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America's Most Popular Herb? Coffee
Posted On 2009-07-22 , 9:13 AM
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| Roasted coffee beans. |
Coffee; also known as arabica, cappuccino, espresso, java, latte, and mocha; it is America's most widely used herbal infusion. The average American drinks 28 gallons a year.
Scientific studies are argumentative as to whether coffee has any specific health benefits. However, the overall balance of risks and benefits are on the side of benefits. Various studies clearly show reductions in the risks of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, diabetes mellitus type 2, cirrhosis of the liver and gout. It may help prevent asthma attacks, boost physical stamina, lose weight and over come jet lag.
It can also cause significant health problems. It should be used carefully and in moderation, as any other healing herb. It's active ingredient, caffeine, is addictive. It has always been more popular as a beverage than as a healing herb.
No doubt about it, coffee is a powerful central nervous system stimulant, which can have its down side if taken to freely. It causes irritability, trembling, confusion, ringing in the ears and bowel disorders.
A few studies showed that coffee helps prevent asthma attacks. The caffeine opens the bronchial passages in the lungs. In fact, caffeine and Theophylline (a popular asthma drug) are almost identical and your body does not know the difference. Caffeine content of a single serving can vary greatly depending on the type of coffee and method of preparation.
Coffee may even help some people lose weight by boosting the number of calories they burn per hour by about four percent. That translates into a significant increase in calories burned after a meal in people with weight problems.
It may help shift the body's natural time cycle after abrupt time-zone changes. Some jet lag authorities recommend drinking coffee in the morning when traveling west and in the late afternoon when traveling east.
Coffee may increase anxiety, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart and respiration rate and secretion of stomach acid. It may cause insomnia and nervousness.
It grows in tropical areas around the world. The plant is an evergreen shrub or small tree. You can, however, grow a coffee plant purely as an ornamental if you live in a sunny, humid area where the temperature does not go below 60 degree Fahrenheit. It requires full sun, moist air, moist soil, good drainage and regular feeding.
Coffee plants are available as a house plant, but still requires full sun and high humidity.
Can anyone recommend where to purchase a coffee plant?
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Natural Vitamin Consumption
Posted On 2009-07-13 , 8:41 AM
 It is essential that a person is aware of what constitutes natural vitamin consumption. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for accurate nutrition labeling of food products in the United States. These labels lists nutrient references allowing you to make healthy food choices and are listed on almost every food in the grocery store.
These figures vary according to life stages; such as, a person’s age, sex and some other factors so that the vitamin containing health food consumption for a young woman is going to be different to that of a man in his seventies.
The vitamin intake amounts of certain health foods are included on the packaging nutrition label. This label is important for a person to consider and helps ensure that they are receiving the correct vitamin consumption from the health foods that they eat. The nutritional information is often represented as a percentage of the recommended daily allowance of each vitamin and mineral and can help assess the value of the foods in the quest for natural nutritional vitamin consumption.
There are also a number of items that a person may want to restrict in their diet as part of their natural vitamin consumption. The nutrition label of certain foods can also help a person to see how high a product is in undesirable contents; such as; salt and fat, these may be contents that a person wants to consider limiting as part of their vitamin consumption even though they are not strictly vitamins.
The majority of people actually refer to nutrients when they use the word vitamin and food manufacturers are aware that a person is looking at minerals and other items when they are considering their natural vitamin intake. Fiber is another element that many people are more aware of as forming an essential part of a balanced diet and is necessary for maintaining good health.
If a person is on a restricted diet for any reason then they need to pay even more attention to their natural vitamin consumption. Obviously, some foods contain different nutrients to others and this is applicable to vitamins as well and it may be more difficult for a person to achieve the health benefits of natural vitamin consumption if they are unable to eat certain foods. Vitamin supplements can form an essential part of natural vitamin consumption for people who are unable to obtain their vitamins from their normal diet.
It is also worth remembering that the consumption of natural vitamins vary throughout your life depending on your general health.
For more information on food and nutrition labeling I recommend visiting http://fnic.nal.usda.gov.
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