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. -_-