Wellness Wednesday

I have learnt today that I do not consume nearly enough fruit.....

Thanks for the info Tobias

Thank you, Knight Tobias, for the nudge to eat more fruit!
I have a bowl of frozen blueberries (partially thawed) that I am enjoying just as much, if not more, than I would have enjoyed the popsicle I almost grabbed. Thinking of your posts on berries and fruit helped! Thanks!!!

Very nice! Especially blueberries are a good choice!

i m very lucky to have access to a lot of fruits , papayas , dragon fruits, star fruits , all sort of bananas and many others, they are cheap here i cant imagine life without fruits

Cruciferous Vegetables

These Vegetables are especially healthy among all other vegetables and we should try to eat a portion of them every day or at least as often as possible.
It doesn´t have to be much though, a serving size, we are talking about here, is no more than 30 grams of chopped vegetables or a tablespoon of horseradish.

Now, what makes these vegetables so outstanding? Well, they deliver a certain substance, called sulforaphane, which is able to prevent and even fight! cancer.

https://www.pnas.org/content/94/21/11149

You can´t get the effect of this substance by taking it in any kind of pill, you will have to eat the good stuff.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21816223/

Why? Because the sulforaphane is not actually IN the vegetable, it starts to exist once you chew it, but, and this is worth considering: only if you chew or chop it RAW.

So, ideally, chop those vegetables FIRST, before cooking, and wait for 45 minutes first and THEN cook them, OR you can sprinkle some mustard powder over them. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23411305/

Well, the good news is, even if you eat broccoli cooked, you get the good sulforaphane.

https://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/8/5/447

But, you will have to eat a lot more cooked broccoli to get the same effect.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18950181/


Broccoli, and especially 2 days old broccoli sprouts by the way, are the most effective of those vegetables here in regards to their ability to fight and prevent cancer.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14969551/

Now, here is a list of all those good cruciferous vegetables that can deliver those maybe life saving effects, with broccoli sprouts (that are 2 days old especially) and broccoli in general as the clear winner:

Broccoli sprouts
Broccoli
Arugula
Bok choy
Romanesco
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Collard greens
Horseradish
Kale
Mustard greens
Radishes
Turnip greens
Watercress

All the best to you all and may the Force be with you.

Tobias

Greens

Hallo friends.

Today I give you a list of dark green leafy vegetables, of which we should eat 2 portions each day. A serving size means 60 g raw or 90 g cooked, so not very much. As always: ideal would be to eat that much every day, but it´s totally okay to just look out for this good stuff and eat it whenever there is a chance to do so.

These greens are:

Arugula
Beet greens
Collard greens
Kale
Mesclun mix
Mustard greens
Sorrel
Spinach
Swiss chard
Turnip greens


Why are they so good? Well, the chlorophyll that makes them green is actually capable of neutralizing carcinogens in our bloodstream:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19952359/

There is also evidence that even very small amounts of spinach, and I am talking about 3 leaves here, are able to cut your risk for certain carcinomas (squamous cell carcinomas) in half! (I can´t find the exact source right now…).

So, don´t think: 2 portions a day is too much for me, just, seize the opportunity, whenever you have the chance to include dark leafy vegetables in your meal.

May the Force be with you all.

Tobias

Hello friends. Today I want to talk to you about all the other vegetables we should eat, whenever we have the chance to do so. There is so much to say to each single vegetable that I don´t say much about all of them right now, but believe me, each one of them has their own special benefits. Just one example: did you know that beets have the potential to boost your athletic performance like doping does? It would be totally legal to drink a glass of beetjuice before a marathon for example but I don´t know how many runners actually do that.

Here are some vegetables to inspire you:#
Artichokes
Asparagus
Beets
Bell peppers
Carrots
Corn
Garlic
Mushrooms (well, not truly vegetables, but they are benefitial as well)
Okra
Onions
Purple Potatoes
Pumpkin
Arame
Dulse
Nori
Snap peas
Squash
Sweet potatoes / yams
Tomatoes
Zucchini

Enjoy and may the Force be with you!

Flaxseed Wednesday

Hello friends.

During the next few weeks I wanna talk to you about flaxseeds. And because flaxseeds are so amazingly good for us and have so many benefits I wanna call this section

“Flaxseed Wednesday”

For the next few weeks.

If I can inspire even a few of you to eat:

1 teaspoon of ground flaxseeds

Every day, it was already worth the effort. I am going to tell you step by step what benefits flaxseeds can have for us, just to summarize here, flaxseeds have a positive impact on:

Inflammation
Weight Loss
High Cholesterol
Diabetes
Hypertension
Breast Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Breast Pain

So, see you here on “Flaxseed Wednesday” in the next few weeks,

And may the Force be with you.

Tobias

Flaxseed Wednesday

Hello friends.

Today I want to show you the first reason why it is a good idea to eat flaxseeds regularly. Did you know that flaxseeds are able to suppress a certain group of proinflammatory substances called oxylipins in our bloodstream? Well, now you know:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28801523/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24777981/

Now, as you see, this effect is responsible for the actual effect of flaxseeds lowering our blood pressure if we suffer from hypertension.

These oxylipins are more present the older we get. Now, what happens, if an old person eats – in this case – 30 g of ground flaxseeds a day for 4 weeks? Guess what, the amount of oxylipins in their blood lowers to the rate of people at the age of about 20 years!

Look here:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24747581/

Now, we won´t have to eat 30 g of flaxseeds every day, that would probably cause some discomfort, I guess, and 30 g is a lot. But stick with your 1 tablespoon a day and you will have an “anti – aging” effect by the way!

Dear friends, I am going to be on holiday in the next 3 weeks, and I don´t know, if I have the opportunity to post on the next 3 Wednesdays, so in case, I can´t: keep eating the good stuff, especially berries and flaxseeds and I will be back with more news to flaxseeds soon!


May the Force be with you!

Tobias

Lemon in your drink

To all the caffeine addict or the one who don’t like coffee but still, like me feel like being in the bordure of life and death in the morning , did you know that lemon water would be much more beneficial to your body ! ? And there is the scientific studies to back it up.

So Lemon water benefit are quiet numerous , let see .

At the opposite of coffee, lemon water is best drinking soon as you wake up on an empty stomach , this will help as a detox but most important is when you open your eye is to Boost your hydration , as a citrus lemon contain a high level of vitamin C and this Vitamin helps to protect the cells from free radicals. It also seemingly reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and low blood pressure. The antioxidant seems to as well support weight loss. The same antioxidants also seemed to offset negative effects on blood glucose and insulin resistance. These are major factors in the development of diabetes. This has yet to be proven in humans beyond anecdotal evidence. It can aid digestion , it is believed that drinking warm water with lemon could ease digestion for the day ahead .
How ever seen the level of acidity that lemon has it is not recommended to drink lemon water in the evening or before going to bed as it could damage the enamel on your teeth.
Feel free to add few leaf mint to morning lemon water en enjoy feeling refreshed and healthy
May the force be with you
 
 7 Benefits of Lemon Water: Vitamin C, Weight Loss, Skin, and More (healthline.com)

From <https://www.myrecipes.com/extracrispy/drinking-water-with-lemon-in-the-morning-is-good-for-you>


From <https://longevitylive.com/food/starting-your-day-with-coffee-you-might-want-to-consider-lemon-water-instead/>

Make your own drink

From the 16 teaching .

A Jedi understand that well-being consists in the physical, the mental and the spiritual.

That is why making your own healthy drink can be a way to help your self be healthy , instead of opening a can of heavily sugary soda. There is many ways to make a delicious beverage with ingredients that would as well be very benefic to your body and your mind.

Today I will particularly focus on one ingredient that is Ginger .

Lets talk first about the benefits of Ginger

Ginger may have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and other healthful properties. Below are some of the possible medicinal uses of ginger.

Relieving nausea
Easing a cold or the flu
Relieving pain
Reducing inflammation
Supporting cardiovascular health
Lowering cancer risk
Nutrition

From <https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265990#nutrition>

Animal studies have also indicated that ginger can influence serotonin levelsTrusted Source and may treat and reduce anxiety as successfully as benzodiazepine drugs.

From <https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/drinks-for-stress-anxiety#ginger>

A fun fact for men is that ginger is one of the top ten food that can help boosting level of testosterone ! The 8 best foods to boost low testosterone (medicalnewstoday.com)

There is another simple fact with ginger that it helps with feeling cold!

Now we know. Let s talk about the fun side of the subject , let make that yummy drink .

First if you can , ginger is very very easy to grow , there s nothing like fresh ginger but you can as well buy powder ginger or a rhizome, as it is not a root. The rhizome it self will give you a bit more preparation but of course it will tast much better, I would recommend to use a small pot that will still be big enough to prepare enough drink for maybe 4 cups. Cut a bit of ginger the size of a sugar cube and grate it, then bring it to a boil no more than 2 minutes. Get your cup ready, now it all depend how you like it , I personally use green tea , 2 spoon honey and I filter the ginger water while I poor a whiskey finger in my cup( remember that a finger is not vertical but horizontal , poor a bit more of hot water add a slice of lemon squeeze it and steer it all. NOW what is it that you want today ? A hot drink ? Or a cold drink as it can go either way, if you are feeling a bit sick , make it hot , if you re feeling hot make it cold . And enjoy your own home made brew. Then when finished seen that you already have cooked ginger water make another or keep it in the refrigerator for later.

The Golden Latte

Yes you have heard right today, we will talk about the Eldorado of the coffee drinkers , it looks awesome , it taste great, it s good for you and it feels right The Golden Latte !!!!!!!!

This is the following up on Healthy drink that you can make at home , but lets talk about coffee first as it has few miss understanding and bad reputation , as Jedis we must pass through the so called bad reputation and go to the heart of thing to find the truth. So coffee is not all bad .
“The overall evidence has been pretty convincing that coffee has been more healthful than harmful in terms of health outcomes,” said Frank Hu, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in an April 5, 2021, article in Discover. “For most people, moderate coffee consumption can be incorporated into a healthy diet.”
From <https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/is-coffee-good-or-bad-for-your-health/>
The caffeine from coffee has been shown in studies to be beneficial for increasing alertness and cognitive performance.
From <https://coffeeatticla.com/blog/the-unknown-benefits-of-coffee/>
So what is this Golden Latte ? Simple it is a coffee drink with a twist of turmeric! Turmeric is a spice that if you have a bit of a garden would be easy to grow.
The idea of adding turmeric to coffee is a fairly new trend. There is individual research on turmeric and coffee, but no data of its potential health benefits as a concoction. However, the combination of turmeric and coffee together could offer a potent drink. Here’s the scientific data so far on the golden spice.
May calm inflammation
May improve your mood
May help with blood sugar
May ease digestive woes
May lower heart disease risk From <https://www.thehealthy.com/nutrition/turmeric-coffee/>


Homemade turmeric coffee recipe
So lets look into a the recipe, I know it s not a ready drink but making your own will give you that much more satisfaction and lets remind everyone that filtered coffee might be more healthy as well than unfiltered.
Ingredients
1/2 cup dairy or plant-based milk
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of black pepper
8 ounces brewed coffee
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (optional)
Directions
In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together milk, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, and coffee. Briskly blend with an immersion blender or whisk. For sweetened coffee, add maple syrup. Pour into a coffee mug and enjoy.

From <https://www.thehealthy.com/nutrition/turmeric-coffee/>

Let s not forget that being a Jedi is to seek balance, coffee is healthy but it as well can create an addiction , most of everything is good with moderation .

This is my last post as Tobias is back from holidays , something simple


Mint


This Wednesday I will talk about my all time favorite drink!
One my friend slash mentor was a nurse, a really relaxed guy who lived in his camper van , he did not have many vice beside a little one and a passion for surfing, to quench his first he drank Mint tea only. So it became a "cool" drink in my head. And it is COOL! A perfect drink by hot weather sweeten with honey . Mint has few tricks in it "pocket" let see .

1. Rich in Nutrients

While not typically consumed in large quantities, mint does contain a fair amount of nutrients.
In fact, just under 1/3 cup or half an ounce (14 grams) of spearmint contains (1):
• Calories: 6
• Fiber: 1 gram
• Vitamin A: 12% of the RDI
• Iron: 9% of the RDI
• Manganese: 8% of the RDI
• Folate: 4% of the RDI

2. May Improve Irritable Bowel Syndrome


3. May Help Relieve Indigestion


4. Could Improve Brain Function


5. May Decrease Breastfeeding Pain


6. Subjectively Improves Cold Symptoms
<https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mint-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2>

Not bad isnt it for a little leaf !
Best if you have a little green thumb grow mint at home , there's about 19 variety of mint so every time you want to make tea pluck some from your home grown mint, but mint leaf are commonly found in desserts and many dishes . There is nothing better than home grown food.

Try it and enjoy a COOL drink

Flaxseed Wednesday

Hello friends, I am back from my holiday and it is time to tell you some more of the amazing things flaxseeds can do to our body.

First thing: it is proven that flaxseed intake lowers bad cholesterol in our bloodstream, look here:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25694068/

Now, concerning weight loss; there are a number of studies that show that simply adding ! flaxseeds to whatever diet you live on right now might significantly lower your body weight, if you suffer from overweight. A great meta – analysis has been done on this:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28635182/

Now, you could think, well, people who eat flaxseeds regularly probably are overall more conscious about their habits of eating and living and therefore are less bothered with problems like overweight. But look here:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27151322/

An additional effect of flaxseeds on lowering body weight has been proven, even if you already lead a healthy lifestyle.

There is also a positive effect of flaxseed consumption on the so called non alcoholic fatty liver disease.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26983396/

So, again you see, there are now at least 3 more reasons to eat flaxseeds regularly. And if it is too much for you to consciously eat a tablespoon a day, do yourself a favor: whenever you come across the option to add flaxseeds to your food in any way, simply do so.

Greetings and may the Force be with you.

Tobias

Tobias wrote: Flaxseed Wednesday

Hello friends, I am back from my holiday and it is time to tell you some more of the amazing things flaxseeds can do to our body.

I use them in my home made dog food, and dog biscuits as well

Flaxseed Wednesday

Dear friends.

Yesterday I was at a restaurant, and as in the most cases, I ordered plant based food. But this time I got an extraordinary amount of vegetables, well, you know, usually if you order a „vegan“ dish you get things like fries or pasta with tomato sauce or things like that, so indeed very much processed food. But this time: at least 400 grams of freshly cooked spinach. So keep sure to keep an eye open for restaurants like that, I will definitely go back there and have a few meals there in a month.

Well, today let´s talk about hypertension and flax seeds flax seeds seem to have a similar benefitial effect on our blood pressure as some medications out there. Look at this study

Potent antihypertensive action of dietary flaxseed in hypertensive patients - PubMed (nih.gov)

They even managed to do a double blind study while administering flaxseeds to patients with hypertension by creating food that actually just looked like it contained flaxseeds as a placebo. And you see, flaxseed turns out to be the most effective agent amongst foods out there concerning high blood pressure.

In this study they experimented on feeding pigs flaxseeds to see, if the meat turns out to be more healthy after that.

Flaxseed fed pork: n-3 fatty acid enrichment and contribution to dietary recommendations - PubMed (nih.gov)

Well, I think, it is a better idea to eat the flaxseeds yourself and skip this process of feeding pigs flaxseeds and eating the pigs afterwards, come on…

Well, this study shows that adding flaxseeds to for example a beef patty, for those of you who don´t want to dispense with meat, doesn´t seem to dramatically change the perceived sensory quality of the product.

Response surface methodology for predicting quality characteristics of beef patties added with flaxseed and tomato paste - PubMed (nih.gov)

So, here we have another reason why it is a good idea to keep on eating flaxseeds everyday.

Well, there are more to come next week, so keep it up, have a good time.

May the Force be with you.

Tobias

Flaxseed Wednesday.

Hi friends. I want to keep it short this week, I am quite busy right now. All these studies speak for themselves, (see down below), they show that flaxseeds definitely has a benefitial effect on people with breast cancer, as you will see, flaxseeds are able to slow down the proliferation rate of the tumor cells and promote the death of tumor cells, it even makes them less aggressive.

So for all of you out there who suffer from that disease or have suffered from it, flaxseeds might not be as effective as chemotherapy but you don´t risk anything by putting them into your diet.

Here are the studies:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15897583/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20033482/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22094938/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20463043/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22037685/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21984941/

May the Force be with you!

Tobias

Flaxseed Wednesday

Today I am going to show you that flaxseeds not only have a benefitial effect on people with breast cancer, no it seems to have a comparable effect also on people with prostate cancer.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15134976/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11445478/

These pilot studies show that patients with prostate cancer who ate a fat restricted diet with flaxseeds in it experienced a significant decrease of PSA in their blood which is a biomarker for prostate cancer.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19064574/

Here it is proven in a randomized trial.



So, here we are, this is all I have to say about flaxseeds.

I think we have found several reasons why it is a good idea to eat flaxseeds everyday.

Now, while it is probably a good idea to eat as much as possible of these seeds, I still think, it is a good idea to eat at least one tablespoon a day.

I would be happy if some of you try this, maybe you observe effects on your health for yourself, if so, feel free to share those experiences here.

So, Flaxseed Wednesday ends today, next week we are coming back to other foods that are good for us, there is still much to discover: Turmeric, Nuts and much more.

May the Force be with you!

Tobias

Wellness Wednesday on Thursday this time.

Oops, I forgot to post yesterday, please apologize.

Here we go:
Hello friends.

In the next few episodes of Wellness Wednesday I want to talk to you about nuts and seeds. Well, all of us have probably heard that eating nuts is a good choice if you are trying to live on a healthy diet.

But this week I want to show you only one study:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248385213_A_Single_Consumption_of_High_Amounts_of_the_Brazil_Nuts_Improves_Lipid_Profile_of_Healthy_Volunteers

So, what did they do here? Well, this is not a randomized trial, and the number of volunteers was very low, only 10 people, so we are not sure if these amazing results are in the end just too good to be true:

They gave those people nothing more than a single serving ! of 4 brazil nuts a MONTH to achieve the result that their ldl-cholesterol – Level decreased significantly and STAYED DOWN! There is no known drug that can do that, that is unbelievable!

So, even if these results still have to be verified in a larger study, I strongly recommend to all of you who might have trouble with high cholsesterol levels: please eat 4 brazil nuts once a month, it is cheap, it is healthy anyway, it doesn´t bring any danger, just do it.

I recommend this to all of my patients, before starting statins, and I recommend this to you.

By the way, brazil nuts are the most tasty and delicious nuts anyway, so it is not a hard thing to do hehe.

May the Force be with You!

Tobias

Hello friends.

Look, what I have found for you, this is a very interesting study:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29897866/

To sum it up, the study has some weaknesses in the end, but what becomes clear is that obviously eating half an ounze of nuts a day makes strokes significantly less probable, so it would probably be a good idea to do so.

I want to give you a short list of possible nuts and seeds we can eat just to raise your appetite a little:

Almonds
Brazil nuts
Cashews
Chia seeds
Hazelnuts
Hemp seeds
Macadamia nuts
Pecans
Pistachios
Pumpkin seeds
Sesame seeds
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts

May the Force be with you.

Yours, Tobias