Prohealthlaw: Healthy Insights & Products

4:29 AM

Health Benefits Of Sweet Potato "Camote"

Sweet Potato “Camote” should be part of our diet even if you have money to buy or prepare expensive dishes. Camote is among the world’s healthiest food. Every week, it has been my routine to go to nearby market to buy camote for one week consumption. Newly harvested sweet potatoes can last for more than two weeks. It can replace rice in diet. But Filipinos cannot do the switch because we are rice eating country. However, for the past years I have been eating sweet potato instead of rice and it helps me in my weight loss program aside from other health benefits. These are some of the health benefits I found on the web.

"Sweet potatoes are high in vitamin A, vitamin B5, B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, and, due to their orange color, are high in carotenoids," said San Diego-based nutritionist Laura Flores. Plus, they're fat-free, relatively low in sodium and have fewer calories than white potatoes — although they do have more sugar.

Sweet potatoes are one of the best sources of vitamin A; a large one contains more than 100 percent of the daily recommended intake, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Vitamin A is an antioxidant powerhouse, and is linked to anti-aging benefits, cancer prevention and the maintenance of good eyesight, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Health Benefits

Heart health

Sweet potatoes are a great source of B6 vitamins, which are brilliant at breaking down homocysteine, a substance that contributes to the hardening of blood vessels and arteries. Sweet potatoes' potassium content is also helpful for your heart, as it lowers blood pressure by maintaining fluid balance. Potassium is also an important electrolyte that helps regulate your heartbeat. Harvard University School of Public Health, American Heart Association.

Controlling blood sugar and maintaining energy

For as sweet as they are, sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index (which means they release sugar slowly into the bloodstream). Sweet potatoes — unlike other starchy foods that elevate blood sugar rapidly after [they're consumed] due to their metabolism into sugar — will help steady the levels of blood sugar. This means you won't get blood-sugar spikes, but you will get a steady amount of energy. Flores noted that this regulation occurs even in people with type 2 diabetes.

As if that weren't sweet enough, sweet potatoes are a terrific source of manganese, according to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Manganese helps the body metabolize carbohydrates and thus maintain healthy blood sugar levels, and it can even stabilize your appetite. It also helps the body utilize antioxidants.

Stress

According to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, sweet potatoes contain magnesium, the go-to mineral for destressing. It promotes relaxation, calmness and a good mood, as well as artery, blood, bone, muscle and nerve health, according to Psychology Today.

Immunity and anti-inflammatory properties

Due to the color-pigmented vitamins, sweet potatoes are high in anti-inflammatory benefits. One sweet potato contains about half of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C. Vitamins A and E also support a healthy immune system and are powerful disease-fighting antioxidants. While orange sweet potatoes contain more vitamin A, purple sweet potatoes are packed with the antioxidant anthocyanin, which is responsible for red, blue and purple colors in fruits and vegetables. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, pigment-related antioxidants have anti-inflammatory properties, which are beneficial to overall health and help mitigate inflammatory disorders.

Skin and hair

Vitamin A may help protect against sun damage, according to a 2004 study in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, and vitamins C and E are well-known for their beauty benefits. They encourage healthy, glowing skin and collagen growth.

Digestion

According to the Cleveland Clinic, sweet potatoes are a good source of dietary fiber, which helps the body maintain a healthy digestive tract and regulates digestion.

Cancer prevention

Orange sweet potatoes have been shown to have anti-carcinogenic properties and the NIH reports that some studies have suggested that beta-carotene may reduce the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women and ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women.

However, purple sweet potatoes may be even more effective than orange sweet potatoes in staving off cancer. Purple sweet potatoes have been shown to have better cancer-fighting abilities, with a positive effect on cancer cell growth.

Source: http://www.livescience.com/

6:10 PM

Health Benefits Of Peanuts

This has been my favorite snack ever since. Though I've been eating peanuts for the past years but I don't exactly know its benefits. This time I made a research in order to satisfy my curiosity which I'm glad to share to you.

Also known as ground nuts, peanuts, along with beans and peas are members of the legume family which are the best sources of protein in the plant kingdom. Peanuts are fondly in wide variety of products. They can be eaten salted, dry roasted, boiled and even raw. They can be found in peanut brittle, peanut butter and candy bars and is often a major ingredient in mixed nuts. Peanuts are enriched with many noteworthy health-benefiting nutrients essential for optimum health and wellness.

Health benefits of Peanuts

Peanuts are rich in energy (567 calories per 100 g) and contain health benefiting nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins that are essential for optimum health.
They compose sufficient levels of mono-unsaturated fatty acids especially oleic acid. It helps lower LDL or "bad cholesterol" and increase HDL or "good cholesterol” level in the blood. Research studies suggest that Mediterranean diet, which is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids help to prevent coronary artery disease and strokes by favoring healthy blood lipid profile.
The kernels are a good source of dietary protein; compose fine quality amino acids that are essential for growth and development.
Research studies have shown that peanuts contain high concentrations of poly-phenolic antioxidants, primarily p-coumaric acid. This compound has been thought to reduce the risk of stomach cancer by limiting formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines in the stomach.
Peanuts are an excellent source of resveratrol, another polyphenolic antioxidant. Resveratrol has been found to have protective function against cancers, heart disease, degenerative nerve disease, Alzheimer's disease, and viral/fungal infections.
Furthermore, studies suggest that resveratrol reduce stroke risk by altering molecular mechanisms in the blood vessels (reducing susceptibility to vascular damage through decreased activity of angiotensin, a systemic hormone responsible for blood vessel constriction that would elevate blood pressure), and by increasing production of vasodilator hormone, nitric oxide.
Recent research studies suggest that roasting/boiling enhances antioxidant bio-availability in the peanuts. It has been found that boiled peanuts have two and four-fold increase in isoflavone antioxidants biochanin-A and genistein content, respectively. (Journal of agricultural and food chemistry).
The kernels are an excellent source of vitamin E (α-tocopherol); containing about 8 g per100 g. vitamin E is a powerful lipid soluble antioxidant which helps maintain the integrity of cell membrane of mucus membranes and skin by protecting from harmful oxygen free radicals.
The nuts are packed with many important B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, and folates. 100 g of peanuts provide about 85% of RDI of niacin, which contribute to brain health and blood flow to brain.

Studies have shown that women who had a daily intake of 400 micrograms of folic acid before and during early pregnancy reduced their risk of having a baby born with a serious neural tube defect by up to 70%.
Peanuts are good source of tryptophan, an essential amino acid which is important for the production of serotonin, one of the key brain chemicals involved in mood regulation. When depression occurs, a decreased amount of serotonin may be released from the nerve cells in the brain. Tryptophan may raise serotonin’s antidepressant effects when there is an increased amount of serotonin in the blood.
The nuts are rich source of minerals like copper, manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium.

It helps boost memory power, also known as brain food. This is due to their vitamin B3 or niacin content whose many health benefits include normal brain functioning.

Just a hand full of peanuts per day provides enough recommended levels of phenolic anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins, and protein. So never forget to include peanuts in your snack.

4:10 AM

Health Benefits Of Santol

Santol fruit is round yellow fruit with a white juicy sweet sour soft sub acid tissue. When the fruit is not ripe, the flesh is even sourer.

Santol fruit has Antioxidants. Scientists believe these compounds help prevent and repair oxidation damage that happens during normal cell activity.

Santol are also full of a fiber called pectin. Pectin is classed as a soluble, fermentable and viscous fiber, a combination that gives it a huge list of health benefits.

1. Curb all sorts of cancers

The research found that extracts from whole Santols can reduce the number and size of mammary tumours in rats. Meanwhile, the National Cancer Institute in Thailand. has recommended a high fiber intake to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

2. Get whiter, healthier teeth

Santol won’t replace your toothbrush, but biting and chewing an santol stimulates the production of saliva in your mouth, reducing tooth decay by lowering the levels of bacteria.

3. Reduce cholesterol

The soluble fiber found in santols binds with fats in the intestine, which translates into lower cholesterol levels and a healthier you.

4. Control your weight

Many health issues area unit related to being overweight, among them cardiopathy, stroke, high pressure level, sort a pair of polygenic disorder and sleep disorder. To manage your weight and improve your overall health, doctors suggest a diet wealthy in fiber. Foods high in fiber can fill you up while not cost accounting you too several calories.

5. Boost your immune system

Santol contain an antioxidant called quercetin. Recent studies have found that quercetin can help boost and fortify your immune system, especially when you’re stressed out.

6. Avert hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are vascular structures in the anal canal. For a variety of reasons they can become swollen or inflamed and bleed or thrombose. This progression of symptoms is common of external hemorrhoids and can lead to uncomfortable levels of pain and itching.

7. Beat diarrhea and constipation

Whether you can’t go to the bathroom or you just can’t stop, fiber found in santols can help. Fiber can either pull water out of your colon to keep things moving along when you’re backed up, or absorb excess water from your stool to slow your bowels down.

8. Good for diabetes

It is fiber rich and has a low glycemic index. Fruits with low glycemic index are fibrous and the fiber slows down its digestion which in turn regulates or prevents blood sugar levels to increase. The fiber curtails the absorption of sugar into the blood. Thus, the santol is fruit good for diabetics primarily because of its low glycemic index.

A new study performed on mice shows that drinking santol juice could keep Alzheimer’s away and fight the effects of aging on the brain.

source: http://thai-foods.net / www.allaboutdiabetes.net

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4:05 AM

Health Benefits of Guava

Many of you may have tasted this mouth-watering treat, or have at least seen or heard about it. Guava is very common in Asian countries, but is increasingly available in the western world, particularly as more of its health benefits are revealed. It is a somewhat round or pear-shaped seasonal fruit, and is light green, yellow, or maroon in color on the outside when it is ripe. Guava also has white or maroon flesh and lots of small hard seeds enveloped in very soft, sweet pulp. It is eaten raw (ripe or semi-ripe) or in the form of jams and jellies.

Health Benefits of Guava

a. Diarrhea & Dysentery: Guava is very rich in astringents (compounds those make your gums feel tighter and fresh after you chew guava leaves or eat a raw guava or use some toothpaste) which binds up loose bowels in diarrhea. These astringents are alkaline in nature and have disinfectant and anti-bacterial properties, thus help cure dysentery by inhibiting microbial growth and removing extra mucus from the intestines. Further, other nutrients in guava, such as vitamin-C, Carotenoids and potassium strengthens and tones up the digestive system and disinfect it. Guava is also beneficial in gastroenteritis due to reasons stated above.

b. Constipation: Guava is one of the riches sources of dietary fiber. Its seeds, if ingested whole or chewed, serve as excellent laxatives. These two properties of guava help forming bowels, retaining water and clean your intestines and excretory system thoroughly. It is said that single constipation can lead to seventy two types of ailments. It is absolutely true. Every way to your total health goes through proper digestion and more importantly, proper excretion. Guava ensures both of these.

c. Cough & Cold: Juice of raw and immature guavas or decoction of guava-leaves is very helpful in giving relief in cough and cold by loosening cough, reducing mucus, disinfecting the respiratory tract, throat and lungs and inhibiting microbial activity due to its astringent properties. Guava is one of richest in vitamin-C and iron which are proven to be preventive against cold and viral infections. In some areas in India, roasted ripe guava is used as a remedy against extreme cases of cough and cold and congestion.

d. Skin Care: Guavas can help improve your skin texture and avoid skin problems more than the best of beauty creams or skin toner gels can do. This is chiefly due to the abundance of astringents in its fruits (more in immature ones) and in leaves. You can benefit from it either by eating the fruits (this help tighten your muscles apart from your skin) or by washing your skin with the decoction of its immature fruits and leaves. It will tone up and tighten the loosened skin. In addition to the astringents, guava is very-very rich in vitamin-A, B, C and potassium which are very good anti oxidants and detoxifiers and keep your skin glowing and free from aging, wrinkles and other disorders.

e. High Blood Pressure: Guava helps reduce cholesterol in blood and prevents it from thickening, thereby maintaining fluidity of blood and reducing blood pressure. Studies have shown that food stuffs which lack fiber (such a refined flour) add to blood pressure, due to quick conversion to sugar. Guava, being very rich in fiber and hypoglycemic in nature, helps reduce blood pressure.

f. Weight Loss: Guava is very helpful for those who want to lose weight without compromising with their intake of proteins, vitamins and fiber. Guava, being very high in roughage and very rich in vitamins, proteins and minerals, but with no cholesterol and less digestible carbohydrates, is very filling and satisfies appetite very easily. Just have a medium sized guava in the lunch and you will not feel hungry till night. But ironically, it helps gaining weight in lean and thin people. This is probably due to its richness in nutrients, which keeps your metabolism right helping proper absorption of nutrients.

g. Scurvy: Guava can outdo many other fruits, including orange and other citrus fruits, when it comes to concentration of vitamin-C, whose deficiency causes scurvy and which is the only remedy to it. It contains five times the vitamin-C in oranges.

source: www.organicfacts.net

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4:01 AM

Health Benefits Of Jackfruit

Enormous and prickly on the outside, jackfruit looks somewhat like durian (though jackfruit is usually even larger). Once a jackfruit is cracked open, what you will find inside are pods or 'bulbs'. Often referred to as the seeds, these bulbs are actually a kind of fleshy covering for the true seeds or pits, which are round and dark like chesnuts. The fleshy part (the 'bulb') can be eaten as is, or cut up and cooked. When unripe (green), it is remarkably similar in texture to chicken, making jackfruit an excellent vegetarian substitute for meat. In fact, canned jackfruit (in brine) is sometimes referred to as "vegetable meat".

Health benefits of jackfruit

a. 100 g of edible jackfruit bulbs provide 95 calories. The fruit is made of soft, easily digestible flesh (bulbs) with simple sugars like fructose and sucrose that when eaten replenishes energy and revitalizes the body instantly.

b. Jackfruit is rich in dietary fiber, which makes it a good bulk laxative. The fiber content helps protect the colon mucous membrane by binding to and eliminating cancer-causing chemicals from the colon.

c. Fresh fruit has small amounts of vitamin-A, and flavonoid pigments such as carotene-ß, xanthin, lutein and cryptoxanthin-ß. Together, these compounds play vital roles in antioxidant and vision functions. Vitamin A is also required for maintaining integrity of mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in vitamin-A, and carotenes has been found to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.

d. Additionally, jackfruit is a good source of antioxidant vitamin-C, provides about 13.7 mg or 23% of RDA. Consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful free radicals.

e. It is one of the rare fruits that is rich in B-complex group of vitamins. It contains very good amounts of vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), niacin, riboflavin, and folic acid.

f. Fresh fruit is a good source of potassium, magnesium, manganese, and iron. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure.

source: www.nutrition-and-you.com / www.naturalfoodbenefits.com/

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3:56 AM

Health Benefits Of Okra

The worldwide used versatile vegetable called okra is characterized by green color, elongated and tapering ridged pods infused with double row of seeds and slimy texture when cut open. This integral member of the cotton family is indigenous to regions around the Nile in North Africa and the Middle East for it was discovered dating as far as 3500 years ago in Ethiopia. Early Egyptians are known to love its taste. Okra later transcended to North America enroute slave trade and then to Europe, Asia and South and Central America.

Besides being low in calories it is aplenty with vitamins of the category A, Thiamin, B6, C, folic acid, riboflavin, calcium, zinc and dietary fiber. Eating okra is much recommended for pregnant woman besides other for it is rich in folic acid which is essential in the neural tube formation of the fetus during 4-12 weeks of gestation period in the mother's womb.

a. The mucilage and fiber found in okra helps adjust blood sugar by regulating its absorption in the small intestine. The fiber of okra has many superior qualities in maintaining the health of the gastro-intestinal tract.

b. It helps reabsorb water and traps excess cholesterol, metabolic toxins and surplus bile in its mucilage and slips it out through the stool. Due to greater percentage of water in the bulk it thereby prevents constipation, gas and bloating in the abdomen.

c. It is an ideal vegetable for weight loss and is storehouse of health benefits provided it is cooked over low flame to retain its properties. This also to ensure that the invaluable mucilage contained in it is not lost to high heat.

d. Okra facilitates the propagation of good bacteria referred to as probiotics. These are similar to the ones proliferate by the yoghurt in the small intestine and helps biosynthesis of Vitamin B complex.

e. For adding bounce your hair. Boil horizontally sliced okra till the brew become maximally slimy. Cool it and add a few droops of lemon and use this as the last rinse and see your hair spring back to youthfulness and jump.

f. Okra is an excellent laxative treats irritable bowels, heals ulcers and sooths the gastrointestinal track.

g. Protein and oil contained in the seeds of okra serves as the source of first-rate vegetable protein. It is enriched with amino acids on the likes of tryptophan, cystine and other sulfur amino acids.

source: www.naturalfoodbenefits.com

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3:52 AM

Health Benefits Of Rice Water

3:47 AM

Health Benefits Of Drinking Water On An Empty Stomach

People in Japan have the habit to drink water as soon as they wake up. Many studies have proven the advantage of this technique. Treatment with water gives results against many serious diseases. It is known that drinking water on an empty stomach works in the treatment of the following diseases: headache, body aches, heart system, accelerated heart beat, epilepsy, blood fat, bronchitis, asthma, TB, meningitis, kidney disease and urinary tract, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, diseases of the uterus, menstrual disorders, diseases of the ear, nose and throat.

Methods of treatment:

a. As soon as you wake up in the morning before you brush your teeth, drink 4 times per 160ml (640 ml) of water.

b. Wash your teeth, but do neither eat nor drink in the next 45 minutes.

c. After 45 minutes you can normally eat and drink.

d. After the breakfast, lunch and dinner do not eat or drink anything for two hours.

e. Those that are old and sick and unable to drink 4 glasses of water on an empty stomach, can begin with drinking water as much as they can, and then each and every day increase the amount until they reach the required 640ml .

This method will cure different diseases, and those who are healthy will enjoy the energy that is given to them from the water.

How many days are required for this treatment?

High blood pressure – 30 days

For gastritis – 10 days

Diabetes – 30 days

For constipation – 10 days

TB – 90 days

Ideally, this method of drinking water on an empty stomach should be applied throughout life. So we can be healthy and full of energy.

Note: those who have arthritis, this method of treatment can only last three days in the first week, then have a week of pause and re-start applying it daily. This treatment has no side effects except that you will often go to the bathroom. So drink water and stay active.

source: www.healthyfoodteam.com

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3:41 AM

Health Benefits Of Drinking Warm Lemon Water

3:27 AM

Health Benefits Of Apple Cider Vinegar

At some point, we all rely on kitchen ingredients to aid our beauty routines. Whether you use turmeric for skincare, teabags to soothe puffy eyes or honey to zap those zits, these natural ingredients provide us with effective solutions without any side-effects.

One such useful kitchen ingredient is apple cider vinegar (ACV). This multi-purpose ingredient has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties that can be used to boost your skin, hair and beauty regimes. Read on to know more about these beauty benefits of apple cider vinegar.

To get rid of acne

Do you dread those acne bumps that pop up when you least expect them? Use apple cider vinegar on your acne to zap them off. The acidity in apple cider vinegar dries out the acne and helps shrink your pimples quickly.

To soothe sunburnt skin

You spent a little too much time out in the sun and now your skin feels inflamed and sunburnt? Fret not, soak a soft cloth in apple cider vinegar and apply it to your inflamed skin. This remedy will effectively soothe your skin.

To get rid of bad breath

Bad breath can be an instant turn-off for the people around you. Get rid of this embarrassing condition by rinsing your mouth with a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. The antiseptic properties of apple cider vinegar will help eliminate bad-breath causing bacteria and plaque too.

To get rid of dandruff

The natural acids in apple cider vinegar will help fight dandruff and soothe your scalp too. Mix together equal parts of apple cider vinegar and water and apply it to your scalp for about 15 minutes before you wash your hair. This will take care of dandruff for good.

To rejuvenate your hair

Apple cider vinegar can be your one-stop solution to get rid of hair problems like frizz, dry hair, scalp irritation and more. Skip your shampoo and wash your hair with apple cider vinegar instead. This will help you get rid of build-up and leave your hair shinier and healthier.

source: www.healthmeup.com /photocredit: www.myapplecidervinegar.com

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