The Healing Power of Garlic!

Have you ever think about having your foods with healing power?

There is one I know.
What's that?

It is Garlic!



Garlic is an important ingredient in many dishes in different countries – South East Asia, East Asia, South Asia, South and Central America, Middle East, North Africa and Southern Europe etc.

The use of garlic
Garlic is a fundamental cooking component which is widely used around the world for its pungent flavor. Garlic can be eaten raw or cooked. It has been used on breads to create different dishes such as garlic bread & toast, bruschetta and crostini etc. Flavored garlic oils are used to season vegetables, meats, and pastas etc. In Europe, the shoots are eaten as an appetizer. Garlic spears are used in stir frying. Garlic leaves are chopped and stir-fried with eggs, vegetables and meats. Garlic power is also used as flavor for cooking.

Medical usage
Garlic has been used as medicine around the world for over thousand of years. There are records that garlic is used to treat respiratory problems, digestive problems, low energy and parasites. They were also used in treatment of smallpox, dropsy, pulmonary tuberculosis or phthisis in the human history.

The recent medical research proved that garlic is ant-bacterial, antiviral, and anti-fungal in nature. People believed that garlic can prevent or even cure heart diseases and cancer. It can improve atherosclerosis, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Medical research also suggests garlic help to prevent and cure common cold and influenza. Regular use of garlic extracts can lower the blood homocysteine levels and to prevent the diabetes mellitus. It can also regulate the blood sugar levels.

Many people like me love garlic. However, when you eat too much, it’ll stimulate your stomach and might induce stomachache. I also found eating too much garlic might disturb my sleep. From the concept of Chinese Medicine, garlic would induce the “hotness” of our internal organ and disturb the equilibrium of our body.

If you want to have the benefit of garlic and not the side-effects, you can consider to take it together with eggplant. The ratio of eggplant to garlic is recommended as one eggplant to 1/2 bulb of garlic. Using this ratio the ingredient are well balanced. With the addition of some meat or fish, the dish is tasty and wonderful for health.

Let’s stay healthy by eating such natural and healthy food –garlic.

Which mode of breathing you are adopting?

Chest-breathing or Belly-breathing

Let us have a simple test of the types of breathing you are adopting.
Put one of your hands on your chest, the other on the belly while you are sitting comfortably and breathe as usual.

Let's breathe in and breathe out.

If you feel that your chest rise and fall more prominently, then you are adopting chest-breathing. If you feel that your belly rise and fall more prominently, then you are adopting belly-breathing.


Is that important?
Yes!

Chest-breathing is also called shallow breathing that will not fill up the majority of the lungs with oxygen. It is the commonest way people breathe.

Belly-breathing is also called diaphragm-breathing or abdominal breathing or deep breathing. It helps to fill up the majority of the lungs with oxygen. It's instinctive that we acquired since birth without teaching and learning. Clinical studies showed that belly-breathing promotes weight loss as oxygen burns fat and calories and it's a key to sleeping well and be relaxed.

Therefore, we better practice more and master belly-breathing for better health.

Do you want to eat genetically modified fruit?

If don’t.
You have to learn more about the fruit label.

Those irritating little labels stuck on fruit would provide helpful information. The codes from the label identify whether fruit is full of pesticides and grown with petroleum-based fertilizers or organic, and even when

it's genetically modified.

The codes are applied not only to fruit, but also to vegetables, herbs, and nuts. They consist of four or five numbers. The system is quite simple. Fruit is divided into three classes: conventional (4), organic (9), and genetically modified (8).

All four-digit coded fruit is conventionally raised. So, if you don't see five digits, then it's safe to assume that the fruit is contaminated with pesticides and petroleum-based fertilizers, and is grown in depleted soils.

Five digit codes are simply the four digits with a single number added to the front: 9 or 8.

If the first of five numbers is 9, then it has been grown to the standards defined by the National Organic Standards Board. This is obviously preferable to conventionally-grown fruit.

If the first of five numbers is 8, the fruit is genetically modified. It means that it has been grown conventionally with poisons in depleted soil, from frankenseeds.

For example, let's take a simple Valencia orange. Its code is 4014. 84014 is the code of a small genetically modified Valencia orange. 94014 is the code of a small organic Valencia orange.

Now, you have more information to choose the type of fruit you want.

Sooth Your Sore Throat

Wonderful method to sooth your sore throat and cough

Spring is the seasonal period for the high spread of flu. You may find lots of people around you are having flu and cough in recent days. One of my colleagues had severe cough and sore throat in recent days. She had burning sensationt on her throat and trachea and she nearly lost her voice after coughing.




A few years ago, I had severe sore throat after coughing in middle of the night. My mother handed me a cup of hot tea and advised to put near my nose for smelling. I inhaled the steam from the cup. After a while, my mum told me to zip a small amount and swallow it slowly. I felt the soothing massage effect on my throat. I felt relaxed and had a good sleep.

The method is safe, so you can try it whenever you had similar condition. This method can also soften the sputum so that we can expell it easier and reduced the use of drugs.

Let's share the wisdom of our parents.

Nail – Revealing your health

Nail is part of our body and is an appendage of the skin like the hair and teeth. Nail is very important to us as it protect our fingers and toes. Finger nails assist in picking up small object and to enhance the esthetic appearance of he hands. Fingernails and toenails are made of a tough protein and Keratin. The nail consists of the nail plate; the nail matrix and the nail bed below it; and the grooves surrounding it.

Do you aware that our finger nail grows faster than toe nail?
Do you aware of the color of your nail?
Do you belief your nail can reveal your health condition?

I learnt a very interesting lesson from my finger nails. In recent few years, I found the appearance of my nail changed. Their color became pale and the new moon shape at the base of the finger nail disappeared from my index and ring fingers. The new moon shape at the base of the nail is actually the lunula. Normally, each finger has a lunula, with the larger one in the thumb, smallest in the little finger.

As many of the busy people, I continue my busy life regardless of the lunula disappeared. I had my health deteriorating as I worked hard and sleep less and accidentally I found all my lunula disappears. I recognized the relationship about my health and the lunula.




Do you have lunula for all your fingers?
If yes, congratulation!
If no, then you have to take care of your health.
You may need a more balanced life style and do more exercise.