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Is It Really Money That Motivates Us? The Science Will Surprise You!

by June 4, 2016

Think about it we only know what we are taught. Now, this is backed by a legitimate study!

People love money, and power and what they can get for themselves this is no surprise. But, to go as far as saying it is in our nature to be greedy is too far. As humans, we know what we are taught, and we are conditioned from a young age to think that money is the answer to all our problems. To be a functioning member of society we have to have it, and it is our sole reason for living.

But, how is this in any way, shape, or form considered natural? How is it more natural to value a piece of paper more than our world? It is not natural to live simply to work and get money, it isn’t. What do you think, is there more to life than money? I personally believe this with all my heart!

Fake Honey is Everywhere! Here’s How to Spot the Difference

by May 31, 2016

The next time you find yourself in the honey aisle of your grocery store, debating between a pricy premium, artisanal honey and the store-brand nectar contained in a plastic bear, you might want to think twice before choosing based on price.

That’s because a searing investigation of the honey market by Food Safety News found that 76% of all honey bought at grocery stores were treated with a process called “ultra-filtration,” which removes not only impurities like wax, but also all traces of pollen. And of the types of brands at grocery stores, the ones that were far-and-away the most likely to be ultra-filtered were generic brands.

There are issues with ultra-filtration in general. Many believe that pollen, and other so-called “impurities,” are actually beneficial to human health, and make honey a better choice than rival sweeteners like sugar. And there doesn’t seem to be any serious benefit to the process; it’s expensive and doesn’t significantly improve shelf-life, even though some manufacturers claim it does.

But according to FSN, the biggest reason to avoid ultra-filtered honey is that pollen is the only sure-fire way to trace the source of honey to a geographic location. As a result ultra-filtered honey is often used to mask the shady origins of certain kinds of honey, especially Chinese honey, which is subject to heavy import tariffs on account of its frequent contamination by heavy metals and illegal antibiotics. Chinese honeymakers ultra-filter their honey, and then ship it through byzantine paths, to sneak their sham product onto American grocery shelves without being hit with a tariff.

Food Safety News honey samples were sent to premier melissopalynologist and professor at Texas A&M University, Vaughn Bryant. What he found was that roughly three fourths of the honey contained no pollen, making it unidentifiable and unsafe. Of that average, he found that:

100 percent of Winnie the Pooh sold in Walmart stores had all pollen removed.

100 percent of honey from individual packets from KFC and McDonald’s had all pollen removed.

77 percent of honey from big box stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, and Target had no traced of pollen.

100 percent of honey from drugstores like Walgreen’s and CVS Pharmacy had all the pollen filtered out.

He did find out, however, that honey purchased from co-ops, farmers markets and stores like Trader Joes contained the full amount of original pollen.

Many have called for the FDA to do more to prevent adulterated and smuggled honey from landing on grocery shelves, but the group has so far shrugged off the burden.

The EU, for its part, just changed labeling regulations to require that honey containers list “pollen” as an ingredient, when it is one, despite the objections of some honey farmers, who call pollen intrinsic to their produce.

One ounce of raw honey contains approximately 20 vitamins, 18 amino acids, 16 minerals, and a ton of antioxidants and phytonutrients. Raw honey is an antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal substance. It is also highly nutritious. It contains significant amounts of B2, B3, B5, B6, C, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulphur, and phosphate.

In the meantime, though, worried consumers do have a good option: buying honey from farmers’ markets and natural food stores. The FSN investigation found that few, if any, of the honeys sold there had been subject to ultra-filtration.

Source: Food Safety News

Man with Incurable Cancer, Rejected Chemo & Outlived His Doctors

by May 31, 2016

Stamatis Moraitis, the dear “grandpa” of international media, who did not remember his exact age – 98 or 102- passed away, 36 years after doctors had diagnosed him with lung cancer.

At the time, nine other doctors confirmed the diagnosis, and had given him nine months to live.

In several interviews he had confided that the secret of his longevity was the wine of his own production and Ikarian products. Moraitis thought of staying in the USA, where he went to receive cancer treatment.

He returned to Ikaria to live the rest of his life. He refused to undergo chemotherapy and did not accept the medication American doctors had prescribed. All he cared about was his garden and his parents’ vineyards. The peak of irony is that when he returned to America to visit his doctors, as his health gradually improved, he found out that they had all died.

“I expected to die, but it just was not happening. At night, I walked up to the tavern where I was playing backgammon and drinking wine with my friends until midnight,” he said in an interview.


The inhabitants of a small Greek island live on average 10 years longer than the rest of western Europe. So what’s the secret to long life in Ikaria?
It could be the fresh air and the friendly, easy-going, open-door lifestyle. It could be fresh vegetables and goat’s milk.

It could be the mountainous terrain. Everywhere on Ikaria is up, or down, so getting around keeps you fit.

It could even be the natural radiation in the granite rocks. But Stamatis Moraitis thinks he knows what it is.

“It’s the wine,” he says, over a mid-morning glass at his kitchen table. “It’s pure, nothing added. The wine they make commercially has preservatives. That’s no good. But this wine we make ourselves is pure.”

Stamatis celebrated his 98th birthday on New Year’s Day. He says he’s older, but his documents put his date of birth as 1 January 1915. Outside his whitewashed house are his beloved olive trees, his fruit trees, and his vines. He makes about 700 litres of wine a year, he says.

“Do you drink it all yourself?” I ask. “No!” He’s shocked at the suggestion. “I drink it with my friends.”

There are lots of stories like this one on Ikaria. Some may well be just stories, but in recent years scientists and doctors have beaten a path to the island not far off the coast of Turkey to find out the real story.

Ikaria got its name from the Greek myth of Icarus who, legend has it, plunged into the sea close to the island when his wax and feather wings melted. For centuries it was known as a health destination because of natural hot springs on the island.

More recently it has been identified as one of a small number of so-called “blue zones” by the author Dan Buettner and National Geographic, where residents enjoy great longevity. Other places include Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, and Loma Linda in California.

As the years rolled by Stamatis’ health continued to improve. Thirty years after his diagnosis he realized that he wasn’t going to die from cancer after all. At the ripe age of 97, Stamatis summoned the courage to submit to a medical exam to confirm his belief that he was cancer free. He wanted to know what had happened to him and why he didn’t die.

His doctors thoroughly examined him and reviewed his medical records. Not only did they give him a clean bill of health,  he also learned at the same time that all the doctors who had predicted he would die in nine months if he didn’t submit to chemo had died – all of them were dead!  Meanwhile, Stamatis lived on until the age of 102, and when he did die it wasn’t from cancer!

There are many significant factors about the islanders’ lifestyle which might contribute to their longevity.

Even compared to a typical Mediterranean diet, Ikarians eat a lot of fish and vegetables, and relatively low levels of meat.

Six out of 10 of people aged over 90 are still physically active, compared with about 20% elsewhere. Most food is cooked in olive oil. Large quantities of wild greens and herbs are gathered from the hillsides for both food and medicinal purposes.

Many older people make a daily brew of mountain tea from dried herbs such as sage, thyme, mint, and chamomile, and sweeten it with honey from local bees. “It cures everything,” claims Stamatis.

Many of the wild herbs are used by people all over the world as traditional remedies. They are rich in antioxidants and also contain diuretics which can lower blood pressure.

“We don’t have nightclubs or discos,” he says, as people chinked glasses filled with red wine poured from large plastic flagons. “The door is always open, there’s no need to call and ask to come.”

source: The New York Times

Never Buy Onions Again! Here’s How To Grow an Endless Supply Indoors

by May 31, 2016

How awesome would it be if every time you needed an onion for your recipe or meal, you just reach over to your window and pluck a fresh one out!

Sure, you can find them in every supermarket, but you could never have enough information about their origin. I know I would gladly grow them year around outdoors if I could, but that is not a choice for me living in Minnesota. Maybe you are fortunate to live in a climate that allows you to grow year around but then there may be the problem with space. Well, I have found a solution for all!

This Is What You Need

5 L plastic bottle

pair of scissors

onion bulbs

soil

water

Directions

Start by cutting the neck off the plastic bottle.

Cut some holes in it, with the scissors. The holes should be big enough for the onions.

You then make sure the onion sprouts are positioned through the holes.

Put layers of soil and sprouts, adding them until the bottle is full.

You can add the neck back on (simply tape it around) or leave it like that.

 

Water the soil and set it on your windowsill.

In no time, onions will sprout out the bulbs, you can watch them grow, and eventually flavor your dishes with them. Enjoy!

She Fills Old Jars With Fruit And Butter. Minutes Later? I’m Never Baking Again!

by May 31, 2016

Have you ever heard of baking in a jar? Me neither but watch how CHOW takes baking to a whole new level in the video below!

Personally, I would swap out the wheat flour with coconut flour or chia flour to avoid eggs, the sugar for honey, use only grass fed butter or coconut oil and top it off with homemade coconut whip cream!  You can make any recipe healthy!

“Start with two-and-one-half cups of fresh seasonal fruit. Put those into four half-pint canning jars. Combine one half-cup of flour, one half-cup of sugar and one half-teaspoon salt. Whisk it together with a fork and pour it on the fruit, and then top with butter. Once your jars are filled, move them to a square baking dish. Fill the inside of the baking dish with some dried beans to keep the jars from sliding around. Bake it at 350 for one hour. After baking, let the jars cool completely. I like to put a little whipped cream on top and, if you like, you can keep them in the fridge for up to a week. They make a great gift, and they are awesome for a picnic.” states CHOW.

The Best Immune Boosting Recipe (5-Min Prep)

by May 29, 2016

This really simple recipe contains all the ingredients you need to give your immune system a quick boost! All you need to recover from the onset of a common cold is a single dose.

There is only 4 simple ingredients to ward of nasty viruses, and boost your immune system as well. To prepare this recipe it will take you less than 5 minutes!

 What You Need:

  • 1 lemon,
  • 1-2 clove of garlic,
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper,
  • 1 tablespoon honey

How to make:

  • Cut the lemon in half.
  • Remove the juice of one half of the lemon. Keep its remaining shell.
  • Mince the garlic and leave it rest for 10 minutes. Then add the lemon juice, along with the cayenne pepper.
  • Add the honey and mix them thoroughly.
  • scrape out the fiber from the lemon shells and add to mix.

Dosage:

Take 1 tablespoon per day to boost your immune system.  If you have a cold or flu take it a minimum of 3 times per day, although we have heard that one dose is all you need.

Why Does It Work:

As we all know, garlic is a hundred times stronger than antibiotics in combating bacterial diseases, colds and flues.  This is likely due to its immune boosting effects as well as  garlic’s potent antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal properties.   Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin which can open up your sinuses, fight inflammation, cardiovascular support, helps with ulcers, boosts immune system and metabolism.  Cayenne pepper’s bright red color signals its high content of beta-carotene or pro-vitamin A.   Just two teaspoons of cayenne pepper provide 47% of the daily value for vitamin A. Often called the anti-infection vitamin, vitamin A is essential for healthy epithelial tissues including the mucous membranes that line the nasal passages, lungs, intestinal tract and urinary tract and serve as the body’s first line of defense against invading pathogens. The honey and lemon also have the reputation, in terms of healing. Together they form a veritable elixir that will set you free from your cold or flu.

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