Rooibos Tea – The Healthy Drink
Rooibos Tea – The Healthy Drink
Nettie Mae
Rooibos, or Red Bush Tea as it is also known, is not a true tea but an herb which is indigenous to the Cederburg area of South Africa. Due to its widely publicized health benefits it has grown into a billion dollar export industry since the mid twentieth century.
The tea has no caffeine and only half the tannin of ordinary tea. Apart from being refreshing to drink, in place of ordinary tea and coffee, it has the advantage of containing minerals and powerful antioxidants. Having no oxalic acid it also does not irritate the kidneys.
Japanese scientists, doing studies in the 1960’s, discovered Rooibos contains a powerful antioxidant similar to SOD which is thought to retard aging and quercetin (Q10) which is believed to have potent anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, Rooibos is also found to contain aspalathin which counteracts the atherosclerotic processes that result in heart disease. For these reasons, the Japanese promote it as an Anti-Aging Tea and import large quantities of the tea.
Research done in France found that hair lotion containing Rooibos promoted faster hair growth with improvement in the hair condition and caused no allergic reactions.
In South Africa research found that the polyphenol content in Rooibos is similar to green tea. Polyphenols help protect the body from damage by free radicals.
Rooibos has been found to be helpful with general health problems. It relieves digestive problems, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and constipation. Having a calming effect it helps with irritability, insomnia and depression.
Both pre-natal and breast feeding Mothers can use it to supplement their intake of manganese, calcium and fluoride by drinking Rooibos therefore promote strong teeth and healthy bones in their babies. Rooibos, when applied at every diaper change, can relieve diaper rash and, when drank by the baby, relieves colic.
Preparation of Rooibos is the same as ordinary tea. First warm the tea pot with boiling water and then place one teaspoon of tea or tea bag per cup required in the pot. Pour over boiling water and let infuse for a few minutes. The longer it is left before drinking the more antioxidants the tea will contain. Can be served plain, with hot or cold milk or lemon. It can be lightly sweetened with honey or sugar or just left without any sweetening. Rooibos also makes a wonderful ice tea.
In South Africa Rooibos Tea is often used in day to day cooking as not only does it add important minerals and antioxidants to the diet and help digestion, it also enhances the flavors of the cooking. Just replace the water in a recipe with the tea.
Next time you are in your health shop or in a department store stocking specialty teas, why not pick up a packet and try it out?
About the Author
Sick and tired of being Sick and Tired, Nettie Mae quit her 3rd shift factory job. To see what keeps her going, visit http://www.frutavida4u.com/nettiemae/.
Tags: Africa Research, allergic reactions;, Area Of South Africa, Author, Breast Feeding Mothers, constipation;, depression;, Diaper Change, Diaper Rash, Digestive Problems, Export Industry, France, Free Radicals, Green Tea, Hair Condition, Hair Lotion, Healthy Bones, heart disease;, Insomnia, Japanese Scientists, Mid Twentieth Century, Nausea, Nettie Mae, Oxalic Acid, Red Bush Tea, South Africa, Stomach Cramps, Tannin, Tea Research, True Tea, USD;, vomiting —
How Healthy Is Your Lifestyle
How Healthy Is Your Lifestyle
Loring A. Windblad
Copyright 2004 by http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring Windblad. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text intact and unchanged except for minor improvements such as misspellings and typos.
Compelling evidence shows that certain lifestyle behaviours can improve health, prevent premature death and may even prolong life. The problem is that people often drift along, continuing their unhealthy ways – maybe vowing to stop smoking or drink less “some day soon” – until a disease or health problem strikes and it may be too late to reverse the damage. Assessing your lifestyle and how it affects health before illness occurs is a wise precaution. (However, changing one’s lifestyle even after illness can sometimes improve health – for instance giving up cigarettes and exercising more after a heart attack.)
Why assess lifestyle risks?
Accumulating scientific evidence shows that a few simple lifestyle habits can directly improve health and decrease disease risks. Much disability and premature death from today’s foremost killers – heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, liver cirrhosis, suicide and unintentional injuries – stem from everyday habits. Over half the premature deaths in North America are blamed on unhealthy behaviours such as cigarette smoking, insufficient exercise, excessive alcohol intake and a fat-laden diet. Only six per cent of premature deaths are considered avoidable through better medical care.
A California study has demonstrated that disease risks can be reduced by not smoking cigarettes, moderating alcohol use, eating breakfast, having regular physical activity, maintaining desirable weight, getting enough (7-8 hours) nightly sleep and having close social networks. The effect is cumulative: the greater the number of good lifestyle habits, the greater the chance of better health and a longer life. A recent Canadian study confirmed a lower chance of premature death by avoiding cigarette smoking, high blood pressure (related to obesity and insufficient exercise), adult-onset diabetes (due to obesity, poor diet, lack of exercise) and excess alcohol consumption. (However, some everyday influences are an unavoidable part of the environment, over which individuals have little control – such as air pollution or traffic noise.)
To evaluate your lifestyle, ask yourself a few key questions about everyday activities such as the amount of fat you eat, smoking and drinking habits – see checklist below – and evaluate which might be improving your health or perhaps damaging it. Consider seeking advice from a health professional about habits you wish to change.
Quick, easy computer programs help rate your lifestyle
To help people assess the health impact of various lifestyle activities, a new Computerized Lifestyle Assessment (CLA) program, developed by the Addiction Research Foundation and the University of Toronto, provides a practical, quick, confidential and easy method of evaluating lifestyle strengths and weaknesses. The computer program, which takes 20 minutes to run, asks detailed questions about 16 lifestyle activities, with graphic feedback along the way and a printed report at the end. Identification and feedback about risk activities that undermine health often lead people to improve their lifestyle and seek advice from a health professional. For details about the CLA program, call (416) 978-8989 or contact the publisher, Multi-Health Systems, at 1-800-268-6011.
The computer program asks questions about.
* substance abuse;
* health maintenance;
* preventive activities;
* social and intimate relationships;
* mental and emotional wellbeing.
The program feeds back information about:
* lifestyle strengths or activities to keep up
* areas of concern or factors that can threaten health
* risk areas requiring action to prevent disease
The final printout pinpoints health-harming behaviours, some of which may come as a surprise, others that may be known to the person who might be “thinking about” changing them. For example, a woman who thinks she leads a healthy life – doesn’t smoke, drink or take other drugs, eats a low-fat vegetarian diet and exercises three times a week – may have emotional problems stemming from poor social relationships and a perfectionist attitude. Or, a man who doesn’t smoke, drinks little alcohol and has good work and personal relationships may endanger his health by being overweight with the beginnings of diabetes, hypertension and a potential heart problem.
Curiously, computers sometimes elicit more personal information about sensitive lifestyle areas than a doctors interview. For instance, many people find it easier to report excess alcohol consumption to a computer than to a physician. Women, especially, seem more likely to confide alcohol, sexual and other problems to a computer than to a doctor. Computerized psychiatric histories sometimes spot problems missed by clinicians – such as suicidal thoughts, anxiety, depression or phobias.
Adolescent and student lifestyles especially poor. One recent study found that seven out of 10 people questioned were particularly worried about nutrition and half were also concerned about physical inactivity. A study of Queen’s University students found that over 80 per cent fail to get regular medical/dental care, and over half consume excess alcohol and have poor management of work-leisure time.
Study results show student health problems with:
* Alcohol:
* Cannabis:
* Cigarettes:
* Stress:
* Inactivity:
* Weight:
* Sex:
* Condom use:
Adolescent eating habits can endanger health. Many adolescents receive inadequate nutrition due to poor diets, irregular eating habits and eating disorders that stem from the wish to conform to society’s idealization of thinness. “Weight control” techniques such as self-induced vomiting and diarrhea are widespread. A recent U.S. National Adolescent Health Survey found 61 per cent of adolescent females and 28 per cent of adolescent males were dieting, 51 per cent often fasted, 16 per cent used diet pills and 12 per cent practiced vomiting.
Teens had poor dietary practices because of:
* Excessive preoccupation with physical appearance;
* Western society’s obsession with thinness;
* Eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia.
Lifestyle habits can improve health:
* not smoking tobacco;
* maintaining desirable weight (avoiding obesity);
* good nutrition (following Canada’s Food Guide);
* exercising regularly and sufficiently (at least 30 minutes three times a week);
* getting enough sound nightly sleep (7-8 hours);
* avoiding accidental injuries by taking safety measures (such as seatbelts and helmets);
* practicing motor vehicle safety;
* moderating alcohol use;
* avoiding other recreational drugs;
* getting regular dental care and medical check-ups as advised;
* fostering family, work and social networks;
* having safe and satisfying sexual relationships;
* avoiding or learning how to cope with excess stress;
* enjoining sufficient leisure-time activities and relaxation;
* getting any needed therapy for mental problems.
Lifestyle changes occur in five stages
Stage 1: Pre-contemplation – the health risk of a particular life-style activity is (largely) unrecognized, denied or trivialized.
Stage 2: Contemplation – admitting to a health risk and thinking about making a change “some day.
Stage 3: Preparation – motivated and ready for change “soon”, planning how and what to do, often setting an actual date.
Stage 4: Action – active steps to change behaviour – e.g., giving up cigarettes, walking to work instead of driving, drinking less – setting a specific schedule and definite goals.
Stage 5: Maintenance – long-term change achieved and kept up.
Just asking can make a difference. Surveys show that many people expect physicians or nurses to ask about and give advice or information regarding health. Given the chance, many people would like to discuss lifestyle concerns such as nutrition, obesity, alcohol,other drug use, family conflicts, elderly relatives, sexual problems and chronic pain – but often hesitate to do so unless asked.
About the Author
Loring Windblad has studied nutrition and exercise for more than 40 years, is a published author and freelance writer. Junes and Lorings latest business endeavors are at
http://www.organicgreens.us
http://junedawn.younglivingworld.com
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Healthy Living: Simple steps to a better life
Healthy Living: Simple steps to a better life
Colin McDougall
When you watch TV or read magazines you get the impression that most people spend their days as lean, mean exercise fanatics who compete in triathlons, eat tofu, and drink a gallon of rain water a day.
If you dont fit this profile, you are not alone. Consider:
The writing is on the wall poor diet and physical inactivity is about as dangerous as smoking.
So, why dont we exercise and eat right?
For most of us, the answer is: time. Exercise and diet take time away from our work, our families, our lives.
Some of us have tried to fit exercise into our daily routines before and maybe even stuck with a program for a while, but finally saw too little gain for the effort and time it took.
Heres the good news: a healthy lifestyle wont consume you like it might have years ago. The science of healthy living has come a long way in recent years. Consider:
Realistic health improvement for real people
We all know we should take better care of ourselves, but modern lifestyles with hectic work schedules, commuting, and family and social responsibilities make it difficult for us to live a healthy life.
But you can begin to live a healthier life. You can start slowly and work in more healthy practices. Interestingly, even small changes can lead to big improvements over time. Begin modestly by making a commitment to starting to do something and to stay with it. As you proceed, remember to be proud of your accomplishmentsyou will be doing more than 70 percent of the population!
The doctor will see you now
Before embarking on a fitness program and making dietary changes, talk with your doctor about your plans. If you have prior health conditions, especially cardiovascular disease, your doctor may want you to avoid certain exercises. If you are on certain medications, your doctor may give you valuable information on avoiding drug interactions with certain foods such as grapefruit and with some herbal supplements.
A special word to smokers
If you smoke, you know you need to quit. Modern research links smoking to a vast array of cancers, as well as heart and cardiovascular disease. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking alone causes one-third of all cancer deaths.
The bottom lineif you are a smoker, stopping represents the single best health action you can take. Talk with your doctorthere are new treatments available.
Some basic health objectives
It can be hard to know where to start when you want to improve your health.
Here are three baseline objectives for a healthier lifestyle:
Lose weight / Eat a more balanced diet
Qualified health professionals agree the keys to losing weight are to eat less, eat a more balanced diet, and to increase your exercise level. In general, reducing your intake of protein and eating more fruits and vegetables is a good start. Try and reduce your intake of saturated fats common in fried foods. Your heart will thank you.
Here are some tips:
Eat a diet that contains lots of:
Ensure you are getting an adequate supply of:
Reduce your consumption of:
Other Tips:
Consider diet supplements for weight loss and health
Despite our best efforts, it is hard to eat a balanced diet everyday. Consider taking one or more of the excellent vitamins and supplements available, but check with your doctor first before taking them.
Today, you can get the latest high quality vitamins and dietary supplements at low prices and without leaving your home by ordering over the Internet. Here is an excellent example of a vitamins site.
Avoid fad diets
Use common sense and follow the advice of government health authorities, university nutritionists and other well-accredited health care experts. Reliable nutrition advice is available free by contacting your local health department and talking with a nutritionist.
Be wary of the latest Fad Diets put forward by authors. Healthy eating is not rocket scienceyou need to eat a balanced diet that includes the four food groups:
This is well documented by decades of research. Sure, the fad diets may help you lose weight temporarily but at worst you could seriously damage your health and at best, you will likely gain the weight back if the diet is not sensible and sustainable.
Get more exercise
The second key to losing weight is to add more physical exercise into your lifestyle.
Exercise takes some effort and time, so it is fair to ask why you should bother. The key reasons include the following:
Research continues to show that any exercise is better than none. For example, regular walking or gardening may be beneficial in reducing your risk of heart disease.
Exercise
At a minimum you should strive for at least three 20-minute bouts of continuous aerobic (activity requiring oxygen) rhythmic exercise each week.
Other exercise levels will depend on your physical condition and goals. Consider a session or two with a certified personal trainer to accurately assess your current physical condition and plan an exercise regimen.
Easy ways for non-athletes to add exercise to their daily lives:
Consider creating a home gym
More and more people are purchasing exercise equipment to use at home. The advantages include:
Here are some tips in selecting equipment:
Determine what goals you want to pursuestrength training, aerobic training or cardiovascular training before you look at equipment.
Buy sturdy, quality equipment from known manufacturers.
Purchase equipment that will meet your needs now and as you improve
Buy from a reputable retailer, who has a large selection, low prices, and stands behind their products. For an excellent example for home gyms (click here) and other fitness equipment.
Reduce Stress
The good news is that by eating a healthier diet and exercising more frequently, you will have already taken two of the most important steps to helping your body fight stress.
Obviously sources of stress are a personal matter. Be alert to chronic stress you have trouble managing. This can sometimes lead to more serious conditions for both men and women, such as depression. If you feel you are having trouble coping, it is best to talk with your doctor.
If on the other hand, you have the everyday level of stress most of us face, you may want to try these stress-reducing tips:
How can I get started on a healthier lifestyle?
If you are not living as healthy a life as you want right now, you may be wondering how you will find the time and the resources to make changes.
The good news is you dont have to make all the changes at once, but do resolve to make some improvements. Time is always an issue, but time taken to improve your health will yield big improvements in many other areas of your life.
There has never been a better time to start, because thanks to the Internet you can purchase quality heath care products and equipment, quickly and efficiently and save money too! Heres a link to get you started with weight loss programs and healthy living.
About the Author
Colin McDougall is a successful freelance writer providing valuable advice for people seeking weight loss programs and vitamins. Visit http://www.weight-loss-and-nutritional-supplements.com and http://www.vitamins-source.com for more articles. He also offers other health and exercise related sites such as http://www.a1-hockey-equipment.com and http://www.paint-ball-gun-reviews.com. His numerous articles offer several healthy living tips.
Tags: Alcohol Consumption, American Adults, American Cancer Society, Author, Balanced Approach, Body Mass Index, Body Mass Index Bmi, cancer;, cancers;, Cardiovascular Disease, Causes Of Death, Center For Chronic Disease Prevention And Health Promotion, certified personal trainer, Chronic Disease Prevention, Chronic Stress, Colin Mcdougall, depression;, Dietary Supplements, especially cardiovascular disease, exercise equipment;, Food Groups, Freelance Writer, Harris Poll, Healthy Lifestyle, heart disease;, Heightaccording, Metabolic Rate, National Center for Health Statistics;, National Guideline, Nutritionist, Paint, Physical Inactivity, Poor Diet, purchase quality heath care products, Rain Water, Simple Steps, Time Exercise —
Why Child Bearing Is Healthy
Why Child Bearing Is Healthy
Dr. Randy Wysong
From a purely biological perspective, bearing children can be considered the most important reason for a womans existence. For that matter, the same could be said about men, since both sexes are, in effect, disposable packages of genetic material. We die, but our genes continue on immortally.
With increasing population pressure and modern independent lifestyles (unlike the family farm where children were almost a necessity), procreation has become an option that is increasingly declined or at least significantly restricted. But with these choices women take themselves out of a natural biological role. Additionally, treating the breast as an ornament rather than a feeding organ by opting for synthetic formulas also removes women from a natural biological function.
When these choices are coupled with the use of contraceptive hormones, hormone replacement therapy, an increasing load of estrogenic pollutants in the environment and food, and a diet that has veered significantly from its natural design, the formula for hormonal pandemonium, metabolic dysfunction, and disease is in place. The result is early menses in children, infertility, abnormal and erratic menstrual cycles, cervical dysplasia, fibroids, endometrial cancer, breast cancer, premenstrual syndrome, dramatic mood swings and depression, osteoporosis, and other symptoms of abnormal menopause: hot flashes, psychological problems, decreased libido, and thinning of the vaginal wall.
This is a difficult problem with no easy solution. If women would have as many children as they are capable of, nurse them for years as they are designed to, eat natural foods, and live in a more pristine environment, most of these modern health problems would disappear.
If money flowed out of our tap we would not have economic problems either, right?
The desire to limit families may soon not even be an option. We either curtail population growth or we will saw through the branch we all sit on. Population is the engine that ultimately drives all environmental woes. We live on a finite planet with finite resources, but we have an infinite ability to breed. We either live within the limits of Earths sustainable resources or we will destroy ourselves. Having children may be a natural and healthy process, but can be a deadly game for sustainable life on Earth.
So we have a conundrum. Women need to fulfill their biological reproductive role to achieve metabolic balance and health, but if they do so unlimited, the health of life on Earth is jeopardized.
In an attempt to solve this dilemma, women have turned to the quick fix of pharmaceutical synthetic hormones. Hormones that control conception, hormones that control abnormal menstrual cycles, and hormones that fix menopause. It is an overly simplistic solution to a complex problem.
The saying, Dont mess with Mother Nature is particularly applicable when dosing the body with hormones. Since the 1940s when estrogen therapy became popular, hundreds of thousands of women have succumbed to cancer. For example, a woman is nearly 13 times more likely to get endometrial cancer, and at nearly a 30% increased risk of breast cancer when she takes estrogen. Recently, researchers have identified the two top preventable breast cancer risks: oral birth control pills and estrogen replacement therapy.
For those who justify the use of estrogen for the benefits of decreased risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, consider that proper exercise, diet and lifestyle choices can have the same beneficial effect without the potential consequence of cancer.
How have women specifically put themselves outside of their natural context to make themselves more susceptible to cancers?
The average mom gives birth to about two infants. Although this is an intelligent number from the standpoint of population control, it is unnatural in that by not continuing to have pregnancies and to nurse (which stops ovulations) she will ovulate an incredible 438 times during her lifetime.
On the other hand, a woman in the primitive natural setting who may not even know what causes pregnancy or how to prevent it even if they wanted to, would have started menstruating and ovulating at age twelve and would have delivered nine babies and breast-fed them over the course of her reproductive career. Breast-feeding can continue for children in a totally natural setting for up to five or more years of age. The combination of pregnancy along with breast-feeding in the premodern setting would have decreased the number of ovulations that a primitive mother would have had to about nine.
This means that today women cycle through their menstrual periods an abnormal number of times, subjecting their bodies to surges of estrogen 50 times greater than our primitive ancestors living in a natural setting.
Many cancers of women are sensitive to high levels of female hormones.
For example, breast cancer is sensitive to estrogen. In dogs, simply removing the ovaries can often prevent or halt the progress of mammary cancer. Tamoxifen in humans is used to block estrogen activity within the mammary glands and thus is believed to exert its protective effect in this way. (This pharmaceutical agent can, however, increase the risk of uterine cancer to about the same degree that the risk of breast cancer is reduced!)
The resting periods of lower estrogen levels that women experienced in the premodern setting served a protective effect to spare organs and tissues from cancer. Women who nurse for a total period of time of even as little as two years are known to have a decreased incidence of mammary cancer.
This excess ovulation hypothesis is the likely explanation for the tragic phenomenon of modern female cancers. When humans decide to flout and repudiate nature by interfering with natural biological design, disease will always be the consequence.
If the problem is a departure from nature, then the solution is a return to it. Here are some options:
1.Refer to the Wysong Optimal Health Program for guidelines on life choices that can enhance overall health and thus hormonal health (http://www.wysong.net/PDFs/ohp.pdf).
2.Emphasize fresh raw foods in the diet and avoid processed foods as much as possible.
3.Eliminate hydrogenated oils and refined sugars. Hydrogenated oils displace healthful dietary fats and have been shown to be carcinogenic, and sugars can stimulate a rise in estrogens.
4.Try to use organic foods as much as possible and avoid synthetic materials in cosmetics, at home and in the workplace to help reduce exposure to environmental estrogens.
5.Do not attempt low fat or low cholesterol fad diets that often create dependence upon processed carbohydrates and seriously reduce important natural dietary fats and essential fatty acids.
6.Increase the consumption of natural vegetable foods containing phytoestrogens which tend to counteract estrogens.
7.Avoid hormone medications if at all possible.
8.Explore natural birth control measures.
9.Nurse your babies for as long as you can.
Modern life presents many choices, freedoms and rights. Tinkering with child bearing, however, is a choice that is not without consequences. Women need to be aware and take the steps necessary to make sure the choices they make do not also bring with them the increased risk of serious modern diseases.
Reference:
Zeneca Pharaceuticals. Tamoxifen Patient Insert. Zeneca, Inc. Wilmington, DE. 1998.
Dr. Wysong is a former veterinary clinician and surgeon, college instructor in human anatomy, physiology and the origin of life, inventor of numerous medical, surgical, nutritional, athletic and fitness products and devices, research director for the present company by his name and founder of the philanthropic Wysong Institute. He is author of The Creation-Evolution Controversy now in its eleventh printing, a new two volume set on philosophy for living entitled Thinking Matters: 1-Living Life… As If Thinking Matters; 2-The Big Questions…As If Thinking Matters, several books on nutrition, prevention and health for people and animals and over 15 years of monthly health newsletters. He may be contacted at [email protected] and a free subscription to his e-Health Letter is available at http://www.wysong.net.
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