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When we think of healing foods, we don’t always consider herbs and spices. They are the little extras that we often put on our food to give it more seasoning and to make it tastier for everyone at the table.

Put the saltshaker away when you’re cooking, as too much salt in the diet can spell disaster for your circulatory system and kidneys. Reach instead for healthy herbs and seasonings to jazz up your next meal and help make you healthier to boot!

Herbs and spices have been used for centuries to treat a variety of health and medical conditions. Examples of these include inflammatory conditions, infections, autoimmune disorders, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and nausea. There is no doubt that when it comes to herbs and spices there are plenty of healing properties you should get to know better.

Garlic has long been used as a folk remedy for many ailments. Garlic is a member of what is called the allium family as it contains a substance called allicin. Other members of this family include onions and scallions.

Research into the benefits of garlic has shown that it is a strong preventative agent against stroke and heart disease. Garlic is also instrumental in lowering high blood pressure. Further studies have shown that garlic is very close to a natural form of antibiotic. Garlic is full of substances that help to detoxify the body and are able to disperse carcinogens that are building in the system.

A number of research studies have shown that a diet rich in garlic helps to lower the total cholesterol rate of an individual, including the bad cholesterol or LDL while at the same time it raises the good HDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. Garlic also fights a great number of bacteria and viruses and therefore helps to prevent infections.

Garlic is associated with a decreased risk of stomach cancer. Research in Italy and China support garlic’s beneficial effects. Garlic is best eaten in its raw state. The best way to benefit from garlic is to eat it raw: cut up, sliced up or chopped.

Ginger is a very odd looking substance. It can be found in every produce department, and should be used more for its beneficial effects on health. Ginger works well to calm an upset stomach. Ginger is particularly good to take before embarking on a road trip if you are prone to motion sickness. Ginger snaps and ginger bread are also effective at calming an upset stomach. Pregnant women are often encouraged to eat ginger to reduce the nausea from morning sickness.

Ginger is also believed to be helpful in the fight to lose weight, as it works as a natural dietary aid. The reason it works is that ginger helps to boost the rate in which the body burns calories. This benefit has been borne out in studies conducted by researchers in Australia. When coupled with other spices including rosemary, thyme, oregano and pepper, ginger is excellent in regards to its antioxidant properties and therefore is proficient at fighting cancer.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Food Cures.

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Tags: antioxidants, carcinogens, cholesterol, Food Cures, garlic, healing foods, herbs and spices, high blood pressure

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health decided to study the population of Bogalusa, Alabama, in order to draw important conclusions about how that community’s health during childhood, and how those children fared as they grew up.

The first study began in 1982. It included about 16,000 subjects, and measured a great number of variables in order to assess the subjects’ weight, cardiovascular state, diabetic state, blood pressure and heart rate. Most of the subjects were between the ages of 6 and 19.

These patients were then followed in two subsequent visits, one in 1992 and one in 2002. The oldest subject in the data collection is now 38 years old. Although most cardiovascular disease doesn’t appear until one reaches the age of 55, there are already some interesting conclusions one can draw from the data collected in that Alabama town.

It was here in the Bogalusa study that doctors developed what they called “Syndrome X,” or a combination of factors which (1) seemed to go together, and (2) seemed to create problems with heart disease and other circulatory disorders.

Syndrome X consists of four factors: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, overweight or obesity, and insulin resistance. As you might expect, all four tended to go together in the population. If someone had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, for example, they were also likely to be overweight.

The most interesting conclusion from the data was that insulin resistance and obesity seemed to have the highest correlation. The reason for that might be that obesity is a major causative factor for insulin resistance. The medical reason has to do with the mechanism of action of insulin resistance, plus the lack of exercise that particularly befalls the obese person.

The medical reason for the coexistence of obesity and insulin resistance is fairly straightforward: when we eat too much, our livers are overwhelmed, and we pump out too much sugar in the form of glucose into the bloodstream. This higher level of glucose spurs the pancreas to secrete more insulin than it normally would. The increased amount of insulin tells the cells to burn more sugars. Since the cells don’t actually need the sugars in the amount that the insulin is telling them to burn, the cells gradually acquire ‘insulin resistance.’ Put another way, the cells need more insulin to elicit the desired response—to burn more sugar.

If one remains insulin resistant for a longer period of time—say five or ten years—one risks becoming a Type II diabetic. In the past, it used to be true that only obese adults would fall prey to Type II diabetes. Now, however, we are even seeing this affliction among teenagers. The CDC estimated in 2002 that 15% of all teenagers are overweight, as compared to 2/3 of all adults. The more grossly overweight the teen, the more likely that he or she will suffer from insulin resistance, and could contract a lifelong case of diabetes. This disease, formerly unheard-of amongst children and teens, is now growing in epidemic numbers in the United States.

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John Lonergan is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on  Insulin Resistance.

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Tags: bogalusa, cholesterol, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, obesity, syndrome x