I found out there are many forms of turmeric. Some sources indicate there are over 70 different types of this wonderful herb used in cooking and medicine. Many people are familiar with the popular type used in most curries and other recipes. It is sometimes called “Madras.” It contains the main chemical curcumin, which is the star of this herb due to it’s anti-inflammtory, anti-bacterial and overall healing properties. There are thousands of studies of this chemical and herb that you can read about on the net.
However, I recently learned there’s another main form of this herb called “Allepey”. It’s a darker orange color and has about 6.5% curcumin vs 3.5% for Madras turmeric.
The lesson here is find out what kind of turmeric your application or recipe calls for. Allepey turmeric has a different taste and aroma since it’s much stronger than Madras turmeric.
You can buy both versions of the spice at my favorite shop in NYC, Kalustyans.
This site has a good overview of the different types of turmeric.
A Tasty Way To Take Turmeric
Turmeric is a “must have” addition to your health regimen. The research abounds with reports of reduced inflammation and many other benefits for the immune system.
Turmeric is a main ingredient in curry, however, you don’t need to make or buy curry to enjoy it’s health benefits.
Here’s a great way to take a teaspoon or two of turmeric:
Scramble two or three raw eggs with a couple teaspoons of turmeric powder and cook your eggs as usual.
Turmeric is often used as a dye, so your eggs will have a beautiful orange color.
It’s a tasty way to take turmeric!
Raise Testosterone Naturally Through Posture
Believe it or not, there’s a very simple way to raise testosterone naturally and reduce cortisol. You don’t have to ingest anything nor do you have to take any injections! You can raise your testosterone levels by merely assuming a “power pose” for 2 minutes. Power poses are natural postures you assume when you feel dominant or powerful. For example, standing with your fists on your hips or with your arms in the air like a victory pose. The research proves you can boost testosterone by only doing this!
Here’s a awesome video of Amy Cuddy speaking about the research:
If you find yourself hunched over, collapsed or submissive, you’re not only feeling low, your cortisol levels are higher than they should be and your testosterone levels are low! Don’t do it anymore! Straighten up and take up space. As Amy says in the video, “Fake it till you make it!”.
Btw, I didn’t know that you can feel happier by faking a smile too. Very interesting.
Make Your Own Chinese Spring Wine Tonic
The chinese are well known for making tonics for drinking and for applying to injuries. Anyone who has practiced chinese martial arts is familiar with ‘dit da jow’ or ‘hit medicine’. Dit da jow is usually a secret combination of herbs soaked in alcohol for several months to years and applied to injuries to speed up healing.
Taken internally, the tonics are often called ‘Spring Wine’. You can make your own chinese tonic spring wine with just a little bit of money and lots of time! I believe these home brews are much more powerful than anything you can buy in a bottle or pill at an herb shop.
I love to drink Shou Wu Chih and decided to make my own a few months ago. I bought a bottle in a chinatown herb shop and asked the owner to make up a batch of the raw herbs so I can soak them in rice wine and enjoy a fresh powerful home made batch. I had to buy 4 bottles of the highest percentage alcohol (38%) rice wine at the liquor store around the corner. When I got home, I added a bit of Rou Cong Gong, baji tian, du zhong and American Ginseng to add some kick to it. I tried a bit the other day to see how it was progressing and it was powerful! First of all, I slept like a baby after drinking a few shots. It was so strong, I had to mix some raw honey in there to make it palatable. Also, I have to say that this stuff increases nitric oxide production in the body. After a few days on this, my thinking was clearer, I easily felt 10 years younger. It makes you feel strong and powerful. So now I have a gallon of this stuff to work through! I didn’t measure my testosterone levels, but if I had to go by physical indicators, this stuff boosts testosterone levels!!
So, not stopping there, I found a great recipe for another batch here. This site has a jpg you can print out with the formula. It costs $15 in the united states to make up this batch (plus the alcohol). The owner remarked that this was a great formula and was really impressed that came in the store with it. However, I wanted to kick it up a few more notches. I added deer anter glue, korean ginseng, shou wu (fo ti) and goji berries. The blogger, happyhomemaker88 also had the same idea to add goji berries but complained they soaked up a bit of the wine.
The herbalist was impressed with my knowledge of chinese herbs and confirmed those were good additions. I wanted to do even more but was told “enough”..it was strong enough! Now I have to let this stuff soak a few months. I’ll try an early taste in 2-3 months and give a good 6 months.
Low Carb For Faster Weightloss
Low Carb diets are making a huge comeback after news that an Atkins style diet can burn up to 300 calories a day more than a low fat diet! However, there’s a catch–researchers are saying inflammation markers and cortisol could increase. A good compromise? They recommend a low glycemic diet instead. It won’t burn as much extra calories as a really low carb diet, but you won’t have as much cortisol and inflammation.
Check out this newstory here.
Gastritis Cure And Remedies
Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining. It can be extremely uncomfortable. Symptoms can include abdominal/stomach pain, indigestion, a feeling of “fullness”, cramping or flutter sensations near the top of the stomach or just simply a feeling that something is just wrong.
The first step is to stop self-medicating and seek the advice of a gastroenterologist. Depending on the doc and their approach to handling this frustrating problem, you may have an upper endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis. When you have an endoscopy, they will put you to sleep and slide a tube down your throat equipped with a camera to view your stomach lining. Compared to other procedures, this one is quite simple and relatively risk free. The great thing about this procedure is the doctor can rule out any serious problems that could be causing the same symptoms. Untreated gastritis could lead to ulcers and worse things, so it’s something you want to address urgently and completely. The doc may take some tissue samples to find out if you are infected with a bacteria called h. pylori. Anyway, don’t mess around with your health and get this checked out.
After you received your diagnosis, you have to stop doing the things that have irritated your stomach. If your doc said you have a bacterial infection, then you’ll have to take some antibiotics. If you don’t have an infection, it may take some sleuthing to find out what is causing your problem. The most common things are excessive alcohol consumption (which tends to dissolve your stomach mucosa and expose the tissue to stomach acid). The next most common irritant is smoking. Stress can also hurt you as well as too much coffee, flours, certain medications like nsaids or irritants, chemicals and believe it or not, certain vitamins like Vitamin C in high doses.
Because your stomach is now irritated, your doc will most likely prescribe an acid blocker like aciphex. Although, I personally dislike the idea of taking an acid blocker, it’s a quick way to stop irritating your stomach. If you stop irritating your stomach by quitting coffee and stopping the other things, you’ll be off the acid blockers in no time at all.
I have discovered some simple natural remedies that can heal your stomach quickly. I’ll write about these in future posts.
It can take several months to heal gastritis. With patience, following a simple diet and the remedies I outline,you’ll be off the medication quickly and you’ll have a brand new stomach. You’ll feel like a million bucks!
Easy Low Calorie Irish Moss Recipe
Many irish moss recipes call for condensed milk and sugar which often means many calories! Instead of condensed milk, try a low calorie substitute such as almond milk or coconut milk. So Delicious makes a wonderful coconut milk you can use:
Cook a handful of dried irish moss and ground up flax seed in a slow cooker for a couple of hours. Add vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. When the irish moss is dissolved, add in the coconut milk or almond milk to cool it down quick.
Enjoy!
Aloe Vera For Anti-Aging
Everyone knows that resveratrol has been shown to delay aging and has remarkable effects. However, I stumbled upon something very interesting. Did you know that aloe vera, the plant that you can grow in your home for almost nothing, has similar effects?
What?
How come nobody is interested in exploring this study further? Click to see the study on Pubmed. Or here’s the abstract:
“Longevity extension in Drosophila melanogaster by feeding diet supplemented with chemicals throughout adulthood can cause harmful side effects. We tested the effect of larval diet supplementation with five different concentrations of resveratrol and one concentration of Aloe vera extract on the adult longevity of short-lived D melanogaster populations. Resveratrol and A vera extract supplementation of larval diet extended adult longevity in both the male and female flies without reducing fecundity but by efficient reactive oxygen species scavenging through increased antioxidant enzymes activity and better neuroprotection as indicated by increased locomotor activity in adult males.”
I remember years ago bringing an aloe vera plant home. We planted it outside and within a few years we had a farm of them. Too bad I wasn’t aware of it’s anti-aging free radical scavenging effects back then.
Many people know that you can put aloe vera on your skin to speed up healing of burns and cuts, but many people don’t know you can and should drink the stuff! Don’t grind up the skin, filet it and mix up the inner gel in a blender with some fresh squeezed orange juice. Or if you’re brave, drink it straight up!
I found this cool guy on the ‘net who loves his aloe and it works for him. Check him out!
Here’s a youtube clip showing a good way to prepare a refreshing and healthy drink.
I heard it helps you lose weight too!
Bee Pollen Power
I’m trying Bee Pollen. I found a local, dark, raw and unfiltered honey to take with it. Feeling pretty good after only a day on this stuff. I’ve tried bee pollen years ago and didn’t notice much. I’m thinking that maybe it’s true that you should try as much as possible to get bee products locally. Bee Pollen has been reported to kick the libido into high gear as well as heal prostate issues. It also reportedly helps you lose weight!
Amla Juice — Power Drink?
I discovered amla juice at the indian market. You can get it here: Amla / Indian Goose Berry Juice – 480ml
Amla juice is reportedly extremely high in antioxidants and is supposed to be good for greying hair, digestion, anti-aging and a host of other great benefits.
Vivid dreams with Melatonin
I have taken melatonin in the past, but was reluctant to take a high dose because the pineal gland (which produces melatonin when it’s dark out) produces it in relatively small amounts. You can get the supplement in many different strengths, but 1mg and 3mg seem to be the most common.
However, I discovered recently that melatonin is also produced in the retina and in the intestines! I’m not sure how much melatonin is produced in the gut, but I’m willing to bet it’s a lot. I also have read many studies that indicate melatonin is safe to take in very large amounts. In fact, in one study, participants were given 150mg for an extended period of time with no ill effects.
I have taken up to 3mg without experiencing the reported vivid dreams that I’ve read about. When i upped the dose to 6 and 9 mg, wow! Extremely long, vivid dreams! It’s a very interesting effect. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to attain lucidity from these dreams. They are extremely real and vivid, right down to textures, sounds and other senses.
Please be responsible and do your research before experimenting with supplements. Start small and monitor yourself before upping the dose on any supplement. People who take high doses of melatonin report grogginess the next day if they don’t get enough sleep or need to wake up early.
Onions Triple Testosterone Levels?
I heard onions could triple testosterone levels and found this article at the ergo log.
Tonight I tried to juice an onion. If you’re thinking of trying onion juice be prepared for an experience. I juiced some beets and carrots then threw in the onion. It took about 10 minutes for my eyes to stop tearing. The juice didn’t taste too bad because the beets are delicious and sweet. However, the after taste of the onion juice is a little hard to take. I’m not sure I can do this with any regularity.
Topical Onion juice has reportedly helped hair growth, so there must be a nitric oxide effect from the juice.
Let me know if anyone one of you try it.
Beautiful Thinking is important
It’s important to be aware of your habitual thoughts. Images in the mind can trigger a cocktail of chemicals into your bloodstream. As mentioned in the e-book, ‘Beautiful Thinking’, some women will release oxytocin if they think about a hungry and crying baby. It triggers an instinct to nurse. Growth hormone release has been linked with positive emotions. The other day, I realized that the opposite must also be true. If we imagine bad things happening (the typical worry wort) we must be flooding our systems with bad chemicals. If we become addicted to imagining the worst outcome or brooding over what happened or what could have happened, it’s like having a diet heavy in junk food..or worse. We depress our immune systems with chronic bad thoughts.
How simple it is to simply choose to have some positive thoughts..daydream! It will extend your life. Create happy thoughts like you would take vitamins. Our bodies create the chemicals and tonics we need. We don’t have to get substances from the outside. The Beautiful Thinking ebook may seem very simple or very obvious, however it’s probably the single most important thing you can do for great health and to stay young.
Do we really need to age or are we ‘hypnotized’ into believing we have to get old a certain way? Interesting thoughts to ponder. In the meantime, take some time to send your cells and organs some beautiful mental images.
Beautiful Thinking Ebook Available! Using Mental Imagery for Lasting Youth
Here’s a very cool e-book with a simple program you can follow to activate your mind’s ability to influence your body chemistry to create a state of lasting health, youth and beauty. It’s a simple idea leveraging things we already know about the power of the mind to regulate our hormone levels, muscle performance and immune system. Everyone knows about Norman Cousins and the power of laughter. Everyone knows about the use of mental imagery by elite athletes. Did you know that practicing a skill and mentally lifting weights will make your muscles stronger? Did you know you can secrete more testosterone by certain visualizations? This book gives you simple ideas you can use everyday for a week to align your mind with your body. Try it!
Great way to get your raw garlic for more testosterone!
I found a great way to get raw garlic into your diet.
Garlic has been proven to increase testicular testosterone (in rats fed a high protein diet):Study can be found here.
So what’s an easy way to get your daily dose of garlic?
Garlic stuffed Olives!! They are delicious, healthy and you won’t have garlic breath!
You can get them by clicking here!
Ginger — An easy way to boost testosterone
Ginger is making the rounds as a powerful testosterone booster. In addition, evidence is showing that ginger will increase the weight and size of the reproductive glands.
In this study, testosterone levels doubled by taking ginger:
Ginger Doubles Testosterone Levels.
A martial arts master I knew told me that it’s very important to crush the ginger to release it’s healing potential. He believed Ginger could cure just about anything!
If you are having trouble finding good quality ginger, this powdered version from SWAD works great:
Manuka Honey — Sore Throat Killer
Last week I woke up with a slight fever and a sore throat. Found this at the vitamin shoppe:
Manuka honey is found in Australia and New Zealand and is considered one of the strongest in terms of antibiotic activity.
It soothed my sore throat immediately but I still felt it every few hours and would take a little more.
I thought I would have to make a trip to the doctor for some antibiotic or to make sure I didn’t have something like strep.
After about 2 days of this treatment the sore throat was gone! Just luck? Not sure, but I’ll definitely try it again at the first sign of a sore throat.
I recently bought some raw Buckwheat honey because it was shown to increase antioxidant activity in the body. You can find the study here.
Here’s the abstract:
“Honey has been known to exert significant in vitro antioxidant activity, in part due to its phenolic content. However, conclusions that the antioxidants in honey are or are not efficacious in the human body cannot be reached if its antioxidant action is not assessed as part of a human study. In the present study, the acute effect of consumption of 500 mL of water, water with buckwheat honey, black tea, black tea with sugar, or black tea with buckwheat honey on serum oxidative reactions was examined in 25 healthy men. Antioxidant capacity of human serum samples was measured using different methods: the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, ex vivo susceptibility of serum lipoprotein to Cu(2+)-induced oxidation, and the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay. The results showed that the serum antioxidant capacity determined by ORAC increased significantly (p < 0.05) by 7% following consumption of buckwheat honey in water. No significant changes in serum antioxidant capacity could be established after the consumption of any of the other beverages. Ex vivo serum lipoprotein oxidation and TBARS values were not significantly altered after consumption of any of the five beverages. This study provides primary evidence of the in vivo antioxidant activity of buckwheat honey. However, long-term studies and epidemiological data are necessary to investigate whether honey consumption can exert overall antioxidant-related health benefits."
Ginseng Royal Jelly for Super Power
This tonic was a nice surprise. It’s a staple in most asian grocery stores and I never thought much of it. I started reading up on the amazing benefits of Royal Jelly–the food that makes a Queen Bee a Queen Bee (more details to come in a later post).
After drinking a few vials, I felt a sudden increase in energy and strength. This is good stuff–and without side effects. You can take it right before bed, it doesn’t make you jittery or nervous.
Try it before working out!
Check out this interesting study showing that royal jelly can increase testosterone and sperm production (in rabbits)
Vitamin D3 Testosterone Booster
I found out that Vitamin D3 is actually not a vitamin per se, but a hormone!
Wikipedia has alot of great things to say about this important substance.
Scientists are finding that we need a lot more vitamin D3 than previously estimated. People are taking 4,6,8,10000 or more units daily. Some estimates indicate we make up to 20000 units when exposed to UVB rays from the sun for a 1/2 hour or more.
If you live in the north and/or don’t get much sun, you need to include this in your supplement portfolio.
Healing Power of….Your Mind!
David Seidler, the man who wrote the screenplay for ‘The King’s Speech’, healed his bladder cancer in two weeks using the power of his mind. He visualized a healthy bladder for hours a day. Two weeks later—no trace of cancer. Read the amazing story right here!
You read it on Tonicquest!!