The many amazing health benefits of Goji berries

- By Michael Ravensthorpe - March 15, 2014

Goji berries, also called wolfberries, are the fruits of the Lycium barbarum and Lycium chinense plants. Native to southeastern Europe and Asia, these fruits are characterized by their bright orange-red color and raisin-like shape. They have been cultivated in Asia for over 2000 years, and have been nicknamed "red diamonds" due to their unusually high nutritional value. Traditional Chinese medicine was perhaps the first healing system to understand and utilize the berries for medicinal purposes, though their reputation continues to grow in the West, where many researchers regard them as "superfruits."

Health benefits

Antioxidant-rich - According to Jodi Helmer, the author of Goji Berries: Antioxidant Supreme, goji berries are an excellent source of antioxidants such as polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids and vitamins A, C and E. In fact, the goji berry contains approximately 500 times more vitamin C per weight than an orange and considerably more beta-carotene than carrots. These findings are reinforced by the goji berries' high Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) score of 3,290, which shows that they contain much larger concentrations of antioxidants than most other fruits. Since antioxidants help neutralize the cell-damaging effects of free radicals, eating more antioxidant-rich foods like goji berries can help guard us from degenerative diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and most types of cancer.

Prevent vision loss - According to a study published in the 2005 issue of the British Journal of Nutrition, goji berries contain properties that prevent the risk of vision loss. Researchers at Hong Kong Polytechnic University fed 14 healthy volunteers a serving of 15 grams of goji berries daily for 28 days while comparing their blood levels to 13 control volunteers. After 28 days, the volunteers who consumed the fruits experienced significantly raised zeaxanthin levels in the blood (zeaxanthin is an antioxidant present in goji berries that helps preserve eyesight). Therefore, if you're suffering from poor or deteriorating eyesight, consider adding more goji berries to your diet.

Improve male fertility - Goji berries have long been considered a male aphrodisiac in China, and more studies are starting to confirm these allegations. According to a Chinese study published in the July 2006 issue of Life Sciences, for example, rats that were fed goji berries maintained testicular function when subjected to heat. The researchers also found that certain constituents in goji berries regulated the release of sexual hormones, boosted hormone levels and improved the quality and quantity of sperm in male rats.

High in nutrients - Though goji berries are best-known for their antioxidant activity, they also contain an impressive number of vitamins and minerals. According to Paul Gross in his report, The Top 20 Superfruits, a quarter cup of goji berries contains 11 essential vitamins and 22 trace minerals, including 24 percent of our RDI of potassium, 18 percent of our RDI of zinc and a whopping 100 percent of our RDI of iron, copper and riboflavin. They also contain 8 polysaccharides, a primary source of dietary fiber.

Organic goji berries are easily found in health food stores and online, and are usually consumed in dried form. They are also available in capsule form for those who dislike their bitter taste.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.orac-info-portal.de/download/ORAC_R2.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16563441

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15705234

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17045262

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16139464

About the author:
Michael Ravensthorpe is an independent writer whose research interests include nutrition, alternative medicine, and bushcraft. He is the creator of the website, Spiritfoods, through which he promotes the world's healthiest foods.

The many health benefits of using Cilantro

- By Sandeep Godiyal - March 14, 2014

Cilantro is far from just being an herb used for side dishes in Mexican food. Even though this herb takes on the appearance of parsley, it does not taste like it at all. With that in mind, because it looks so much like parsley, it is important to keep your herbs properly marked.

Cilantro is best known for how well it detoxifies the human body.

Dr. Edward Group, CEO of Global Healing Center, states that "cilantro is most often cited as being effective for toxic metal cleansing and rightfully so, this herb is a powerful, natural cleansing agent. The chemical compounds in cilantro bind to toxic metals and loosen them from the tissue." This does not mean that we should not err on the side of caution, though, and consult with our primary care physician regarding detoxing. Once toxins become mobilized, the elimination process must be quick in order to prevent physical harm.

Juicing from cilantro, at least six cups, is highly recommended every week. It is not recommended, of course, that this be done all at once. Begin by adding two cups of cilantro juice in with your regular juicing routine at least three times per week. It is optimal if you are already using a dark leafy juice blend of spinach and parsley in your juicing routine.

If you have an aversion to the taste of cilantro, you can help mitigate the taste through use of properly juicing with greens.

There are a number of nutritional benefits to cilantro.

There is an unusual array of antioxidants and phytonutrients found in cilantro, which are both rich in healing properties such as being antiseptic, fungicidal, aphrodisiac, analgesic, having digestive properties and being a natural stimulant. When cilantro is juiced raw, it is in its most powerful form.

Even though cilantro only has traces of vitamin B, it is a very good source of vitamins K and A, and C vitamins. Cilantro is also a good source of potassium, calcium, manganese, iron and sodium. It is important, especially in these days, to keep the body rich in minerals.

Cilantro helps heal the body in many ways.

* It is an anxiety reducer.

* It has been shown, after long-term use, to remove mercury from tissue. There are very few herbs that can remove heavy metals from the body, and cilantro is one of them.

* The small intestine reacts well to cilantro, and it helps with eliminating waste in a healthy manner.

* Helps with macular degeneration, red eyes and eye disorders.

* Helps stave off infections and urinary tract infections.

* Vitamin K plays the strongest roles in bone health, and cilantro is richest in this vitamin.

* Helps prevent anemia by building up blood supplies.

* The stems are rich in antioxidants such as quercetin, kaempferol, rhamnetin and epigenin.

* When juiced and consumed as part of a regular routine, cilantro is known to help reduce the amount of damaged fats found in cell membranes.

Sources:

http://resully.com

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

About the author:
Sandeep is an mountain climber, runner, and fitness coach. He shares his tips for staying in shape and eating healthy on quickeasyfit.

More articles from Sandeep:

The eight best foods for your heart health

Top inflammatory foods to avoid eating

The top six better substitutes for sugar

Top five ways to get more vitamin D in your diet

Bombshell: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 likely highjacked and redirected in protest of oppressive government that imprisons people for being gay: analysis

- By Mike Adams - March 16, 2014 - the Health Ranger - Editor of NaturalNews.com

Read this story in full before leaping to conclusions. Here at Natural News, I have a proven knack for being days ahead of the mainstream media on critical analysis of fast-moving events. For example, on Friday, March 14, Natural News was the first media outlet to declare that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 passengers may still be alive. At first, my story was widely ridiculed, but in the days since, the theory that the aircraft was deliberately flown to a different destination is now "conclusive." Since then, even more evidence has emerged to support this optimistic working theory.

That story, found at this link, was also the first in the world to publish a map of a possible flight radius that showed the missing jetliner could have reached Pakistan, Afghanistan or even Iran.

Over the following two days, other media outlets such as the New York Times and Daily Mail subsequently published their maps showing essentially the same thing: Flight 370 flew on for anywhere from 4 to 7 hours after vanishing from radar, and it did not crash off the coast of Malaysia as was initially feared.

It is now "conclusive" that Flight 370 was hijacked, reports the Daily Mail.

Here's the initial flight range map posted by Natural News on Friday:

And here's the map posted by Daily Mail about 36 hours later, which added the satellite data released late Friday:

A protest for gay rights and government reform?

The investigation of what happened to Flight 370 has now turned to captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a "fervent supporter" of Malaysian government opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who was thrown in jail for the "crime" of homosexuality just hours before Flight 370 disappeared.

Yes, being gay is a crime in Malaysia. The mainstream media has largely glossed over this issue, preferring to describe the captain as an "anti-government" person, but it increasingly appears that he might actually be a supporter of strong government reforms in a country where sexual orientation discrimination is the law of the land.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of gay marriage in the USA, I hope that all Natural News fans and readers can agree that being gay is NOT a crime punishable by prison time, and any government that throws people in prison for being gay is an oppressive police state regime that no doubt deserves to be reformed or overthrown. To call a person demanding reforms of oppressive government an "anti-government political fanatic" is wholly dishonest and deceptive.

Being "anti government" is actually a good thing when the government is evil, of course. For example, no one calls Oskar Schindler (of "Schindler's List" fame) an "anti-government fanatic" even though he was actively working against the government of Adolf Hitler during World War II to save the lives of innocent people. As history has repeatedly shown, when government becomes evil, good people work to oppose it, reform it, or overthrow it. In my opinion, a government that condemns people to prison for their speech, their religion, their sexual orientation or their race is an illegitimate government that must be opposed by all good people.

Flight 370 evidence covered up by Malaysian government

The Mirror now reports that "the pilot's wife and three children moved out of the family's home the day before the plane's disappearance."

This is strong evidence that the family had planned an action which they knew would result in intense government scrutiny.

The Malaysian government hid evidence of all this for eight days, further proving that the nation's leadership is not being transparent with the public about what really happened. "Malaysian authorities have been criticised for keeping the possibility of a hijack secret for eight days. Mr Learmount said their 'total incompetence is unforgivable', and created more agony for families desperate for news," reports the Mirror.

Adding to the cover-up evidence, the BBC is also now reporting:

It has also revived questions about why the Malaysian military did not immediately notice what was happening, and what gaps there might be more generally in military air defences in a region where the defence and security temperature is high at the moment. It has now emerged that Malaysian primary military radar tracked an unidentified contact that flew right across the country's air space, now confirmed to be MH370. But no action, it seems, was taken.

What is increasingly emerging in all this is that the government of Malaysia is clearly an oppressive, anti-civil-rights police state that sends gay people to prison for the "crime" of being gay while suppressing crucial evidence involving the lives of hundreds of innocent travelers. Again, regardless of where you stand on the issue of recognizing gay marriage, the state of BEING gay cannot be called a crime except by the most oppressive of regimes.

It now appears Malaysia was intentionally deceiving the international community on all this in the hopes that these issues would not come out. That's why the initial search focused on the planned flight path while Malaysian officials intentionally kept other evidence secret. They know their regime is oppressive, and they don't want the internet talking about the real reasons why the captain of an aircraft might have redirected the entire flight as an act of international protest against oppressive government.

Odds keep improving that Flight 370 passengers may still be alive

If this new theory pans out -- and the evidence increasingly points in this direction -- this means it is increasingly likely that Flight 370 passengers are still alive for the following reason:

A captain who believes in fundamental human rights and civil rights -- and is willing to put his own life at risk to protest oppressive government -- would be very unlikely to kill innocent people. These developments put the act of air piracy in the category of "protest against oppressive government" rather than an act of terrorism or planned kidnap and ransom scenario.

Because of these developments, I now put the odds of the passengers being found alive at 1 in 2, up from the 1 in 3 that I previously estimated on Friday.

My prayers go out to the passengers, their families, and all the citizens of Malaysia who suffer under oppressive government where non-conformity is a crime against the state. May all people live as free citizens, regardless of their personal preferences.