Why You Should Consider A Regular Diet Of Bitter Leaf

Bitter leaf is a common vegetable found all over Nigeria, especially in the southern part of the country. Bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) is used in preparing the popular Bitter leaf soup. It is also known as Onugbu, Shiwaka & Ewuro by the Igbos, Hausas&Yorubas in Nigeria.

Although this plant has been around for hundreds of years, only a few people know of its medicinal and healing properties.

  Bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) as the name implies, is actually a bitter plant whose leaves, extracts, stems and barks are used for culinary,medicinal and curative purposes.  
  Vitamins in Bitter leaf include: Vitamin A, Vitamin C ,Vitamin E, Vit.B1 and Vit.B2.

Bitter leaf is very familiar to some people but others may not have any idea about this wonder leaf. Bitter-leaf can grow anywhere unlike other leaves that only grow in certain places and temperature. These leaves flourishes anywhere they grow. They add beauty to all places where they are present. The most distinctive characteristic of this plant is its bitterness. Every part of this plant is bitter starting from the leaves to its roots. The bitterness of this plant is actually good for the body. It has a lot of health benefits to people. The plant can remind people that life is not always sweet; it takes to taste bitterness before you can achieve sweetness. This plant is very useful in toning the vital organs of the body especially the liver and the kidney.

The liver is one of the most important organs of the body. It has a lot of vital functions that is needed for normal functioning of the whole system of the body. Without the liver all major process in the body will be paralyze. The liver is known as the largest organ inside the body. It has an approximate weight of 1-3 kg in an average adult individual. There are a lot of major functions that the liver should do every day and this includes the production of bile acid that helps in fat metabolism.

Without the liver fats will not be digested inside the body to be use as energy. Bitter-leaf can be very helpful in maintaining the livers optimum health to release bile acid every time people eat fatty foods. Another major function of the liver is the production of glycogen. Glycogen is stored energy that is release in times of low level of glucose especially for people who do fasting.

The liver should be well taken care of by using bitter-leaf. Once the liver is been damage it can’t be restored into its normal function. People with liver problems can boil a bitter-leaf and drink a glass of it every day.

Another very vital organ inside the body is the kidney. Kidney helps in the excretion of waste products inside the body. If the normal function of the kidney breakdown there will great huge problem inside the body. Bitter-leaf a natural herb that is useful in taking care of the kidney and the liver.

Diabetic patient can also use bitter-leaf as one of their medication to prevent high sugar level in the blood. It will not only lower the sugar level in the blood but also repair impaired pancreas. As you all know pancreas is the organ responsible for the production of insulin for glucose to reach each cell to use by the body as energy. Impaired pancreas does not release the right amount of insulin to maintain the right sugar level in the blood. Bitter-leaf is a real wonder of nature. You can take the benefit of this amazing plant by squeezing its leaves in ten litters of water.

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Foods That Help To Reduce Blood Sugar

 Healthy eating is essential when it comes to the management and prevention of diabetes. Some substitutions and alternatives will help you to keep diabetes at bay and make it more manageable if you already have the disease.
High Fibre, Slow-release Carbs
Blood sugar levels are impacted by carbohydrates more than by proteins and fats. This does not necessarily mean that you should avoid them completely. The types of carbs have to be chosen carefully.

• Limit carbohydrates that are highly refined
• Focus on high-fiber complex carbs (slow-release) – blood sugar levels are aided with slow release carbs as a result of the slower digestion that keeps too much insulin from being produced by the body. You will stay full longer and the energy provided lasts longer.

Some substitutions can make a big difference.

• Eat brown or wild rice instead of white rice
• Cauliflower mash, sweet potatoes, winter squash and yams can take the place of fries, and mashed white potatoes
• Whole-wheat pasta, whole grain or whole wheat bread in place of regular pasta and white bread.
• Rolled or steel cut oats instead of instant oatmeal
• Bran muffins instead of pastries or croissants
  Be Careful with Sweets
  Sugar does not have to be eliminated with diabetes, although it should be eaten only in moderation. A few adjustments have to be made to have dessert.
  
• Skip bread because the sweets will give you extra carbohydrates.
• Healthy fat should be added to dessert- fat will slow the process of digestion preventing blood sugar spikes. Healthy fats include yogurt, nuts, ricotta cheese and peanut butter.
• Sweets should be eaten slowly and with a meal instead of by themselves. Eat half the amount of dessert you would typically eat and substitute fruit for the other half of dessert.

Nuts
Fiber, magnesium and healthy fats are provided by nuts which hunger is kept at bay. Cholesterol levels are improved and heart disease risk reduced by some varieties of nuts. There has been research suggesting that diabetes risk is reduced by eating nuts.
Fish
Fish like salmon are high in omega-3 fatty acids, although breaded and deep fried fish should be avoided. The risk of cardiovascular disease and cardiac death is reduced while cholesterol levels are improved by eating fish in those with diabetes.
Water Foods
You can eat as many of these foods as you like, they are referred to as “free foods” and include most fruits and all vegetables. Blood sugar can spike quickly with things such as canned fruit with syrup, dried fruit and fruit juice, therefore they are not among the foods that you can eat all that you want without worry.
When it comes to the prevention and management of diabetes eating foods that reduce cholesterol, reduce risks of cardiac disease and allow blood sugar levels to maintain a level balance will work wonders. Substitutions for foods that you would typically eat, minor changes such as eating fruit for dessert can help to prevent diabetes.
Be Careful with Sweets
Sugar does not have to be eliminated with diabetes, although it should be eaten only in moderation. A few adjustments have to be made to have dessert.

• Skip bread because the sweets will give you extra carbohydrates.
• Healthy fat should be added to dessert- fat will slow the process of digestion preventing blood sugar spikes. Healthy fats include yogurt, nuts, ricotta cheese and peanut butter.
• Sweets should be eaten slowly and with a meal instead of by themselves. Eat half the amount of dessert you would typically eat and substitute fruit for the other half of dessert.

Nuts
Fiber, magnesium and healthy fats are provided by nuts which hunger is kept at bay. Cholesterol levels are improved and heart disease risk reduced by some varieties of nuts. There has been research suggesting that diabetes risk is reduced by eating nuts.
Fish
Fish like salmon are high in omega-3 fatty acids, although breaded and deep fried fish should be avoided. The risk of cardiovascular disease and cardiac death is reduced while cholesterol levels are improved by eating fish in those with diabetes.
Water Foods
You can eat as many of these foods as you like, they are referred to as “free foods” and include most fruits and all vegetables. Blood sugar can spike quickly with things such as canned fruit with syrup, dried fruit and fruit juice, therefore they are not among the foods that you can eat all that you want without worry.
When it comes to the prevention and management of diabetes eating foods that reduce cholesterol, reduce risks of cardiac disease and allow blood sugar levels to maintain a level balance will work wonders. Substitutions for foods that you would typically eat, minor changes such as eating fruit for dessert can help to prevent diabetes.

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Computer Diagnosis: The New Wonder In Alternative Medicine

With Dr. Amadi Godspower opening the Radionic Computer Lab Centre in Lagos, Nigerians are becoming more aware of the impacts computer diagnostics and electronic computer healing on the general healthcare delivery. The wonders of this development cannot be over-stressed. Let’s take a look at the scenario that gave birth to computer  diagnostics.

 Physicians and other health care professionals often prescribe medicines that will only work at certain levels.  These medicines – whether natural medicine or orthodox - are said to have a narrow therapeutic window.  This means that if the level of the medicine is too high or too low, it  may cause serious side effects or not provide the benefits it should.  For example, blood thinners are prescribed to thin the blood to prevent clots.  If the level is too high, people can bleed to death. On the other hand, if the level is too low, a clot could form and cause a stroke.  For these types of medicines, it is important that the right amount be prescribed.
Calculating and prescribing the right amount can be complicated and time-consuming for health care professionals.  Sometimes determining the right amount can take a long time since health professionals may not want to prescribe high doses of the medicine right away or sometimes they make mistakes. 
This is where the use of computers in diagnostics comes in. Several computer systems have been designed to do these calculations and assist health professionals to prescribe these types of medicines.
A review of studies that evaluated these computer systems showed that computerized advice for dosage can benefit both health professionals and patients. When using the computer system, health professionals prescribe higher doses of the medicines right away and the right amount of the medicine is reached quicker.  Using the computer system also reduces the length of time patients spend in the hospital while the right amount of the medicine is reached. 

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Why Bananas Can Cure Impotency

Can banana cure impotency?  that is the one question most practitioners in the natural health sector,Nigerians included,have been trying to unravel over the years. in a  recent survey from a german research institute,Tao, experts examine the peculier qualities of the banana fruit that positions it for the cure of impotency.
Bananas contain tryptophan (although it’s not one of the major sources, a medium still contains about 10.6 mg of tryptophan).
 Tryptophan is one of the 20 amino acids which are building blocks of proteins (btw, an incredible number of articles on the internet call tryptophan as a “mood-enhancing protein” and that is technically not correct). Tryptophan helps the body to produce serotonin - which has a calming effect on the brain (creates a stable mood) and acts as a mild sedative. It should be noted that the only way our our body gets it’s dose of tryptophan is through our diet - it does not produce tryptophan naturally; bananas is one of the easiest ways to get it (references: Nutritiondata.com, Chemistry Daily, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, NIH MedLinePlus).
Bananas are good for your blood: Bananas are one of the highest sources of naturally available vitamin B6: Vitamin B₆ plays an important role in converting tryptophan to serotonin (read #3 above), and also helps the body to make hemoglobin - a crucial ingredient of your blood. Vitamin B₆ is also essential for antibody production and to maintain a healthy immune response. It also helps to convert carbohydrates to glucose and thereby maintains proper blood sugar levels. A medium banana can take care of 1/5th of your daily recommended intake of vitamin B₆ and is one of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to increase your dietary intake of the vitamin (references: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements)
Bananas are one of the highest sources of naturally available vitamin B6: Vitamin B₆ plays an important role in converting tryptophan to serotonin (read #3 above), and also helps the body to make hemoglobin - a crucial ingredient of your blood. Vitamin B₆ is also essential for antibody production and to maintain a healthy immune response. It also helps to convert carbohydrates to glucose and thereby maintains proper blood sugar levels. A medium banana can take care of 1/5th of your daily recommended intake of vitamin B₆ and is one of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to increase your dietary intake of the vitamin (references: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements).  
 A single serving (one medium-sized banana) contains 16% of the daily recommended dietary fiber intake for a normal adult - that’s substantial for a single serving of any food. Fiber improves laxation (smooth bowel movements). Fiber-rich diets have also been linked to lower risk of coronary heart disease and of type 2 diabetes. Also, view this information in light of the following facts

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The 9 Commandments Of Gym Ethics

Many people who want to lose weight go to the gym to do so. However, some people do not get the desired result because they ignore some important ethics of the gym. Experts provide the following admonitions for those who want to get the best out of the gym. 
Forget about all the things floating around in your head distracting you when starting your session, your crappy job, annoying girlfriend, or whatever. Not even working out when being angry works; you may feel like you’re having a good work out because you’re just going at it with great strength, but if your mind is somewhere else and not in the work out, then little to no progress is made. Leave these things at the door of the gym. Focus on getting the best out of the session. When you concentrate on the work out (or any other task for that matter) you make the most out of it, so leave the cluster behind and focus. If music or connotations help you, then use them too. If they distract you, don’t follow the trend and do what works for you.

If there is one thing that grinds distraction at the gym, it’s people talking on their Mobile phones. There is absolutely no need to have a mobile phone with you at the gym! At the very least, turn it off or silence it. Unless you’re a stock broker or a doctor-on-call please refrain from doing this. It’s annoys everyone else that is training hard and trying to stay focused, furthermore it distracts YOU the most. We don’t think about it too much but any distractions – especially phones – break our pattern of work out and as a consequence, we lose focus and effectiveness.

Dressing to sweat is key. It might seem silly to spend a little bit of money on training gear, but this is one of those few little things you can do that will really give you a big return of investment. Don’t go to the gym in your cotton T-shirts and baggy tracksuit bottoms. You came here to run/cycle/lift and sweat. I don’t see too many 400 meter runners or Olympic weightlifters in cotton T-shirts and baggy tracksuit bottoms. Dress like a pro in matching top and bottoms and you’ll start to train like a pro. Appropriate footwear is also extremely important; if you’re lifting you must have flat shoes without Gels, shocks or whatever else. 

Get a quick warm-up under your belt and perform some static/dynamic stretches. Don’t be that guy that pulls a muscle on the treadmill or while picking up a pen. This is imperative. Inappropriate warm-up and stretching could seriously damage your work out in both, short run and long run. For example, if you don’t warm-up and stretch properly, you can get tired easily or pulling out of muscle because you started too strong too early. The warm-up is as important as the work-out. Give it importance.
 
Keep focused on your goals through the session, whether they be to gain muscle, lose fat or increase fitness level (Remember that you must know exactly what you want). If you don’t see results right away even when you pour your heart into it, don’t panic. This is a marathon not a sprint, you’ll get there eventually. Don’t give up or get frustrated due to small set backs. Just pick yourself up and smash through it next time! Don’t worry about what the other meat heads in the gym are lifting; it is not your concern. You aren’t training to impress other men. Don’t even waste your time looking. Focus on your own needs and goals.
 
Don’t go to the gym and start irrelevant conversation. If a conversation with other gym folk is unavoidable make it short and to the point. The last thing you want is some gym friend who will just distract you from your session (as harsh as that may sound). You can always talk after your work out is over, not during it. If someone gives you advise, critique or praise for your efforts, that’s another thing. Pay attention, but don’t take everything that other gym rats say too seriously. While some people may actually know what they are talking about, it’s not the same for everybody. Therefore, be very selective and very careful with the things you listen.

One thing that is confusing is the fact that people go to the gym and never break sweat, and never show any signs of physical exertion. Don’t act like those overweight people that walk on the treadmill while reading the newspaper, or lift ridiculously light weights for 20-30 reps. Your training must be intense whatever your level of strength or fitness. It’s the only way of building muscle! Lift heavy and fast, most people have no need to do more that 12 reps of an exercise (Crunches, Pull-ups, etc are excluded). When I step off a treadmill I feel like someone has poured a bucket of water over me. How can you expect results if your intensity is below the required standard? There are no excuses for poor training intensity. Go hard, go fast or go home. If you aren’t naturally physically strong or fit, you will need to push yourself outside your comfort zone. It may cause you pain and discomfort, but that pain is not there to make you quit, it’s there to make you stronger.
 
Make sure you note what you’ve done for that session: distance ran, time, Avg Heart rate, weight lifted, reps/sets etc. In order to see where you going, you have to know where you’ve been. Plus, this will save you time, you won’t be scratching you head wondering what weight to use. I can look back for up to 6 months and see what I did for a particular session and how much I weighed. That’s how professional athletes train, and you should be doing the same. Bodybuilding.com is an excellent resource for writing down your progress. If not, a simple document or a journal will do it.

Finally, take a nice and easy warm-down and stretch after your session, it’ll help with your recovery and may prevent any DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). Warming-down and stretching after the work out is as important as warming-up and stretching

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The Essentials Of Water-rich Foods - Experts Speak

Your body is composed of about 60% water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients and maintenance of body temperature.
"Through the posterior pituitary gland, your brain communicates with your kidneys and tells it how much water to excrete as urine or hold onto for reserves," says Guest, who is an adjunct professor of medicine at Stanford University.
When you're low on fluids, the brain triggers the body's thirst mechanism. And unless you are taking medications that make you thirsty, Guest says, you should listen to those cues and get yourself a drink of water, juice, milk, coffee - anything but alcohol.
"Alcohol interferes with the brain and kidney communication and causes excess excretion of fluids which can then lead to dehydration," he says.

For years, dieters have been drinking lots of water as a weight loss strategy. While water doesn't have any magical effect on weight loss, substituting it for higher calorie beverages can certainly help.
"What works with weight loss is if you choose water or a non-caloric beverage over a caloric beverage and/or eat a diet higher in water-rich foods that are healthier, more filling, and help you trim calorie intake," says Penn State researcher Barbara Rolls, PhD, author of The Volumetrics Weight Control Plan.
Food with high water content tends to look larger, its higher volume requires more chewing, and it is absorbed more slowly by the body, which helps you feel full. Water-rich foods include fruits, vegetables, broth-based soups, oatmeal and beans.

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