Its true! Americans are finally waking up to realize water is the best beverage around. Waiters and bartenders no longer look at me strange when I order water with lemon. I buy bottled water by the gallon, and am happy drinking it warm or cold. In fact a gallon jug of water sits on the floor beside my desk. It usually takes about 2 days for me to empty a gallon so, I guess I drink about 2 quarts a day or more.

So what is Coke and Pepsi doing about their problem?  You guessed it, they are both bringing out vitamin fortified cola drinks. By fall you will be able to get your basic vitamins combined with chemical artifical sweeteners, artifical colors, artifical flavors and more sodium than your body needs in a month. 

Thanks, but no thanks!

I am sure that a certain portion of Americans will go for the new marketing strategy. Perhaps, it will be a good thing for Coke and Pepsi junkies.  I will stick to my water, my Pro Vitamin Complete, and my healthy diet.

Eating Heathy,

Tim

 

Yep, that’s what Ben Franklin said. And, I would have to agree with him. Apples are great for you. They have fiber, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, they also are one of the most likely foods to be contaminated with pesticides. The solution is to peel the apples, but then you loose much of the nutrient value.

 Don’t misunderstand, I still eat my apples. I even can my own applesauce. I eat peaches and pears and lots of vegetables. But one of the fruits I eat daily are goji berries.

The Goji Berries I eat are "officially certified as being chemical and contaminant-free.” This means a great deal to me. I grew up in the era that DDT was being recommended by the State Extension Service. My Dad used DDT around our house and garden. I remember the look on my Dad’s face when he realized the danger he had exposed us to. Soon afterward, he became an organic gardener and never used any pesticides again.

Pesticides are designed to kill. But the truth is they can kill a lot more than bugs on your apples. Wash and peel your apples, eat organic when you can, and enjoy your Goji Berries.

Eating Healthy,

Tim

Mangosteen Juice (Garcinia Mangostana) is believed to have originated in Asia, however today is grown in a number of

tropical regions throughout the world including Thailand, India, Malaysia, and Brazil.  It has been commonly referred to in Asia as "the queen of fruits" because of its great taste.   It many areas, mangosteen juice is so popular that demand can outpace the supply.  Despite being utilized in Asia for hundreds of years for its medicinal benefits, until recently mangosteen had never been introduced to North America and Europe.  Mangosteen juice has grown rapidly in popularity since its introduction to the US market.
Because of the numerous benefits reported by people taking mangosteen for pharmaceutical purposes, Mangosteen has been the subject of many scientific studies.  It is believed that the benefits of mangosteen come from the Xanthones that are found naturally in the mangosteen fruit.  Xanthones are natural chemical substances that have an incredibly high antioxidant content.  Mangosteen contains over 20 different xanthones.  In addition to the xanthones, mangosteen also contains other biologically active substances such as catechins, polyphenols and polysaccharides which are believed to be responsible for the antibacterial and anti-fungal effects of the fruit.
Mangosteen is believed to have positive benefits on many different body systems.  Here are a few examples.
Skeletal System – Natives of Asia first used mangosteen to stop inflammation of the intestines.  Scientist in India and Japan began investigating mangosteen believing that it might help inflammation in other parts of the body.  Their studies have demonstrated that mangosteen has powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
Cardiovascular System – The xanthones in mangosteen are very potent antioxidants and research has shown that these xanthones can have a positive effect on preventing atheroclerosis or hardening of the arteries.
Immune System – Xanthones have been shown to have anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.  In a recent independent study, Thai-Go was shown to be effective at stimulating the immune system with twice the potency of the biggest competing product.

*Acai Juice (Euterpe Oleracea)- The dark purple berries of the Acai plant contain up to 33 times the antioxidant content of red wine grapes. These amazing berries have traditionally been used to increase levels of stamina, energy, vitality, and improve overall health.

Acai Palm
Common Names: Acai Palm, Assai Palm, Cabbage Palm

Synonyms: Euterpe badiocarpa

Related species: Eturpe edulis

Conservation Status: Not threatened

Distribution & Habitat: The Acai Palm is widely distributed and is very common throughout northern South America. The natural habit of the Acai Palm tends to be along river edges and seasonal flood plains and is mostly found along water courses of Brazil. Acai Palm is also cultivated extensively in the vast Amazon River estuary. Acai is a widely distributed, prolific palm and very widely grown because of the properties of the Acai fruit and the use of the heart of the palm for as a staple food in Brazil.

Background information: The Acai Palm belongs to a family of over 1200 species comprising 32 distinct generic groups and are widely regarded as one of the most useful plant families in the world. Palm trees have provided a range of food and products used by man for eons. Uses include food, clothing, oil for cooking, drinks, clothing, weapons, building materials, and containers.

Acai is an extremely common, slender, yet very tall palm and grows 15 to 25 m in height. Most mature Acai palm trees in the wild develop 4-8 stems from a single seed and root system. It isn't uncommon for the Acai palm to sprout up to 25 or more shoots all growing as individual Acai palms. Acai palm has adapted well to live and thrive in seasonally flooded areas in soils often waterlogged for months. The Acai Palm produces quite small male and female flowers of a brown to purple color.

The Acai Palm produces a highly nutritious edible berry which grows in dense bunches typical of many palms. The fruit is round and 1-2 cm in diameter, has an oily coating over a fibrous sheath covering a single large seed. Acai fruit ripens from a green color to a dark rich purple. Each Acai stem normally produces four to eight bunches of fruit throughout the year making it one of the most prolific fruiting palms in the forest. The bunches of ripe fruits are heaviest in the dry season (July to December) with individual bunches weighing up to 6 kg. One Acai palm stem usually yields an average of 24 kgs plus of fruit per year. The fruit is a favorite of rain forest animals and is actively sought out by birds and rodents. Seed disbursement from their droppings ensures continual propagation of the species. Found throughout the Amazon, Acai is very common in the Brazilian state of Pará. The Acai palm is perhaps the most common palm found throughout the lowland flood areas of northern South America.

Commercial Exploitation

Palm Hearts: Acai and other Euterpe palm trees are the subject of commercial exploitation in South America. Palm hearts, eaten worldwide as a vegetable, are obtained by cutting the palm and removing the crown shaft, in which the heart is found. Palm hearts are the tender, whitish immature leaves of the palm frond just above the growing point on each stem. Although is has almost no nutritious value, palm hearts have been a staple food enjoyed by the local populations for generations and have also become a economic resource and export product for many rainforest countries. France, followed by the U.S. are the largest importers of palm hearts. There are over 120 registered palm heart processors operating in the Amazon, with a multitude of smaller unregistered family operations selling their harvests to the larger facilities with onsite canning operations. Originally, much of the commercial palm heart production in South America beginning in the 1960's came from a different palm tree, Euterpe edulis, which only produces a single trunk. (However, one large tree can yield up to 50 pounds of palm hearts.) Because the tree must be felled to extract the palm heart, palm heart exploitation without any adequate management severely decimated the wild populations of this species at an alarming rate. Ref: http://www.rain-tree.com/acai.htm

After many native E. edulis palm groves disappeared, harvesters began using the acai palm as a more sustainable alternative since it produces many stems/trunks. Unlike it's cousin, when one of the Acai's stems is cut, more stems will grow back on the same root system and the cutting of some of the stems encourages fruiting on the remaining stems. Acai palm (E. oleracea) is now the world's main source of palm hearts. While Acai does offer a more sustainable alternative, it does not ensure that the correct exploitative harvesting methods will be used to guarantee the plant's survival. Huge stands of Acai palm are often over-exploited and sometimes entire groves are clear-felled for palm heart exploitation. Currently, there is a shortage of raw materials in many locations in the Amazon River estuary due to over-harvesting and a lack of sustainable management of native stands; palm heart processing plants in the area generally operate only 2-3 days per week. Ref: http://www.rain-tree.com/acai.htm

Most botanists concur that palm heart harvesting of any palm species is probably an unsustainable practice due to the damage done and the trees wasted in the process. The Acai palm's future does look rosy however, due to the rapidly growing profitable export market for the Acai fruit. Profits gleaned from sustainable harvesting of the Acai fruit are quickly outstripping the profits from unsustainable harvesting of the palm heart.

 

Acai Berry: In Brazilian herbal medicine, the oil of the Acai fruit is used to treat diarrhea; an infusion of the grated fruit rind is used as a topical wash for skin ulcers; and, the fruit seeds are crushed and prepared in an infusion for fevers. In the Peruvian Amazon, an infusion of the toasted crushed seeds is used for fever. In Colombia, where the trees grow along the Pacific coast line, it is called naidí and the fruit is turned into a common and popular drink.

Acai Juice: Easily the most common use of the Acai fruit by Amazonians is the dark purple juice. The juice is extracted from the small round fruit by soaking the seeds in water to soften the thin outer shell and then squeezing and straining them to produce a very tasty, dense purple liquid. Acai liquid is served fresh and ice cold with (or sometimes without) sugar and tapioca flour. It is a nourishing and refreshing drink that is also used to produce ice cream, liquor, mousses and sweets in general. Consumption of up to 2 liters per day of this highly nutritious juice has been recorded amongst indigenous populations. Acai juice has been and remains, an extremely important part of northern native Sth American diets and has become very popular throughout all socio economic levels.

Acai Health Benefits: What is known about the Acai berry fruit health benefits, backed by scientific research into the fruits properties, is quite substantial. Acai is a rich source of anthocyanins and other phenolics and phyto-nutrients. Acai berries are amongst the most nutritious foods of the Amazon, rich in B vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Acai also contain oleic acid (omega-9), a beneficial fatty acid (often mistakenly referred to as essential).

Minerals found in Acai Berry: Potassium is the mineral most abundant in the Acai, but it is also rich in copper, and unusually high in manganese. Only a small portion supplies far more than the body needs of this ultra-trace mineral.

Acai Phytonutrients: Anthocyanins are compounds that have potent antioxidant activity, allowing for the neutralization of potentially harmful free radicals. The famous research regarding the "French Paradox" attributes anthocyanins as being the antioxidant that protects the French from heart disease. The French are known to consume large amounts of coffee, nicotine, sugar, white flour and cheese and yet they have a very low rate of heart disease compared to neighboring countries like the UK and Denmark. The red wine grape, due to its anthocyanins is what is believed to be responsible for the very low incidence of heart disease. While red wine has good quantities of anthocyanins, the Acai berry has been show to contain up to 30 times the anthocyanins levels of red wine.

By neutralizing these free radicals, anthocyanins from the Acai berry may actually serve to maintain the healthy function of numerous systems and organs. Some of the anthocyanins that have been found in Acai include cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-glucoside-coumarate. Other phenolics include catechin and epi-catechin (the same compounds in green tea), quercetin derivatives and other flavonoids. It is likely that the synergistic effects of these compounds, as present in Acai fruit are responsible for its potent antioxidant activities.

ORAC Scale: The Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity (ORAC) assay measures the total antioxidant activity of a biological sample. It’s a test developed for the USDA by scientists at Tufts University to measure the antioxidant speed and power of foods and supplements. The ORAC scale is used in human, agricultural, food and pharmaceutical products, as well as food ingredients and is quickly becoming the accepted standard for comparing antioxidant potential in foods and supplements.

Acai Antioxidant Benefits: For the average person to cope with all the reactive oxygen species they will encounter, foods and beverages totaling an ORAC value of about 1,670 per day are needed. It’s been estimated that 80-90 percent of the world’s population fails to consume even half of this level. At 3,800 ORAC value per gram, Acai is reputed to be extremely high on the ORAC scale and provides levels multiple times that of other anthocyanin-rich fruits and vegetables, such as cherries, cranberries and mulberries.

Aging Population: As the population ages, 80% of older people in Western countries will develop at least one chronic metabolic disease. If the USDA says that high-ORAC foods may slow aging and prevent metabolic disease from occurring, isn't it about time you increased the amount of high ORAC foods in your diet to prevent this process from occurring in the first place?

Wolfberry, the common name for Lycium barbarum, is grown all over the world and is sought after for its medicinal and health properties. The plant produces red colored berries that are oblong in shape and very tender. Because of this property, the berry needs to be handled very carefully while plucking and is shaken from the vine to prevent it from spoiling. The picked fruit is preserved by a process of slow drying in the shade.

About the plant

Lycium barbarum plant grows to a height of 2.5 to 4 m, and flowers in the months of June to August. It can grow in sandy and clay soils that are nutritionally poor, and can grow in semi shade or no shade at all.

History

Wolfberry has a history of several centuries of use in China, where it is highly regarded for its medicinal, healing, and health enhancement properties. Among other things, wolfberry has been credited with anti-ageing properties and enhancing longevity. As if to bear this out, people living in some parts of China, where the plant is extensively grown and used, do enjoy a very high life expectancy and good general health.

Medicinal Use

The bark of Lycium barbarum tree has been a favorite medicine with the Traditional Chinese system of medicine. It is claimed that Lycium barbarum barks contain several valuable and important properties and are useful in various treatments and health improvement programs. These include improvement of the immune system, improvement of the eyesight, protection of the liver, improved blood circulation and increased sperm production. It has been used in traditional medical systems as a sedative and painkiller and to treat inflammation, skin irritation, anemia, cough and nose bleeds. There are also studies that suggest that it could be useful in the treatment of cancer, although more clinical trials would be needed to establish this claim. Lycium barbarum barks can be eaten raw or taken as a juice or with tea. Wolfberry can be taken on daily basis for general health.

Culinary Use

Wolfberries taste like raisins with a slight suggection of tomatos. They can be eaten raw or could be cooked. The Chinese make soups out of this berry and also brew it into a wine. The leaves are also consumed as a vegetable.

Nutritional Value

Wolfberries are considered as one of the richest natural sources of nutrients. They contain beta-carotone, Vitamin C, Vitamin B1 and B2, in addition to a number of other vitaamins, minerals, anitoxidants and amino acids.

Wolfberry contains most of the carrbohydrates,protein, fat and dietary fibers needed by the body. Hundred grams of the processed berry contains 370 calories. Read more click here…

Possibly the healthiest food on Earth are Goji berries from the Himalayas. Considered by many as a “fountain of youth” food, these berries have amazing properties. For one thing, they are possibly the richest antioxidant food source known to Man. For centuries, people from the Himalayas in Asia who have customarily eaten these unusual berries typically led lives free of “dread” diseases common in the Western Civilization, often living into their 100’s.

The Goji plant has 4 unique polysaccharides found in no other known source, one of which has the ability to stimulate the pituitary gland in the anterior of the brain to produce more Human Growth Hormone (HGH). The HGH is the Master Hormone in the body, and as many people grow older, their glands start secreting fewer hormones, which can lead to accelerated aging. On the other hand, when more HGH is increased, it has been clinically shown that some of the affects of aging can sometimes be slowed down, and in some cases, even reversed.

Some more nutritional properties of this amazing plant are as follows:

*19 amino acids, 6 times more than Bee Pollen
*21 trace minerals, including cancer-fighting Germanium
*6 essential fatty acids
*Vitamins B1, B2, B6, C and E
*More Beta Carotene than carrots
*500 times more Vitamin C than oranges
*Linoleic acid, which can significantly promote body fat loss
*15 times more nutritional iron than spinach.

Goji’s & More, Inc., a company specializing in Goji products as well as liquid nutritional supplements, is targeting its products primarily to health enthusiasts and members of the Baby Boomer generation.

Further information is available by visiting: www.gojiberries.us

You might know that I maintain a Goji Berries page on Squidoo, where I discuss stuff about Goji Berry Products. Squidoo is a prominent Web 2.0 type site and is considered an authority by the leading search engines. That makes a link from a Squidoo page very valuable for the search engine rankings of your web site. Here’s how it will help you…

If you maintain a cool web site on a topic related to the Health Industry (no casino, drugs, pharmacy, porn, hate stuff please – that will be deleted soon enough), I invite you to add your Health Related web site to the list at the bottom of my Goji Berries Squidoo page and get a valuable one-way link to your blog. Once you have submitted your blog, do not forget to vote on your link to make it move higher.

A more popular page will add more value to your link, so you should rate that page by clicking on 4 or 5 stars at the top and by submitting your comments in the feedback section. You are not strictly required to link to the above site, though a link back will be highly appreciated.