Natural remedy soluble fibre IBS

IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome

IBS which is also called spastic colon is a gastrointestinal disorder where those unfortunate enough to suffer it will experience chronic abdominal pain, discomfort and bloating for which there is no cure.

Soluble fiber for IBS

A report in the British Medical Journal of a study by Dutch scientists indicated that pysllium, a natural soluble vegetable fibre, should be used as treatment of choice for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The researchers tested 3 treatments on 275 patients, 10gm of either pysllium, bran or rice flour twice (used as a placebo) a day for 12 weeks and found that those taking psyllium had symptom severity reduced by 90 points, while those on bran reduced by 58 points and 49 points for the placebo.

Products for irritable bowel syndrome

How to choose watermelon

Juicy watermelon is not only a great thirst quencher, there are also many health benefits from eating watermelon. Watermelon is a good source of many anti-oxidants like vitamin A and C as well as beta-carotene.

When watermelon is ripe, its edible part is bright red in color like the photo below, and this is when the edible "flesh" is sweet and very delicious. However, if it is not ripe, the inside of an unripe watermelon is white and not sweet. So how do one choose watermelon?

Photo of watermelon courtesy of Keith McDuffee

This is the way to choose watermelon. Hold the watermelon in one hand, and with hand, give the watermelon a tap (like giving the watermelon a good slap). The watermelon that gives a bright vibrating sound is the ripe one you should choose with bright red and sweet edible "flesh". If tapping the watermelon resulted in a dull thud, that watermelon is not ripe and will have white or very light red "flesh" and will not be sweet. Let me try to describe the sound again. The sound should be a "theng" like vibrating or bouncing as compared to a dull dead "thub".

Here is a video of a man choosing a watermelon. It is almost the same way as I do it, except that he used his knuckles to tap the watermelon while listening to the sound while I use my 4 fingers giving the watermelon a slap.



Below is another video from J. Costilla. Costilla hits the watermelon the same way as I do when choosing watermelon except he calls the sound to look out for a "deep heavy thump while I describe the sound to look out for as "vibrating". J. Costilla also use other criteria like weight and color plus guarding against soft spot.



Transcript:

Hi everybody, my name is J and I'm talking to you on behalf of Expert Village. I'm going to show you how to pick a watermelon.

As you can see first of all watermelon when you pick it up is very heavy. Why is it very heavy? Because they're 92% water, so they should be very heavy for their size. If you pick it up and it's is not very heavy for its size, don't buy it.

Another thing you can do is hit it with your hand. There needs to be a nice deep thick sound, called thumping.

Another thing you want to look for is this creamy yellow spot, this means that the watermelon has been sitting for a while and its been ripening. If you see no yellow creamy spots like this one has, don't buy it, trust me.

You can store your watermelon outside of your refrigerator and it will be good. Once you cut it, I recommend storing it inside your refrigerator. You don't want to see any type of bruising also, if you see any type of bruising or scars or really, really soft spots cause it should be firm all the way around, don't buy it.

So you want to look for the yellow spot, it needs to be heavy, it needs to have a good thump, nice and deep and you will have yourself a good watermelon. thank you.

How to prevent H1N1 swine flu?

I received this email forward and thought that it is a very good almost "common sense" (or something like natural remedy) way to try to avoid catching the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, perhaps even better than Tamiflu because all the measures recommended has to the best of my knowledge, no side effects. Disclaimer applies though, so read it but also consult with your doctor:

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With the constant fear of H1N1 symptoms, the following measures can be practiced by one
and all. This is an information which I just received from my father who is a Consultant
General Surgeon & Gastoenterologist, based in India and I do hope it could be beneficial
to the students and their families alike.

Tamiflu does not kill but prevents H1N1 from further proliferation till the virus limits
itself in about 1-2 weeks (its natural cycle). H1N1, like other Influenza A viruses, only
infects the upper respiratory tract and proliferates (only) there. The only portals of
entry are the nostrils and mouth/ throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost
impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with
H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.


While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to
prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections,
some very simple steps - not fully highlighted in most official communications - can be
practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):


1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless
you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). H1N1
takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show
characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with
salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected
one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water.
Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal
cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton
buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other
citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also
has Zinc/bioflavonoids to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much of warm liquids as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as
gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the
throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.


All these are simple ways to prevent, within means of most households, and certainly much
less painful than to wait in long queues outside public hospitals.

I do hope, this information could be passed on to one and all, for a healthy and H1N1 free
environment.

How I overcame constipation

For past week, I had been suffering constipation even though I had been eating lots of fruits and vegetables. This was how I overcame constipation. I drank a lot of water. I make sure I go to the toilet first thing in the morning. For some reasons, the feces are softer and easier to pass in the morning. I haven't even started on the dried prunes I bought this morning and already passing motion was extremely easy this morning and not only that, I went to the toilet twice this morning.

Food for stamina - beetroot juice

Photo of beetroot courtesy of Gordon Joly

Are you an athlete or sportsperson wanting more stamina or just a health enthusiast wanting to exercise for longer? Or are you an elderly or have cardiovascular, respiratory or metabolic diseases that make you lethargic? Drink beetroot juice. According to a report published in the Journal of Applied Physiology by researchers from the University of Exeter and Peninsula Medical school, drinking beetroot juice will boost your stamina and help you exercise for up to 16% longer. Nitrate in beetroot juice leads to a reduction in oxygen uptake, thus making exercise less tiring.

Researchers gave 8 men of ages between 19 and 38 years 500ml of organic beetroot juice per day for 6 consecutive days and then subjecting them to a series of tests including cycling on an exercise bike. They were also given a placebo of blackcurrant cordial on other occasions, also for 6 consecutive days, each ending with the same series of tests including cycling.

It was found that after drinking beetroot juice, the subjects were able to cycle for 675 seconds on the average while after drinking the placebo, they were only able to cycle for 583 seconds, 92 seconds less than after drinking beetroot juice. Drinking beetroot juice not only enabled the subjects to cycle for longer, they also had lower resting blood pressure.

While the researchers are not sure of how nitrate in beetroot juice increased stamina, they suspect it could be because nitrate turned into nitric oxide thereby reducing oxygen requirement of the exercise.

Professor Andy Jones of the School of Sport and Health Science, University of Exeter says he is keen to explore the relevance of these findings also to people who suffer from poor fitness who may be able to use dietary ways to help them go about their daily lives.

Eye drops may reverse glaucoma

Glaucoma refers to a group of diseases that affect the optic nerve and involves a loss of retinal ganglion cells in a characteristic pattern. It is a type of optic neuropathy. Raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma (above 22 mmHg or 2.9 kPa). (Glaucoma (Wikipedia).

My friend lost one eye to glaucoma when he was still young. If only this report, Experimental and clinical evidence of neuroprotection by nerve growth factor eye drops: Implications for glaucoma published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences had been published earlier. The report claimed that eye drops containing containing nerve growth factor seemed to trigger chemical changes within cells that prevent those cells from dying in response damages from increased intraocular pressure and may boost the capacity of healthy RGCs (retinal ganglion cells) to form new connections within the optic nerve, compensating for any damage that may have already taken place.

The researchers from the University of Rome treated rats with induced with glaucoma through injection of hypertonic saline into the episcleral vein, with eye drops containing 2 does of NGF - 100 and 200 μgm/ml.

For further details, refer to BBC News (health) and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America