NaturalNews declares 2012 the year of consciousness

In Chinese culture, every year has an animal mascot. It’s the “year of the monkey,” for example, or the year of the rooster. For NaturalNews, 2012 is the year of consciousness (or conscious awakening, in a sense). Does this mean we’re going to abandon the mundane…

NaturalNews declares 2012 the year of consciousness

In Chinese culture, every year has an animal mascot. It’s the “year of the monkey,” for example, or the year of the rooster. For NaturalNews, 2012 is the year of consciousness (or conscious awakening, in a sense). Does this mean we’re going to abandon the mundane…

Green tea consumption linked to improvements in total and LDL cholesterol

Numerous studies have confirmed the health-supportive benefits of green tea consumption, as the ancient Chinese drink helps to prevent many forms of cancer and lowers the risk from cognitive decline and dementia. The result of a systematic literature search published…

Amazing food fact: The main ingredient in tapioca pudding is a tropical tuber that provides a huge portion of the world’s dietary carbohydrates

(NaturalNews) After rice and wheat, the most important human carbohydrate source is not what you might guess. It’s not the starchy potato, or any of the major sweetener-producing crops (sugar cane, sugar beet or corn). It’s a tropical tuber known by the names cassava, manioc and yucca (in Spanish), and it’s the main ingredient in tapioca pudding. Although little known in North America, cassava was a staple food for the pre-Columbian cultures of tropical America and remains an important food in that region of the world today. It has also acquired a central place in African cooking, and is a significant calorie source for that continent. That’s because cassava is not only both versatile and highly nutritious, it’s also a good source of fiber, calcium and phosphorus, among other essential nutrients. In addition to being cooked and eaten like a potato, cassava can also be ground into a flour. The starch of the cassava is not called “cassava starch” (as you might expect based on “corn starch” or “potato starch”) but tapioca , and is most famously used in puddings and in the “boba” balls of certain Asian teas. These are sometimes called “pearls” and are often served with a milk-enriched tea called “pearl milk tea” or, in Chinese, phonetically spelled out: “jen-joo-nai-cha.” (I used to drink this all the time in the night markets of Taiwan, where it was sold from street carts, alongside noodles, papaya milk smoothies and fried onion-cakes (“tsong-yo-bing”). Source: 25 Amazing Facts About Food , authored by Mike Adams and David Guiterrez. This report reveals surprising things about where your food comes from and what’s really in it! Download the full report (FREE) by clicking here . Inside, you’ll learn 24 more amazing but true facts about foods, beverages and food ingredients. Instant download of the complete PDF. All 25 facts are documented and true. Sources for this article include: http://www.africanfoods.co.uk/cassava.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapioca

Benefits of cinnamon – surprising health facts

(NaturalNews) A shaker of cinnamon often sits on the spice rack in most of our kitchens. Given its frequent use in sugary baked goods, many health mavens overlook cinnamon’s centuries-old history as a healing substance, focusing on more exotic herbs rather than a brown powder found in Grandma’s kitchen. Yet cinnamon, derived from the bark of a tree commonly found in South Asia and the Middle East region, not only adds flavor to pies, it also delivers a host of health benefits. Ancient India’s Healing Tradition Ayurveda, the ancient healing system of India, often uses cinnamon to stimulate circulation as well as to increase the bio-availability of other herbs. Ayurvedic healers, prescribe remedies based on an individual’s dosha or type. Ayurveda sees cinnamon as an appropriate remedy for people who belong to the kapha type (characterized as sturdy, heavy, calm, slow and moist) and the vata type (thin, cold, prone to nervousness) since cinnamon tends to have a heating and energizing effect. People who belong to the pitta type (fiery, oily, sharp) can partake of cinnamon in moderation. Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbalists and acupuncturists in the Chinese tradition value cinnamon for its warming qualities. Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may prescribe cinnamon, often in combination with another warming substance such as ginger, to ward off colds. TCM healers may prescribe cinnamon for disorders associated with the kidney meridian. Anti-Viral During the 1918 influenza outbreak, workers at cinnamon factories seemed immune to the Spanish flu which decimated the population. A potent new form of cinnamon extract may even protect against HIV. An Israeli researcher, taking a cue from a Biblical reference to high priests using a holy oil containing cinnamon, in 2007 developed a powerful cinnamon extract which may protect against modern viruses like the Avian flu. Blood Sugar Control There may be a touch of ancient wisdom at work in all the recipes which combine cinnamon with high-carb and high-fat ingredients. Cinnamon can mitigate the impact these foods have on blood sugar levels, slowing the rate at which the stomach empties after meals and thereby reducing the potential spike in blood sugar. Cinnamon can offer aid to people who have type 2 diabetes by preventing insulin resistance and has even been recommended by the American Diabetes Association. Research has shown cinnamon outperforms diabetes drugs. In a study published in The Journal of Diabetic Medicine, research subjects given cinnamon supplements experienced greater improvement in blood sugar levels than those who received standard diabetes drugs. Muscle to Fat Ratio Studies indicate that cinnamon supplements go beyond just improving blood glucose levels; they can also reduce body fat percentage and help increase lean muscle mass. Scent If people at the holiday dinner table seem especially alert when the cinnamon-spiced pumpkin pie is being served, it might be because of its scent, not just an appetite for sweets. A 2004 study found that the smell of cinnamon helped boost brain function. Study participants performance on tasks involving virtual recognition memory, attentional processes, working memory, and visual-motor speed while using a computer were measured comparing the relative effects of jasmine, peppermint, cinnamon and no odor. Cinnamon had the strongest positive effect on study subjects’ cognitive processing skills. Cinnamon’s aroma comes from cinnamonaldehyde, an essential oil in the bark of cinnamon trees. Anti-Microbial Cinnamon has the ability to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, molds and yeasts, including Candida yeast. In a 2003 study, two batches of vegetable broth were refrigerated, one with, and one without cinnamon oil. The broth with the cinnamon oil was resistant to food-borne pathogenic Bacillus cereus for at least 60 days. Researchers in this study observed that the cinnamon not only served as an effective preservative but also improved the flavor of the broth. In another study, researchers at Kansas State University discovered that cinnamon eliminates E. coli in unpasteurized apple cider. Sources: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=68 http://altmedicine.about.com/od/cinnamon/a/cinnamon.htm http://www.naturalnews.com/031133_cinnamon_diabetes.html http://www.naturalnews.com/029894_honey_arthritis.html http://www.naturalnews.com/031373_ginger_cinnamon.html http://www.naturalnews.com/033246_cinnamon_Alzheimers.html http://www.bluelotusayurveda.com/doshas.html http://www.desertbloomherbs.com/monographs/cinnamonbark.html http://curezone.com/forums/am.asp?i=1407574 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/77703.php

How to grow your own living food (and emergency nutrition) with EasyGreen sprouters

(NaturalNews) It’s one of the top concerns of people everywhere — how do we grow our own food for superior nutrition and food sovereignty? How do we store an emergency food supply that can get us through a crisis when conventional food deliveries to grocery stores may be cut off? One of the most powerful answers to all this is sprouting , and sprouting is no more complicated than having a ready supply of sprouting seeds , then adding water and sprouting your own living nutrition for mere pennies a serving. Three big reasons why people sprout People sprout for three primary reasons: Reason #1) Vegans and vegetarians sprout seeds to eat high-protein living foods which make up the bulk of their diets. Reason #2) Surthrivalists sprout seeds to grow their own emergency foods indoors, using no soils and having a compact food storage benefit (seeds are really tiny, but they sprout into larger foods). Reason #3) Smart consumers sprout seeds in order to save money on their grocery bill, as sprouted seeds provide high-density nutrition at a fraction of the cost of traditional superfoods. Sprouting, in other words, is one of the few strategies used by vegans, vegetarians, survivalists, practical household moms and everybody else who wants to grow their own powerful nutrition for pennies a serving. It’s almost a form of ” micro-gardening ” because you’re practicing small-scale agriculture right on your kitchen counter. Kinda fun, actually… Why sprouts can keep you alive (and more…) Sometimes people joke about those who eat a lot of sprouts (“It’s rabbit food!”), but the science behind sprouting is no joke. Scientifically speaking: • Sprouts synthesize their own natural VITAMINS. • Sprouts are high in blood-cleansing CHLOROPHYLL. • When grown in the right water, sprouts absorb numerous MINERALS and convert them into organic, bioavailable forms for safe human consumption. • Sprouts are LIVING food that provide enzymes and other supportive benefits to human health. • Sprouts are HIGH PROTEIN foods that can also help maintain or even build muscle mass. • Some types of sprouts contain ANTI-CANCER nutrients such as I3C, which are widely documented and also common in cruciferous vegetables. The bottom line is that sprouts can give you living vitamins from plants — and this is something you can enjoy on a daily basis or during a food crisis, if that’s what you reserve it for. How to sprout for (almost) FREE I wouldn’t want to live on sprouts alone, but neither would I want to live without them! For me, they are part of my daily diet of superfood smoothies (avocado chocolate smoothies, for example), quinoa lentil soups and occasional sources of high-quality free-range meats (I’ve been eating more quality meats since working on a ranch in Texas). Sprouting can be as easy as placing seeds in a nut milk bag (or a sprouting bag) and soaking them every few hours to maintain their moisture. This approach, of course, requires a lot of attention to keep the seeds moist but not overly moist to the point where they start to grow mold. But it’s the most affordable way to start sprouting. Video teaches you how to sprout for nearly FREE Check out this awesome video on NaturalNews.TV by Jamison , who shows you how to sprout for (nearly) free: http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=66095ABDE53CD5AC994E73DBFE3EEF0B Here’s also another interesting video from YogaBodyNaturals.com showing “soil-free wheatgrass sprouting” http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=88E6C66F15E7FFFE65CE4B0E04507E56 Automated sprouting For those who want to automate countertop sprouting , there are a couple of machines on the market that maintain the proper sprout moisture for you. I’ve tried three sprouting devices over the last few years, and the best overall device that I found is called the EasyGreen Sprouter . It’s a countertop unit that helps you grow five trays of sprouts (and you can put a different sprouting seed in each tray) simply, affordably and reliably. In essence, it controls the moisture for you and “waters” your sprouts on a repeating timer while maintaining the right humidity. Using this machine on my countertop (you need to use it next to a sink because it has a small drain tube), I’ve been able to grow masses of sprouts for just pennies a serving: Broccoli sprouts (yeow!), mung bean sprouts (like in Chinese food), wheat grass sprouts (for juicing!), and my favorite, alfalfa sprouts . You can also grow radish sprouts, which are rather intense in their flavor but also contain strong medicine. The EasyGreen Sprouter EQMV The EQMV is the newest model of the EasyGreen Sprouter, which has become a mainstay among healthy living advocates. It comes with: • The EasyGreen MikroFarm sprouting machine (18″ x 24″ x 7.5″) • Mist generator • Activation timer (for controlling the misting frequency) • 5 Food-grade growing trays • Owner’s manual CD This is the unit I own and use (I plan to shoot a video about it soon, like my recent video on cactus fruit juicing.) It allows you to germinate, grow and harvest large quantities of sprouts in mere days, for just pennies a serving. It sits on your kitchen counter and uses water and electricity. That’s it. And the water used to grow your sprouts is never recirculated back into your sprouts, meaning your sprouts are grown in FRESH water only (the used water drains into your sink). You can also add minerals to your sprout water if you wish for them to update additional minerals and transform them into plant-based organic minerals. This is, by far, the healthiest and most natural way to intake minerals — get them from plants! The EasyGreen Sprouter is also stackable , so you can double or triple your sprout production in the same counter space. We’ve got the EasyGreen Sprouter on sale right now at the NaturalNews Store, where it’s being offered at 10% off the normal price for a limited time. This is a great value on a solid countertop device that can significantly enhance your ability to grow nutrition and grow your own emergency food . Click here to see the sale price in the NaturalNews Store . Starting with nothing but seeds and water, you can have edible sprouts in 2-3 days , followed by a much larger harvest in 4-5 days, and you can rotate your trays to continually produce fresh sprouts each day thereafter. You can also produce extra sprouts then refrigerate them while you grow more! So you can “pre-sprout” a larger quantity. If you’re in Europe, purchase through: www.easygreeneurope.com If you’re in Canada, call 888-772-6001 to find out where you can buy it in-country. Sprouting hints and tips It’s better to sprout in a cooler area because a cooler room inhibits any possibility of mold growth. You don’t want refrigeration temperatures, of course, but more like something in the high 60′s or low 70′s (F). By the way, I’ve personally grown teff sprouts , then dried them in a countertop food drying machine after pouring applesauce over the top of the sprouts. This makes a crunchy apple sprout bar that’s an amazing emergency food. Yep, you can “play” with all this and create your own amazing sprouted foods or dried superfoods by using nothing more than a sprouting machine and a food dryer (like the Excalibur units). In fact, I’m so excited about this that I recently purchased a Cabela’s food dehydrator to begin large-scale stored food production. Hopefully I’ll bring you some video reports on that in the weeks ahead! When you get a sprouter, remember to stock up on spouting seeds . These are easy to store (refrigerate them if you have the space), and they provide what seems like a massive amount of sprouts from a relatively tiny amount of sprouting seeds. The effect is quite astonishing. And, believe me, for all you survivalists out there (like me), sprouts are far more nutritious than MREs! I personally enjoy teff sprouts and alfalfa sprouts the most. For me, radish sprouts and broccoli sprouts are way too intense and sharp in their taste. I would only use them sparingly. Mung bean sprouts are great for stir-fry dishes, but of course at that point they are no longer raw and living. Dr. Gabriel Cousens likes to sprout sunflower seeds at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona. I’ve toured their facility and they have a fairly large sunflower seed sprouting operation (way beyond the scope of this single machine), but if you just want to sprout sunflower seeds for personal use or family use, this machine is absolutely perfect. Oh, by the way, you can also sprout chia seeds in this machine, although I haven’t experimented with that very much yet. Enjoy your sprouts! And remember, if you want to save 10% on the EasyGreen Sprouting machine , get it on sale at the NaturalNews Store: Click here to see the sale price in the NaturalNews Store . Enjoy!

Don’t waste your money and risk your health with "funny honey" illegally imported from China

(NaturalNews) Raw, unfiltered honey is your healthiest choice for health benefits. You couldn’t ask for a healthier sweetener, unless you pay more for New Zealand Manuka honey. However, there are several honey scams that deprive you of honey’s health benefits. Some of the honey posers are absolutely unhealthy. The best is pure raw honey. Adulterated honey is mostly real honey with additives, which should be listed on the label. Then there is imitation or fake honey. It is usually a syrupy concoction of cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup in water with colorings and binding additives, and maybe a small amount of honey. Both pure and adulterated honeys have similar identification markings, pollen . Fake honey has no pollen. Honey can be legitimately filtered to remove wax and other large particles. But ultra-filtering removes the pollen completely. Almost 80% of the brands from big box grocers and pharmacies tested by Food Safety News had no trace of pollen. Add 100% without pollen in those little packets of honey provided by airlines and restaurants. Products are listed here (http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/). Despite even congressional demands that the FDA do something to curb the fraud, the FDA refuses. Maybe they’re too busy harassing raw milk providers. “Ultra filtering makes no sense,” asserted Mark Jensen, president of the American Honey Producers Association. He went on to say no real honey producer would do that because it’s costly and diminishes quality. But Jensen added this stinger: “In my judgment, it is pretty safe to assume that any ultra-filtered honey on store shelves is Chinese honey and it’s even safer to assume that it entered the country in violation of federal law.” Chinese honey is fake funny honey that bypasses strict tariffs, imposed a few years ago to keep cheap Chinese honey from squeezing USA bee keepers out of the honey market. The reason it’s so cheap is that it usually has no honey in it! So how do they avoid the tariffs and keep that high markup intact? Simply misdirecting the point of origin is one way. Sending it to Canada or Mexico, then changing the shipping labels there and sending the containers across the border is the essence of this shuffle. Another way is to simply lie about the contents of 50 gallon drums, using fake labels of other items that match the funny honey prices. Since either method involves food brokers in the middle, retailers who purchase at good prices don’t ask questions. According to reporters investigating, they don’t answer questions either. This is probably not a Chinese conspiracy. The Chinese are having the same issues with funny honey on their grocery shelves. Co-ops, farmers markets, and respected health food stores all had high marks from Food Safety News. Pollen showed up in all the products tested. So the worst honey you could get from them is adulterated, i.e. containing mostly real raw honey partially filtered with some additives. Again, your best bet is raw, unfiltered honey from a reliable source. It’s worth the extra cost for its nutritional and healing properties. Sources for this article includes: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/07/smuggled-honey-ultra-filtered_n_1079948.html http://www.grist.org/list/2011-11-07-most-honey-isnt-really-honey http://imkers.blogspot.com/2011/10/fake-honey.html http://ecobites.com/eco-news-articles/natural-health/3487-are-you-buying-fake-honey http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/pure-honey.html

#3 Stainless Steel Chinese Healthy Exercise Massage Metal Balls Reviews

#3 Stainless Steel Chinese Healthy Exercise Massage Metal Balls Chinese Healthy Balls stimulate and exercise your hands muscles by moving both of them in one hand SIZE: Diameter: 1.7″ Chinese Healthy Balls stimulate and exercise your hands muscles by moving both of them in one hand. The balls are metal, brilliant painting and design, hollow [...]

Eating certain foods alters expression of heart disease genes

(NaturalNews) Did your mother or father have a heart attack? Did your grandfather and a couple of aunts and uncles or maybe a brother or cousin die from heart disease? Do you feel doomed that having a bad ticker “runs” in your family? Actually, you may have good reason to worry if several of your relatives have suffered from cardiac problems. There is a gene passed down in families that researchers say is the strongest marker for heart disease. But now there’s breaking news that shows you can actually change that genetic heritage. No, we aren’t talking about some gene zapping drug or high tech genetic medical therapy. Instead, you simply need to eat a lot of raw natural fruit and veggies. This isn’t a joke and it isn’t an unsubstantiated “health nut” claim. Instead, it’s the result of a study headed by an international team of scientists and directed by researchers at McMaster and McGill universities. These researchers have made an amazing discovery, which was just published in the journal PLoS Medicine : the gene responsible for much heart disease can be modified by eating generous amounts of fruits and raw vegetables. “We know that 9p21 genetic variants increase the risk of heart disease for those that carry it,” Dr. Jamie Engert, joint principal investigator of the study, who is a researcher in cardiovascular diseases at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and associate member in the Department of Human Genetics at McGill University, said in a media statement. “But it was a surprise to find that a healthy diet could significantly weaken its effect.” Huge study investigated gene and diet link The research represents one of the largest gene and diet interaction studies ever conducted on cardiovascular disease. It involved studying more than 27,000 individuals(European, South Asian, Chinese, Latin American and Arab) to see if what they ate had an effect on the 9p21 gene. The results showed that individuals with the high risk genotype who ate a diet rich in mainly raw vegetables, fruits and berries, had no more risk of heart attack than people who lacked the heart disease-linked gene. “We observed that the effect of a high-risk genotype can be mitigated by consuming a diet high in fruits and vegetables,” stated Sonia Anand. She is the joint principal investigator of the study, and a researcher at the Population Health Research Institute and a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University. Sonia also commented, “Our results support the public health recommendation to consume more than five servings of fruits or vegetables as a way to promote good health.” According to the study’s lead author Dr. Ron Do (who conducted this research as part of his PhD at McGill and is now based at the Center for Human Genetics Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston), the new study suggests there may be an important interplay between genes and diet in cardiovascular disease. “Future research is necessary to understand the mechanism of this interaction, which will shed light on the underlying metabolic processes that the 9p21 gene is involved in,” Dr. Do said. Sources for this article include: http://www.plosone.org/home.action http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/media /media_mcmaster_mcgill_greens_genes_20111011.htmlhttp://www.genetichealth.com/HD_Genetics_of_Coronary_Artery_Disease.shtml

Green tea alters gene expression to improve cholesterol metabolism

(NaturalNews) Green tea consumption has been shown to benefit many health issues ranging from help with weight management to cancer prevention and treatment. New research published in the British Journal of Nutrition explains that the natural extract from the Camellia sinensis plant has a powerful effect on cholesterol metabolism in the human body. Most forward thinking health professionals understand that dysfunction in the LDL cholesterol pathway lays the foundation for cardiovascular health problems, cancer and fatty liver disease. Regular green tea consumption is now shown to improve healthy LDL cholesterol function, enabling the fatty molecule to efficiently usher excess cholesterol from the body and to improve risk factors for many chronic disease conditions. In one of the first studies of its type, researchers performed DNA microarray analysis to examine the effect of the active compound found in green tea called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Scientists specifically targeted the catechin to determine their effect on cholesterol metabolism in HepG2 hepatocytes. They determined that the expression levels of several genes related to cholesterol metabolism, including the LDL receptor, were changed by EGCG treatment. EGCG was found to boost the function of the LDL receptor on liver cells. Researchers commented “This is very important as proper function of the LDL receptor enables your liver to “capture” circulating LDL and recycle it.” In this study, green tea is shown to alter gene expression toward healthy LDL cholesterol metabolism by improving receptor acceptance by the liver. The liver displays an improved capacity to capture and filter LDL cholesterol for removal from the body. In addition to the finding that green tea alters LDL cholesterol metabolism, ECGC was found to inhibit genes to reduce the production of Apolipoprotein B (ApoB). ApoB formation is required to initially form LDL molecules in the blood. Excess production of ApoB is a significant marker for chronic illnesses ranging from cardiovascular disease and heart attack to increased risk of cancer and dementia. Green tea and the active compound EGCG are quickly ascending to nutritional “superstar” status. The Chinese have extolled its virtues for countless generations. Researchers now document the prowess of this nutrient by scientifically validating the direct impact exerted on our genetic structure to affect healthy cholesterol function and removal from the body. The healthy benefits of green tea are realized by drinking several fresh brewed cups of organically harvested leaves each day or by supplementing with 250 to 500 mg of EGCG extract. Article References: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8357677 http://www.wellnessresources.com/studies/green_tea_modulates_genes_involved_with_cholesterol http://www.wellnessresources.com/health/articles/how_green_tea_improves_cholesterol_metabolism/

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