Tomatoes
Benefit and uses of tomato.
Several medical books and journals have described medicinal uses of tomato. These are enumerated as under for ready reference:
- Tomato juice keeps the blood stream alkaline and thus maintain a high resistance to disease. It is very rich in iron and potash salts.
- Half-ripe tomatoes offer an excellent remedy in all sorts of liver troubles. Tomatoes stimulate torpid liver and are very good for dyspepsia, diarrhoea and dysentery.
- Being a rich source of vitamin A, it is a dependable preventive against eye troubles.
- Tomato is a nervine tonic. It is very useful in all sorts of nervous disorders.
- As it is a rich source of vitamin C, it is very valuable in scurvy.
- Half ripe tomatoes are very valuable in summer diarrhoea. But it should be taken with musumbi (lime) juice.
- It is also very effective in dysentery. But it should be taken with garlic and musumbi (lime) juice.
- Half-ripe tomatoes are very useful in hot summer months as it prevents sun-stroke or heat-stroke.
- Tomatoes are usually effective in heartburn, flatulence or indigestion.
- Half-ripe tomatoes are usually given in dyspepsia.
November 30, 2006
Vitamin A, also called retinol, helps your eyes adjust to light changes when you come in from outside and also helps keep your eyes, skin and mucous membranes moist. Vitamin A mostly comes from animal foods, but some plant-based foods supply beta-carotene, which your body then converts into Vitamin A. It also has antioxidant properties that neutralize free radicals in the body that cause tissue and cellular damage. Early information from scientific studies suggests that beta-carotene might help people who already have Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). The American Heart Association doesn’t recommend taking supplements of beta-carotene until more is known, however.
Nutritionists categorize vitamins by the materials that a vitamin will dissolve in. There are two categories: water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins—vitamins A, D, E and K—are stored in the fat tissues of the body for a few days to up to six months. If you get too much of a fat-soluble vitamin, it can be stored in your liver and may sometimes cause health problems. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin.
Sources of Vitamin A
Top sources of vitamin A include:
- Beef liver
- Egg yolk
- Cheddar cheese
- Fortified milk
Top sources of beta-carotene include:
- Sweet potato
- Carrots
- Pumpkin
- Cantaloupe
- Broccoli
- Apricots
- Spinach and collard greens
November 30, 2006
The forgotten benefits of vitamin D
Getting optimal amounts of vitamin D may have a positive influence on blood sugar levels, possibly reducing the risk of developing insulin resistance.
Normally, the carbohydrate in the food you eat is eventually broken down into glucose (also known as blood sugar). Glucose, in turn, triggers the release of the hormone insulin.
Insulin helps to move nutrients from the blood into the cells of your body. However, in someone with insulin resistance, muscle cells are not able to deal with glucose properly.
In the new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vitamin D status (as determined by blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D) was assessed in a group of healthy young volunteers. Insulin resistance was also measured. Lower blood levels of vitamin D were associated with a greater degree of insulin resistance.
But it’s important to remember that association does not mean causation.
There is research, for example, to show that people who eat breakfast are less likely to suffer from obesity or diabetes.
But is it eating breakfast that’s solely responsible for this?
People who eat breakfast may be more likely to engage in other healthy behaviors, such as eating more fruit and vegetables. Maybe people who don’t eat breakfast are less likely to exercise, or more likely to consume a diet high in sugar or trans-fatty acids.
In other words, levels of vitamin D in the blood may simply be a marker for one or more nutrients in the diet which also aid blood sugar control.
That said, vitamin D deficiency is far more common than most people realize. The vitamin is present in only a few foods, such as cod liver oil, oily fish (including salmon, mackerel, and sardines), and fortified dairy products and breakfast cereals.
Most of the vitamin D in the human body is manufactured in the skin after exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun. People who do not receive adequate amounts of sun exposure are at risk of developing vitamin D deficiency.
November 15, 2006
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means it is absorbed most effectively when ingested with dietary fat. It is best known for its role in helping blood clot properly after an injury. Vitamin K is helpful in this situation because it is responsible for making clotting factors in the liver. Vitamin K also plays an important role in bone health.
Vitamin K comes from the foods that we eat. Plus, bacteria that normally reside in the intestines are able to make vitamin K. Antibiotics may interfere with this normal production. Other circumstances that may lead to vitamin K deficiency include:
- Health problems that can prevent the absorption of vitamin K (such as gallbladder or biliary disease which may alter the absorption of fat), cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, and Crohn’s disease
- Ingestion of excessive amounts of mineral oil
- Liver disease
- Use of blood-thinning medications (such as warfarin, see Interactions)
- Ongoing or significant diarrhea (particularly in breast fed infants)
- Long-term use of total parenteral nutrition (TPN; nutrition provided intravenously)
- Continuing hemodialysis
- Serious burns
It is also important to note, that breast fed infants may be at an increased risk for vitamin K deficiency because human milk is not a very good source of this nutrient. Interestingly, though, if a mother eats lots of green vegetables on a daily basis, she can improve the amount of vitamin K in breast milk. In addition, the elderly may also be at an increased risk for vitamin K deficiency they tend take many medications, eat insufficient amounts of vegetables, and may have bacterial overgrowth that impacts vitamin K production in the gut.
Vitamin K deficiency is rare because gut bacteria can produce enough of this vitamin, even if dietary intake is low. Vitamin K deficiency can lead to excessive bleeding (hemorrhage) which may begin as oozing from the gums or nose. Echymoses (bleeding below the skin) and excessive bruising may also be symptoms of vitamin K deficiency.
November 1, 2006
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