Better Homes

Bamboo Salt

admin — Wed, 25 May 2011 04:30:15 +0000

I love to explore the shelves of our local Asian stores – they contain so many treasures unknown to Westerners and it is fun to try new unknown things. That is how I discovered a beautiful box of toothpaste and while reading the ingredients found one that I’ve never seen before – bamboo salt. It was a beginning of an interesting journey in time.

After some research I learned that 1,000 years ago Korean monks who were trying to purify sea salt by baking it inside bamboo stubs discovered that after such process sea salt changed its properties and became a powerful medicinal agent. They have tried baking it over pine wood sealing bamboo with local yellow clay for 3, 4, 5 … up to 9 times and by trial and error discovered that baking it 9 times repeatedly gave salt the most healing powers.

The monks noticed that bamboo salt would provide relief from diarrhea and was a powerful antibacterial substance. Modern scientists discovered that it also had strong anti-oxidant qualities and even provided cells with anti-cancer and anti-viral protection. Bamboo salt has a treasure trove of minerals and trace elements which are absorbed by salt from clay and pine through the burning process. The natural balance of potassium and sodium wards off chronic diseases and helps to maintain healthy heart function. The balance of copper and zinc fights anemia by allowing for greater iron absorption. The presence of magnesium reduces cholesterol in the blood and takes the role of a natural tranquilizer in protecting the nerves. People who used bamboo salt as their only table salt noticed significant improvement in health, energy, and improved metabolism.

Bamboo salt has a promising future in cosmetics. Topical use of bamboo salt is beneficial in treating acne, cleaning and softening of skin. It also serves as a natural detoxifying agent when used for wraps and baths. Bamboo salt has a strong penetrative ability so it is able to eliminate toxins from the body quickly and efficiently.

What did we notice personally after using bamboo salt continually? First, dark circles under the eyes started to disappear. If we stop using bamboo salt, they slowly come back but not as dark. This is caused by blood-purifying qualities of salt. My sons acne is completely gone – he was washing his face with salt water and then we also made some natural soap based on bamboo salt and roiboos.

Potassium as energy booster?

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:39:16 +0000

Do you feel like you need a serious boost of caffeine in the afternoon when your energy levels are extremely low? Waking up in the middle of the night from painful leg cramps? Do you often feel depressed, nauseated, and irritable? It all may be a silent indicator of potassium deficiency.

Potassium is one of the most essential minerals for your body to stay healthy. It metabolizes energy from protein, fat and carbohydrates that we consume, keeps nerves’ functions healthy, keeps muscles in good shape, prevent obesity, diabetes, hypoglycemia, heart and kidney diseases. Without potassium we suffer from irritability, irregular bowel movements, high blood pressure and adverse effects of stress.

Try to have 2000-6000 mg of potassium a day incorporating into your diet these top 10 foods naturally rich in potassium:

Raisins – 1 cup – 1089 mg
Potato (baked) – 1 – 1081 mg
Lima beans – 1 cup – 955 mg
Tomatoes (1 cup) – 909 mg
Winter squash – 1 cup – 896
Spinach – 1 cup – 839 mg
Prunes – 1 cup – 828 mg
Banana – 1 cup – 594 mg
Yogurt – 1 cup – 579 mg

As you can see from this list, it is pretty hard to achieve 6000 mg a day, especially taking into consideration that potassium looses its benefits when food is cooked. In addition, a chemical reaction between potassium and sodium diminishes its intake. If your diet is high in bad salt (your average dead chemical salt variety) your potassium would be low. There are types of salt, as sea salt and bamboo salt, that are rich in many essential elements and are good for you. More on salt coming soon!

Best pink eye remedy

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:41:26 +0000

I was searching for best and quick pink eye remedies and green tea wasn’t even mentioned, though I’ve used for years (for both adults and kids) and consider it the best. Green tea is not only a strong antioxidant, but it also has anti-bacterial properties.

Just brew a cup of strong green tea (2 tbsp for a cup of boiling water) and wash infected eye as often as possible (every hour), always with a clean cotton ball. It also prevents pink eye if you feel like you are about to get it.

Secrets of a happy home

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:50:17 +0000

There are some easy and fun tips to make your home a happy place:

Clean Space ~ Everyone enjoys clean space – rooms that are organized and functional, uncluttered and full of light. Clutter makes house unpleasant and may also have an adverse psychological effect on us as it causes constriction and inertia of mind. Each part of our home has its own symbolic meaning which resonates with us on a subconscious level. For example, cluttered living room represents our unwillingness to socialize with people barricading ourselves in a messy corner of isolation. Clean it up and you’ll be more open to entertain and have family and friends over. Don’t treat de-cluttering as an unpleasant chore of epic proportions – think of it as an easy self-improvement project you do every day of your life. Watch for the areas in your home that get cluttered, clean them up and see your home and life becoming more fun and relaxing.

Green Power ~ Beautiful flowers instantly elevate our mood, either it is well cared for houseplant or a bouquet you’ve picked at the market. If you grow you own flowers, cut them weekly for a simple arrangement. Their aroma and color will add life and joy to any room in your home. In addition, healthy houseplants add green energy by purifying the air in your home. Plants can remove a variety of toxic air emissions including ammonia, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, benzene and xylene. NASA study found that common houseplants were able to remove up to 87 percent of air toxins in 24 hours – you would need 15-18 good size plants for 1,800 square feet space.

Happy Colors ~ We were all told to keep our home decor neutral – white and gray, though it has been proven that color has profound effect on our mood and wellbeing. Try to add accents to your color scheme choosing your favorite ‘happy color’ – yellow, red, blue, or gold. As your mood or taste changes, so would your accents. Blue, as a color of sky and water, is associated with peace, tranquility, calmness, stability and harmony. Orange can stimulate our creativity, help to concentrate and is a good accent color for a home office. Red is a color that instantly grabs our attention. Our brain associates it with love, happiness, intimacy – it makes our heart beat faster. Yellow can be a good accent color as our brain naturally associates it with sun and happiness. You will always smile looking at sunflowers or daffodils – so be brave and add some color and happiness to your life.

Aromas ~ Fun fact: we can recall smells with 65% accuracy year after year when our visual memory drops to 50% after only three months. We all associate certain smells with our favorite memories, either it is aroma of vanilla and spices of freshly baked cookies during the holiday season or scent of garden lavender from our honeymoon trip. Association of scents is determined by cultural differences, our individual upbringing, and memories. As a large part of our brain is devoted to processing scents there are some commonalities that make corner stones of aromatherapy: peppermint and lavender are relaxing, lemon is uplifting and purifying, while rosemary promotes mental stimulation. Fill your home with aromas of your happy memories and it will instantly put you in a good mood.

A magic of loquat

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:50:45 +0000

A friend brought me a few bags of fresh loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) – a sweet yellow-orange exotic fruit, extremely fragile, indigenous to southeastern China, though widely cultivated in Japan, Israel, Brazil, Italy, France, Spain western United States. There is a cult of loquat in Japan where it has been used for centuries for medicinal purposes. Loquat tea (1 TBS of dried leaves for 1 cup of boiling water) has been proved by extensive research to provide many health benefits:

Help body release natural antioxidants which neutralize toxins, prevent various diseases, improve immunity, and add life expectancy;
Help with diabetes as loquat leaves have tormentic acid which has been shown to increase insulin production;
Support of pancreas by helping it to regenerate its cells and naturally increase body’s production of insulin;
Support liver as loquat leaves contain amygdalin (B-17) known to help with liver disorders as well as improve liver’s natural ability to eliminate poisons from the body;
Fight skin inflammation and even skin cancer as loquat leaves have unique ability to suppress cancer cells’ reproduction as well as growth; adriamycin found in loquat leaves is used as a base for a drug which helps to reduce side effects of chemotherapy;
Loquat leaves have a mild suppressive effect on the HIV virus as they contain 2-alpha-hydoxyursolic acid, known anti-HIV virus agent.

We have dried loquat leaves in a dry, dark place (unlit oven) so they won’t loose their benefits and tea turned out to be wonderful – very aromatic, pleasant, rich in color. I just drink it as an iced decaf alternative to green tea and coffee during the day. Fruit made a great jam – jars are diapering much faster than I anticipated! We also have frozen some pitted loquat for smoothies – delicious light breakfast, when blended with juice, other fresh or frozen fruit and yogurt.

I’m now wondering if seeds that I kept when preparing jam would eventually sprout so we can plant some trees in the neighborhood. I’ve found out that loquat trees grow all over the place and can be a great alternative to regular, non-fruit bearing, landscape favorites. After all, we have even better climate than Japan here …

Research:

* Nishioka, Yutaka, Saburo Yoshioka, Masahiko Kusunose, Tailin Cui, Atuhide Hamada, Masahide Ono, Mituhiko Miyamura, and Shojiro Kyotani. “Effect of Extract Derived from Eriobotrya japonica on Liver Function Improvement in Rats.” Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 25 (2002): 1053-057.
* Hamada, Atsuhide, Saburo Yoshioka, Daisuke Takuma, Junko Yokota, Tailine Cui, Masahiko Kusunose, Mitsuhiko Miyamura, Shojiro Kyotani, and Yutaka Nishioka. “The Effect of Eriobotrya japonica Seed Extract on Oxidative Stress in Adriamycin-Induced Nephropathy in Rats.” Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 27 (2004): 1961-964.
* Taniguchi, Shoko, Yoko Imayoshi, Eri Kobayashi, Yoshie Takamatsu, Hideyuki Ito, Tsutomu Hatano, Hiroshi Sakagami, Harukuni Tokuda, Hoyoku Nishino, Daigo Sugita, Susumu Shimura, and Takashi Yoshida. “Production of bioactive triterpenes by Eriobotrya japonica calli.” Phytochemistry 59 (2002): 315-23.
* Jia, Wei, Wenyuan Gao, and Lida Tang. “Antidiabetic Herbal Drugs Officially Approved in China.” Phytotherapy Research 17 (2003): 1127-134.
* Shimizu, Mineo, Hideki Fukumura, Hideki Tsuji, Seiichi Tanaami, Toshimitsu Hayashi, and Naokata Morita. “Anti-inflammatory Constituents of Topically Applied Crude Drugs. I. Constituents and Anti-inflammatory Effect of Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.” Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 34 (1986): 2614-617.
* Ito, Hideyuki, Eri Kobayashi, Shu-Hua Li, Tsutomu Hatano, Daigo Sugita, Naoki Kubo, Susumu Shimura, Yoshio Itoh, Harukuni Tokuda, Hoyoku Nishino, and Takashi Yoshida. “Antitumor Activity of Compounds Isolated from Leaves of Eriobotrya japonica.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 50 (2002): 2400-403.
* Ito, Hideyuki, Yoshie Takamatsu, Shu-Hua Li, Tsutomu Hatano, Hiroshi Sakagami, Kaoru Kusama, Kazue Satoh, Daigo Sugita, Susumu Shimura, Yoshio Itoh, Takashi Yoshida, and Eri Kobayahshi. “Polyphenols from Eriobotrya japonica and Their Cytotoxicity against Human Oral Tumor Lines.” Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 48 (2000): 687-93.
* De Tommasi, Nunziatina, Francesco De Simone, and Cosimo Pizza. “Constituents of Eriobotrya Japonica. A Study of Their Antiviral Properties.” Journal of Natural Products 55 (1992): 1067-073.

Good Scents (aroma crystals recipes)

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 23:36:26 +0000

Though the term aromatherapy was coined in the 20th century, the practical use of essential oils dates back thousands of years. The etymology of the word perfume gives us a glimpse into world history. It was first used in 1530 as an English version of a word coming from French parfumer (to scent) which has Latin origins: per- (through) + fumare (to smoke). The first use of perfume is associated with burning incense in ancient Egypt. It was also used in a solid form and placed on a head as a cone that would melt overtime to over the body with pleasant scent. Egyptians perfected the long-lasting aroma which was discovered in unraided king Tutankhamen’s tomb as a solid perfume inside beautifully crafted jar, still radiating pleasant smell after so many centuries. When it was analyzed researchers found that it had traces of spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi) and frankincense (aromatic resin obtained from trees of Boswellia sacra). Spikenard was highly regarded and widely used in ancient times and is mentioned several times in the Bible. Though it was native to Nepal, trading made it accessible but very expensive through Egypt and Asia Minor.

In middle ages the art and craft of perfume remained mysterious and tightly guarded secret. In XII century the abbess of German convent was the first to extract lavender essential oil for its medicinal value. While distillation process of essential oils was perfected, the pharmaceutical industry was born. When plague killed millions of people in Europe in XIV century, it is possible that high survival rate among perfumers was caused by constant and prolonged contact with natural aromatic substances and essential oils.

Vanilla amber aroma crystals

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup coarse-grained, chunky sea salt
1 teaspoon olive or grape seed oil (just enough to make the salts glisten)
25 drops vanilla essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops sweet orange essential oil

DIRECTIONS: Mix salt and oils, pour into a decorative dish or bowl and set out on a table. Placing the crystals in a warm sunny window or near a heat register will help diffuse the delicious aroma throughout the room. Stir in additional essential oils to boost the scent as needed.

You can substitute essential oils to create other varieties – calming, relaxing or energizing.

Energizing blend:
* 20 drops of Rosemary essential oil
* 20 drops of Bergamot essential oil

Stress relieving blend:
* 20 drops of sage essential oil
* 10 drops of lemon essential oil
* 10 drops of lavender essential oil

Tutankhamen blend:
* 20 drops of spikenard essential oil
* 20 drops of frankincense essential oil