The walnut tree can grow to 70 feet or more and may have a span as much as 4 feet round its trunk. The walnut tree has long leaves that can grow as long as two to three feet.

Walnuts are part of the mediterranean diet, well known for its health benefits.

Nutrients found in walnuts

Walnut are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. In fact 30g of walnuts provides the daily needs of omega-3 fatty acids. Walnuts contain a lot of manganese and copper. Also found in smaller quantities are vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, calcium, iron, phosphorus, selenium, potassium and zinc.

Walnut contains ellagic acid, an antioxidant compound that helps supports the immune system and contains several anticancer properties.

Walnuts for constipation

Walnut has a mild laxative effect, it is beneficial in cases of constipation.

Protect the heart

According to several studies, walnuts have amazing cardioprotective benefits. Research shows that polyphenolic compounds found in walnuts, ellagic and gallic acid, possessed significant antioxidant properties. Further study identifies 16 polyphenols with antioxidant activity so protective it is described as remarkable.

Research shows that inclusion of 30 g of walnuts per day in the diet significantly improves the HDL cholesterol to total cholesterol ratios in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Lower blood pressure

Researchers found that omega-3s from nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils such as walnuts and flaxseed had just as much impact on blood pressure as omega-3s from fish.

Walnuts contain relatively high levels of l-arginine, an essential amino acid, they may be of special importance when it comes to hypertension.

Think better with walnuts

The brain is more than 60% fat. For your brain cells to function properly, the brain fat needs to be mostly the omega-3 fats found in walnuts, flaxseed and cold-water fish. For this reason, walnuts are regarded as a brain food; they even have a wrinkled brain-like appearance.

Protect your bones with walnuts

Alpha linolenic acid, the omega-3 fat found in walnuts, promotes bone health by helping prevent excessive bone turnover by providing a lower ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in the diet. (Griel et al. 2007)

Add walnuts to your lunch box

Why not have a few walnuts each day with a healthy sandwich for lunch? Walnuts are best eaten raw and unsalted.

References:

Blomhoff R, Carlsen MH, Andersen LF, Jacobs DR Jr. Health benefits of nuts: potential role of antioxidants. Br J Nutr. 2006 Nov;96 Suppl 2:S52-60. PMID:17125534.

Fukuda T, Ito H, Yoshida T. Antioxidative polyphenols from walnuts (Juglans regia L.). Phytochemistry. Aug;63(7):795-801 2003.

Griel AE, Kris-Etherton PM, Hilpert KF, Zhao G, West SG, Corwin RL. An increase in dietary n-3 fatty acids decreases a marker of bone resorption in humans. Nutr J. 2007 Jan 16;6:2. PMID:17227589.

Sabate, J. (1999). Nut consumption, vegetarian diets, ischemic heart disease risk, and all-cause mortality: Evidence from epidemiologic studies. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 70(3S), 500S-503S.

Sabate, J. (1993). Does nut consumption protect against ischaemic heart disease? European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 47(1), S71-S75.

Sabate, J., Fraser, G.E., Burke, K., Knutsen, S.F., Bennett, H., & Lindsted, K.D. 1993. Effects of walnuts on serum lipid levels and blood pressure in normal men. New England Journal of Medicine, 328(9), 603-607.

Tapsell LC, Gillen LG, Patch CS, Batterham M, Owen A, Baré M, Kennedy M. Including Walnuts in a Low-Fat/Modified-Fat Diet Improves HDL Cholesterol-to-Total Cholesterol Ratios in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 2004.

Below are sites that I have found personally helpful.

Contact Mr Cabbage Head:

Used in Japan for years, spirulina is a microalgae grown in alkaline, warm-water lakes. Spirulina’s green colour is due to its chlorophyll content. Chlorophyll acts as an antioxidant and may have medicinal benefits against cancer. Spirulina is also rich in phycocyanin, a pigment with anti-cancer properties.

Studies show the anti-cancer properties of spirulina.

Beta carotene is one of the most effective substances for deactivating free radicals, which damage cells, leading to cancer. Spirulina is the richest beta carotene food known, having over ten times more beta carotene than any other food, including carrots. Studies show that vitamin A and beta carotene inhibit the development of various cancers and tumors. Beta carotene (and not the preformed Vitamin A from animal sources) correlated with lower cancer rates.

A 1987 Israeli study demonstrated natural beta carotene is more effective than synthetic beta carotene. Natural beta carotene is better assimilated by the body because it contains the 9-cis carotenoid isomer which is lacking in synthetic carotene molecules. This means that beta carotene in algae and vegetables has a greater antioxidant power than synthetic beta carotene.

An Indian study found that spirulina inhibits the growth of oral tumors: “We evaluated the chemopreventive activity of Spirulina fusiformis (SF) (1 g/day for 12 mos) in reversing oral leukoplakia in pan tobacco chewers in Kerala, India. Complete regression of lesions was observed in 20 of 44 (45%) of subjects supplemented with SF, as opposed to 3 of 43 (7%) in the placebo arm.”

The Harvard University School of Dental Medicine reduced oral cancer cells with spirulina extracts. A beta carotene solution applied to cancerous tumours in mouths of hamsters reduced the number and size of tumours or caused them to disappear. When a beta carotene extract was fed to 20 hamsters pre-treated to develop mouth cancer, none developed the disease. Tissue samples contained an immune stimulating substance believed to have destroyed cancer cells before they could multiply.

Spirulina as a supplement

A traditional food source in parts of Africa and Mexico, spirulina is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and protein, GLA (essential fatty acid) and one of the few vegetable sources of vitamin B12. AS well as its potential anti-cancer properties, spirulina is a good supplement with many benefits.

References:

Amotz, B.A. Presentation to Polysaccharides from microalgae workshop. Duke University, 1987.

Balch, P.A. and Balch, J.F. Prescription For Nutritional Healing.

Mathew B, Sankaranarayanan R, Nair PP, Varghese C, Somanathan T, Amma BP, Amma NS, Nair MK. Evaluation of chemoprevention of oral cancer with spirulina fusiformis. Nutrition and Cancer 1995; 24(2):197-202.

Menkes, et al. Serum beta carotene, vitamins A and E, selenium, and the risk of lung cancer. N.E. Journal of Medicine, Nov. 1986, p. 1250.

Pitchford P. Healing with Whole Foods.

Schwartz, J., Scklar, G., Suda, D. Inhibition of experimental oral carcinogenesis by topical beta carotene. Harvard School of Dental Med. Carcinogenesis, May 1986, 7(5) 711-715.

Shekelle,R.B.etal. DietaryVitaminA and risk of cancer in Western Electric study. Lancet,1981,8257:1185-1189.

Molasses is made from sugar cane. Juice is extracted from crushed sugar cane and boiled. This causes sugar to crystallise so it can be extracted. The left over syrup is molasses, which is high in minerals and vitamins. This process is performed three times; the syrup from the third boiling is called blackstrap molasses. Blackstrap molasses has the lowest sugar content and the highest nutrient content. Sulphur is sometimes added to molasses as a preservative; look for un-sulphured blackstrap molasses.

Blackstrap molasses contains vitamins and minerals

Blackstrap molasses contains large amounts of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese and potassium. Blackstrap molasses still contains some sugar, but is much healthier than pure sugar. Two teaspoons will give you 10-20 percent of your daily requirement of these minerals as well as 5 percent of your daily vitamin B6 needs.

Using blackstrap molasses

Blackstrap molasses has a sweet, but strong flavour. Some people use blackstrap molasses in place of sugar in tea or other hot beverages. Blackstrap molasses may be used in baking in place of sugar with varying degrees of success. This probably works best in simple baked food such as cookies.

If you want to take blackstrap molasses as a supplement, but don’t like the taste, simply take a teaspoon twice a day and wash it down with water.

Note that molasses is often fed to livestock as a mineral supplement.

Blackstrap molasses cures

Blackstrap molasses has been said to cure or help with many conditions such as constipation, diabetes, amenia, anxiety, acne, fibroid tumours, insomnia, arthritic pain, high blood pressure, heart palpitations and symptoms of menopause. Some people have reported grey hair returning to the original colour.

Some of these folk remedies are unproven, so do your own research and consult your medical practitioner. As a sweetener that is much healthier than sugar, consider adding blackstrap molasses to your diet in moderation.

References:

Scott, C. Crude Black Molasses: a natural “Health -food”. 1948

Wikipedia

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats in human nutrition and cannot be manufactured by the body, and must be consumed in the diet. The two main biologically active omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are found in fish oil. There is also alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which is found in vegetable oils.

Omega-3 fatty acids reduce mortality

Swiss researchers published results of clinical trials in the April 2005 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine showing decreased risk of mortality using omega-3 fish oil. The trials also included statin drugs. The results combine 10,000 clinical trials from 1965 to 2003 which included 275,000 subjects.

In the trials statin drugs reduced overall mortality by 13 percent. Statin drugs advocated by conventional medicine to reduce cholesterol have side effects such as muscle pain, muscle loss, memory loss, liver failure, and fatigue. Omega-3 fatty acids reduced overall mortality by 23 percent.

Cholesterol

There are two types of cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is bad cholesterol that can lead to heart disease. HDL cholesterol is the good cholesterol. Low HDL cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease.

Not only do omega-3 fatty acids reduce the bad LDL cholesterol, they also increase the good HDL cholesterol.

Sources of omega-3 fatty acids

Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids include flaxseed, walnuts, and soybean oil. Cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, and sardines have high concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids. To maintain the heart-healthy benefits of fish, bake or grill it. If dietary intake is insufficient, take fish oil capsules.

Other factors

Many other contribute to cholesterol levels and overall health. Maintain a normal body weight, avoid smoking and eat healthy food.

References:

Studer M, Briel M, Leimenstoll B, Glass T, Bucher H. Effect of Different Antilipidemic Agents and Diets on Mortality: A Systemic Review. Archives of Internal Medicine 2005 April 11; 165(7):725-30.

Vaccination has enjoyed an unchallenged reputation after the elimination of many diseases such as polio, but is this reputation earned and has this reputation lead to complacency when it comes to the increased use of vaccines? Many scientists are now challenging the fundamentals of vaccination. Is vaccination really the saviour we are lead to believe or is profit the main motive?

Polio epidemic caused by vaccination

Statistics for four USA states are listed below, showing the number of cases of polio during 1958 before compulsory vaccination, and during 1959, after the polio shots became compulsory.

(From U.S. Public Health Reports)

Polio increased 300% in states which had compulsory vaccination. “Every one of the handful of polio cases each year in the United States is caused by the vaccine itself.” (Peter Radetsky).

The late Dr Robert Mendelsohn, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Illinois wrote that the great polio epidemics in the U.S.A. in the 1940s and 1950s were caused by: the previous almost total disappearance of breast-feeding, the national change to junk-food diet and the widespread use over the preceding decades of whooping cough vaccine.

Hygiene the key to health

“All the major medical historians of our century agree that the decline of the epidemics which had wrought havoc in the Middle Ages was not due to the introduction of vaccination, but of hygiene, for they had diminished long before large-scale inoculations had begun. And hygiene, in the broadest sense of the word, physical, mental and alimentary, is the only key to health. The overwhelming majority of people vaccinated all over the world against polio have been inoculated with potentially carcinogenic substances. i.e. theoretically capable of producing cancer.”
(Hans Ruesch, Slaughter of the Innocent.)

Vaccines are affecting our children’s health

Recent studies show a relationship between vaccines and various health problems in chidren. For example, many USA manufactured vaccines contain thimerosal which contains ethyl mercury, a known neurotoxin. Thimerosal has been linked to many cases of autism, ADHD, OCD, Tourette’s Syndrome, and anorexia . It is interesting to note that the Amish in the USA do not vaccinate their children. They have only 3 cases of autism out 150,000; one was adopted from overseas already vaccinated, the other two were vaccinated in the USA. Note, the rate of autism in the USA has risen from 1 in 10,000 in 1970 to 1 in 500 in 1990; it estimated as 1 in 150 today.

Build immunity without vaccines

How do we build immunity without vaccines? The answer may lie in sunlight, and it is free. A crucial vitamin, vitamin D, is produced by our bodies when exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D increases the body’s production of anti-microbial peptides which destroy the cell walls of bacteria and viruses including the influenza virus. Vitamin D cannot be obtained in sufficient quantities from food, so modest exposure to sunlight or a vitamin D supplement is needed. Also important for building a healthy immune system are: Vitamins A, C, E and the minerals iron, zinc and selenium.

As well as ensuring an adequate intake of essential vitamins and minerals, foods that weaken the immune system should be avoided. This includes alcohol, sugar, refined carbohydrates, excess fat and processed foods.

References:

Institute of Medicine. Immunization Safety Review: Thimerosal Containing Vaccines and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine; 2001.

Mendelsohn R.S. Confessions of a Medical Heretic. 1990.

Neustaedter, R. OMD, FLU: Alternative Treatments and Prevention. North Atlantic Books, 2005.

Radetsky, P. The Polio Problem. N.Z. Listener, October 29 1990. p98.

Ruesch, H. Slaughter of the Innocent.

Ruesch, H. Naked Empress.

Sheppard, J. Super Healthy Kids, Strengthening Your Child’s Resistance to Disease.

The American Diabetes Association states: ‘The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.’ Where is the mystery? It would be interesting to know the incidence of diabetes before the introduction of sugar and refined carbohydrates to the western diet.

Diabetes is a condition where the body either fails to produce insulin or fails to properly utilise the insulin produced. Insulin is produced by the pancreas. So what is affecting the pancreas? Let’s look at some common ingredients of the American diet, which is unfortunately becoming popular in many other countries.

Soft drinks. Many contain more than 10 teaspoons of sugar per can. What about the so-called diet soft drinks where a chemical is used instead of sugar? Aspartane is used as an artificial sweetener, but this chemical has been linked to an increased incidence of brain cancer and symptoms including: severe headaches, nausea, vertigo, insomnia, loss of control of limbs, blurred vision, blindness, memory loss, slurred speech, hyperactivity, gastrointestinal disorders, seizures, skin lesions, rashes, anxiety attacks, muscle and joint pain, numbness, mood changes, loss of energy, menstrual cramps out of cycle, hearing loss or ringing in the ears.

Refined white flour. Pancakes, doughnuts, cakes, biscuits, bread and so on. Not only is refined white flour lacking in nutrients, it often contains a chemical called alloxan. Alloxan damages the beta cells of the pancreas. Scientists use alloxan to induce diabetes in lab animals for their research.

Bacon. Bacon contains sodium nitrate which becomes a carcinogenic chemical in the body with damaging effects on the pancreas and other organs.

Bottled fruit juice. This often has a high glycemic index and may contain sugar and various chemicals.

The above ‘foods’ are not only high in sugar but they are low in essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. It is obvious that diet is a major factor in causing diabetes, but can a change in diet cure diabetes? In a clinical trial at UCLA, 50% of patients with type 2 diabetes were able to cure themselves of diabetes in three weeks by altering their food intake. “The study shows, contrary to common belief, that Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome can be reversed solely through lifestyle changes,” according to lead researcher Christian Roberts of University of California, Los Angeles. The diet used in the study was low in fat, moderate in protein and high in unrefined carbohydrates: whole grains (5 serves a day), vegetables (4 or more serves), fruit (3 or more serves), soy, beans, nuts, low fat diary with small amounts of fish and chicken.

So, will you remove all sugar and refined carbohydrates from your diet?

References:

American Diabetes Association website. www.diabetes.org

Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_drink

“Effect of a diet and exercise intervention on oxidative stress, inflammation, MMP-9, and monocyte chemotactic activity in men with metabolic syndrome factors,” by Christian K. Roberts, Dean Won, Sandeep Pruthi, Silvia Kurtovic, and R. James Barnard, of the Department of Physiological Science at UCLA; Ram K. Sindhu of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine at Charles R. Drew University, Los Angeles; and Nosratola D. Vaziri of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine at University of California, Irvine is in the online issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology published by the American Physiological Society.