One of the most common deficiencies is that in iron; about two to three millions of people suffer from the lack in iron in their blood and some develop the anemia hypo ferric or the iron-deficiency, which is the latest stage of this kind of deficiency. Those who are usually in high risk are children and women in fecundity periods. Until the 80-ties this phenomena was very common with babies and little children. Although iron was added to babies’ drops without testing the hemoglobin level contained in their blood, the deficiency was still evident.
Lack of iron in nursery may cause strange behavior and irreversible damages to the nervous system. Kids who suffer from this deficiency would later have studying difficulties. There is more that one reason for this deficiency and there are diseases that might cause it regardless to the way you eat. One of the latest discoveries is that the infection with the germ called Helicobacter pylori also causes iron deficiency.
What I would suggest is to do a blood test and see what are you lacking and why is that. Scientific result would help you chose the right treatment – sometimes it’s safer to rely on medicine than trying out a friend’s advise. Those who seem to experience the very same symptoms may suffer from something entirely different that you. Make sure to eat food that contains iron in it – apples, serials, etc. Right nutrition is much similar to a diet; though it does not always meant to help you lose weight. Lacks and deficiencies are the reasons for feeling weary and sleepy. General weakness can be very disturbing especially if you intend to attain an active life style. If any of the symptoms appear familiar to you, you should definitely get yourself checked! Remember, Health is the most important aspect of your life.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Improve Your Health With Natural Foods
Remember the movie that came out recently where the fellow ate nothing but fast food for an entire month? If you saw the movie then you know the results of the month of junk food on the man’s body, mind and spirit. He basically felt and looked awful because of his poor food choices. Are you considering making big changes in your health by eating healthier? If you are ready to make that jump from junk food and quick meals to natural health food, then must accept that it will take a considerable amount of effort and patience on your part.
The United States population has an obsession with junk food; that’s certainly not news. We’re a fat, unhealthy nation, with quick, processed foods far too easily obtainable. All the junk food that you have been feeding your body will have eroded your body; and once you start living a healthier lifestyle, your body is in for a battle of change.
What’s the alternative to fast food? Eating that which Mother Nature provides for us is the first place to start. Natural health foods are usually organic or contain little or no preservatives. Many natural health foods are also low in cholesterol and saturated fat. This means that sticking to a natural health diet by consuming healthy foods will help you eliminate energy reserves and lose weight in the process.
By consuming healthy foods that contain low levels of fat, you lower your level of hunger in the long run, as your body will be getting all of the nutrients it needs from less food. Natural health lifestyle is a way of getting the best out of nature.
You will find that you are much happier and easy going. You will also notice a great change in your mood, since your body is healthy, making you happy. These basic improvements in your health will reinforce your diet, pushing you to eat healthier, lose more weight, and even tighten up your diet further.
Healthy foods will also ensure that you are bustling with energy; and once you have loads of energy you will have to find a way to use it. That will mean that you will find yourself going to the gym or taking up some new hobby, since your energy has to be used up some how. You will be amazed to see how easy it is to actually maintain a natural health lifestyle. All your friends will notice as you become more energetic and productive.
Natural health also encourages positive thinking and is a gradual process. There is no fast and quick solution; only the reality of time. And if you are aware of that, then you know that you are on the right track to making those crucial life changes that will only benefit you in the future.
The United States population has an obsession with junk food; that’s certainly not news. We’re a fat, unhealthy nation, with quick, processed foods far too easily obtainable. All the junk food that you have been feeding your body will have eroded your body; and once you start living a healthier lifestyle, your body is in for a battle of change.
What’s the alternative to fast food? Eating that which Mother Nature provides for us is the first place to start. Natural health foods are usually organic or contain little or no preservatives. Many natural health foods are also low in cholesterol and saturated fat. This means that sticking to a natural health diet by consuming healthy foods will help you eliminate energy reserves and lose weight in the process.
By consuming healthy foods that contain low levels of fat, you lower your level of hunger in the long run, as your body will be getting all of the nutrients it needs from less food. Natural health lifestyle is a way of getting the best out of nature.
You will find that you are much happier and easy going. You will also notice a great change in your mood, since your body is healthy, making you happy. These basic improvements in your health will reinforce your diet, pushing you to eat healthier, lose more weight, and even tighten up your diet further.
Healthy foods will also ensure that you are bustling with energy; and once you have loads of energy you will have to find a way to use it. That will mean that you will find yourself going to the gym or taking up some new hobby, since your energy has to be used up some how. You will be amazed to see how easy it is to actually maintain a natural health lifestyle. All your friends will notice as you become more energetic and productive.
Natural health also encourages positive thinking and is a gradual process. There is no fast and quick solution; only the reality of time. And if you are aware of that, then you know that you are on the right track to making those crucial life changes that will only benefit you in the future.
Improve Your Health With Fiber
Your fiber intake is a critical factor in weight loss and general well-being. Health professionals advise that adults should eat at least 25-35 grams of fiber each day. The current average in western countries such as Australia and the United States is well below the recommended levels. For many people, increasing your fiber intake would very likely lead to improved health outcomes.
Check the following chart to see how much fiber you're getting.
Food Source - Dietary Fiber Content (grams)
Mixed grain/brown bread (1 slice) - 1.5g
White bread (1 slice) - 0.8g
Rolled oats (1 cup cooked) - 3.3g
Bran cereal (1/2 cup) - 7.5g
Rice (1/2 cup cooked) - 0.8g
Rice, brown (1/2 cup cooked) - 1.8g
Spaghetti, brown (1/2 cup cooked) - 4.2g
Banana - 3.4g
Apple, pear or orange - 2.0g
Prunes, dates or dried apricots (50g) - 6.5g
Sultanas or raisins (50g) - 3.5g
Peas, green (100g) - 5.3g
Corn kernels (100g) - 4.7g
Potato, peeled, cooked (100g) - 1.0g
Broccoli (100g) - 4.1g
Carrot (100g) - 2.8g
Baked beans (1 small can) - 9.5g
Here are some common questions about fiber in our diet.
What is fiber?
Fiber is the indigestible carbohydrate residue found in foods. There are two types: soluble or insoluble. Soluble is soft and mushy - for instance beans and porridge; insoluble is hard and course, such as wheat bran.
What good does fiber do?
Fiber works by speeding up the time it takes food to pass through the large intestine, reducing the absorption of toxic and carcinogenic compounds. It also modifies the metabolism of foods, binds waste products for elimination and counters the effects of toxic bacteria in the colon. Dietary fiber is helpful for those who want to lose weight, since fiber absorbs water so you feel full and satisfied throughout the day. Adding fiber to your diet can help improve your eating habits, which can lead to weight loss and more energy!
What is the recommended daily amount?
25-35 grams. At present, the amount of fiber consumed in a typical diet in developed countries is well below the recommended levels.
Which foods are high in fiber?
Natural foods are usually high in fiber i.e. whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables.
What happens to fiber in the body?
It passes through the stomach into the digestive tract, and on to the large bowel intact where it absorbs water and other waste materials, then it is passed as stools.
How can fiber assist Type II diabetics?
A study published in the May 11, 2000 issue of The New England Journal of medicine reports that diabetic patients who included 50 grams of fiber in their daily diet lowered their glucose levels by 10%. Fifty grams is a lot of fiber: about twice as much as the American Diabetes Association recommends, and nearly 3 times as much fiber as most Americans consume in a day. To read more about these amazing health benefits of fiber go to http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/958073584.html
How can I increase fiber in my diet?
The Clinical Nutrition center at the John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center provide some excellent suggestion to increase fiber intake. http://www.jhbmc.jhu.edu/NUTRI/fiber.html
How can I increase my fiber intake...in my area there is not a good supply of fresh fruit and vegetables?
Nutritional supplements are the perfect answer to dietary problems where the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables is compromised.
Check the following chart to see how much fiber you're getting.
Food Source - Dietary Fiber Content (grams)
Mixed grain/brown bread (1 slice) - 1.5g
White bread (1 slice) - 0.8g
Rolled oats (1 cup cooked) - 3.3g
Bran cereal (1/2 cup) - 7.5g
Rice (1/2 cup cooked) - 0.8g
Rice, brown (1/2 cup cooked) - 1.8g
Spaghetti, brown (1/2 cup cooked) - 4.2g
Banana - 3.4g
Apple, pear or orange - 2.0g
Prunes, dates or dried apricots (50g) - 6.5g
Sultanas or raisins (50g) - 3.5g
Peas, green (100g) - 5.3g
Corn kernels (100g) - 4.7g
Potato, peeled, cooked (100g) - 1.0g
Broccoli (100g) - 4.1g
Carrot (100g) - 2.8g
Baked beans (1 small can) - 9.5g
Here are some common questions about fiber in our diet.
What is fiber?
Fiber is the indigestible carbohydrate residue found in foods. There are two types: soluble or insoluble. Soluble is soft and mushy - for instance beans and porridge; insoluble is hard and course, such as wheat bran.
What good does fiber do?
Fiber works by speeding up the time it takes food to pass through the large intestine, reducing the absorption of toxic and carcinogenic compounds. It also modifies the metabolism of foods, binds waste products for elimination and counters the effects of toxic bacteria in the colon. Dietary fiber is helpful for those who want to lose weight, since fiber absorbs water so you feel full and satisfied throughout the day. Adding fiber to your diet can help improve your eating habits, which can lead to weight loss and more energy!
What is the recommended daily amount?
25-35 grams. At present, the amount of fiber consumed in a typical diet in developed countries is well below the recommended levels.
Which foods are high in fiber?
Natural foods are usually high in fiber i.e. whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables.
What happens to fiber in the body?
It passes through the stomach into the digestive tract, and on to the large bowel intact where it absorbs water and other waste materials, then it is passed as stools.
How can fiber assist Type II diabetics?
A study published in the May 11, 2000 issue of The New England Journal of medicine reports that diabetic patients who included 50 grams of fiber in their daily diet lowered their glucose levels by 10%. Fifty grams is a lot of fiber: about twice as much as the American Diabetes Association recommends, and nearly 3 times as much fiber as most Americans consume in a day. To read more about these amazing health benefits of fiber go to http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/958073584.html
How can I increase fiber in my diet?
The Clinical Nutrition center at the John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center provide some excellent suggestion to increase fiber intake. http://www.jhbmc.jhu.edu/NUTRI/fiber.html
How can I increase my fiber intake...in my area there is not a good supply of fresh fruit and vegetables?
Nutritional supplements are the perfect answer to dietary problems where the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables is compromised.
Let Go of Your Poisons
It's never become more apparent than in the 21st century that the earth is saturated with poisons. It's nearly impossible to avoid them, despite our best attempts. The media, coupled with the "all-knowing experts," advise us to steer clear of pesticides, household cleaners, processed foods, food additives, preservatives, and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. If it were up to them, we would all be living in the mountains of Montana, growing our own food, drinking aquifer-supplied water, and driving a hybrid car (or riding a horse). While this might be an ideal way to live, unfortunately for you and me, it's likely not possible. That's why it's even more important to build up and support our immune systems and make healthy choices when it comes to what we eat, what types of foods we choose to have in our homes, and which foods we provide for our children. I don't want to sound paranoid. And my desire is not to make you eliminate all of the things that are a part of our everyday lives. I will, however, offer you the following scientific evidence and guidelines for avoiding what I believe to be the most toxic substances to our bodies, which drain our energy!
Sugar and hydrogenated fats. These two toxins, which are consumed by the billions of tons each year, literally drain our mental and physical energy and infect us like a poison.
Here's a brief explanation of each and how they negatively affect us:
"Sugar makes you irritable, hyperactive, and causes premature aging..."Sugar is the most consumed substance on the planet. Whether it's in the form of fructose, sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup, maltodextrin, or confectionary sugar—this poison negatively affects our mood and behavior. It makes us want more and leaves us cranky when we don't have it.
Scientific evidence has shown that sugar, in any form, depletes essential B vitamins and lowers your body's resistance to bacteria, viruses, and yeasts. Sugar makes you irritable, hyperactive, and causes premature aging through a process called glycosylation (pronounced gly ko si lay shun). And to no surprise, sugar is the number one culprit to adult-onset (Type II) diabetes, which is typically self-induced as a result of a life laden with sugar. At this point, the body is no longer capable of disposing of insulin properly, which becomes a serious risk factor for heart disease.
The Insulin "Roller Coaster" Ride
When you eat sugar, it enters your bloodstream all at once, instead of slowly as it would as part of a whole-food, naturally occurring meal. Insulin is then immediately secreted and shuttles the sugar away into cells within muscle or adipose tissue (fat). Now that there is not enough sugar in your bloodstream, your brain senses that you are in a time of famine and sends a message to the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol.
Adrenaline releases energy from sugar stored in your liver and muscles, and cortisol begins to break down your own muscle mass into sugar like I shared earlier. This sequence of events is called the insulin -> adrenaline -> cortisol cycle. It's a vicious "roller coaster" ride for your body, and the worst part is that afterwards, it leaves you feeling lethargic, cranky, and surprisingly, craving even more refined, sugary foods.
Thus, the cycle starts over again. As you can see, it's a downward spiral to poor health and even poorer energy levels.
HYDROGENATED FATS
We have heard it said that we eat too much fat and that fat consumption has risen in the last 20 years, and we are becoming an increasingly obese nation. While the later of these statements is true, statistics have since proven the former is false. See, fat consumption has not changed: what has changed is the type of fats people eat.
Today, more and more people are getting the majority of their fats from "manmade" hydrogenated fats and other harmful polyunsaturated oils such as palm and corn oil. As long as 20, 30, or 50 years ago, people ate a diet which consisted of more naturally occurring fats and oils, such as butter, coconut oil, lard, olive oil, and tallow (fats from red meat and lamb).
"...fat consumption has not changed: what has changed is the type of fats people eat." Now, our diets are polluted with hydrogenated fats. These types of fats have been clearly linked to slowing our bodies' metabolic processes and have also been shown to cause heart disease and cancer.
The reason these fats are particularly harmful to us is because polyunsaturated and hydrogenated oils have been subjected to damaging industrial processes (literally restructuring them), which has rendered them toxic. Their new "trans molecular structure" has not, until recently, been incorporated into human physiology and is therefore unrecognizable to the human body. Since their introduction to our diets, just in the last century, these unhealthy oils have been linked to heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative diseases.
The best examples of a polyunsaturated oil is corn, cottonseed, canola, vegetable... and any derivative of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.
Make no mistake, these toxic fats should be avoided at all costs. By avoiding sugar and hydrogenated fats, you will:
Improve concentration and mental clarity (along with short-term memory);
Enhance your immune system;
Slow the aging process;
Reduce fat on the abdomen area;
Eliminate future "junk-food" cravings.
The way I see it, the real problem is the food industry—which thrives on the sales of sugar and "fake" fat-containing foods.
They have succeeded in brainwashing the public and suppressing the scientific findings that eating whole foods, which contain little to no sugar, and meats and oils, which contain naturally occurring saturated fats do not contribute to heart disease (like they claim) and are, in fact, a healthy way to boost your metabolism, stabilize your cholesterol levels, improve your immune system, and provide energy and structural integrity to literally every living cell in your body.
Therefore, to avoid these toxins, here's all you do tomorrow:
Daily Energy Exercise: Rid Toxins from Your Life
Take about 10 minutes to check the food labels and ingredients panels on the foods in your cupboards, refrigerator, and on the counters in your kitchen.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR?
Any foods that list sugar, dextrose, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, or maltodextrin as the first, second, or third ingredient. These are typically things like soda, breakfast cereals, and white-flour products like bread. Any foods that list hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, or corn, palm, or cottonseed oils. These are typically things like processed, frozen, and nearly all deep-fried foods and even some nutrition bars and most meal replacements/protein drinks. (Not Eat-Smart, however!) Make a special trip to the grocery store to pick up items to replace these harmful toxic foods.
Instead of soda, use water (preferably), sugar-free Crystal Light, iced tea, or on occasion even diet soda.
Instead of breakfast cereals, use whole oats or grits.
Instead of white-flour products, use whole-wheat or soy-flour type products.
Simply instruct yourself that you WILL NOT eat deep fried foods any longer (like French fries, chips, etc.). Deep-fried foods and the oils they're cooked in have no nutritional health benefits whatsoever.
Replace your salad dressings and cooking oils with healthy oils like flaxseed oil, olive oil, sesame oil, and walnut oil.
Read your labels carefully... manufacturers are tricky about trying to hide these harmful ingredients. (Now you know why!)
Sugar and hydrogenated fats. These two toxins, which are consumed by the billions of tons each year, literally drain our mental and physical energy and infect us like a poison.
Here's a brief explanation of each and how they negatively affect us:
"Sugar makes you irritable, hyperactive, and causes premature aging..."Sugar is the most consumed substance on the planet. Whether it's in the form of fructose, sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup, maltodextrin, or confectionary sugar—this poison negatively affects our mood and behavior. It makes us want more and leaves us cranky when we don't have it.
Scientific evidence has shown that sugar, in any form, depletes essential B vitamins and lowers your body's resistance to bacteria, viruses, and yeasts. Sugar makes you irritable, hyperactive, and causes premature aging through a process called glycosylation (pronounced gly ko si lay shun). And to no surprise, sugar is the number one culprit to adult-onset (Type II) diabetes, which is typically self-induced as a result of a life laden with sugar. At this point, the body is no longer capable of disposing of insulin properly, which becomes a serious risk factor for heart disease.
The Insulin "Roller Coaster" Ride
When you eat sugar, it enters your bloodstream all at once, instead of slowly as it would as part of a whole-food, naturally occurring meal. Insulin is then immediately secreted and shuttles the sugar away into cells within muscle or adipose tissue (fat). Now that there is not enough sugar in your bloodstream, your brain senses that you are in a time of famine and sends a message to the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol.
Adrenaline releases energy from sugar stored in your liver and muscles, and cortisol begins to break down your own muscle mass into sugar like I shared earlier. This sequence of events is called the insulin -> adrenaline -> cortisol cycle. It's a vicious "roller coaster" ride for your body, and the worst part is that afterwards, it leaves you feeling lethargic, cranky, and surprisingly, craving even more refined, sugary foods.
Thus, the cycle starts over again. As you can see, it's a downward spiral to poor health and even poorer energy levels.
HYDROGENATED FATS
We have heard it said that we eat too much fat and that fat consumption has risen in the last 20 years, and we are becoming an increasingly obese nation. While the later of these statements is true, statistics have since proven the former is false. See, fat consumption has not changed: what has changed is the type of fats people eat.
Today, more and more people are getting the majority of their fats from "manmade" hydrogenated fats and other harmful polyunsaturated oils such as palm and corn oil. As long as 20, 30, or 50 years ago, people ate a diet which consisted of more naturally occurring fats and oils, such as butter, coconut oil, lard, olive oil, and tallow (fats from red meat and lamb).
"...fat consumption has not changed: what has changed is the type of fats people eat." Now, our diets are polluted with hydrogenated fats. These types of fats have been clearly linked to slowing our bodies' metabolic processes and have also been shown to cause heart disease and cancer.
The reason these fats are particularly harmful to us is because polyunsaturated and hydrogenated oils have been subjected to damaging industrial processes (literally restructuring them), which has rendered them toxic. Their new "trans molecular structure" has not, until recently, been incorporated into human physiology and is therefore unrecognizable to the human body. Since their introduction to our diets, just in the last century, these unhealthy oils have been linked to heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative diseases.
The best examples of a polyunsaturated oil is corn, cottonseed, canola, vegetable... and any derivative of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.
Make no mistake, these toxic fats should be avoided at all costs. By avoiding sugar and hydrogenated fats, you will:
Improve concentration and mental clarity (along with short-term memory);
Enhance your immune system;
Slow the aging process;
Reduce fat on the abdomen area;
Eliminate future "junk-food" cravings.
The way I see it, the real problem is the food industry—which thrives on the sales of sugar and "fake" fat-containing foods.
They have succeeded in brainwashing the public and suppressing the scientific findings that eating whole foods, which contain little to no sugar, and meats and oils, which contain naturally occurring saturated fats do not contribute to heart disease (like they claim) and are, in fact, a healthy way to boost your metabolism, stabilize your cholesterol levels, improve your immune system, and provide energy and structural integrity to literally every living cell in your body.
Therefore, to avoid these toxins, here's all you do tomorrow:
Daily Energy Exercise: Rid Toxins from Your Life
Take about 10 minutes to check the food labels and ingredients panels on the foods in your cupboards, refrigerator, and on the counters in your kitchen.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR?
Any foods that list sugar, dextrose, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, or maltodextrin as the first, second, or third ingredient. These are typically things like soda, breakfast cereals, and white-flour products like bread. Any foods that list hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, or corn, palm, or cottonseed oils. These are typically things like processed, frozen, and nearly all deep-fried foods and even some nutrition bars and most meal replacements/protein drinks. (Not Eat-Smart, however!) Make a special trip to the grocery store to pick up items to replace these harmful toxic foods.
Instead of soda, use water (preferably), sugar-free Crystal Light, iced tea, or on occasion even diet soda.
Instead of breakfast cereals, use whole oats or grits.
Instead of white-flour products, use whole-wheat or soy-flour type products.
Simply instruct yourself that you WILL NOT eat deep fried foods any longer (like French fries, chips, etc.). Deep-fried foods and the oils they're cooked in have no nutritional health benefits whatsoever.
Replace your salad dressings and cooking oils with healthy oils like flaxseed oil, olive oil, sesame oil, and walnut oil.
Read your labels carefully... manufacturers are tricky about trying to hide these harmful ingredients. (Now you know why!)
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tips For The Rose Gardener
Rose gardens are probably the most popular type of garden in the world, ranging from Marie Antoinette’s famous gardens before the French revolution to a few shrubs tucked in a tiny backyard. With their wonderful scents and lovely blossoms, it is no wonder these surprisingly sturdy plants are so popular. After all, no other flowers are used as frequently as roses to symbolize love and friendship. If you’d like to grow beautiful roses in your yard, try a few of these simple rose gardening tips.
1. Roses need to eat regularly, just like any other living thing. Start feeding your roses before you even place them in the planting hole by adding a scoop of compost.
2. Use specially formulated rose food to help your roses really bloom. If you prefer organic methods, give your roses each a small scoop of Epsom salts, a banana peel, and some rotted compost. They will absolutely love these homegrown garden remedies.
3. Roses need to breathe. Be sure you don’t allow other plants to get to close to your roses. Keep weeds away from the base of your roses with a 2 to 4 inch layer of rotted compost or chip mulch, but be sure you don’t place these weed barriers right against the rose’s stems.
4. Mulch also helps keep your roses from getting too dry. Mulch retains water, so your roses need to be watered less frequently during the summer months.
5. Trim out dead wood. Rose canes that are brown and dead may even be harboring insect pests, so remove them immediately. Always make a clean cut instead of crushing the canes as you remove them.
6. Prune out canes that cross over other canes. Those sharp thorns damage the rose’s outer skin as easily as they snag your hands. Always prune a cane above a bud that faces away from the inside of the plant. This bud will react to the pruning by sending out a new shoot.
7. If your roses are infested by aphids, spray them with insecticidal soap.
8. Always remove pruned canes and spotty leaves from the ground. If you don’t, any fungus on them will re-infect your roses when there is a heavy rainfall.
Finally, the most important rose gardening tip may just be to wear long sleeves and thick gloves when you are working with your roses. A rose thorn can really hurt, especially if it becomes deeply embedded in your hand.
1. Roses need to eat regularly, just like any other living thing. Start feeding your roses before you even place them in the planting hole by adding a scoop of compost.
2. Use specially formulated rose food to help your roses really bloom. If you prefer organic methods, give your roses each a small scoop of Epsom salts, a banana peel, and some rotted compost. They will absolutely love these homegrown garden remedies.
3. Roses need to breathe. Be sure you don’t allow other plants to get to close to your roses. Keep weeds away from the base of your roses with a 2 to 4 inch layer of rotted compost or chip mulch, but be sure you don’t place these weed barriers right against the rose’s stems.
4. Mulch also helps keep your roses from getting too dry. Mulch retains water, so your roses need to be watered less frequently during the summer months.
5. Trim out dead wood. Rose canes that are brown and dead may even be harboring insect pests, so remove them immediately. Always make a clean cut instead of crushing the canes as you remove them.
6. Prune out canes that cross over other canes. Those sharp thorns damage the rose’s outer skin as easily as they snag your hands. Always prune a cane above a bud that faces away from the inside of the plant. This bud will react to the pruning by sending out a new shoot.
7. If your roses are infested by aphids, spray them with insecticidal soap.
8. Always remove pruned canes and spotty leaves from the ground. If you don’t, any fungus on them will re-infect your roses when there is a heavy rainfall.
Finally, the most important rose gardening tip may just be to wear long sleeves and thick gloves when you are working with your roses. A rose thorn can really hurt, especially if it becomes deeply embedded in your hand.
The Garden As Healer
The word for ‘paradise’ comes from the Persian word for a garden and has always meant the same thing in every culture. It is representative of ‘paradise on earth’ and is our opportunity to own a little bit of heaven – here and now. It has a restorative significance as a healer when we understand that gardens provide us with a place of sanctuary and well-being.
The garden has the potential to provide a place of refuge from stress, “the health epidemic of the 21st century” according to The World Health Organization. Medical doctors suggest that stress resulting in illness is the causative factor underlying 70% of all visits to the family doctor. The ability of the garden to provide this place of healing and peace becomes crucial as more and more people succumb to this dis-ease of ‘modern day life.’
It matters little whether an indoor garden is a few pots on a windowsill or a lush garden room, what does matter is that plants add a dimension to the home/and or workplace that literally changes the energy and adds life. There is something about caring for plants and tending to them whether watering, re-potting, or touching the leaves that re-connects us on a deep level with an overwhelming sense of awe about this miracle of life of which we are an integral part. As we plant the seed or see the cyclical nature of the gardens we nurture, time stands still, and we bask in the knowledge of our relationship to the earth, and to the spiritual aspect of ourselves.
Reasons for creating an indoor garden include: corners in rooms and on furniture are softened when plants are introduced and placed in these areas; living plants create feelings of calm and well-being; starting seeds indoors provides a jump-start on spring for those of us who get twitchy fingers in January and allows us to grow different types of plants not usually available from greenhouses; growing herbs indoors facilitates our ability to cook with fresh herbs all year round; teaching children to garden provides an opportunity for the healing aspects of gardening to become a life-long aspect of their lives; indoor gardening is a stress-management tool taught in various classes related to providing a higher quality of life for people dealing with loss through death, divorce, or trauma in their lives.
Steps to Creating your Indoor Garden
1. Purpose – what do you want to achieve – healing, meditation, growing herbs for cooking, or a project with the children?
2. Space – how much space is available – a closet, basement room, living room, corner of the bedroom, windowsill?
3. Seating – is there room in your space for a seating area?
4. Characteristics – create a specific type of garden such as a collection of Ficus, orchids, herbs, or ferns.
5. Features – include water features such as fountains, art, sentimental objects, wind chimes, aroma and/or colour therapy, candles, and /or music.
6. Location – is the location conducive to gardening indoors?
7. Light – is the light adequate or will you need artificial lights?
8. Plants – what plants will you grow?
Indoor gardens can include anything from a tabletop garden, herb garden, healing garden, meditation garden, container garden, water garden, or wildlife garden. Thomas Moore wrote, “We may have to learn again the mystery of the garden: how its external characteristics model the heart itself, and how the soul is a garden enclosed, our own perpetual paradise where we can be refreshed and restored.” In other words, the indoor garden can provide a place of sanctuary where we can take a moment and re-connect with our own sacredness.
The garden has the potential to provide a place of refuge from stress, “the health epidemic of the 21st century” according to The World Health Organization. Medical doctors suggest that stress resulting in illness is the causative factor underlying 70% of all visits to the family doctor. The ability of the garden to provide this place of healing and peace becomes crucial as more and more people succumb to this dis-ease of ‘modern day life.’
It matters little whether an indoor garden is a few pots on a windowsill or a lush garden room, what does matter is that plants add a dimension to the home/and or workplace that literally changes the energy and adds life. There is something about caring for plants and tending to them whether watering, re-potting, or touching the leaves that re-connects us on a deep level with an overwhelming sense of awe about this miracle of life of which we are an integral part. As we plant the seed or see the cyclical nature of the gardens we nurture, time stands still, and we bask in the knowledge of our relationship to the earth, and to the spiritual aspect of ourselves.
Reasons for creating an indoor garden include: corners in rooms and on furniture are softened when plants are introduced and placed in these areas; living plants create feelings of calm and well-being; starting seeds indoors provides a jump-start on spring for those of us who get twitchy fingers in January and allows us to grow different types of plants not usually available from greenhouses; growing herbs indoors facilitates our ability to cook with fresh herbs all year round; teaching children to garden provides an opportunity for the healing aspects of gardening to become a life-long aspect of their lives; indoor gardening is a stress-management tool taught in various classes related to providing a higher quality of life for people dealing with loss through death, divorce, or trauma in their lives.
Steps to Creating your Indoor Garden
1. Purpose – what do you want to achieve – healing, meditation, growing herbs for cooking, or a project with the children?
2. Space – how much space is available – a closet, basement room, living room, corner of the bedroom, windowsill?
3. Seating – is there room in your space for a seating area?
4. Characteristics – create a specific type of garden such as a collection of Ficus, orchids, herbs, or ferns.
5. Features – include water features such as fountains, art, sentimental objects, wind chimes, aroma and/or colour therapy, candles, and /or music.
6. Location – is the location conducive to gardening indoors?
7. Light – is the light adequate or will you need artificial lights?
8. Plants – what plants will you grow?
Indoor gardens can include anything from a tabletop garden, herb garden, healing garden, meditation garden, container garden, water garden, or wildlife garden. Thomas Moore wrote, “We may have to learn again the mystery of the garden: how its external characteristics model the heart itself, and how the soul is a garden enclosed, our own perpetual paradise where we can be refreshed and restored.” In other words, the indoor garden can provide a place of sanctuary where we can take a moment and re-connect with our own sacredness.
The History And Evolution Of Banana Hybrids
Bananas are the world’s favorite fruit and many nations depend on banana trees to supply its citizens with this delicious food product to save them from famines. Bananas are available on markets year round and are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, containing only small hollow seed that are infertile. Ornamental bananas, ‘Musa ensete’ and ‘Musa nana’ are inedible but in high demand for landscaping.
India is the world’s largest producer of bananas and Alexander the Great found them growing there in 327 BC, when he conquered India. Soldiers of Alexander the Great returned to Greece and Persia with bulbs from banana plants, ‘Musa accuminata,’ where they were distributed and planted.
Antonius Musa, the personal physician of Augustus Caesar, imported the first banana trees, ‘Musa accuminata,’ to Rome from Africa in 63 BC. Later, slaves from Portugal brought bananas to Europe from Africa in the early 1400’s. Even though the banana is believed to have originated in India, (Eastern Asia), it was established in Africa and Europe as a staple food product many centuries ago and came into North America through Spanish missionaries.
Those first bananas that people knew in antiquity were not sweet like the bananas we know today, but were cooking bananas or plantain bananas with a starchy taste and composition. The bright yellow bananas that we know today were discovered as a mutation from the plantain banana by a Jamaican, Jean Francois Poujot, in the year 1836. He found this hybrid mutation growing in his banana tree plantation with a sweet flavor and a yellow color—instead of green or red, and not requiring cooking like the plantain banana. The rapid establishment of this new exotic fruit was welcomed worldwide, and it was massively grown for world markets.
Bananas are the world’s best selling fruit, outselling both apples and citrus; each American is estimated to eat 25 pounds of fruit every day. The ‘Cavendish’ banana is the most popular banana in the United States and over 400 cultivars of bananas are available on world markets. The leaves of banana trees are used as wrappers for steaming other foods inside, and the banana flower is also edible.
Each banana comes from a flower maturing into groups of 10-20 bananas called “hands” that circle the stalk, which collectively is called a ‘bunch.’ The bananas can require one year to mature after flowering in the field, and then the mother banana plant dies. The plant is restored the following season by offshoots from the mother plant. An original cluster of banana trees can grow continuously for 100 years, but are generally replaced in banana tree plantations after 25 years. Bananas ripen best and develop more sweetness, if the bunch is removed from the tree, allowing the fruit to ripen off the tree in a shady place to slowly ripen.
The banana tree can grow up to 30 feet tall, and the trunk of the tree grows to a width at the base of over 1 foot. The trunk of the banana plant is made of overlapping sheaths and stems with new growth emerging from the center of the trunk. The size of bananas can range from a fruit the size of a football to one as small as a child’s finger. Some bananas taste sweet, some starchy and some ornamental bananas are loaded with large seed and are considered inedible. The color of ripe bananas can range from green, orange, brown, yellow, or variegated with white stripes.
Most banana trees available today are grown from “mother” bulbs by taking offsets that form shoots. Those can be replanted to multiply and increase a banana tree plantation. These banana sprouts that form at the base of the ‘mother’ bulb can be shipped around the world to many countries, being almost genetically identical to the original banana plant parent of 10,000 years ago that mutated and stopped making seed and became the first naturally evolved hybrid.
Bananas are the largest exported fruit in the world, registering sales of 12 billion dollars a year for Chiquita and Dole. These bananas are imported into the United States from companies and plantations growing banana trees in India, South America and Africa. Many third world countries depend on the production of bananas to feed them as a major food staple, where they eat bananas 3 meals a day. Bananas are rich in sugars such as sucrose, glucose, and fructose, as well as fiber and special minerals containing potassium, phosphorous, magnesium and iron. Bananas contain tryptophan, a body protein that is converted to serotonin, a mood enhancer. They also are high in Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin C. Doctors claim that eating bananas can cut the risk of sudden stroke by 40%, as published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
India is the world’s largest producer of bananas and Alexander the Great found them growing there in 327 BC, when he conquered India. Soldiers of Alexander the Great returned to Greece and Persia with bulbs from banana plants, ‘Musa accuminata,’ where they were distributed and planted.
Antonius Musa, the personal physician of Augustus Caesar, imported the first banana trees, ‘Musa accuminata,’ to Rome from Africa in 63 BC. Later, slaves from Portugal brought bananas to Europe from Africa in the early 1400’s. Even though the banana is believed to have originated in India, (Eastern Asia), it was established in Africa and Europe as a staple food product many centuries ago and came into North America through Spanish missionaries.
Those first bananas that people knew in antiquity were not sweet like the bananas we know today, but were cooking bananas or plantain bananas with a starchy taste and composition. The bright yellow bananas that we know today were discovered as a mutation from the plantain banana by a Jamaican, Jean Francois Poujot, in the year 1836. He found this hybrid mutation growing in his banana tree plantation with a sweet flavor and a yellow color—instead of green or red, and not requiring cooking like the plantain banana. The rapid establishment of this new exotic fruit was welcomed worldwide, and it was massively grown for world markets.
Bananas are the world’s best selling fruit, outselling both apples and citrus; each American is estimated to eat 25 pounds of fruit every day. The ‘Cavendish’ banana is the most popular banana in the United States and over 400 cultivars of bananas are available on world markets. The leaves of banana trees are used as wrappers for steaming other foods inside, and the banana flower is also edible.
Each banana comes from a flower maturing into groups of 10-20 bananas called “hands” that circle the stalk, which collectively is called a ‘bunch.’ The bananas can require one year to mature after flowering in the field, and then the mother banana plant dies. The plant is restored the following season by offshoots from the mother plant. An original cluster of banana trees can grow continuously for 100 years, but are generally replaced in banana tree plantations after 25 years. Bananas ripen best and develop more sweetness, if the bunch is removed from the tree, allowing the fruit to ripen off the tree in a shady place to slowly ripen.
The banana tree can grow up to 30 feet tall, and the trunk of the tree grows to a width at the base of over 1 foot. The trunk of the banana plant is made of overlapping sheaths and stems with new growth emerging from the center of the trunk. The size of bananas can range from a fruit the size of a football to one as small as a child’s finger. Some bananas taste sweet, some starchy and some ornamental bananas are loaded with large seed and are considered inedible. The color of ripe bananas can range from green, orange, brown, yellow, or variegated with white stripes.
Most banana trees available today are grown from “mother” bulbs by taking offsets that form shoots. Those can be replanted to multiply and increase a banana tree plantation. These banana sprouts that form at the base of the ‘mother’ bulb can be shipped around the world to many countries, being almost genetically identical to the original banana plant parent of 10,000 years ago that mutated and stopped making seed and became the first naturally evolved hybrid.
Bananas are the largest exported fruit in the world, registering sales of 12 billion dollars a year for Chiquita and Dole. These bananas are imported into the United States from companies and plantations growing banana trees in India, South America and Africa. Many third world countries depend on the production of bananas to feed them as a major food staple, where they eat bananas 3 meals a day. Bananas are rich in sugars such as sucrose, glucose, and fructose, as well as fiber and special minerals containing potassium, phosphorous, magnesium and iron. Bananas contain tryptophan, a body protein that is converted to serotonin, a mood enhancer. They also are high in Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin C. Doctors claim that eating bananas can cut the risk of sudden stroke by 40%, as published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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