Buckwheat is not really a wheat, but a seed. You have probably heard of buckwheat, if you have ever seen Kashi Cereal in the cereal aisle. Buckwheat is a very heart healthy food containing about 15 per cent protein, a lot of fiber and a good amount of potassium. Buckwheat also contains rutin which is a bioflavinoid.

Rutin is helpful in strengthening and toning the tiny blood vessels in the body and has been used clinically for treating high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries. If you want to lower your blood pressure naturally you might want to consider introducing buckwheat into your diet. Here is a family favorite recipe of ours which is inexpensive and highly nutritous that uses buckwheat:

Kasha Varnishkas

2 Tbsps. oil

1 onion diced (you can buy frozen chopped onion in the freezer section)

1 cup whole kasha (buckwheat)

1 cup diced mushrooms (optional)

1 egg, beaten

2 cups boiling water or soup stock (I use canned chicken soup stock)

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 and 1/2 cup bowtie noodles, cooked and drained

2 tbsp. butter or margarine

Heat oil in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and mushrooms until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add kasha. Stir in beaten egg. Saute for 2 minutes, stirring with fork or wooden spoon until grains are separate

At the same time, in a 1 quart saucepan bring liquid to a boil. Pour boiling liquid over kasha, add seasonings, and simmer covered for 10 to 15 minutes, until kasha has absorbed all the liquid and is dry and fluffy.

In serving bowl, combine drained noodles with kasha, while both are still warm. Melt in 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, and mix until everything is well combined.

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 According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases each year more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergic diseases. Allergies are the 6^th leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, costing the health care system $18 billion annually. Approximately 16.7 million office visits to health care providers each year are attributed to allergic rhinitis.

Though it is often difficult to diagnose the causes  of allergies there are some simple things you can do to make your home enviornment less hospitable to allergens:

1) Cleanliness is very important. Frequent dusting, removing knick knacks that collect dust is highly recommended.

2) Get rid of wall to wall carpeting if at all possible and use hardwood floors or tiles. A friend of mine recently removed almost all their wall to wall carpeting and said she got immediate relief. Another friend of mine who has a child with asmtha also got rid of all their draperies and replaced them with wooden blinds. Minimize the presence of stuffed animals also.

3) Put mattresses inside allergen covers or zip up plastic covers. The plastic ones are cheaper than the allergen ones but both covers keep dust mites from escaping from mattresses.

4) Use an air filter for your airconditioning and heating unit that has an allergen trapping filter. We purchased some of these for our home and it has helped. Interestingly,l evels of air pollution inside your home can be two to five times higher than outdoor levels. The Environmental Protection Agency ranks poor indoor air quality among the top five environmental risks to public health

Our usual reaction to stuffy sinuses and/or lung congestion is to engage in a full attack with pills and potions. But though over the counter and prescription medication provide temporary allergy relief, they can have unhealthy side effects. We often overmedicate ourselves out of frustration with the frequent recurrence of common allergies and symptoms. Additionally, the constant consumption of antibiotics, such as Augmentin, have caused antibiotics to be increasingly ineffective in combating sinusitis. You might consider a more natural allergy relief option when the symptoms get really bad.

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A colorectal cancer screening is recommended at age 50 and beyond unless you have a risk factor. So many people put them off because they are afraid of the discomfort. Doctors say though with sedation the procedure is painless. The benefits to having the screening is that with early detection, colon cancer is curable in up to around 90 percent of the cancers.

Colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon and/or rectum) is the third most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer deaths among Americans. The American Cancer Society reports that colon cancer rates among African Americans are about 15% higher and deaths about 40% higher than among whites. Yet there is no explanation for this statistic. There is some common ground between the lifestyles of  black Americans and colon cancer’s risk factors—being overweight, low level of physical activity, having a diet high in fat and red meat and low in fruits and vegatable. Risk  also increases if you smoke, have a family history of colorectal cancer, have digestive disorders such as IBS,ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease.

Here are some commonly prescribed prevention strategies:

Eat less fat and less red meat especially processed meat. Eat more fruits and vegetable.

Eat more fish and chicken.

Take vitamins - include a safe dose of folic acid (1 mg per day) and also B complex vitamins

Quit smoking

Many people find that using a mild natural colon cleansing product is very helpful in keeping their colon clean and preventing digestive disorders. Dr. Elson M. Haas, M.D. founder and medical director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin and author of several popular health books says” Through my 25 years in medical practice and health care.. I have come to believe that the cleansing/detoxification process is the missing link in Western nutrition and one of the keys to real healing. I have seen hundreds of patients over the years transform regular or persistent illness into health and greatly improved vitality.

See our post on Colon Cleansing Products

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I am never without a vial of lavender oil. It is one of the most useful essential oils. According to Pamela Allardice who wrote Natural Remedies A-Z,  lavender is naturally soothing, antiseptic and has anti-inflammatory properties. Lavender Oil can be used to make an effective mouthwash, skin tonic, and eye lotion, and helps to treat mild infections or irritations, such as cuts, insect bites and fungal infections.

You can add a few drops to the bath to soothe skin troubled by a rash. Allerdice also recommends combing lavender oil with other scented oils from its own plant family such as marjoram and rosemary and an unscented carrier oil such apricot kernel oil to scent the skin and stimulate circulation. Lavender oil also blends well with geranium or rose essential oil.

Lavender oil helps regenerate skin cells and is excellent for burns especially sunburn and chapping.  Lavender oil clears up pimples faster than any other product I have tried. Lavender is also known as the headache herb. You can buy lavender tea and drink it when you have a headache or you can dab the oil on your forehead or temples.

I also found a recipe for detangler using lavender. I don’t know where I originally found it but I have used it for years.

You can purchase essential oils from many online sources or at your local health food store. In our city Whole Foods has a good selection of essential oils. 

Here are the ingredients for the detangler: (clary sage and geranium oil can be a bit pricey but the small bottle will make gallons of detangler and these oils have other uses)

Herbal Detangler

16 oz. water

20 drops lavender oil

10 drops clary sage oil

10 drops geranium oil

Add oils to the water and mix. I put the mixture in a spray bottle and spray it on my hair either when it is wet to detangle or if it is dry to help calm the frizz.

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I previously posted about Attune Bars - a probiotic candy bar. The company graciously sent me a sample pack of the bars. So far I have tasted lemon creme, blueberry vanilla and wild berry. Blueberry vanilla tastes almost like one of those Hershey Cookies and Cream bars, I am not kidding. Lemon creme has a nice smooth flavor with just a bit of lemon tartness and wild berry is also good in that it does not overwhelm you with berry flavor. Sometimes berry flavored products put too much berry flavor in and I find the taste just too strong. The mango/peach bar was probably my least favorite but the taste was true. The chocolate mint bar tasted just like a candy bar. I have to admit the taste was amazing. None of the bars had that bitter aftertaste you often get with health products. I have noticed with some bars you also can get an unpleasant chemical taste but the Attune Bars have none of these drawbacks.

My favorite bar used to be Luna Bars but I think the Attune bars actually have better  flavor. The only drawback is they must be refrigerated which makes them a little less convenient. They are reasonably priced thought at about $1.59  I think Attune must have really paid attention to how these bars taste. Just to let you know I am not getting any money from the company for this review. It is just  my opinion and I wanted to pass it on because I think it is a good product.

For more information see our previous post about Probiotics - Restoring Digestive Health

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One of the latest trends in makeup is “mineral makeup” – products made of all natural, finely ground minerals from the earth, without any of the chemicals, dyes, and preservatives found in traditional makeup.  Many dermatologists say that because mineral makeuup frequently gets rid of irritants like fragrances, binders, synthetic dyes, and preservative - it can be consider purer and kinder to the skin. Many people do experience problems with their makeup due to the synthetic dyes, fragrances and preservatives, so any makeup that eliminates these ingredients will eliminates these problems. Dermatologists even say that because titanium dioxide (an ingredient in some mineral makeups) has anti-inflammatory properties, certain mineral makeups can have a calming effect on the skin - very helpful if you suffer from inflammatory problems such as rosacea and acne. Mineral makeup is non-comedongenic, so it won’t clog pores.

Lauren Hutton has a product line called Aqua Elements. One neat thing about Lauren’s make up is she shows you how to determine your skin tone and her product covers all four known skin tone groups. The makeup is light and doesn’t feel cakey. No animal testing was involved in creating the make-up. Lauren was the only guinea pig and we all know how great she always looks. Though the product is said to be for all ages, women between the ages of 35 and 65 seem to favor it. Lauren’s Make up was made for mature women who just want to look their best without looking “made up” The make up is formulated for mature women with no mica, pearl or filler, all of which fall into lines and wrinkles making them more apparent.

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The answer is to help the body’s naturally occurring microorganisms do their job. More than 400 different types of bacteria live in the gastrointestinal system and some are good and some are bad. The entire body depends on the colon doing its job properly. The colon’s beneficial bacteria manufacture B vitamins including biotin, niacin, folic acid and pyridoxine. Besides producing the enzyme lactase necessary for digesting milk sugar (lactose), these microorganisms produce antibacterial substances that kill disease-causing agents such as salmonella and some type of E. coli. These bacteria make the digestive tract function at top efficiency.

Two very important beneficial bacteria are acidophilus bacteria and bifid bacterium. Having a slightly acidic PH in the colon helps support these beneficial bacteria and helps keep bad organisms from spreading, since most of the bad organisms don’t like an acidic environment. Unfortunately, the colon’s PH can be altered by many conditions causing the beneficial bacteria to be reduced hence throwing off the delicate balance among the different microorganisms. Conditions that interfere with the colon’s Ph are: high meat and high fat diets, alcohol, stress, and antibiotics. Probiotics, dietary supplements made of beneficial microorganisms, can reintroduce beneficial bacteria. Many people are familiar with yogurt, which contains acidophilus and other foods that are high in probiotics but you can also get probiotics in supplement form. If you suffer from digestive problems or just want to keep your digestive system functioning at peak efficiency you might consider a probioitc supplement.

The Bowtrol Probiotic is an intestinal Probioitic enhancer designed to improve gastrointestinal function and intestinal good bacterial microbial balance. Lactospore increases enzymes for improving digestion and enhances the bioavailability of nutrients from food. Unlike many probiotics, Lactospore does not cause gas or bloating.

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Because of the limited level of success the medical community has had in treating digestive disorders many people have turned to alternative medicine for relief. Colon cleansing has been one of the more popular alternative health solutions to digestive disorders. The theory is the intestines can store a vast amount of partially digested, putrefying matter (as well as drugs and other toxic chemicals) and the toxins that result are carried into your blood stream. Colon cleansing gets rid of those toxins.

At one time I suffered from severe abdominal pains and medical testing was unable to determine the cause. Over the counter and prescription drugs did not help. I finally consulted a osteopath who was also a medical doctor. She prescribed a mild colon cleansing product along with digestive enyzymes and a few other supplements. It took a few months but the pain went away and I felt much better.

Many people have reported other benefits from colon cleansing such as:

• Increased energy levels
• Relief from some skin disorders 
• Improved concentration
• Better absorption of vitamins and minerals from foods
• Weight loss

A product we like for colon cleansing is Colon Cleanse Pro As Dr. Oz said on Oprah - The fiber washes out all the junk so it doesn’t lay in the colon irritating the cells and becoming toxic by rotting there.

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See our previous post on Probiotic Foods

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