings accordingly. Makes 6 servings.
*If steamer insert is not available, put broccoli into a 4-quart (4 liter) saucepan with about 1/2" (1 cm) of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and steam about 4 to 5 minutes.
Click here for past On the Highest Perch Features
Vegetarians in Paradise
Homepage sphere Los Angeles Events Calendar sphere Our Mission sphere The Nut Gourmet sphere Vegetarian Survival Kit sphere News from the Nest sphere Recipe Index sphere Los Angeles Vegetarian Restaurants sphere Vegetarian Basics 101 sphere Protein Basics sphere Calcium Basics sphere Ask Aunt Nettie sphere VeggieTaster Report sphere Vegetarian Reading sphere VegParadise Bookshelf sphereHeirloom Gardening sphere Cooking with Zel sphere Dining in Paradise sphere Cooking Beans & Grains sphere On the Highest Perch sphere Road to Vegetaria sphere Words from Other Birds sphere Using Your Bean sphere Ask the Vegan Athlete sphere Vegetarian Holiday Meals sphere Great Produce Hunt sphere Farmers' Markets sphere Natural Food Markets sphere Vegetarian Associations Directory sphere Links We Love sphere VegParadise Yellow Pages sphere Media Reviews sphere 24 Carrot Award sphere Vegetarian Food Companies sphere Archive Index sphere Send us e-mail
© 1999-2011 vegparadise.com
Looking for a vitamin C fix? Make a beeline for the broccoli. Are your potassium stores low? Partner up with broccoli. Is fiber on your shopping list? Bring home the broccoli. Need an iron boost? Look no further than broccoli.
Though we presently recognize broccoli's many attributes and relish it for its lusty flavor, it was a hard sell in the ancient world. It was so obscure, in fact, that food historians find little written mention of its early beginnings.
It wasn't until the 20th century that broccoli was appreciated in the United States for its culinary attributes, and, more recently, for its exceptional health benefits. Centuries earlier, broccoli made frequent appearances on the dinner plates of the Roman Empire.
Broccoli Ancient Beginnings
We usually associate the Etruscans with Italy, but these people, originally called the Rasenna, came from Asia Minor, now Turkey. It was in this region that the Rasenna began cultivating cabbages, the precursors to broccoli. These cruciferous vegetables were also grown along the Eastern Mediterranean. During the 8th century BCE, the Rasenna began their migration to Italy.
The ancient Rasenna actively traded with the Greeks, Phoenicians, Sicilians, Corsicans, and Sardinians. No doubt their broccoli cultivation spread throughout the region and eventually reached Rome when they settled in what is now known as Tuscany. It was the Romans who called these immigrants "Tusci" or "Etrusci" and referred to ancient Tuscany as Etruria.
The Romans were enamored with broccoli almost immediately. Pliny the Elder, an Italian naturalist and writer, 23 to 79 CE, tells us the Romans grew and enjoyed broccoli during the first century CE. The vegetable became a standard favorite in Rome where the variety called Calabrese was developed. The Calabrese is the most common variety still eaten in the United States today. Before the Calabrese variety was cultivated, most Romans were eating purple sprouting broccoli that turned green when cooked.
Apicius, the beloved cookbook author of ancient Rome, prepared broccoli by first boiling it and then bruising it "with a mixture of cumin and coriander seeds, chopped onion plus a few drops of oil and sun-made wine."
Long before the modern European cooks were serving broccoli with rich sauces, the Romans were presenting this vegetable with all sorts of creamy sauces, some cooked with wine, others flavored with herbs.
Roman Emperor Tiberius, 14 BCE to 37 BCE, had a son named Drusius who took his love of broccoli to excess. Excluding all other foods, he gorged on broccoli prepared in the Apician manner for an entire month. When his urine turned bright green and his father scolded him severely for "living precariously," Drusius finally abandoned his beloved broccoli.
Broccoli Visits Europe
Catherine de Medici of Tuscany may have been the first to introduce broccoli to France when she married Henry II in 1533, but the first mention of brocoli in French history is in 1560. Catherine arrived in France with her Italian chefs and armfuls of vegetables, including broccoli.
Miller's Gardener's Dictionary, in its 1724 edition, gave one of the earliest accounts of broccoli in the United Kingdom, referring to it as a stranger in England and calling it "sprout colli-flower" or "Italian asparagus." This account assumes that broccoli came from Italy.
When broccoli arrived in England in the early 18th century, no one spread the welcome mat. In fact, the English were soon turning their noses up. The French, too, had little enthusiasm for broccoli.
In 1883, Vilmorin, a French horticulturist, theorized that broccoli developed before cauliflower. He believed that when the ancient farmers were cultivating cabbages, they experimented with trying to develop the shoots rather than the tightly compacted heads. The result was the beginnings of broccoli cultivation that later lead to development of the highly prized white heads of cauliflower.
Broccoli Comes to America
Thomas Jefferson, often called the farmer president, was an avid gardener and collector of new seeds and plants of fruits and vegetables to arrive in the United States. In 1766 he began keeping detailed notes in his garden book of any seeds or seedlings planted in his extensive garden at Montecello, his home near Charlottesville, Virginia. He recorded his planting of broccoli, along with radishes, lettuce, and cauliflower on May 27, 1767.
As early as 1775, broccoli was described in A Treatise on Gardening by a Citizen of Virginia by John Randolph who writes, "The stems will eat like Asparagus, and the heads like Cauliflower." Despite this encouraging description of broccoli, the poor vegetable received nothing more than indifference in the United States.
The one exception was the early Italian immigrants who grew broccoli in their backyard gardens and frequently enjoyed this green treasure at the family table.
Although broccoli entered the United States more than 200 years ago, it was not adopted into popular circles until the D'Arrigo brothers, Stephano and Andrea, immigrants from Messina, Italy, came to the United States along with their broccoli seeds. The D'Arrigo Brothers Company began with some trial plantings in San Jose, California in 1922. After harvesting their first crop, they shipped a few crates to Boston.
Meeting with success, they went on to establish their burgeoning broccoli business with the brand name Andy Boy, named after Stephano's two-year-old son, Andrew. They advertised by supporting a radio program and featured ads for broccoli on the station. By the 1930s the country was having a love affair with broccoli. People were convinced that broccoli was a newly developed plant.
Though some folks devoured broccoli enthusiastically, many gave it a definitive thumbs down. The New Yorker magazine once published a cartoon some time between 1925 and 1930 of a desperate mother trying to convince her child to eat broccoli. The cartoonist was E.B. White who preferred to be anonymous. The caption read as follows:
"It's broccoli, dear."
"I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it."
Throughout history, mention of broccoli seems to drop out of the historical accounts for long periods of time, indicating that it was so unpopular that it was simply not in use during those times. Broccoli
The Naming of Broccoli
It's not uncommon for horticulturists to bestow names upon newly developed fruits or vegetables that describe their appearance or their attributes. Broccoli has many strong branches or arms that grow from the main stem, each one sprouting a sturdy budding cluster surrounded by leaves. It was only fitting that the name broccoli came from the Latin bracchium, which means strong arm or branch.
Roman farmers called broccoli "the five green fingers of Jupiter."
In late 16th century England our familiar head of cabbage was called " cabbage," while the entire plant was called cabbage-cole, cole or colewort. To confuse matters further, broccoli and cauliflower were also called colewort.
Throughout its travels during 17th century Europe, broccoli was often confused with cauliflower as well as cabbage, the names often used interchangeably. It was even called broccoli cabbage or Calabrian cabbage.
Growing
Broccoli is in the Brassicaceae family and is classified as Brassica oleracea italica belonging to a family whose other members include cauliflower, kale, cabbage, collards, turnips, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts, and Chinese cabbage.
The Brassica vegetables all share a common feature. Their four-petaled flowers bear the resemblance to a Greek cross, which explains why they are frequently referred to as crucifers or cruciferous.
Though the public can easily distinguish broccoli from cauliflower, botanists have difficulty with classification. Both broccoli and cauliflower are akin to the cabbage family. These members develop flower buds that remain in the bud form and do not open. The buds of the cauliflower grow in a tightly clustered manner, while broccoli buds are more definitive and separate from each other.
There are three main types of broccoli, sprouting, calabrese, and romanesco. Calabrese is most familiar because of its large heading portion and thick stalks. Calabrese is what most farmers grow and bring to market. This variety was developed in Calabria, a province in Italy, and is planted in the spring for harvesting in summer.
The sprouting broccoli has smaller flowering heads and many thinner stalks. This type is planted in April and May for harvesting the following winter and spring. Some may be harvested in December.
The romanesco reaches maturity in the fall and is distinguished by its yellowish-green multiple heads.
Though most commercial markets sell only green broccoli, there are cultivars that produce purple and white broccoli. These are more common in Italy and so closely resemble cauliflower in appearance they are easily confused.
With selective cultivation over the centuries, farmers were able to develop broccoli varieties with larger and larger budding heads. In this way they were able to create cultivars that were lighter and lighter in color, until eventually the result was cauliflower.
In recent years, horticulturists have developed the broccoflower, a hybrid combination of broccoli and cauliflower that looks more like cauliflower with a yellow-green color and a flavor that resembles both its parents.
Broccoli When broccoli is left on the plant too long, its sugars develop into a type of fiber called lignin, creating stems that will be tough no matter how long the cooking process.
Broccoli rabe is native to the Mediterranean region. It is also called Italian broccoli, di rape, rapini, broccoli raab, Chinese broccoli, and Gai Lon. Another member of the cruciferous family, this variety of broccoli is recognized by its thin stems, tiny budding heads, and abundant leaves with jagged edges. Though it's equally as nutritious as our familiar broccoli, its flavor is more pungent and slightly bitter.
Once a wild herb, broccoli rabe is now cultivated in the Italian provinces of Campania and Puglia as well as in the United States.
Ninety percent of the broccoli grown in the US comes from California's Salinas Valley in North and Santa Maria in the Central region of the state. Other states that grow broccoli include Arizona, Texas, Florida, Washington, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon, Maine, and both North and South Carolina.
Broccoli prefers a cool climate, between 40 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and moist soil to mature in 100 to 120 days. It does not tolerate frost.
Nutritional Benefits
Broccoli is the superhero of the vegetable kingdom with its rich vitamin A content--notice broccoli's dark green color as an indicator of its hearty carotene content. Though a bit on the bitter side, broccoli leaves are completely edible and also contain generous amounts of vitamin A.
With one half-cup of cooked broccoli providing 1083 IU of vitamin A and raw offering 678 IU, this veggie should make a frequent appearance at your dinner table. Folic acid is also abundant with one-half cup cooked registering 39 mcg and raw 31.2 mcg.
Broccoli offers 71.8 mg of calcium for a whole cup of cooked, as much calcium as 4 oz. of milk. That cup of raw contains 42.2 mg.
A cup of broccoli gives you 10% of your daily iron requirement, and the vitamin C content helps the body to absorb the iron.
One cup of cooked broccoli has as much vitamin C as an orange, and one third of a pound has more vitamin C than two and one-half pounds of oranges. A serving of one-half cup cooked broccoli offers 58.2 mg while the raw stores 41 mg. A cup of broccoli actually fulfills your daily vitamin C requirement
If you're a calorie counter, count broccoli in with only 22 calories for one-half cup chopped and boiled and 12 calories for one-half cup raw chopped.
Though this exceptional vegetable is not a powerhouse of protein, it does contain 2 grams for one-half cup boiled, and 1 gram for the same quantity of raw. These same figures apply to fiber as well with 2 grams, for the boiled and 1 gram for the raw broccoli.
Across the nutrition scale, broccoli contains all the nutrients mentioned above in addition to vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.
It is important to note that though the figures listed for raw broccoli seem lower, it is not because raw broccoli is inferior to cooked. Because raw broccoli contains more bulk or volume than the cooked, one must eat more to equal the figures for cooked. Cooking breaks down the volume of broccoli, making it easier to consume larger quantities.
Frozen broccoli contains about 35% more beta carotene than the fresh because the frozen packages consist mainly of the florets. Most of the beta carotene is stored in the florets. But don't jump too quickly. There's plenty of nutrition in those stems, such as extra calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin C.
The darker colors of the florets, such as blue green, or purplish green contain more beta carotene and vitamin C than those with lighter greens.
Medicinal Benefits
Though definitive proof is not yet published, the National Cancer Institute suggests that broccoli, along with its cruciferous family members, may be important in the prevention of some types of cancer.
Because of its impressive nutritional profile that includes beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium, fiber, and phytochemicals, specifically indoles and aromatic isothiocynates, broccoli and its kin may be responsible for boosting certain enzymes that help to detoxify the body. These enzymes help to prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure.
Broccoli along with onions, carrots, and cabbage may also help to lower blood cholesterol. At the U.S. Department of Agriculture's regional research center in Philadelphia, two researchers, Dr. Peter Hoagland and Dr. Philip Pfeffer, discovered these vegetables contain a certain pectin fiber called calcium pectate that binds to bile acids, holding more cholesterol in the liver and releasing less into the bloodstream. They found broccoli equally as effective as some cholesterol lowering drugs.
Broccoli's wealth of the trace mineral, chromium, may be effective in preventing adult-onset diabetes in some people. At the Beltsville, Maryland, Human Research Laboratories of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dr. Richard Anderson, a diabetes expert, found that chromium boosts the ability of insulin to perform better in people with slight glucose intolerance.
Purchasing
Though broccoli is available year round, its peak season is from October to April. Prices may be higher in July and August when broccoli is less productive.
Look for compact crowns that have dark green, blue-green, or the purplish-green, tightly closed buds with dark green leaves that are strong and upright. Intense colors are a good indicator of hearty nutritional content. Yellow or yellowish-green broccoli heads and leaves indicate the vegetable is not fresh and has lost nutrients. Pass on the limp stalks and choose only sturdy, crisp, bright green stems.
Look carefully at the cut ends of the broccoli stalks and choose those that are completely closed. The stalks that have open cores on the bottom tend to be older, woodier, and tougher.
Allow 1/2 pound per serving. A medium bunch, about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds, will serve 3 to 4 people.
Storage
Wrap your broccoli in a plastic bag or plastic wrap and refrigerate as soon after purchase as possible. Though this vegetable is a great keeper and will still look good several days later, it's best if used within three days after purchase.
Refrigeration is a good way to protect broccoli's nutrients, especially the vitamin C, which is easily lost if not kept cold. Quite often, broccoli is shipped to market in boxes packed with ice.
Another storage suggestion, though uncommon, is to submerge the stem portions of an entire bunch of broccoli into a wide-mouthed pitcher filled with ice water. Cover the broccoli crowns loosely with a plastic bag, and change the ice water daily. This unique method will keep the bunch fresh and crisp for a whole week.
Never wash broccoli before storing in the refrigerator. The excess moisture promotes mold.
Raab Preparation
For the best flavor and nutritional benefit, cook broccoli soon after purchase. Any vegetable that sits around for a week, even if refrigerated, will lose considerable vitamin value along with flavor.
Wash broccoli thoroughly just before using. Trim tough portion of the stem about one inch from the bottom. How you cut the broccoli prior to cooking is a matter of preference and the nature of the dish you are planning.
For salads and stir-fries, cut the broccoli into bite size pieces. Include the stems, too. Many classic cookbooks will direct the cook to discard the leaves and peel the stems, but think of all the nutrients and fiber you would lose. Keep those stems in tact, and simply chop them or cut them into julienne strips to take advantage of their valuable vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.
RAW
Chop or dice broccoli florets and stems into your salad bowl along with crisp romaine lettuce and an array of fresh vegetables.
Enjoy a broccoli slaw by shredding the stems on a coarse grater or the shredding disc of your food processor. Combine with shredded carrots and other veggies of your choice, add a little extra virgin olive oil, some lemon or lime juice, and season to taste.
Add broccoli to a blended raw soup preparation for a vitamin C boost.
Toss chopped broccoli, stems and all, into a blended green drink with water, kale, celery, and cucumber, and sweeten with a chopped apple.
Feature broccoli as the centerpiece of your own original salad with vegetables of different textures and colors.
Broccoli makes a dramatic sauce when combined in a blender with garlic, extra virgin olive oil, vegetable juices of your choice, and your favorite seasonings.
Include broccoli florets in your crudite platter as an appetizer, and serve along with your favorite dip.
STEAMED
Cut broccoli into florets and steam in a covered saucepan with a small amount of water for 4 to 5 minutes.
For a different look, you can cut the broccoli into trees by keeping the stems intact and simply cutting lengthwise through stems and flowering portion. Cook until just tender, taking care not to overcook or you'll lose those precious nutrients. Color can be your guide. At the just tender point, the broccoli will retain its brilliant green color and actually increase in nutrient value. However, when the broccoli turns to a dark olive green color, its nutritional density has been considerably diminished.
An alternative steaming method is to lift the cover several times during cooking to release steam, thus preserving the bright color of the broccoli.
If you choose to steam an entire stalk of broccoli, rather than cutting it into smaller servings, you might consider cutting through the stalks about half-way up the stem. This method will produce stems that cook tender in the same length of time as the florets.
If the broccoli is fresh, it should have a delicate and pleasing sweetness without any seasoning at all. When broccoli is lacking flavor, you can assume two things -- either it is not fresh or it has been grown in depleted soil, soil that is lacking in minerals. Sprinkle with lemon juice and a touch of extra virgin olive oil to bring up the flavor if needed.
Take care not to overcook broccoli or your kitchen will be engulfed with the odor of rotten eggs from the sulphur compounds that include ammonia and hydrogen sulfide released with long cooking.
Broccoli raab cooks more quickly because of its thinner stalks. Time carefully to avoid overcooking. Cooking this vegetable directly in a small amount of water may help to diminish its bitterness rather than steaming above the water. Cook no longer than 3 to 5 minutes.
STIR FRIED
Chop broccoli into bite-size florets and stir-fry in a small amount of olive oil, about 1 teaspoon, combined with water or vegetable broth. Flavor with Bragg Liquid Aminos or tamari, lemon or lime juice, a touch of your favorite vinegar, and finish with seasonings and herbs of your choice.
For an Asian touch, add a tablespoon or two of sesame oil to the stir fry and sprinkle natural sesame seeds over broccoli as a garnish.
SAUCE
Though it may be an unfamiliar way to prepare broccoli, you can create an outstanding sauce with visual appeal. Simply put steamed broccoli into the blender or food processor along with vegetable broth, a little olive oil, and seasonings to create a delicious sauce over brown rice, baked potatoes, polenta, or even pasta.
SOUPS
If you plan to add broccoli to a vegetable soup, cut the stems and florets into bite-sized pieces and add during the last few minutes of cooking.
BOILING We do not recommend boiling broccoli. Too many nutrients are lost in the pot of water.
Here's a sauce that is not for the faint-hearted or for those timid souls who shy away from garlic -- it definitely has a punch. If the quantity of raw garlic is a bit too lively for your taste, you can easily reduce the quantity to one or two cloves. This truly all-purpose sauce is delicious as a topping over all grain dishes, polenta, pasta, and baked potatoes.
BROCCOLI GARLIC SAUCE
1 large bunch fresh broccoli
2 to 4 large cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 C. (79 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 t. salt or to taste
1 T. + 2 t. lemon juice
1 C. (237 ml) water
Trim off and discard bottom inch of broccoli stems and cut broccoli into large chunks.
Put them into a 4-quart (4 liter) saucepan with a steamer insert* and steam 4 to 5 minutes or until just tender. Transfer broccoli to the work bowl of a food processor.
Start with 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, add remaining ingredients to food processor, and process until pureed. Adjust seasonings for varied size of broccoli, and add more garlic to taste.
If desired, turn out into a 2-quart (2 liter) saucepan, and warm over medium heat for about 3 minutes to tame the garlic just a bit. This makes a very thick sauce that can be thinned with water if preferred. Adjust seasonings accordingly. Makes 6 servings.
*If steamer insert is not available, put broccoli into a 4-quart (4 liter) saucepan with about 1/2" (1 cm) of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and steam about 4 to 5 minutes.
Click here for past On the Highest Perch Features
Vegetarians in Paradise
Homepage sphere Los Angeles Events Calendar sphere Our Mission sphere The Nut Gourmet sphere Vegetarian Survival Kit sphere News from the Nest sphere Recipe Index sphere Los Angeles Vegetarian Restaurants sphere Vegetarian Basics 101 sphere Protein Basics sphere Calcium Basics sphere Ask Aunt Nettie sphere VeggieTaster Report sphere Vegetarian Reading sphere VegParadise Bookshelf sphereHeirloom Gardening sphere Cooking with Zel sphere Dining in Paradise sphere Cooking Beans & Grains sphere On the Highest Perch sphere Road to Vegetaria sphere Words from Other Birds sphere Using Your Bean sphere Ask the Vegan Athlete sphere Vegetarian Holiday Meals sphere Great Produce Hunt sphere Farmers' Markets sphere Natural Food Markets sphere Vegetarian Associations Directory sphere Links We Love sphere VegParadise Yellow Pages sphere Media Reviews sphere 24 Carrot Award sphere Vegetarian Food Companies sphere Archive Index sphere Send us e-mail
© 1999-2011 vegparadise.com
Minggu, 17 Juli 2011
Link between breast cancer and smoking
Dr. David Krajcovic is chief of surgery at St. Luke's Hospital.
Related Stories
Heart disease, No. 1 killer, can sneak up on women
Number of cancer survivors in U.S. rises by 20 percent
COPD, disorder in lungs, can be deadly
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, 22.8 percent of Missouri women and 17.5 percent of Illinois women are smokers, which is higher than the national average of 16.2 percent. And while about 60 percent of those women have attempted to quit at one time or another, they have yet to kick the habit.
Now, a National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project breast cancer prevention trial sheds light on the dangers for those women who smoke, particularly those who are already at a higher risk of developing breast cancer.
According to the report, which took into account several factors including long-term smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, family history of cancer, age and other considerations, those women who smoked for more than 15 years were at a 34 percent higher risk of developing invasive breast cancer. Women smoking for more than 35 years had a 60 percent higher chance of developing invasive breast cancer. However, the risk of getting breast cancer was zero for women smoking for less than 15 years.
For any woman, it is important to follow the guidelines for mammograms established by the American Cancer Society and supported by the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging. Research shows that cancer is the most treatable when it's detected early.
Mammography guidelines
Age 40 and over:
• Annual screening mammogram
• Annual clinical breast exam by a doctor or nurse (this exam should be done near the time of the mammogram)
• Monthly breast self-examination
Age 20 to 39:
• Clinical breast exam by a doctor or nurse every three years
• Monthly breast self-examination
Mammograms should be a part of every woman's preventive health routine. Along with exercise, good nutrition and an annual physical, monthly breast exams and annual mammograms are important for maintaining good health. Screening mammograms can detect extremely small breast cancers that are too small to discover through breast self-examination or even through clinical breast examination.
For more information on the risks of smoking or to find resources on how to quit, visit smokefree.gov or call 1-800-784-8669.
Dr. David Krajcovic is chief of surgery at St. Luke's Hospital. To learn more about mammograms and breast cancer, call 314-205-6055 or visit stlukes-stl.com. XX Files, a women's health column, rotates each week with Aging Successfully, a column for seniors by Dr. John Morley of St. Louis University.
Copyright 2011 STLtoday.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in Fitness on Thursday, July 14, 2011 6:00 am Updated: 7:43 am. | Tags: Xx Files, Women, St. Luke's Hospital, Breast Cancer,
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/fitness/article_85335a14-e12f-53a8-904b-f25d2bd4b766.html#ixzz1PmmFsIH6
Related Stories
Heart disease, No. 1 killer, can sneak up on women
Number of cancer survivors in U.S. rises by 20 percent
COPD, disorder in lungs, can be deadly
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, 22.8 percent of Missouri women and 17.5 percent of Illinois women are smokers, which is higher than the national average of 16.2 percent. And while about 60 percent of those women have attempted to quit at one time or another, they have yet to kick the habit.
Now, a National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project breast cancer prevention trial sheds light on the dangers for those women who smoke, particularly those who are already at a higher risk of developing breast cancer.
According to the report, which took into account several factors including long-term smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, family history of cancer, age and other considerations, those women who smoked for more than 15 years were at a 34 percent higher risk of developing invasive breast cancer. Women smoking for more than 35 years had a 60 percent higher chance of developing invasive breast cancer. However, the risk of getting breast cancer was zero for women smoking for less than 15 years.
For any woman, it is important to follow the guidelines for mammograms established by the American Cancer Society and supported by the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging. Research shows that cancer is the most treatable when it's detected early.
Mammography guidelines
Age 40 and over:
• Annual screening mammogram
• Annual clinical breast exam by a doctor or nurse (this exam should be done near the time of the mammogram)
• Monthly breast self-examination
Age 20 to 39:
• Clinical breast exam by a doctor or nurse every three years
• Monthly breast self-examination
Mammograms should be a part of every woman's preventive health routine. Along with exercise, good nutrition and an annual physical, monthly breast exams and annual mammograms are important for maintaining good health. Screening mammograms can detect extremely small breast cancers that are too small to discover through breast self-examination or even through clinical breast examination.
For more information on the risks of smoking or to find resources on how to quit, visit smokefree.gov or call 1-800-784-8669.
Dr. David Krajcovic is chief of surgery at St. Luke's Hospital. To learn more about mammograms and breast cancer, call 314-205-6055 or visit stlukes-stl.com. XX Files, a women's health column, rotates each week with Aging Successfully, a column for seniors by Dr. John Morley of St. Louis University.
Copyright 2011 STLtoday.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in Fitness on Thursday, July 14, 2011 6:00 am Updated: 7:43 am. | Tags: Xx Files, Women, St. Luke's Hospital, Breast Cancer,
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/fitness/article_85335a14-e12f-53a8-904b-f25d2bd4b766.html#ixzz1PmmFsIH6
Minggu, 19 Juni 2011
10 Makanan Sahabat Otak Anda
Senin, 20 Juni 2011 07:00
Berry, agar otak tetap sehat (c) 6o8
Anda butuh makanan yang berlainan untuk mencukupi kemampuan berpikir, kesehatan, konektivitas dan kebutuhan otak lainnya.
KapanLagi.com - Jika Anda berpikir bagian tubuh yang paling suka lapar adalah perut dan lambung, maka Anda salah. Dikutip dari Doctissimo, otak mungkin hanya 2 persen dari total berat badan Anda, namun mengendalikan seluruh tubuh untuk bisa bergerak dan bereaksi layaknya manusia normal. Untuk fungsi yang demikian besar, dia menggunakan setidaknya 20 persen dari asupan kalori harian, dan menjadikannya organ tubuh yang rasa laparnya bisa 10 kali dari organ lain.
Sayangnya kita lebih peka dengan lapar perut daripada otak, oleh karena itu sisipkan sepuluh makanan ini ke dalam menu harian Anda agar otak bisa bekerja optimal setiap saat.
1. Minyak ikan untuk brain maintenance
Fungsi otak yang melemah dan juga ingatan yang bermasalah seringkali disebabkan karena kurangnya Omega 3. Jika tidak suka minyak ikan, Anda bisa juga mendapatkan Omega 3 dari telur, kacang-kacangan dan sumber lainnya.
2. Polong untuk energi otak
Tidak hanya fungsi memori dan berpikir yang perlu Anda cukupi dengan Omega 3, otak juga butuh asupan energi dari glukosa yang bisa Anda dapatkan dari makanan bergula. Namun makanan manis juga tidak baik untuk kesehatan, jadi polong-polongan akan menjadi sumber glukosa yang lebih sehat untuk kecukupan glukosa Anda.
3. Pisang untuk menenangkan otak
Hanya pisang yang mengandung magnesium sekaligus vitamin B6. Kedua nutrisi ini penting untuk metabolisme asam amino dan bertanggung jawab terhadap produksi serotonin dan GABA, pemicu good mood dan rasa senang.
4. Hati untuk kecerdasan
Walaupun kuliner Barat sering menganggap hati sebagai bahan tak layak makan, namun nyatanya kandungan zat besi dalam hati baik untuk suplay oksigen ke otak.
5. Berry penangkal kerusakan otak
Strawberry, blackberry dan blueberry adalah sumber vitamin C dan zat antioksidan yang menangkal radikal bebas perusak sel otak dan sel syaraf. Dengan sirkulasi darah yang sehat, kebutuhan oksigen tercukupi sehingga bisa berpikir lebih jernih.
6. Kerang untuk fungsi otak
Selain kaya vitamin B12 dan lysin (protein yang baik untuk syaraf), kerang-kerangan kaya oligo-elements yang berfungsi menangkal stres, kecemasan dan masalah mental lainnya.
7. Telur untuk konektivitas otak
Telur terkenal tinggi asam amino, lecithin dan phospholipid yang diperlukan dalam proses memori, sistem syaraf dan juga mempengaruhi intelektual seseorang.
8. Bayam untuk ingatan yang baik
Otak butuh zat besi dan juga serangkaian vitamin B, dan semuanya itu ada di sayur bayam. Kekurangan vitamin B9 yang banyak terdapat di bayam bisa menyebabkan penurunan memori dan kewaspadaan.
9. Cocoa untuk stimulasi otak
Kita tahu coklat murni atau cocoa mengandung kafein dan amphetamine yang bisa mendongkrak konsentrasi dan semangat seseorang. Namun cocoa juga tinggi magnesium dan antioksidan yang menjaga fungsi otak bekerja dengan baik.
10. Alpukat untuk otak awet muda
Buah alpukat tinggi vitamin E yang berfungsi sebagai antioksidan untuk melindungi jaringan lemak otak dari penuaan. Untuk yang satu ini, tidak hanya otak Anda yang akan tetap segar karena vitamin E juga baik untuk peremajaan kulit. So, cantik dan cerdas sampai tua bukan lagi hal yang sulit dicapai! (wo/miw)
Dilihat sebanyak 77 kali
ARTIKEL TERKAIT
Gemuk Berbahaya Bagi Kesehatan Mental
Resiko Kanker Kulit Meningkat Saat Jam Makan Siang
4 Makanan Pengganti Pasta Gigi Darurat
Sering Makan Bikin Berat Badan Turun?
Cara Unik Turunkan Berat Badan
3 Rahasia Penyebab Pinggang Jadi Melar
10 Makanan Sahabat Otak Anda
+000
Senin, 20 Juni 2011 07:00
[10 Makanan Sahabat Otak Anda]
Berry, agar otak tetap sehat (c) 6o8
Anda butuh makanan yang berlainan untuk mencukupi kemampuan berpikir, kesehatan, konektivitas dan kebutuhan otak lainnya.
KapanLagi.com - Jika Anda berpikir bagian tubuh yang paling suka lapar adalah perut dan lambung, maka Anda salah. Dikutip dari Doctissimo, otak mungkin hanya 2 persen dari total berat badan Anda, namun mengendalikan seluruh tubuh untuk bisa bergerak dan bereaksi layaknya manusia normal. Untuk fungsi yang demikian besar, dia menggunakan setidaknya 20 persen dari asupan kalori harian, dan menjadikannya organ tubuh yang rasa laparnya bisa 10 kali dari organ lain.
Sayangnya kita lebih peka dengan lapar perut daripada otak, oleh karena itu sisipkan sepuluh makanan ini ke dalam menu harian Anda agar otak bisa bekerja optimal setiap saat.
1. Minyak ikan untuk brain maintenance
Fungsi otak yang melemah dan juga ingatan yang bermasalah seringkali disebabkan karena kurangnya Omega 3. Jika tidak suka minyak ikan, Anda bisa juga mendapatkan Omega 3 dari telur, kacang-kacangan dan sumber lainnya.
2. Polong untuk energi otak
Tidak hanya fungsi memori dan berpikir yang perlu Anda cukupi dengan Omega 3, otak juga butuh asupan energi dari glukosa yang bisa Anda dapatkan dari makanan bergula. Namun makanan manis juga tidak baik untuk kesehatan, jadi polong-polongan akan menjadi sumber glukosa yang lebih sehat untuk kecukupan glukosa Anda.
3. Pisang untuk menenangkan otak
Hanya pisang yang mengandung magnesium sekaligus vitamin B6. Kedua nutrisi ini penting untuk metabolisme asam amino dan bertanggung jawab terhadap produksi serotonin dan GABA, pemicu good mood dan rasa senang.
4. Hati untuk kecerdasan
Walaupun kuliner Barat sering menganggap hati sebagai bahan tak layak makan, namun nyatanya kandungan zat besi dalam hati baik untuk suplay oksigen ke otak.
5. Berry penangkal kerusakan otak
Strawberry, blackberry dan blueberry adalah sumber vitamin C dan zat antioksidan yang menangkal radikal bebas perusak sel otak dan sel syaraf. Dengan sirkulasi darah yang sehat, kebutuhan oksigen tercukupi sehingga bisa berpikir lebih jernih.
6. Kerang untuk fungsi otak
Selain kaya vitamin B12 dan lysin (protein yang baik untuk syaraf), kerang-kerangan kaya oligo-elements yang berfungsi menangkal stres, kecemasan dan masalah mental lainnya.
7. Telur untuk konektivitas otak
Telur terkenal tinggi asam amino, lecithin dan phospholipid yang diperlukan dalam proses memori, sistem syaraf dan juga mempengaruhi intelektual seseorang.
8. Bayam untuk ingatan yang baik
Otak butuh zat besi dan juga serangkaian vitamin B, dan semuanya itu ada di sayur bayam. Kekurangan vitamin B9 yang banyak terdapat di bayam bisa menyebabkan penurunan memori dan kewaspadaan.
9. Cocoa untuk stimulasi otak
Kita tahu coklat murni atau cocoa mengandung kafein dan amphetamine yang bisa mendongkrak konsentrasi dan semangat seseorang. Namun cocoa juga tinggi magnesium dan antioksidan yang menjaga fungsi otak bekerja dengan baik.
10. Alpukat untuk otak awet muda
Buah alpukat tinggi vitamin E yang berfungsi sebagai antioksidan untuk melindungi jaringan lemak otak dari penuaan. Untuk yang satu ini, tidak hanya otak Anda yang akan tetap segar karena vitamin E juga baik untuk peremajaan kulit. So, cantik dan cerdas sampai tua bukan lagi hal yang sulit dicapai! (wo/miw)
Dilihat sebanyak 77 kali
ARTIKEL TERKAIT
Gemuk Berbahaya Bagi Kesehatan Mental
Resiko Kanker Kulit Meningkat Saat Jam Makan Siang
4 Makanan Pengganti Pasta Gigi Darurat
Sering Makan Bikin Berat Badan Turun?
Cara Unik Turunkan Berat Badan
3 Rahasia Penyebab Pinggang Jadi Melar
Pelangsingan Cara Aman
Envy Slim termurah cocok tuk ibu. Langsing tanpa diet.
pelangsingan.com
© 2003-2011 KapanLagi.com. Hak cipta dilindungi undang-undang. Iklan | Kontak | Ketentuan Layanan | Kami | Roadmap | Sitemap | RSS | Karir
Berry, agar otak tetap sehat (c) 6o8
Anda butuh makanan yang berlainan untuk mencukupi kemampuan berpikir, kesehatan, konektivitas dan kebutuhan otak lainnya.
KapanLagi.com - Jika Anda berpikir bagian tubuh yang paling suka lapar adalah perut dan lambung, maka Anda salah. Dikutip dari Doctissimo, otak mungkin hanya 2 persen dari total berat badan Anda, namun mengendalikan seluruh tubuh untuk bisa bergerak dan bereaksi layaknya manusia normal. Untuk fungsi yang demikian besar, dia menggunakan setidaknya 20 persen dari asupan kalori harian, dan menjadikannya organ tubuh yang rasa laparnya bisa 10 kali dari organ lain.
Sayangnya kita lebih peka dengan lapar perut daripada otak, oleh karena itu sisipkan sepuluh makanan ini ke dalam menu harian Anda agar otak bisa bekerja optimal setiap saat.
1. Minyak ikan untuk brain maintenance
Fungsi otak yang melemah dan juga ingatan yang bermasalah seringkali disebabkan karena kurangnya Omega 3. Jika tidak suka minyak ikan, Anda bisa juga mendapatkan Omega 3 dari telur, kacang-kacangan dan sumber lainnya.
2. Polong untuk energi otak
Tidak hanya fungsi memori dan berpikir yang perlu Anda cukupi dengan Omega 3, otak juga butuh asupan energi dari glukosa yang bisa Anda dapatkan dari makanan bergula. Namun makanan manis juga tidak baik untuk kesehatan, jadi polong-polongan akan menjadi sumber glukosa yang lebih sehat untuk kecukupan glukosa Anda.
3. Pisang untuk menenangkan otak
Hanya pisang yang mengandung magnesium sekaligus vitamin B6. Kedua nutrisi ini penting untuk metabolisme asam amino dan bertanggung jawab terhadap produksi serotonin dan GABA, pemicu good mood dan rasa senang.
4. Hati untuk kecerdasan
Walaupun kuliner Barat sering menganggap hati sebagai bahan tak layak makan, namun nyatanya kandungan zat besi dalam hati baik untuk suplay oksigen ke otak.
5. Berry penangkal kerusakan otak
Strawberry, blackberry dan blueberry adalah sumber vitamin C dan zat antioksidan yang menangkal radikal bebas perusak sel otak dan sel syaraf. Dengan sirkulasi darah yang sehat, kebutuhan oksigen tercukupi sehingga bisa berpikir lebih jernih.
6. Kerang untuk fungsi otak
Selain kaya vitamin B12 dan lysin (protein yang baik untuk syaraf), kerang-kerangan kaya oligo-elements yang berfungsi menangkal stres, kecemasan dan masalah mental lainnya.
7. Telur untuk konektivitas otak
Telur terkenal tinggi asam amino, lecithin dan phospholipid yang diperlukan dalam proses memori, sistem syaraf dan juga mempengaruhi intelektual seseorang.
8. Bayam untuk ingatan yang baik
Otak butuh zat besi dan juga serangkaian vitamin B, dan semuanya itu ada di sayur bayam. Kekurangan vitamin B9 yang banyak terdapat di bayam bisa menyebabkan penurunan memori dan kewaspadaan.
9. Cocoa untuk stimulasi otak
Kita tahu coklat murni atau cocoa mengandung kafein dan amphetamine yang bisa mendongkrak konsentrasi dan semangat seseorang. Namun cocoa juga tinggi magnesium dan antioksidan yang menjaga fungsi otak bekerja dengan baik.
10. Alpukat untuk otak awet muda
Buah alpukat tinggi vitamin E yang berfungsi sebagai antioksidan untuk melindungi jaringan lemak otak dari penuaan. Untuk yang satu ini, tidak hanya otak Anda yang akan tetap segar karena vitamin E juga baik untuk peremajaan kulit. So, cantik dan cerdas sampai tua bukan lagi hal yang sulit dicapai! (wo/miw)
Dilihat sebanyak 77 kali
ARTIKEL TERKAIT
Gemuk Berbahaya Bagi Kesehatan Mental
Resiko Kanker Kulit Meningkat Saat Jam Makan Siang
4 Makanan Pengganti Pasta Gigi Darurat
Sering Makan Bikin Berat Badan Turun?
Cara Unik Turunkan Berat Badan
3 Rahasia Penyebab Pinggang Jadi Melar
10 Makanan Sahabat Otak Anda
+000
Senin, 20 Juni 2011 07:00
[10 Makanan Sahabat Otak Anda]
Berry, agar otak tetap sehat (c) 6o8
Anda butuh makanan yang berlainan untuk mencukupi kemampuan berpikir, kesehatan, konektivitas dan kebutuhan otak lainnya.
KapanLagi.com - Jika Anda berpikir bagian tubuh yang paling suka lapar adalah perut dan lambung, maka Anda salah. Dikutip dari Doctissimo, otak mungkin hanya 2 persen dari total berat badan Anda, namun mengendalikan seluruh tubuh untuk bisa bergerak dan bereaksi layaknya manusia normal. Untuk fungsi yang demikian besar, dia menggunakan setidaknya 20 persen dari asupan kalori harian, dan menjadikannya organ tubuh yang rasa laparnya bisa 10 kali dari organ lain.
Sayangnya kita lebih peka dengan lapar perut daripada otak, oleh karena itu sisipkan sepuluh makanan ini ke dalam menu harian Anda agar otak bisa bekerja optimal setiap saat.
1. Minyak ikan untuk brain maintenance
Fungsi otak yang melemah dan juga ingatan yang bermasalah seringkali disebabkan karena kurangnya Omega 3. Jika tidak suka minyak ikan, Anda bisa juga mendapatkan Omega 3 dari telur, kacang-kacangan dan sumber lainnya.
2. Polong untuk energi otak
Tidak hanya fungsi memori dan berpikir yang perlu Anda cukupi dengan Omega 3, otak juga butuh asupan energi dari glukosa yang bisa Anda dapatkan dari makanan bergula. Namun makanan manis juga tidak baik untuk kesehatan, jadi polong-polongan akan menjadi sumber glukosa yang lebih sehat untuk kecukupan glukosa Anda.
3. Pisang untuk menenangkan otak
Hanya pisang yang mengandung magnesium sekaligus vitamin B6. Kedua nutrisi ini penting untuk metabolisme asam amino dan bertanggung jawab terhadap produksi serotonin dan GABA, pemicu good mood dan rasa senang.
4. Hati untuk kecerdasan
Walaupun kuliner Barat sering menganggap hati sebagai bahan tak layak makan, namun nyatanya kandungan zat besi dalam hati baik untuk suplay oksigen ke otak.
5. Berry penangkal kerusakan otak
Strawberry, blackberry dan blueberry adalah sumber vitamin C dan zat antioksidan yang menangkal radikal bebas perusak sel otak dan sel syaraf. Dengan sirkulasi darah yang sehat, kebutuhan oksigen tercukupi sehingga bisa berpikir lebih jernih.
6. Kerang untuk fungsi otak
Selain kaya vitamin B12 dan lysin (protein yang baik untuk syaraf), kerang-kerangan kaya oligo-elements yang berfungsi menangkal stres, kecemasan dan masalah mental lainnya.
7. Telur untuk konektivitas otak
Telur terkenal tinggi asam amino, lecithin dan phospholipid yang diperlukan dalam proses memori, sistem syaraf dan juga mempengaruhi intelektual seseorang.
8. Bayam untuk ingatan yang baik
Otak butuh zat besi dan juga serangkaian vitamin B, dan semuanya itu ada di sayur bayam. Kekurangan vitamin B9 yang banyak terdapat di bayam bisa menyebabkan penurunan memori dan kewaspadaan.
9. Cocoa untuk stimulasi otak
Kita tahu coklat murni atau cocoa mengandung kafein dan amphetamine yang bisa mendongkrak konsentrasi dan semangat seseorang. Namun cocoa juga tinggi magnesium dan antioksidan yang menjaga fungsi otak bekerja dengan baik.
10. Alpukat untuk otak awet muda
Buah alpukat tinggi vitamin E yang berfungsi sebagai antioksidan untuk melindungi jaringan lemak otak dari penuaan. Untuk yang satu ini, tidak hanya otak Anda yang akan tetap segar karena vitamin E juga baik untuk peremajaan kulit. So, cantik dan cerdas sampai tua bukan lagi hal yang sulit dicapai! (wo/miw)
Dilihat sebanyak 77 kali
ARTIKEL TERKAIT
Gemuk Berbahaya Bagi Kesehatan Mental
Resiko Kanker Kulit Meningkat Saat Jam Makan Siang
4 Makanan Pengganti Pasta Gigi Darurat
Sering Makan Bikin Berat Badan Turun?
Cara Unik Turunkan Berat Badan
3 Rahasia Penyebab Pinggang Jadi Melar
Pelangsingan Cara Aman
Envy Slim termurah cocok tuk ibu. Langsing tanpa diet.
pelangsingan.com
© 2003-2011 KapanLagi.com. Hak cipta dilindungi undang-undang. Iklan | Kontak | Ketentuan Layanan | Kami | Roadmap | Sitemap | RSS | Karir
Minggu, 22 Mei 2011
अब्क२नेव्स.com
Teens using dangerous synthetic pot and meth to get high
BALTIMORE - Forget weed, ecstasy and huffing, these days kids are turning to something else to get high and they could be doing it right under your nose. ABC2 News Investigator Joce Sterman has more on the drugs they’re using and how their names might throw you off because they sound just like something you'll find around the house.
You dump them into your bath at the end of a long day to relax. But while bath salts may sounds like part of a soothing soak to you, has a totally different meaning to your kids. Dr. Fermin Barrueto with Upper Chesapeake Health Systems says, "You could see something and it could look completely innocent and not realize this is the drug."
To your kids bath salts have nothing to do with what you see in the drug-store. They're the latest trend in man-made drugs and they can be deadly. Carl Kotowski with the Drug Enforcement Administration says, “I would not even think about putting this in your body."
But plenty of people do, using this white powder or crystals to get high. It's sold cheaply in head shops, gas stations and on the internet. Teens may call it bath salts or plant food, but it's actually synthetic meth or cocaine and right now in Maryland, it's totally legal. Kotowski explains, “A lot of folks equate legal as being safe and that's the problem right there."
And the problem is growing. According to the Maryland Poison Center run by the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, there were only two calls about bath salts in 2010. But so far in 2011, there have already been 15 calls and one death related to the drug. Nationwide the numbers are more staggering with 302 total calls in 2010 and nearly 1,800 so far this year.
Barrueto says the numbers are alarming. That’s why he says moms and dads need to get informed. He tells ABC2, "The emergency department is going to be the front line when it all goes wrong. The parents are going to be the front line in prevention."
Barrueto is trying to spread the word. At Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, he opened parents’ eyes to drugs that probably aren't on their radar. Robin Stokes-Smith was one of them. She says, "I'm here to learn and understand and recognize what's going on in the community.”
For moms like Stokes-Smith, it's hard to recognize what kids her son's age are using, so she has to stay on top of it. Her 15-year-old is drug free, but that doesn't mean he's not exposed to the dangers. Ahmad Smith says, “A few weeks ago a girl on my bus had a bag of spice with her, she was thinking about smoking it."
And while bath salts are code for synthetic cocaine, Spice is what they call a new form of weed. Kotowski explains, “It's marketed or labeled as herbal incense, but that's just to mask its intended purpose."
The product smells like incense, but it's not being used that way. It's really synthetic pot. Sold for $20 a pack as botanical potpourri, the DEA says this stuff is really sprayed with dangerous man-made chemicals. Kotowski warns, “You don't know how the product is produced. You don't know the chemicals that are in it, so you're basically playing Russian roulette with your body."
Teens and young adults are rolling the dice in big numbers. The American Association of Poison Control Centers tallied more than 4,500 spice related calls during the last two years.
The numbers are starting to drop, but here at home, Dr. Barrueto says his docs have seen a spike, with several dozen cases in their ERs in the last few months. He says, “We're still definitely seeing this through 2011, despite the DEA's effort of essentially making it illegal to sell."
But while the DEA made it illegal to sell certain ingredients in synthetic pot, it didn't ban the drug itself. As a result your kids can still find it. We did. We took our hidden camera into local shops and had no trouble buying several different brands with a new label. Some stores even make a point of putting out signs to let you know their stuff is legal.
Even if the products they’re peddling are legal, your kids won't have to look hard to find what's not. Thanks to the internet, banned drugs are easy to buy, even if it means breaking the law and putting your body at risk. Howard County Health Officer Dr. Peter Beilenson says, “The bottom line is we don't know what's in this stuff. It's clearly not good for you and you should stay away from it."
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
BALTIMORE - Forget weed, ecstasy and huffing, these days kids are turning to something else to get high and they could be doing it right under your nose. ABC2 News Investigator Joce Sterman has more on the drugs they’re using and how their names might throw you off because they sound just like something you'll find around the house.
You dump them into your bath at the end of a long day to relax. But while bath salts may sounds like part of a soothing soak to you, has a totally different meaning to your kids. Dr. Fermin Barrueto with Upper Chesapeake Health Systems says, "You could see something and it could look completely innocent and not realize this is the drug."
To your kids bath salts have nothing to do with what you see in the drug-store. They're the latest trend in man-made drugs and they can be deadly. Carl Kotowski with the Drug Enforcement Administration says, “I would not even think about putting this in your body."
But plenty of people do, using this white powder or crystals to get high. It's sold cheaply in head shops, gas stations and on the internet. Teens may call it bath salts or plant food, but it's actually synthetic meth or cocaine and right now in Maryland, it's totally legal. Kotowski explains, “A lot of folks equate legal as being safe and that's the problem right there."
And the problem is growing. According to the Maryland Poison Center run by the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, there were only two calls about bath salts in 2010. But so far in 2011, there have already been 15 calls and one death related to the drug. Nationwide the numbers are more staggering with 302 total calls in 2010 and nearly 1,800 so far this year.
Barrueto says the numbers are alarming. That’s why he says moms and dads need to get informed. He tells ABC2, "The emergency department is going to be the front line when it all goes wrong. The parents are going to be the front line in prevention."
Barrueto is trying to spread the word. At Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, he opened parents’ eyes to drugs that probably aren't on their radar. Robin Stokes-Smith was one of them. She says, "I'm here to learn and understand and recognize what's going on in the community.”
For moms like Stokes-Smith, it's hard to recognize what kids her son's age are using, so she has to stay on top of it. Her 15-year-old is drug free, but that doesn't mean he's not exposed to the dangers. Ahmad Smith says, “A few weeks ago a girl on my bus had a bag of spice with her, she was thinking about smoking it."
And while bath salts are code for synthetic cocaine, Spice is what they call a new form of weed. Kotowski explains, “It's marketed or labeled as herbal incense, but that's just to mask its intended purpose."
The product smells like incense, but it's not being used that way. It's really synthetic pot. Sold for $20 a pack as botanical potpourri, the DEA says this stuff is really sprayed with dangerous man-made chemicals. Kotowski warns, “You don't know how the product is produced. You don't know the chemicals that are in it, so you're basically playing Russian roulette with your body."
Teens and young adults are rolling the dice in big numbers. The American Association of Poison Control Centers tallied more than 4,500 spice related calls during the last two years.
The numbers are starting to drop, but here at home, Dr. Barrueto says his docs have seen a spike, with several dozen cases in their ERs in the last few months. He says, “We're still definitely seeing this through 2011, despite the DEA's effort of essentially making it illegal to sell."
But while the DEA made it illegal to sell certain ingredients in synthetic pot, it didn't ban the drug itself. As a result your kids can still find it. We did. We took our hidden camera into local shops and had no trouble buying several different brands with a new label. Some stores even make a point of putting out signs to let you know their stuff is legal.
Even if the products they’re peddling are legal, your kids won't have to look hard to find what's not. Thanks to the internet, banned drugs are easy to buy, even if it means breaking the law and putting your body at risk. Howard County Health Officer Dr. Peter Beilenson says, “The bottom line is we don't know what's in this stuff. It's clearly not good for you and you should stay away from it."
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Medicine Hunter
Natural and Safe Anti-Inflammatory Medicines
An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, according to the American Pain Foundation. That’s a lot of pain. And that adds up to a lot of drug use, notably the category called NSAID’s, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), diclofenac (Voltaren) and Celebrex belong to this class of drugs. These drugs are designed to inhibit activity of what is known as the COX2 enzyme, a major factor in pain. This natural enzyme is created in all of us, and is responsible for the production of some of the agents called prostaglandins, which trigger pain and inflammation.
The role of inflammation in pain is pretty straightforward. Any of a variety of insults can cause inflammation in the tissues of our bodies. External insults like burns, bites, scrapes, stings, cuts and bruises cause skin tissue to swell as protective fluids pour into damaged tissue between cells. Nerves may also be directly hurt. All of this activity is accompanied by pain. This is also the case with internal insults that may be diet-related or the result of wear and tear. Aging joints and ligaments can become occasionally or chronically inflamed, resulting in pain. Inflammation is now recognized as a key factor in virtually all chronic and degenerative diseases, including arthritis, heart disease, asthma, neurodegeneration, cancer, and kidney and bowel diseases. The idea behind anti-inflammatory drugs is simple. Stop the inflammation; stop the pain.
The NSAID’s are COX-2 inhibitors. They do accomplish this, but along the way they can also cause liver and kidney damage, and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. A recently published study reveals even greater risks to these drugs. In the study Danish researchers found that use of NSAID’s among heart attack survivors greatly increased their risk of a repeat heart attack. This risk persisted even six months after the heart attack, and even if the use of the drugs was brief. Translation: for those who have had a heart attack or stroke, the NSAID’s pose a real danger.
Meanwhile, a recent study of acetaminophen (Tylenol) showed that those who take the drug are at an increased risk of some blood cancers. Acetaminophen use is also the leading cause of drug-induced liver failure in the United States. Though acetaminophen is not an NSAID, it poses significant health hazards nonetheless.
Hippocrates said “first of all do no harm.” This should be the guided credo of all the health arts,from pharmacy to surgery. Medicines should heal not hurt, and promote life not take it away. In part due to disappointment with drugs, and in part due to a belief that natural remedies are safer than most pharmaceuticals, many people seek natural remedies to alleviate pain.
Hippocrates also said “let your food be your medicine.” One of the very most effective and potent natural anti-inflammatory agents is curcumin, derived from turmeric root. Turmeric is a yellow spice native to Asia, widely enjoyed as both a food and a dye. Turmeric is the yellow in curry powder, and curcumin is a resinous compound found in turmeric root. Extensively well studied for its anti-inflammatory powers, curcumin is scientifically proven to be highly effective at relieving pain, and very safe. Like the NSAID’s, curcumin inhibits COX2. But unlike the NSAID’s, it does not do so selectively. Instead, curcumin also affects the activity of other key factors in inflammation, including NF-kappaB, PPAR Gamma transcription factors, and 5-LOX. By inhibiting the activity of all these aspects of inflammation, curcumin delivers far superior anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving activity than most drugs.
Ginger root, another common spice, also contains a number of scientifically proven pain relieving agents. Ginger contains a protein-digesting enzyme called zingibain, which appears to relieve arthritis pain by reducing inflammation. In fact, the anti-inflammatory activity of ginger compares favorably with aspirin. Ginger root is also rich in two groups of compounds known as the shaogals and gingerols. These compounds are powerfully antioxidant, thus helping to prevent cells from premature destruction due to exposure to environmental toxins and by-products of metabolism. Even more, these compounds are potent anti-inflammatory agents, and are proven to relieve inflammation throughout the body. Given that oxidation and inflammation are part and parcel of all chronic degenerative diseases, ginger can play a key role in disease risk reduction.
Many plants, including the Amazon bark cats’ claw and the common spice rosemary, also demonstrate powerful anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving properties. And in toxicity studies, the anti-inflammatory plants demonstrate great safety. Many hundreds of plants contain well known anti-inflammatory agents. Hops, for example, an herb used in beer brewing, contains a group of compounds called the humulones, which are being studied for their significant pain-relieving properties.
Among the many plant-based anti-inflammatory products out there, I recommend Curamin, the curcumin-based pain reliever from EuroPharma, and Zyflamend, the ginger and turmeric-based anti-inflammatory from New Chapter. Both of these products work, and the ingredients in them actually contribute to overall health by enhancing immune function, increasing cardiovascular protection, and helping to inhibit the aging process of cells by their antioxidant activity. They are available online and at Whole Foods and other natural retailers.
It is sad when drugs that are commonly used are shown to pose great dangers to health. This is antithetical to their purpose. But the science of plant-based medicines is significantly advanced, and we now have products available to us that will reduce or eliminate pain without being hazardous to health. This is a good thing.
Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at www.MedicineHunter.com
Sumber : This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2011 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. All market data delayed 20 minutes.
fox news
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/18/natural-safe-anti-inflammatory-medicines/#ixzz1N970kMeu
An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, according to the American Pain Foundation. That’s a lot of pain. And that adds up to a lot of drug use, notably the category called NSAID’s, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), diclofenac (Voltaren) and Celebrex belong to this class of drugs. These drugs are designed to inhibit activity of what is known as the COX2 enzyme, a major factor in pain. This natural enzyme is created in all of us, and is responsible for the production of some of the agents called prostaglandins, which trigger pain and inflammation.
The role of inflammation in pain is pretty straightforward. Any of a variety of insults can cause inflammation in the tissues of our bodies. External insults like burns, bites, scrapes, stings, cuts and bruises cause skin tissue to swell as protective fluids pour into damaged tissue between cells. Nerves may also be directly hurt. All of this activity is accompanied by pain. This is also the case with internal insults that may be diet-related or the result of wear and tear. Aging joints and ligaments can become occasionally or chronically inflamed, resulting in pain. Inflammation is now recognized as a key factor in virtually all chronic and degenerative diseases, including arthritis, heart disease, asthma, neurodegeneration, cancer, and kidney and bowel diseases. The idea behind anti-inflammatory drugs is simple. Stop the inflammation; stop the pain.
The NSAID’s are COX-2 inhibitors. They do accomplish this, but along the way they can also cause liver and kidney damage, and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. A recently published study reveals even greater risks to these drugs. In the study Danish researchers found that use of NSAID’s among heart attack survivors greatly increased their risk of a repeat heart attack. This risk persisted even six months after the heart attack, and even if the use of the drugs was brief. Translation: for those who have had a heart attack or stroke, the NSAID’s pose a real danger.
Meanwhile, a recent study of acetaminophen (Tylenol) showed that those who take the drug are at an increased risk of some blood cancers. Acetaminophen use is also the leading cause of drug-induced liver failure in the United States. Though acetaminophen is not an NSAID, it poses significant health hazards nonetheless.
Hippocrates said “first of all do no harm.” This should be the guided credo of all the health arts,from pharmacy to surgery. Medicines should heal not hurt, and promote life not take it away. In part due to disappointment with drugs, and in part due to a belief that natural remedies are safer than most pharmaceuticals, many people seek natural remedies to alleviate pain.
Hippocrates also said “let your food be your medicine.” One of the very most effective and potent natural anti-inflammatory agents is curcumin, derived from turmeric root. Turmeric is a yellow spice native to Asia, widely enjoyed as both a food and a dye. Turmeric is the yellow in curry powder, and curcumin is a resinous compound found in turmeric root. Extensively well studied for its anti-inflammatory powers, curcumin is scientifically proven to be highly effective at relieving pain, and very safe. Like the NSAID’s, curcumin inhibits COX2. But unlike the NSAID’s, it does not do so selectively. Instead, curcumin also affects the activity of other key factors in inflammation, including NF-kappaB, PPAR Gamma transcription factors, and 5-LOX. By inhibiting the activity of all these aspects of inflammation, curcumin delivers far superior anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving activity than most drugs.
Ginger root, another common spice, also contains a number of scientifically proven pain relieving agents. Ginger contains a protein-digesting enzyme called zingibain, which appears to relieve arthritis pain by reducing inflammation. In fact, the anti-inflammatory activity of ginger compares favorably with aspirin. Ginger root is also rich in two groups of compounds known as the shaogals and gingerols. These compounds are powerfully antioxidant, thus helping to prevent cells from premature destruction due to exposure to environmental toxins and by-products of metabolism. Even more, these compounds are potent anti-inflammatory agents, and are proven to relieve inflammation throughout the body. Given that oxidation and inflammation are part and parcel of all chronic degenerative diseases, ginger can play a key role in disease risk reduction.
Many plants, including the Amazon bark cats’ claw and the common spice rosemary, also demonstrate powerful anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving properties. And in toxicity studies, the anti-inflammatory plants demonstrate great safety. Many hundreds of plants contain well known anti-inflammatory agents. Hops, for example, an herb used in beer brewing, contains a group of compounds called the humulones, which are being studied for their significant pain-relieving properties.
Among the many plant-based anti-inflammatory products out there, I recommend Curamin, the curcumin-based pain reliever from EuroPharma, and Zyflamend, the ginger and turmeric-based anti-inflammatory from New Chapter. Both of these products work, and the ingredients in them actually contribute to overall health by enhancing immune function, increasing cardiovascular protection, and helping to inhibit the aging process of cells by their antioxidant activity. They are available online and at Whole Foods and other natural retailers.
It is sad when drugs that are commonly used are shown to pose great dangers to health. This is antithetical to their purpose. But the science of plant-based medicines is significantly advanced, and we now have products available to us that will reduce or eliminate pain without being hazardous to health. This is a good thing.
Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at www.MedicineHunter.com
Sumber : This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2011 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. All market data delayed 20 minutes.
fox news
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/05/18/natural-safe-anti-inflammatory-medicines/#ixzz1N970kMeu
Langganan:
Komentar (Atom)