The elderflower has been well known through the centuries for its high vitamin C content, anti oxidant and healing properties, and because of this is today one of the top selling natural summer cordials.

Drinking a glass of cordial daily is very refreshing and will help to improve your health, and it is not just the flowers that are good for you but also the berries when made into wine have equal beneficial properties.

We are all well aware now just how important anti oxidants and vitamin C are, and I do not mean only the ladies thinking about their skin and premature aging, but then maybe that is why through the ages women have always made and drank elderflower cordials and tea ritually, and is a staple product of the Women’s Institute along with jams.

Antioxidants are needed to help reduce the production of ‘free radicals’ (highly re-active and unstable molecules which contain atoms with unpaired electrons) in the body, high fat diets attribute to ‘free radicals’, but they are also produced naturally and especially in people who exercise heavily, attacking cells leading to long term damage and a higher risk of cancer.

Studies have shown that taking antioxidants such as vitamin C before eating high fat foods, reduces the damage greatly to the arteries.

The elderflower is well in bloom now and can be found in most hedgerows and roadsides, scrubland and gardens alike, and to many gardeners is a nuisance as it grows almost anywhere in a very short time to a considerable size.

The elder has acquired the nickname of ‘Nature’s Medicine Chest’, as its healing properties have been used for a very wide and varied range of problems from Rheumatism, hay fever, coughs and colds, asthma and influenza.

The elderflower is only in bloom for about six weeks, from the end of May to the beginning of July, but it is best picked now while the flowers are fresh and white and before they turn creamy brown.

I remember making this with my grandma every year, from collecting the flowers and berries to all the smells associated with this. I still have the hand written recipe of this and other by grandma, although I think some of these recipes are probably illegal to make at home now, like the marrow rum, I will have to check up on this at a later date.

The recipe to make 1.5 litres of Elderflower cordial is below, which you dilute to taste, is easy and inexpensive, and is great served with fizzy water and ice. Perfect for the summer.

Ingredients you need – 20 heads of elderflower, 1.8kg granulated sugar, 1.2 litres of water, 2 lemons and 75g citric acid.

Preparation time takes 20 minutes, plus overnight infusing and 5 minutes cooking.Method. Shake the flowers to expel any insects and place in large bowl.Put sugar in pan with water and bring to boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Pare zest off lemons in wide strips and place in bowl with elderflowers. Slice lemons discarding ends and add slices to bowl. Pour over boiling syrup and stir in citric acid. Cover with cloth and leave for 24 hours at room temperature. The next day strain cordial through a muslin (or a new boil washed J cloth or similar) and pour into thoroughly cleaned plastic or glass bottles with screw on lids, and that’s it.

The elder is also used as a natural garden insecticide, by crushing up and bruising the foul smelling leaves you can leave them around young plants to deter aphids and caterpillars. Obviously as they dry out and the smell disappears they need to be replaced.

Farmers used to hang bunches of elderflower above their horses before insecticides were used to rid flies, and dairy farmers used it as they thought it had properties to stop the milk from turning sour. People used to wear a small sprig to keep midges away. The elder has been closely entwined with pagans through the years to summon spirits, with twigs woven into head-dresses to enable the wearer to see spirits and undo evil spells! The mind boggles.

On the Isle of Man, every cottage has an elder growing outside its front door to ward off witches even to this day. In other parts of the country, people would never burn elder wood as it was said a member of the family would die. It was truly a revered plant.

The great thing about elderflower is that it tastes delicious, is highly refreshing and a good provider of vitamin C – an antioxidant, so why not try making your own or buy a good reputable manufactured cordial and start getting the benefits for good health now.

Happy drinking Sandra & Ted

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Here we are facing the ‘cold’ season yet again and no matter who or where you are, we are all going to come into contact with the virus.

Commuting to work is one of the worst places for contracting a cold; a nice packed underground train or bus with people sneezing is a haven for spreading viruses.

I absolutely dread getting a cold in case it turns into a nasty cough as I have COPD, (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and for the last four years have had the flu jab because of this, even though I have never had the flu.

Having this condition really makes you aware how we take our body and organs for granted. I have never smoked, not even tried and yet the first thing anybody says when finding out I have COPD is that I must have been a heavy smoker.

Unfortunately the damage was initially done to my lungs at the age of seventeen when I had pluracy that turned into bronchial pneumonia, and then contracting a nasty chest infection again when I was in my early forties caused further problems.

I know many people think the flu jab is a waste of time and money, and that with the flu virus being able to mutate every year – how can they get the right vaccine? I am still very happy to receive it, as I know that even with the vaccine being only 80% protective, if I did contract flu it should not be so devastating to my body.

That is why ‘good food good health’ is so important to me, not only for my own well being but of course my family and friends.

The most important thing to help fight colds and flu and most illnesses is to have a healthy immune system, and of course eating a healthy nutritionally balanced diet goes a long way in achieving this.

Some people seem to go from one cold to the next, I know we cannot hide from these viruses but we really can help ourselves to reduce the risk by implementing good hygiene, washing our hands thoroughly and not touching our nose, eyes or mouth.

Catching a cold is usually from close personal contact, but viruses do lurk on household surfaces as well as skin, so an anti-bacterial cleaner and hand wash is recommended.

Many people believe that eating a hot curry can help to flush the virus out through your system by making the nose and eyes stream! Well it’s worth a try.

A sore throat is one of the first signs that generally make you aware your body is fighting a cold virus, followed by sneezing and a runny nose and sometimes a cough.

Symp toms are always worst for the first couple of days and then should trail off over the next day or so but some unlucky people are likely

to suffer badly for up to two weeks.

The body releases infection-fighting chemicals in its wage on the virus, which gives us the loss of appetite, high temperature and tiredness, telling us that we need to slow down and save energy allowing the body to go about its task.

If you suffer colds regularly you really do need to look at your diet to keep your body is working in tip top condition or take a supplement to help and ensure a healthy immune system, especially as there are more than 200 different viruses that can cause a cold.

Once you have contracted a cold your body is busy making anti-bodies to that virus, ensuring that you should not catch it again or at least only have slight symptoms. The most common way an adult catches a cold is through rhinovirus – entering the body through the nose.

Coughs of which I dread are different, they develop from a cold virus or other infection and result in inflamed airways. A chesty cough shows that the lower airways are inflamed and a dry tickly cough if the upper airways are inflamed.

So even though I always eat a nutritionally well balanced diet I do take a garlic supplement for added benefits. I do love garlic and use it regularly in our meals; but our children are concerned about the ‘smell’ factor in the house and on them so I have to tone down meals and boost it with the supplement.

So do not forget ‘good food good health’ to help beat the rotten winter colds and help your immune system to stay in tip-top condition.

There are some great vegetables in season this time of the year and you can easily make a really healthy chunky vegetable soup or stew that are really easy to cook and lovely and filling in the cold weather.

Also smoking and alcohol intake does have a bearing on your immune system, so if you are often run down and do drink or smoke regularly taking a look at this aspect of your lifestyle can help to.

Good Food is Good Health

Sandra & Ted

http://www.goodfoodgoodhealth.com

http://www.thetalkingbooksite.com

http://www.quantum-mind-power.com

Vitamin K. We all know how important eating a well balanced diet is, to maintain a healthy array of all the vitamins that are essential for the body to go about doing it’s tireless work, day in day out, yet we all seem mystified when we become run down or ill, from either having been living off fad diets or instant food full of preservatives and additives.

I look at our ‘good food good health’ slogan as a way of life, we are what we eat, so if you want your body to run smoothly we need to eat nutritiously – well you would not run your Porsche on two stroke fuel and expect a smooth ride or optimum power, heaven forbid, your body works exactly the same although obviously you can change your car every few years, to date medical science is not quite up to that yet!!

Vitamin K is not one of the better-known vitamins, although it plays a crucial role in our well being. Until recently it was thought that it was only beneficial in helping blood clot, now if you ask me that is pretty important as we do not want to bleed to death.

Vitamin K has two main forms- phylloquinine (vitamin K1), which is also known as phytonadione and menaquinones (vitamin K2).

Phylloquinine K1 makes up 90 per cent of the vitamin k in a typical diet and is found in leafy green vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, spinach and broccoli etc and also vegetable oils.

Menaquinones can also be obtained in the diet from different products such as meat, cheese and fermented foods.

Our bodies naturally produce Vitamin K from food in the small intestine by bacteria, but there is no way of telling how much this provides us of our daily needs.

Studies have shown that Vitamin K is now known to assist the body significantly in many ways and is being hailed as a natural wonder drug.

K1 and K2 play major roles in bone health, by empowering secondary modification of the protein osteocalcin that is required to bind calcium to bone matrix. It also produces GLA –‘glue’ like amino acid that helps keep calcium in the bones.

So for postmenopausal women vitamin K is important for helping to keep osteoporosis at bay, as studies have shown that by taking a supplement of 45mg of vitamin K daily for 3 years bone density actually improved.

Worryingly, it has been found that people who have a deficiency in Vitamin K have been linked with bone loss and arterial calcification.

Because of this research has been carried out on rats with exciting results. It was found that by feeding rats a K2 rich diet for 6 weeks, further hardening of the arteries was prevented and a 37 per cent reduction of existing hardening.

As currently no treatment exists for hardened arteries, cardiovascular specialists are extremely excited if this finding has the same effect on humans and the future of the disease, studies pending on this are looking promising. Hardened arteries – arterial calcification causes the walls of blood vessels to lose elasticity, making the heart work at elevated rates to pump blood around the body.

This extra pressure on the heart can lead to heart attacks, by up to 50 percent more!

Hardening of the arteries is not only through poor diet it can also happen through injury and a simple small knock is enough, this process of calcification in the arteries can take months or even years, causing inflammation to the wall of the blood vessel and through this floating cholesterol and debris consequently gets stuck to the site and this is where calcification – hardening happens.

So if we all eat a well balanced diet of good food, including those greens that a lot of people dislike, to make sure we maintain our vitamin K levels and the benefits for good health are greatly increased. Supplements are also available to boost your intake.

Like we said previously good food is good health.

Sandra & Ted

http://www.goodfoodgoodhealth.com

http://www.thetalkingbooksite.com

http://www.quantum-mind-power.com

]]> http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/vitamin-k.html/feed 0 http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/bowel-cancer.html http://goodfoodgoodhealthforyou.com/bowel-cancer.html#comments Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:15:53 +0000 Good Food Good Health http://azland55.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/good-food-good-health-bowel-cancer/ Low carbohydrate diets increase risk of bowel cancer

Hi Everyone

I know we are always being told to eat a balanced diet of good food and sometimes get fed up hearing about it, but there really is proof that this information really is beneficial for our good health, whatever our age.

Did you know that diets that are low in carbohydrates, such as the popular Atkins diet could increase your risk of bowel cancer? I find this quite alarming as several of my friends have used this diet.

Bowel cancer is a subject very close to my heart as my father was diagnosed with bowel cancer twice, the second unfortunately being fatal. Even so as a family we consider ourselves very lucky, as there was a gap of seventeen years between the bouts.

Nowadays there is not such a great taboo over bowel cancer, thanks to famous people in the media speaking out about their symptoms, the general public are more aware and prepared to talk about it and seek medical attention much sooner.

When my father had bowel cancer the first time in 1980 the word cancer was never mentioned at home, it was always glossed over and ‘stomach problems’ was the only mention of his illness, but on its reoccurrence in the nineties there was a much more openness to the disease and even more so today, thank goodness.

It is now known that one of the factors of bowel cancer is a poor diet, and in today’s society of us all wanting to be ever slimmer, several different diet fads have taken off all over the world.

Researchers have found a link between eating a low carbohydrate diet and lower levels of the cancer fighting acid that is in the gut called butyrate. The chemical butyrate is produced by bacteria and helps to kill off cancerous cells.

Scientists found that by eating a low carbohydrate diet can cause a fourfold reduction in the cancer fighting butyrate bacteria, and have said “in the long run it is possible that these diets could contribute to bowel cancer”.

The Atkins diet has been immensely popular worldwide with celebrities swearing by it to stay slim. However critics believe there are several potential risks with a diet regime that calls for such drastic cuts in carbohydrates, and has also been linked to heart disease and osteoporosis.

On this study, obese men were put on one of three different diets, eating either a low, medium or high level of carbohydrate.

The men on the high-carb regime consumed 400g of carbohydrate a day, which is the same as an average diet. Those on the low-carb diet only consumed 24g a day, this being equivalent to starting the Atkins diet.

It was this group, the low-carbohydrate diet that had a fourfold drop in the level of cancer fighting bacteria in their stomachs. Professor Flint said ‘The changes in butyrate production that we observed in this study are the largest ever reported in a human dietary trial.’ He also said that it was likely the results would be exactly the same in women.

I believe we should all eat a varied diet to maintain good health, and even when trying to lose weight should still continue eating a good balanced diet.

Good Food re ally is beneficial for continuous good health and should be a priority for

all of us. Eating a healthy diet has become the golden rule in our house – ‘good food good health’, and even our children recognise the benefits now they are older, although it was difficult to maintain at times.

Annie Anderson, nutritional adviser to the Bowel Cancer UK charity, said ‘there is little merit in low carbohydrate diets, apart from the fact that they can help people to lose weight.’ ‘Cutting down long term on fruits and fibre- for example in bread, as this report shows doing so is likely to have a negative impact on your bowel health and may increase the risk of bowel cancer’.

Previous studies have blamed the Atkins diet for causing constipation through the lack of fibre eaten during the diet, which can raise the risk of bowel cancer. This is caused through the lack of fibre, meaning that the food moves much more slowly through the gut.

The Atkins diet is based on the theory that cutting carbohydrates changes the body’s chemistry, turning it from a carbohydrate burning machine in to one that burns fat instead.

This low-carb diet craze became popular in the 1990’s when Dr Robert Atkins wrote and published his book Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, and still is one of the top ten diets used today.

Scientists and medical professionals say that bowel cancer is on the rise and fear that this diet could have an input on this, but with greater awareness of the disease and early detection, more people are surviving.

So remember, all foods can be eaten in a small amount or as a treat, and some should be treated only as that, and that continuously eating one type of ‘foods’ can only do us harm. So why not make our ‘good food good health’ slogan yours as well, and put it into practice next time you are in the supermarket.

Now is a great time of year for local fresh produce, you will be surprised how much fresher fruit and vegetables are at you local farm shop, and better for the environment with less carbon trail and packaging. I am a great believer that we should all eat a balanced diet, to keep our bodies in tiptop condition.

We all know that bowel cancer is on the increase in the UK, but let’s get our diets right and give ourselves a greater fighting chance to keep bowel cancer at bay.

Do not forget good food is good health

Sandra & Ted

http://www.goodfoodgoodhealth.com

http://www.thetalkingbooksite.com

http://www.quantum-mind-power.com