August 25, 2009

Influenza Home Remedy Using Ginger Honey And Fenugreek Seeds

Conditions Treated: Infectious Diseases

Specific Conditions Treated: Influenza
Ingredients Used: Ginger, Honey, Fenugreek seeds

Description: Influenza, also known as flu, is the clinical condition that results from infection with influenza viruses. The main effects of the influenza viruses are on the upper respiratory tract, the nose and throat, with possible spread and involvement of the lungs and bronchi. The disease is highly contagious and it has the potential to cause a widespread epidemic, affecting a sizeable portion of a population at any time.

Influenza strikes suddenly. It usually begins with chills, fever, headache, and severe muscular pains. The patient feels miserable and weak. There is an inflammation in the nose and throat, which may spread down the windpipe to the lungs, resulting in a sore throat, cough, and running of the nose and eyes. In milder cases, the temperature rises to 39C or 102;F, and in severe cases, it may go up to 40C or 104 F. The consequent weakness and fatigue may continue for several weeks.

Influenza is a viral disease. It generally affects those with a toxic and run-down condition. Such a state is brought about by dietetic errors and a faulty style of living such as worry, overwork, lack of proper exercise, living in stuffy rooms, and keeping late hours. No disease germs can find lodgment and become active in the system of a person who is perfectly healthy in the true sense of the term. Influenza is passed on with ease from the affected person to many others who are also in an equally low vital state.

Directions For Use: A teaspoon of fresh ginger juice, mixed with a cup of fenugreek decoction and honey to taste, is an excellent diaphoretic mixture which increases sweating and reduces fever in this disease.

The fenugreek decoction may be prepared by boiling one tablespoon of fenugreek seeds in half a litre of water, till it is reduced by one-third.

Expected Results Within: 5 days (mamaherb.com)

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August 21, 2009

Honey Making A Medical Comeback

Potent type used as antibiotic amid fears of drug-resistant superbugs


TRENTON, New Jersey - Amid growing concern over drug-resistant superbugs and nonhealing wounds that endanger diabetes patients, nature's original antibiotic — honey — is making a comeback.

More than 4,000 years after Egyptians began applying honey to wounds, Derma Sciences Inc., a New Jersey company that makes medicated and other advanced wound care products, began selling the first honey-based dressing this fall after it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Called Medihoney, it is made from a highly absorbent seaweed-based material, saturated with manuka honey, a particularly potent type that experts say kills germs and speeds healing. Also called Leptospermum honey, manuka honey comes from hives of bees that collect nectar from manuka and jelly bushes in Australia and New Zealand.

Antibiotics becoming ineffective

Derma Sciences now sells two Medihoney dressings to hospitals, clinics and doctors in North and South America under a deal with supplier Comvita LP of New Zealand. Derma Sciences hopes to have its dressings in U.S. drug stores in the next six months, followed by adhesive strips.

Comvita, which controls about 75 percent of the world's manuka honey supply, sells similar products under its own name in Australia, New Zealand and Europe, where such products have been popular for over a decade.

"The reason that Medihoney is so exciting is that antibiotics are becoming ineffective at fighting pathogens," said Derma Sciences CEO Ed Quilty.

Another big advantage, he said, is that the dressings' germ-fighting and fluid-absorbing effects last up to a week, making them convenient for patients being cared for at outpatient clinics or by visiting nurses. They also reduce inflammation and can eliminate the foul odors of infected wounds.

Since receiving FDA approval, Medihoney has brought in sales of $150,000 in 10 weeks and Quilty plans to nearly double his 15-person sales force in 2008 thanks to the two new Medihoney products.

Healing wounds

Honey dressings and gels, as well as tubes of manuka honey, have been gaining in popularity overseas, fueled by scientific reports on their medical benefits and occasional news accounts of the dramatic recovery of a patient with a longtime wound that suddenly healed.

Regular honey can have mild medicinal benefits. A study published Dec. 3 showed it helps to calm children's coughs so they can sleep. But manuka honey is far more potent, research shows.

Dr. Robert Frykberg, chief of podiatry at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix, said the Medihoney product has worked on about half the patients with diabetic foot ulcers who have used it.

He said the Medihoney dressing can also prevent the dangerous drug-resistant staph infection known as MRSA from infecting open wounds.

"It's been used on wounds where nothing else will work," said biochemist Peter Molan, a professor at the University of Waikato in New Zealand who has researched honey and other natural antibiotics for 25 years.

He's found manuka honey can kill the toughest bacteria even when diluted 10 times and recommends it especially for people with weak immune systems.

"There's more evidence, clinical evidence, by far for honey in wound treatment than for any of the pharmaceutical products" for infection, Molan said. However, it won't work once an infection gets in the blood. "It's not a miracle."

Some U.S. hospitals and wound care clinics are already using Medihoney dressings to treat patients with stubborn, infected wounds from injuries or surgical incisions and nonhealing pressure ulcers on diabetics' feet, which too often lead to amputations.

Kara Couch, a nurse practitioner at Georgetown University Hospital's Center for Wound Healing in Washington, said it works well for patients who have "wound pain" or infected wounds.

One patient who had an open wound that didn't heal for a few years "healed 90 percent in three weeks," she said, adding that the usual rate for chronic wounds is barely 10 percent a week.

Fewer complications

David Crosby, a retired insurance claims examiner from Hanover, Massachusetts, began using Medihoney two months ago on a 2 1/2-year-old burn on his leg after high-tech treatments did not help. The burn's size has shrunk by half and it continues to heal.

"At this stage, any improvement's better than nothing," Crosby said.

Dr. Craig Lambrecht, a North Dakota emergency physician, started using a paste version of Medihoney while serving with the National Guard in Iraq last winter.

At a military clinic for Iraqi children, he used it on patients with severe burns from cooking fuels, open fires and explosions. He said Iraqi families soon preferred the honey over other treatments because it was natural and because the honey dressings don't need to be changed as often as traditional ones. The children also healed more quickly and with fewer complications, he said.

After seeing its success in Iraq, Lambrecht, who has five children of his own, is a fan.

"I would use the Medihoney on burns on my children, as the first choice, without question," he said.(msnbc.msn.com)

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August 18, 2009

Honey Against Colds, Cough and Sore Throat

Bees are our best friends: a knowledge that comes with the dawn of civilization. The interest and love for the bees mainly derives from the cult for honey that is not considered only a food but a panacea for many ailments, a real natural antibiotic. Honey is, in fact, a mining and quarrying, trace elements and vitamins. But as we all make the most of his virtues to combat ailments of the season.

honey Honey against colds, cough and sore throatHoney better against the ailments of the respiratory tract is the eucalyptus honey for its antiseptic, expectorant, sedative cough. A teaspoon of honey can always add two or three drops of tincture of propolis to enhance the antibacterial effects. The fir tree honey is equally effective for the respiratory system but it must be said that as more liquid is often better appreciated. Because of lower density, the fir tree honey is well adapted to the preparation of two well-known remedies grandmother: the so-called “chicken milk and honey with cloves.

Against cold and fever mixed a tablespoon of honey and an egg yolk and then pour the mixture into a cup of hot milk.

Add five cloves - power by the anesthetic! - In a small jar of honey and let in the refrigerator for a whole night and the morning after removing the “intruders”, we will have a wonder cure for sore throats - to be stored in a refrigerator - to be drawn on during the day.

But why wait until they become ill to enjoy the flavors and thousand virtues of honey?(joelpalsson.com)

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July 20, 2009

Uganda Honey Is Very Rich In Minerals

After listening to Professor Horn’s explanation about the quality of Uganda honey, it really made me feel so glad that all my effort spent here are worth every minute of it! When I received the test report the other day, I discovered that the electrical conductivity for our honey is very high. So when I called Professor to clarify on the issue, he told me that this is a good indication for quality honey. Electrical conductivity reflects the amount of minerals found in the honey. The higher the electrical conductivity, the higher the minerals content. Minerals found in honey are usually Potassium, Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Copper, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus and Sodium. The test result shows that Uganda honey has 100% MORE MINERALS THAN NORMAL BLOSSOM HONEY!

One very important mineral present is Potassium. Health benefit of Potassium includes the fight against stroke, blood pressure, anxiety, stress, heart and kidney disorder, nervous system and muscular system. If one has any deficiency of any nutrient in our body, it will not be desirable. Potassium is one very vital nutrient. If a diet is lacking in potassium, the usual symptoms are weakness in muscles and fatigue. Lack of potassium will lead to inactive reflexes, anemia, irregular or abnormal heartbeat. People lacking in potassium will also lead to high blood pressure, intestinal pain, diabetes and swelling of glands. In this blog, I will touch on the health benefits of Potassium:

* Stroke: Potassium plays an important role in keeping the working of brain in normal state. It is of great importance in preventing the occurrence of stroke in human brain. It is a fact that a person suffering from this dreadful disease may be found deficient in this essential body nutrient.

* Low blood sugar: Decrease in potassium level causes a drop in blood sugar level. Decrease in blood sugar level causes sweating, headache, weakness, trembling and nervousness. Intake of potassium chloride and sodium provides immediate relief from such situation.

* Muscle disorders: Potassium plays an important role in regular muscle contraction. Right concentration of potassium, is required for the regular contraction and relaxation of the muscle. Most of the potassium ions of the human body are present inside the muscle cells. It maintains muscle function and optimal nerve.

* Cramps: Muscle cramps result due to low level of potassium in the blood, a condition called as hypokalemia. Intake of a honey rich in Potassium everyday prevents muscle cramp.

* Brain function: Potassium channels play a key role in maintaining the electrical conductivity of brain and affect the brain function. It is also involved in higher brain function like memory and learning. In addition to it, serious ailments like epilepsy are related to the functioning of potassium channels.

* Blood Pressure: Potassium is helpful in reversing the role of sodium in unbalancing the normal blood pressure. Thus, it acts as a vital component, which maintains the normality of blood pressure in human body. This further abolishes the possibilities of heart diseases and hypertension. Regulation of blood pressure is an important function of this mineral.

* Anxiety and Stress: Potassium is of great importance for people suffering from undesirable mental states like anxiety and stress. It is considered as a perfect stress buster and thus it ensures efficient mental performance of human body.

* Muscular Strength: This is in fact, one of the most appreciable benefits of potassium, as it ensures proper growth of muscle tissues and proper utilization of energy released during metabolism to add significant worth to muscular strength. The muscles, together with cardiac muscle, are prone to paralysis due to deficiency of potassium in diet.

* Metabolism: It assists in metabolic process of various nutrients like fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Thus, potassium is of great value in extracting the energy out of nutrients consumed by man.

* Heart and Kidney Disorders: The health benefits of potassium ensure good health for heart as well as kidneys. It plays an irreplaceable role in regulating the functions of potassium. Apart from this, this mineral assists kidneys to remove waste by the process of excretion. However, it is strictly advisable to consult your doctor to get recommendations about dosage.

* Water Balance: Potassium has another significant role to play in maintaining the desirable water balance in human body. There are different types of cells, which require having proper water balance for proper functioning and potassium aids these cells in regulating this balance.

* Electrolyte: Potassium plays the significant role as an electrolyte in human body. It helps in regulating the level of fluids in human body and thus performs a number of critical body functions.

* Nervous System: Potassium helps in boosting the spirit of nerve reflexes to transmit message from one body part to another. This in turn helps in muscle contraction to perform various activities every day.(ugandahoney.wordpress.com)

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Honey Cinnamon Pretzels

Makes 8 servings


These pretzels are slightly sweet and full of cinnamon. Your little ones won’t even miss the salty kinds. Serve them with a vanilla yogurt to dip.

Ingredients

* 8 cups (2 L) unsalted pretzel twists (a salt-free variety)
* ¼ cup (50 mL) honey
* 1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375º F (190º C). Place both the oven racks in the top half of the oven. Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Place pretzels in a large bowl.
3. Mix honey and cinnamon together in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 20 seconds.
4. Pour over pretzels and toss until coated.
5. Spread pretzels over the two baking sheets and cook for 8 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and loosen from the parchment paper. Let cool. Place in an air-tight container for up to one week.

Nutritional information per serving
(1 cup / 250 mL)

* Calories: 249
* Protein: 5 g
* Fat: 2 g
o Saturated fat: 0 g
o Dietary cholesterol: 0 mg
* Carbohydrate: 54 g
o Dietary fibre: 0 g
* Sodium: 164 mg
* Potassium: 90 mg

Developed by Nadine Day. ©The Heart and Stroke Foundation. (heartandstroke.com)

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