Ginger as a therapeutic agent.

Ginger root has been used in medicine and the culinary arts for ages. It is originally from asia but it grows extremely well in the tropics like Puerto Rico. It has a yellowish exterior and a faded yellow interior. It has a pungent flavor which gives it's characteristic spicy flavor ones it enters our throat. In herbal medicine, I usually use it for upset stomach, gastritis, nausea and throat infections. It is very good when mixed with Echinacea and Goldenseal in helping your body fight of the common cold. Many times it has saved me from actually getting a cold. It has also helped me stay up at night when taken in candy form (due to its spicy flavor.). Ginger can be safely used during all life's cycles but it is best to not over use it during pregnancy. Picky eaters can take ginger ("hidden") in foods or drinks to stimulate appetite. The best form to take ginger is either by Infusion (Tea) or by Liquid Extract (Glycerin based). I don't recommend taking Ginger in pill form for the common cold, best in FRESH prepared infusion specially for an upset stomach mixed with your favorite Seed based milk. I hope you benefit from ginger the way I have. Much blessing to you and your family. Namaste!

Environmental Health

I've been wanting to write about this for some time now. I used to go to schools and give lectures about how pollution affects our state of health. I have had the honor to work with the Howard Hughes program at my academic institution, in which I did research in Green Chemistry. I worked with the Neem tree leaf in which I tested its insecticide properties. It was a challenging research project since it was completely created, planned and executed by my team of student scientist. We where all entering our second year of Biology studies so we where "fresh" out of our General Biology courses. To our luck we had a third year Chemistry student who mainly worked in telling us what was dangerous and what wasn't. After a month of long and painful experimentation our results where inconclusive... we weren't to sad considering we proved you can use non toxic methods of plant extractions an have an "effect" of the given product. Our research was inconclusive due to many variables, the main one being TIME.

Why did we do this? Well simple, because we can! Most natural products are converted to biohazard waste when mixed with heavy solvents, who can easily damage ecological systems if mixed with the environment. As global warming keeps showing us its ugly head, scientist are being forced to find newer ways to address agronomical, biomedical and geological problems.

Instead of blogging for an hour about the Waste-Human connection, I rather show you a very self explanatory video of this connection. I used to show this video in my presentations, which if needed i'm glad to give again. My presentation focused on Environmental Contaminants and how to avoid them utilizing Natural Products.

We don't just use our environment, we borrow it from our children.

Enjoy!

Plant based Nutrition

Now more than ever people are wondering whats a healthy diet. I dont like the term diet because it has a "temporary" meaning to it. Staying fit and healthy doesnt mean dieting from time to time. Its about following a dietary pattern, a way of thinking when it comes to food. Food is our Medicine and Medicine should be our Food, very wise words ones said by Aristotle. Food has a very powerful role in our every day health. Food is what gives us the vital energy for survival, it is the fire we need to let our bodies function properly. People may be confused of what is healthy and whats just a food fad.

In my personal opinion, I promote Plant based nutrition. A vegetarian lifestyle helps me stay in tune with Nature. To create life one must consume life. While keeping a Vegetarian lifestyle Im not promoting suffering to animals, the planet and myself. A vegetarian/vegan saves an average 100 lives a year, and that is not to count world hunger. If we focus the growth of corn for human consumption instead of animal consumption we can spare world hunger. The over production of meat and animal by-products is giving our planet earth a strong blow. The amount of CO2 being produced by cars at this instant is half as much as what a factory farm produces in the raising and processing of meat and animal by-products.

Now from a Medical point of view. Animal products are high in Cholesterol and Saturated Fats. They contain, growth hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals which aren't regularly found in our food supply. Since birth animals are treated with many foreign substances which when consumed by humans are passed on from mother to son/daughter. In nutritional values, meat is mostly formed of proteins, fats, B-Vitamins, Iron, and Magnesium. All of which can be found in Plant Form. Vegans who don't consume any animal products can find all of these nutrients in Nuts, Roots and Dietary Supplements like Brewer's Yeast which is packed with Protein and B-Vitamins.

We are what we eat! Many people believe Vegetarians will become weak and sick. This is purely not true, the American Dietetic Association has made numerous articles demonstrating the health benefits of a well planned Vegan and Vegetarian lifestyle. After all, a Mighty and Powerful Ox, gets all his strength from GRASS !!!

So go out there and taste the botanical rainbow. All packed with Vital Nutrients and life giving energies that will replenish and help you live a fulfilling life.

Namaste. -_-

Oneness

Oneness is our ability to be one with something yet a completely different being.
Today I will be talking about our oneness with our surroundings and our environment as a whole with a focus in Holistic Nutrition.

In buddhism we learn that we are all connected by energy. This is true considering we are all basically made of the same stuff. All the trace elements, and biochemical reactions. We depend on our surroundings for sustainability. According to scientific thought we all evolved from a one single cell organism. This was due possible thanks to all the other organisms that helped create Oxygen and compose our atmosphere. Without plants we wouldn't be able to breath and without animals we wouldn't be able to have a controlled and balanced environment. Even the smallest members of our ecosystems bacteria and viruses are important for our survival or balance. It wouldn't be a shock that by altering this excellently balanced system we will see changes in our surroundings.

Our body is also a balanced system composed of many reactions that help us survive.
A wise women (Nutritionist) ones told me that we are what we eat. Honestly I was 15 when she told me this and I couldn't really get a grip on it. Until one day (18th Birthday) I had an epiphany. Every time I consumed an alcoholic beverage I would see an immediate (30min) reaction. My vision would become foggy, my ideas simply rushed in and out of my head, you tend to feel numb and you become "buzzed" and this is just from 3 Long Islands which don't even constitute 1/3 of what we consume on a daily basis. So this is when I noticed that its completely true. What we consume has a direct and quick effect on our biochemical reactions.
Diabetics tend to know this more than anyone considering there glucose monitoring.

And its a sad truth that we don't have the knowledge to make healthy conscious decisions when it comes to our dietary patterns.

I encourage you to go out to your grocery store and pick only fresh or frozen produce like fruits and vegetables. Limit your consumption of salty foods which most of them tend to be canned goods. Avoid baked goods except for whole wheat bread. Drink mostly water even tho I find a cup of apple juice in the morning to be very refreshing and awakening. Instead of going to a fast food for lunch, why not bring food from home. Enjoy a nice baked fish with vegetables. Or baked vegetables with a side of fruit.

Nature is the best nutritionist, find items that arent processed and are closest to nature. !

Enjoy Life to the Fullest and remember to always Listen to your body and your surroundings ;)

Environmental Change and its Impact on Society

Many of you have heard the famous 2 words: Global Warming ... What does this mean? Global warming is an action and a moment in time where our atmospheric temperature is rising due to the concentration of heat, by heat unable to leave the atmosphere. Our planet is surrounded by an invisible shield made up of different gases that allow the planet to receive and send heat waves in and out of our planet. This whole system is regulated by our own planet. Due to the constant pollution in our planet, the emissions of CO2 gases and toxic chemicals emitted by pharmaceutical, texture and petroleum industries. All of the man made pollution in our planet can be prevented. back in the 50's this would have never been predicted, yet now thanks to the creation and expansion of Green Chemistry and Sustainable design we can limit or prevent the emission of toxic chemicals into our environment.

How does this affect me ? Well all of these toxic chemicals being excreted our being concentrated in our atmosphere and in our air. Our AIR, one of the most vital elements, oxygen. OXYGEN, is being replaced by these poisons. These toxins are inhaled by all of our population and concentrated into our biological system. Most of these chemicals either have adverse effects on our systems our they HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN TESTED to check for any interactions.

This is alarming ... As a biology student I believe we must always check human interactions considering we are the ones using it and producing it ... And to add to all of this we arent the only ones in this planet nor the only ones affected. Plants and Animals are also affected by this phenomenon. Agricultural crops are being affected. There growth has been affected and due to the contamination of soils, all of these contaminants that our in our atmosphere eventually get brought down to the earth by rain. Our food animal supply eat from these plants and therefore they also get a shot of the contaminants into there system. ... So ... We are being contaminated not just by the air that we breathe but also by the food that we eat.
Amazing... what can we do, in these world full of dangers ... do we wait ? do we .. change ?

Well we need to stand up and make a change. Take back our government and its regulatory affairs. After all we are the ones that make the economy go round by slaving our self at the office,lab,building etc... If we are going to slave ourselves at work to pay for the stuff that we eat it should be healthy and safe !!!

Environmental change is real and its already here. Let's start making a change by using safe products which are free of toxic chemicals. We need to reduce our consumption of unnecessary materials which only end up in the dumpster. Boycott companies that use unsafe methods of production and who don't have a method off sustainable line production. Adopt a more vegetable based diet, considering the animal industry produces the biggest amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. Small everyday changes make a huge difference in how the world turns. So let's all get together and make a change.

Let's take Control of Our Life and of Our Planet !!!

The Ocean as a Balancing Agent.

For many years people have been going to the beach for entertainment. To whine down from a long week or a summer past time. Personally living in a small island in the caribbean, going to the beach was as common as taking a shower.
Sea water is composed of mainly salt ions and traced minerals and some particulate metals. Our bodies are composed of about 65% water, in that mix we find salts, proteins, minerals and metals.
As you may have heard our bodies can be balanced by metals. This is possible do to our intricate balance of traced metals in our bodies. The flow of metals in our bodies helps our circulatory system flow with ease. This action helps us feel softer and at ease, making everyday and more complex tasks easier to manage.
The ocean is our natural water based magnet. It can help us concentrate our inner energies. Going to the beach is more helpful to our health than going to chlorine filled public pools. Its a stress free environment where you can socialize with your friends or make new ones.
As with any outdoor health activity you must always be prepared. UV light from the sun can cause skin cancer if overly exposed, specially if your skin isn't used to it regularly. Always where a natural based sunblock or wear a wet suit. Natural based sunblocks our easier on our skin and don't clog your pores with unwanted chemicals. After sun exposer a nice shower is always a must, but remember to apply a natural moistening cream like kiss your skin or any natural based product containing aloe vera and vitamin E.

The sea is our friend and some even say we came from the sea. Its always good to head to the beach, soak in the salty waters and the suns rays.

When we get sick Mother knows best and therefore we must always listen to our Mother Nature when we are ill.

Garlics Antimicrobial Effects

Medicinal botany has been the way to go medicine for thousands of years, yet today in our modern medical system, natural medicine isn't seen as what it ones was. I had the opportunity to work in Medicinal Plant Biochemistry and trust me the field is everyday expanding. There are many questions left unanswered and some of them who already are. I worked in researching the antimicrobial effects of garlic (Alium sativum}. The research took me about 4 months to finish and it was long, and tiring yet fruitful. My lab and I found that garlic and its hybrid forms, have compounds that inhibit the growth of fungi in in vitro. Meaning that by consuming garlic regularly you are less prone to fungal disease like candida. The research model was small and we didn't get to test many fungi, but all the ones that where tested, all where inhibited by garlic.

So eat garlic bread, marinate your veggies in garlic sauce and enjoy this enticing herb. Do it for your health.

P.S and always remember to take some mints with you just in case. ;)