Should you pull the plug or keep ralliyng for hope? The sniff response can predict who will regain consciousness, and will say with about 90% accuracy who will survive for at least three years.

If an unconscious person responds to smell through a slight change in their nasal airflow pattern – they are likely to regain consciousness. This is the conclusion from a new study conducted by Weizmann Institute scientists and colleagues at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital, in Israel.

According to the findings, published in the journal Nature, 100% of the unconscious brain-injured patients who responded to a “sniff test” developed by the researchers regained consciousness during the four-year study period.

The scientists think that this simple, inexpensive test can aid doctors in accurately diagnosing and determining treatment plans according to the patients’ degree of brain injury. The scientists conclude that this finding once again highlights the primal role of the sense of smell in human brain organization. The olfactory system is the most ancient part of the brain, and its integrity provides an accurate measure of overall brain integrity.

If you have ever had to face the consequences of how to help make a decision about a loved one following a traumatic brain injury, some new clues from science might help you and the doctors get out of making tough decisions. Following severe brain injury, it is often difficult to determine whether the person is conscious or unconscious, and current diagnostic tests can lead to an incorrect diagnosis in up to 40% of cases.

“Misdiagnosis can be critical as it can influence the decision of whether to disconnect patients from life support machines,” says Dr. Anat Arzi, who led the new research. “In regard to treatment, if it is judged that a patient is unconscious and doesn’t feel anything, physicians may not prescribe them painkillers that they might need.”

Arzi commenced this research during her doctoral studies in the group of Prof. Noam Sobel of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Neurobiology Department and continued it as part of her postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Psychology.

The “consciousness test” developed by the researchers – in collaboration with Dr. Yaron Sacher, Head of the Department of Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation at Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital – is based on the principle that our nasal airflow changes in response to odor; for example, an unpleasant odor will lead to shorter and shallower sniffs. In healthy humans, the sniff-response can occur unconsciously in both wakefulness and sleep.

The study included 43 brain-injured patients in the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital. The researchers briefly placed jars containing various odors under the patients’ noses, including a pleasant scent of shampoo, an unpleasant smell of rotten fish, or no odor at all. At the same time, the scientists precisely measured the volume of air inhaled through the nose in response to the odors. Each jar was presented to the patient ten times in random order during the testing session, and each patient participated in several such sessions.

“Astonishingly, all patients who were classified as being in a ‘vegetative state’ yet responded to the sniff test, later regained consciousness, even if only minimal. In some cases, the result of the sniff test was the first sign that these patients were about to recover consciousness – and this reaction was observed days, weeks and even months prior to any other signs,” says Arzi. Moreover, the sniff response not only predicted who would regain consciousness, it also predicted with about 92% accuracy who would survive for at least three years.

“The fact that the sniff test is simple and potentially inexpensive makes it advantageous,” explains Arzi. “It can be performed at the patients’ bedside without the need to move them – and without complicated machinery.”

A mindful tennis game

After a severe head injury, patients may fall into a comatose state – their eyes are closed and they do not have sleep-wake cycles. A coma usually lasts for about two weeks, after which there may either be a rapid improvement and return to consciousness, deterioration leading to death, or it could lead to a condition defined as “disorder of consciousness.” When spontaneous eye opening occurs but there is no evidence that the patients are aware of themselves or their surroundings, they are then diagnosed as being in a “vegetative state.” Alternatively, if a patient displays consistent signs of awareness, even if they are minimal and unstable, the patient will be classified as being in a “minimally conscious state.”

The gold standard diagnostic tool for assessing the level of consciousness is the Coma Recovery Scale (Revised), which examines responses to various stimuli: eye movements while tracking an object; turning the head toward a sound; response to pain, among others. Since the rate of diagnosis errors may reach up to 40%, it is recommended to repeat the test at least five times.

However, misdiagnosis may also occur when the test is conducted repeatedly. “In a well-known study, a patient diagnosed as being in a ‘vegetative state’ following a car accident was scanned in an MRI machine. While in the scanner, the researchers asked the patient to imagine that she was playing tennis and observed that her brain activity was similar to the brain activity of healthy people when they also imaged playing a tennis game. Suddenly, they realized: ‘hold on a minute, she’s there.

“She hears us and is responding to our requests. She simply has no way of communicating’,” says Arzi. “There are also known cases of people who were diagnosed in a ‘vegetative state,’ but when they regained consciousness, they were able to recount in detail what was occurring while supposedly vegetative. Diagnosing the level of consciousness of a patient who has suffered a severe head injury is a major clinical challenge. The sniff test we have developed may provide a simple tool to tackle this challenge.”

The post Time to pull the plug? Sniff test predicts life after coma appeared first on Green Prophet.

Those cute little bottles of essential oils that you see in health food stores contain powerful medicine. Here are 11 essential oils (eos) that you should always have in your medicine cabinet. From mundane tasks like eliminating household odors, to healing yourself, and to making time special time with a partner even more special, eos are there to help.

Quick list of essential oils:

1. Organic lemon oil
2. Tea Tree Oil
3. Organic lavender oil
4. Bergamot oil
5. Roman Chamomile
6. Peppermint essential oil
7. Rosemary essential oil
8. Sweet basil essential oil
9. Rose absolute oil
10. Ylang Lang oil
11. Ginger oil

Eliminating odors:

Lemon essential oil. Keep your refrigerator smelling clean: deodorize it with lemon essential oil. Mix 15 drops of lemon essential oil into a box of baking soda.

Keep the box open and stash it in the back of the fridge, where it’s less likely to spill. Replace the lemon/baking soda once a month.

Tea Tree Oil. Deodorize smelly shoes: Fill two old (clean) socks with baking soda. Mix 5 drops of tea tree oil (melaleuca alternifolia) into each full sock. Tie the socks shut with string or rubber bands. Fit them into the shoes and keep them there for a few hours or overnight. Moisture in the shoes will be absorbed by the baking soda, while the tea tree oil clears away odors and even helps to reduce bacteria.

Our Green Guide To Natural Home Cleaning Products talks more about using essential oils in the home.

Healing skin:

Tea tree oil. Best known as an antifungal, 3-4 drops of tea tree oil swirled into a teaspoon of neutral lotion or salve helps eliminate athlete’s foot.

Shake up your full shampoo bottle with 3 drops of tea tree oil and see how it helps get rid of dandruff. Note: don’t use tea tree oil if you have eczema or psoriasis.

Lavender (lavanda officinalis) heals minor burns. Called “the Swiss Army Knife of essential oils,” lavender has multiple uses for health and beauty. It’s also the one essential oils that you can apply directly to the skin, although never in great quantity. In the case of minor household burns, a thin film of lavender essential oil stops the pain and helps the skin to heal amazingly quickly.

For deep skin cleansing, make your own fragrant sugar scrub. And here’s how to make your own natural cosmetic cream perfumed with a floral essential oil. 

Eessential oils for improving mood and relieving stress:

Use essential oils to relieve stress after a high-pressure day. Massage is the preferred method but it also helps to drop some into a diffuser. You don’t need to spend time and money on professional massage either, wonderful as it is: massaging your own feet and legs, hands and arms with eo-perfumed lotion is effective too. Just don’t jump up and get busy right away; give yourself at least 10 minutes of rest following your self-treatment.

Lavender, again, helps you relax and even makes you drowsy. A good oil to put into a diffuser in the baby’s room. Note: use only 1-3 drops of any essential oil when treating children, and make sure the room is well ventilated. See the note at the end of this post about eos for kids. It goes without saying to make sure all the baby’s needs have been met in the first place. 

Bergamot (Citrus bergamia). Studies conclude that Bergamot essential oil relieves anxiety and stress, either inhaled from a diffuser or incorporated into lotion and massaged into the hands. I’d say, massage the feet and legs with it too.

Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) has been used in its flower form as a relaxing tea for centuries. The essential oil helps loosen stress in massage or inhalation via diffuser. Wonderful, diluted into good oil, to massage a cranky baby. Or teenager. Or partner.

Essential oils for energy and focus:

Keep a bottle of Peppermint (Mentha piperita) or Rosemary oil in your desk drawer to sprinkle into a diffuser. Both, alone or in combination, wake you up and energize you. 

Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum) helps clear brain fog. Your office colleagues may appreciate the benefit of Basil as it wafts towards their cubicles.

Essential oils as aphrodesiacs

Sweet-smelling Rose, Ylang-Ylang and Jasmine oils have relaxing properties that open the senses to pleasure. Put some into a bedroom diffuser, or massage your partner with lotion imbued with one of those e.o.s.

How to use essential oils

How to tell if the essential oil in the shop is worth buying: A high-quality essential oil is always bottled into dark glass, to prevent light exposure. Don’t buy oils displayed on a sunny shelf; light causes deterioration. In the same way, you should keep essential oils away from light at home.

Another sign is some Latin on the label. If the rosemary oil you’re looking at reads “Rosemary Essential Oil” with “Rosmarinus officinalis” underneath, you can be confident that the manufacturer took their work seriously.

Essential oils are the powerful expressions of medicinal plants and are toxic if used unwisely. It’s not safe to apply them undiluted to the skin, with the exception of lavender. Do not swallow essential oils! Keep the bottles in a child-safe place.

For topical applications

Swirl the chosen eo into a carrier oil, lotion or water. Use no more than 3 drops of e.o. per teaspoon of preferred carrier. For massaging children from 5 years old and adults, 1 drop per teaspoon is enough. To treat babies and toddlers, dilute it further: use 1 drop in 4 teaspoons of carrier oil.

Diffusers, steam tents and baths:

Diffusers disperse the oils in the air. You benefit from inhaling the steam in the room. Make sure the room is ventilated.

For sinus and respiratory therapy, specific eos are mixed into a bowl of hot water for a steam tent; or mixed with bath water. This requires professional advice, or advice taken from a reputable book.

Eos are useful as compresses.

For painful joints (use Ginger eo), or use one as a poultice for minor wounds, acne and chafed skin (use Sage). Dilute the oil in warm, not hot water. Dip a thin, clean cloth into the basin and apply it. Leave for 10 minutes. Put a hot water bottle over the damp cloth if wanted (not on the face or head).

Essential oils have been around for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Indians and Persians knew how to extract these oils from plants,  and traded in them. Modern aromatherapy refined the manufacture of essential oils and uses them in many applications for health and beauty. Hundreds of essential oils exist. To know more about them and their uses, buy or borrow some good books on the topic.

This article recommends using essential oils for minor ailments only. It doesn’t replace advice from a qualified aromatherapist or a doctor for treating serious illness.

The post 11 Essential Oils for every medicine cabinet appeared first on Green Prophet.

Terrorists and Houthi pirates probably come to mind long before honey when people think of Yemen, but the raw Yemeni honey Balqees had for sale at the recent Masdar Festival in Dubai we visited was far and away the yummiest honey I ever put in my mouth.

Read below to learn more about 8 varieties of Balqees company sells and what makes them so special.

1. Yemeni Sidr Do’ani from the Sidr tree is “Allah’s honey”

The Sidr tree, also known as Christ’s Thorn or the Jujube tree, has featured prominently in the Middle East region – the Pharaohs even used its wood to build some of their historically brilliant structures; it is also ubiquitous in Southern Yemen, particularly in Wadi Do’an. According to Balqees, thousands of semi-nomadic beekeepers gather twice a year to collect Sidr honey from the mountains in this remote desert region

2. Yemini Sidr Usaimi

Cooler than Wadi Do’ani, Usaimat is located in northern Yemen, where the resilient Sidr tree also grows en masse. But because the soil and climate are different, this honey with the same medicinal properties has a slightly different flavor.

3. Yemeni Sumar Honey

As you might have guessed, this honey is named after the Sumar tree in the Hadramout region. Said to be one of Balqees’ more popular varieties,  Sumar honey is said to have more of a caramel tone without being excessively sweet.

4. Yemeni Sidr Wasabi

It isn’t green and it isn’t spicy, but Sidr Wasabi honey from the Wasab region between the north and south of Yemen has a very rich toffee and butterfly flavor that distinguishes it from Baqees’ other honey types. This is thanks to the area’s unique soil and climate. The Sidr tree goes wild here.

5. Yemeni Wildflower Honey

Wildflowers grow in one of the remaining areas in Yemen that is not polluted – also in the Hadramout region, which means honey harvested in this region takes its unique flavor not only from the flowers combined with the climate. This may be one of the most delicate and sweet smelling of the company’s offerings.

6. Yemeni Herbal Honey Fusion

This fusion is comprised of royal jelly, propolis, ginseng and ginger with a Sumar honey base. Balqees claims this mix has “amazing healing properties and strengthens the immune system” and delivers a “powerhouse of energy, vitamins and minerals.”

7. Raw Honey, Cinnamon and Sesame Seed Fusion

Commonly used as an alternative treatment in both oriental and Ayurvedic medicine, both honey and cinnamon are known to have a plethora of healing properties. Combined, they are potent. Raw Yemini honey is combined with Organic Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka and a few sesame seeds to deliver a sweet spread with a nutty flavor.

8. Raw Honey and Royal Jelly Fusion

Balqees enriches Raw Yemeni Honey with Royal Jelly, which is left unprocessed in order to retain all of its organic attributes. This appears to be the company’s most nutritiously potent fusion. “It is an instant energy building food containing remarkable amounts of vitamins, proteins, lipids, glucides, enzymes, mineral substances, amino acids, antibacterial and antibiotic components,” the company states in their brochure. It is also said to help cell regeneration and preserve youth.

(Not featured here is a Saffron honey mix that Balqees had for sale at the Masdar City Festival. The saffron comes from Iran and gives the raw honey such a gentle but distinctive flavor – so subtle, so delicious.)

(Related: Baloyolu – Turkey’s first honey tasting tour)

Founded by Riath Hamed, who has spent a lifetime cultivating his sweet tooth and who traces his roots to and spent a year in Yemen, Balqees works with local apiaries and small scale beekeepers – ensuring not only superior quality, but also a sustainable development.

“What experience taught me is that to guarantee the quality of my honey, I needed to have my own apiaries. I went into business with a Yemeni honey producer, who is renowned in the industry and made an exclusive deal with him and his farms. That way I know I am going to get the very best,” Hamed said.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in Yemen with the beekeepers, tasting the honey and learning from beekeepers who have been in the industry for generations. They helped me to understand the nuances of the honey, the regional variations, how to know when the honey has been adulterated or when it is absolutely pure.”

Some images via Tafline Laylin for Green Prophet

::Balqees Honey

The post Raw honey from Yemen’s sidr and sumar trees appeared first on Green Prophet.

Wild marigold, sage and Palestine Oak? An international team sends researchers to Israel to forage medicinal plants native and special to this part of the Levant.

Old grandmothers, herbalists and nature lovers of all ages have long known that green medicine grows everywhere, as we’ve posted about here on how to grow 7 healing herbs at home. And to be inspired here is a list of 11 essential oils every medicine cabinet needs.  And Our Green Guide To Natural Home Cleaning Products talks more about using essential oils in the home.

Even many decorative garden plants like aloe vera have valuable healing properties.

But the Bioxplore project, funded by the European Union to the tune of Euros 2 million, has a goal with these plants that reaches much farther than home remedies.

The plants’ active ingredients are isolated and tested in laboratories against pests like bacteria, fungi and worms.  The ultimate aim is to develop new drugs, health supplements and cosmetics, exploiting the wild herbs’ medicinal properties. BioXplore hopes to develop local job opportunities and stimulate scientific, business and cultural exchanges between partner countries, based on these natural medicines and cosmetics.

The partners are are Israel’s Hadassah College, the Biodiversity and Environmental Research Center in the Palestinian Authority, the Leitat Technology Center in Spain and the Hellenic Regional Development Center in Greece. Rutgers University and North Carolina University are associates in the project as well.

Field researchers in Israel, Greece, and Spain have been actively gathering plant specimens since November 2011. In Israel, eighteen students from Hadassah College’s Biotechnology Department conduct regular hikes on plant-collecting trips. They have walked the ground  from the northern Negev to the Judean Hills, the Hula Valley and Mount Hermon – and many points in between.

President of the Israeli Herbalists Association, Dr. Mina Faran, wryly says, “The researchers need strong legs.”

The plan is to collect between 700 to 800 samples of native Israeli species.

Dr. Faran makes a number of skin creams based on medicinal plants (and indeed, this writer learned to make several kinds of creams in courses Dr. Faran teaches). She gives an example of a cream for atopic dermatitis based on purslane. Other products on their way to development and marketing might treat other major illnesses.

Among antibacterial herbs under research are:

1. The Palestine Oak

2. The Terebinth. Pistacia terebinthus, known commonly as terebinth and turpentine tree, is a species of Pistacia, native to Iran, and the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco, and Portugal to Greece, western and southeast Turkey.

3. The Mediterranean Stinkbush, toxic and medicinal.

4. Chamomile, which grows wild everywhere in the spring

5. Carobs

6. Sage

7. Nettles

8 Marigolds

All these plants have been known for centuries as wild edibles and medicine. Some destroy bacteria, others  work against fungus, others are anti-inflammatory and soothing, and yet others boost the immune system. New plants are added often to BioXplore’s list.

It seems that Israel’s climate encourages medicinal plants to produce strong medicine: “The aridity of Israel’s climate allows the essential oils to develop inside the plants,” Faran explains.

Essential oils are the most medicinal part of any herb. And look to the local Bedouin, traditionally nomadic people of the Levant for beauty tips and health hacks. Try this fascinating story on the Bedouin of Jordan; And this desert daughter Bedouin who makes medicine is Israel, as her grandmother taught her.

The medicine in plants is based on the mysterious interaction of its own chemicals. Isolating a few of a plant’s properties may exploit some of its healing potential, but to draw out the best, the all of plants’ medicinal parts should be used. Hopefully, when it comes to manufacturing natural medicines, Bioxplore’s researchers will remember this.

More from Green Prophet on green medicine:

• Natural Holy Land Healing Research
• Ancient Beduin Natural Cosmetics
• Pakistani Tea Extract May Help Heal Breast Cancer
• Desert Daughter Bedoin Medicine

The post BioXplore Discovers Healing Plants In Israel appeared first on Green Prophet.

The old song says, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Let’s add echinacea, garlic and basil. Most are culinary herbs with poetic histories. All are green medicines that you can harvest at will.

The herbs don’t take up much space, if not much space is what you have. I myself grow about 15 kinds of herbs on my little apartment balcony, in containers. A culinary/medicinal herb I love to have there is chickweed, a wild herb that’s easy to grow at home.

You can get creative and recycle an old sink or worn-out buckets as containers, but herbs thrive in ordinary plant pots. Weeding and adding organic plant food to the water every 2-3 weeks guarantee thriving, healthy plants. Seed packets provide information on how deeply to sow, the right months of the year for sowing, and the best sun/shade conditions. If buying little starters, consult the plant nursery. Or start your herb garden with upcycled supermarket herbs. You’ll love picking fresh, green medicine that you grew yourself.

Parsley

Curly or flat like in the Middle East: Chew a few leaves of fresh parsley to give your breath a healthy freshness.

A bunch of parsley, simmered 20 minutes (covered) in plenty of water, makes a diuretic tea that’s much healthier than “water pills.”

Two big parsley roots, chopped and cooked the same way with a handful of corn silk added, make a tea strong enough to move gravel from the kidneys and bladder.

Sage

Strong sage tea is antiseptic and an effective tissue healer. Gargle with it to relieve a scratchy throat. Wet a clean cloth or cotton with the infusion and apply to chafed, sore skin to prevent infection. Allow to dry naturally. Do this several times a day. The tea forms little white, floating particles. This is normal. Warning: drinking medicinal sage tea may bring menstruation on early, or cause menses to return during menopause.

Rosemary

A sprig of rosemary in hot water, with lemon and honey, makes a pleasant tea that will cure a tension headache. Rosemary stimulates blood circulation and warms the body. A bath with fresh or dried rosemary leaves will leave you feeling relaxed, but awake and alert. Tie the herb into a big handkerchief or a square of cheesecloth and chuck into a very hot bath. Swish it around a few times. When the water has cooled down enough to be pleasant, jump in. Warning: rosemary is not safe to use as medicine in pregnancy.

Thyme

A good cure for coughs is thyme infusion: 1 oz. of the dried herb infused in 1 pint of boiling water. Take 1 or 2 tablespoons, 3-5 times daily. I treated my own child with weak, sweet thyme tea when she had whooping cough as a baby. When she refused to drink any more, I put thyme in her bath. It was the only thing that helped.

Echinacea

The purple coneflower grows tall and handsome, and all parts of it are antiviral and antimicrobial. I suggest drying the flowers and leaves and storing them in glass, in a dark place. When you feel a cold coming on, pour a cup of boiling water of a teaspoon of the dry herb and cover the cup. Wait 15 minutes to drink.

Drink 3-5 cups of echinacea tea daily, sweetened with honey and flavored with cloves and/or lemon. It will help the virus to move along.

Garlic

A plant from the Quran. Ordinary garlic bulbs will sprout and make new bulbs with sturdy shoots and delicate flowers. It’s known to lower blood pressure and cholesterol somewhat, but it’s most famous as a natural antibiotic.

To clear away an ear infection, chop 3 large garlic cloves. Heat 3 tablespoons good olive oil and add the chopped garlic to it. Stir, cook 1 minute and remove from heat. Allow to steep 20 minutes. Strain the oil and drop 3 drops into the afflicted ear.

The oil is best applied warm. Re-heat it by passing a teaspoon half-filled with it over a lit match. Test the heat by dropping some on your inner wrist – you don’t want to drop hot oil into someone’s ear! Warm garlic oil relieves the pain and clears up mild ear infections.

I have also killed a cold by eating fresh garlic flowers several times.

Basil

This distinctive culinary herb has its uses as medicine, and surprising ones, too. Steep a jarful of the fresh, clean leaves in enough vodka to cover and leave, covered, in a dark place for three weeks. Drink a spoonful every morning to chase away fuzzy thinking. This simple tincture will also relieve headaches and help digestion.

Hydroponic gardening

If you live in a very cold, long-lived winter place with little sunshine, consider an indoor hydroponic kitchen counter grow machine. If you use it for years it will be worth it, but you need to commit.

Inspiration for growing herbs in your own space:

• Greenbo Patio Gardens
• Grow Flowers in Biodegradable OAT Shoes
• A Halal’s Day Work At the People’s Produce Project

Green Prophet will not take responsibility for these herbal methods. Consult your health practitioner for any persistent pain or ailment.

The post Grow 7 Healing Herbs At Home appeared first on Green Prophet.

Fancy a turmeric smoothie? That’s how my husband gets his daily dose of the deep-yellow, pungent root. When his doctor took him off anti-inflammation medications, I cast around for a natural way to help him cope with the pain in his hands.  He has psoriatic arthritis.

We’re familiar with spices as medicine. I began reading more. While turmeric’s anti-cancer properties are already well-known, it was news to me that turmeric is also an effective anti-inflammatory with a long history of relieving arthritis pain.

The Middle East’s hot climate doesn’t exempt people from psoriatic, rheumatoid, and osteoarthritis. According to the Israeli Rheumatic Diseases Foundation (site in Hebrew), an estimated 17% of the population suffers from arthritis in one form or another, while the Emirates Arthritis Foundation estimates that 20% of the United Arab Emirates do too. These figures are slightly lower than the estimated percentage of American arthritis sufferers – 22% of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Now medical authorities are turning their attention to one of turmeric’s constituents, curcumin, in help in controlling the debilitating disease. A study conducted in Thailand in 2009 concluded that in controlling pain of knee osteoarthritis, curcumine was as effective as ibuprofen. This review of preclinical and clinical trials with curcumin submitted to PubMed.gov is only one of many publications attesting to its anti-inflammatory powers.

So for ordinary people with aching joints, what’s the best way to ingest the yellow stuff?

• Fresh Root Smoothie: slice off a little chunk of turmeric root, about the size of the first joint of your forefinger. Blend it with a cup of any good milk, a teaspoon of cinnamon for flavor (and because cinnamon also fights inflammation), a teaspoon or two of local honey, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper to get things circulating quickly. Add something for creaminess if you like: a banana or half an avocado. Drink it up quickly. One smoothie a day should do the trick.
• Variation with dry, ground turmeric: Use 1 tablespoon of ground turmeric (best is fresh-ground from a spice store, but even freshly-bought supermarket tumeric will do) instead of the fresh root. It’s best to heat the milk first, to help the spices disperse, and to drink it warm.
• Ground Turmeric Capsules: Some buy vegetable-based capsules and fill them at home. Three to five 00 -sized capsules are the ordinary dose, although individual needs vary.
• Curcumine Supplements: The University of Maryland Medical Center suggests that adults take one to three grams of dried root powder daily; 15 to 30 drops of 1:2 tincture four times per day; or 400 mg to 600 mg of standardized curcumin powder three times a day.

I’m no great fan of standardized extracts, and suggest that if using fresh or ground turmeric is inconvenient, tincture is better.

Who should avoid medicinal doses of turmeric? Curcumin is a blood-thinner and may prevent normal blood clotting.

• People on Warfarin or similar medications should therefore not add medicinal doses of turmeric to their regime.
• Pregnant women should also restrict turmeric to ordinary culinary quantities – a pinch to color or flavor food is fine.
• People anticipating surgery should stop taking turmeric two weeks beforehand.
• Do not combine medicinal doses of turmeric with ginger, gingseng or other blood-thinning herbs.
• You’ll know you’re taking too much if you experience nausea or stomach upsets (this is true of any other culinary spice too).

How To Keep Turmeric?

• Fresh turmeric root lasts up to a year in the freezer. That’s how I store it for blending into smoothies.
• If buying dried, ground root, buy small quantities and replenish. Keep your ground turmeric away from the heat of the stove or a sunny window. It will last, kept in a cool, dark place, for six months.

To ensure a constant supply of fresh root, it’s worth growing your own. It takes little space or effort. The Backyard Gardening Blog offers an easy-to-understand guide on growing turmeric. The comments also offer valuable advice.

Since the Israeli winter is mild, with many sunny days, I myself sprouted and planted some turmeric roots recently.  I hope to harvest a good amount of fresh roots to freeze, later in the year.

Food as medicine on Green Prophet:

Beating Breast Cancer With Turmeric

5 Supermarket Vegetables You Can Upcycle and Grow At Home

The post Turmeric Helps Conquer Arthritic Inflammation appeared first on Green Prophet.

If you’re interested in healing with herbs, this is the book to start from.

Henriette Kress is a well-known Finnish herbalist who maintains Henriette’s Herbal Homepage, the Internet’s largest, and oldest, herbal website. She has published three  books on herbology in Finnish; Practical Herbs is her first in English. It packs an impressive amount of herbal information into a relatively slim volume.

To get a glimpse of using herbs at home here on Green Prophet, read our posts on delicious, medicinal chickweed and the abcs of medicine in ordinary spices.

Starting from basic instructions like identification of herbs and ethical harvesting, Practical Herbs continues with clear, easily understood instructions on all methods of processing herbs and making herbal preparations.  Kress takes the reader through herbal teas (like our brew of wild oats), oils, salves, vinegars, syrups, and tinctures (which are simple extracts of herbs’ properties into alcohol). Throughout the text there are  suggestions as to which preparations are best suited to specific ailments.

Essays on  23 individual herbs follow. Each provides popular and botanical names, habitat, how to cultivate, plant constituents, appearance, effects and uses. Also there are important warnings as to allergies, safety in pregnancy, overdose and more.

There are some surprises even for the herbally knowledgeable. I learned, for example, that fly agaric mushroom – the virulently poisonous, red-capped fungus dotted with white scales that everyone is rightly afraid of – has one excellent medicinal use.  Tinctured into vodka and rubbed onto the spine, it stops the pain of sciatica almost immediately. The author cautions against drinking the tincture, of course, adding wryly, “Internal use can be rather fatal.”

Less spectacular herbs are featured in short passages titled “Quick Help For Small Troubles.” Toothache, for instance, can be remedied by chewing a piece of yarrow root. The author shares personal experience with toothache in her typical down-to-earth way:

“Because you will usually get a toothache on Friday night, when it’s impossible to get an appointment with the dentist, plan on having enough root pieces to make it over a weekend. I’ve found that 20-30 pieces per toothache is a nice amount.”

Although Kress writes about herbs native to her own region, many of them grow in the Middle East as well, or can be cultivated from imported seed. I myself have grown comfrey, California poppy, and echinacea in central Israel’s hot, humid climate. Others, like raspberry, chickweed, mallows and marigold are native to this area and appear in the springtime.

It’s a  well-organized book with plenty of helpful photographs and an index for quick reference. If only for the instructions on making herbal preparations in your own home, it’s worth having. With the author’s lively tone and occasional quirky, humorous comments, it’s also fun to read.

Practical Herbs by Henriette Kress

150 full-color pages with 150 photos.
Hardcopy (softcover, bound): ISBN 978-952-67575-0-6 Price: $32.00
E-book (pdf): ISBN 978-952-67575-1-3. Price: $5.50

Available for sale through the author’s website: Henriette’s Herbal Homepage.

More herby wisdom on Green Prophet:

• Edible Weeds In Your Middle East Garden
• Turmeric, New Hope for Cancer Patients

The post Practical Herbs by Henriette Kress: BOOK REVIEW appeared first on Green Prophet.

The princely pomeganate, ar-Rumm in Arabic, is mentioned in the Koran as one of the many delicious rewards awaiting in Paradise. Its numerous uses in cooking and medicine, as well as its beautiful structure, make the fruit a wonder for Muslims who believe that each pomegranate seed is a sign of the sustainer.

Pomegranates are mentioned three times in the Koran or Qur’an: As one of the fruits that will be found in paradise:

“In both of them [gardens] are two springs, spouting […]In both of them are fruit and palm trees and pomegranates. So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?” (Quran, 55:66-69)

As a reminder of God’s sustenance on earth,

“And He it is who produces gardens (of vine), trellised and untrellised, and palms and seed-produce of which the fruits are of various sorts, and olives and pomegranates, like and unlike; eat of its fruit when it bears fruit, and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping, and do not act extravagantly; surely He does not love the extravagant.” (Quran, 6:141)

And as a sign of his artistry,

“And it is He who sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby the growth of all things. We produce from it greenery from which We produce grains arranged in layers. And from the palm trees – of its emerging fruit are clusters hanging low. And [We produce] gardens of grapevines and olives and pomegranates, similar yet varied. Look at [each of] its fruit when it yields and [at] its ripening. Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe.” (Quran, 6:99)

The frequent mentions of this fruit owe to its gem-like beauty, a glistening core of seeds compacted in a layer resembling honeycomb.

Equally astounding are the colours of both the fruit and flowers which are an attestation to the Qur’anic verse:

“And whatsoever He has created for you on the earth of varying colors [and qualities from vegetation and fruits] and from animals. Verily! In this is a sign for people who remember.” (Qur’an, 16:13)

In Arabic a pomegranate is known as the royal word ‘rumaan‘, in Urdu ‘anaar‘ and interestingly, because of its resemblance to many fragments resulting from detonating a grenade, in Hebrew the word ‘rimon‘ may mean both pomegranate and shell.

 A split-open pomegranate fruit reveals red gems resting between protective papery skins

Inside a pomegranate are the edible succulent grains of pulp-like tissue, pink-red in colour. Once the leathery skin is removed, these “seeds” can be plucked loose for on-the-go eating or a sharp tap of a wooden spoon will scatter them into a bowl.

Tasting Those Seeds

Pomegranate grains have a “fresh, sweet-sour”, very juicy taste (Gernot Katzer), while other forms of the fruit may be acidic. Here in Britain one rarely finds a very acidic pomegranate although many fruit varieties very popular throughout the Middle East are used to sweeten meat dishes and salads.

Where Pomegranate Shrubs Grow

Pomegranates originate from the Middle Eastern region and are cultivated in central Asia, Mediterranean countries and northern India. They often resemble a shrub more than a tree. In Turkey you can find them adorning outdoor swimming pools in hotels; in Israel people plant them as one of the Seven Species of the Bible.

In India, pomegranates have a culinary reverence. The grains of more sour fruits are dried and used as a flavouring and substituted for raisins in baking. The juice of the pomegranate is a favourite in many Middle Eastern countries and Asia.

I remember, as a child, my family would buy the cool red juice from street vendors in Pakistan and just before a rice dish had finished cooking, handfuls of pomegranate grains would be stirred in, bursting with red colour and bite. Pomegranate fruit juice is also used to make sauces and jellies.

Nutritional Value of Pomegranates

Nutritionally, pomegranate fruit is rich in Vitamin C and contain 65 calories and it is a good source of sodium, riboflavin and calcium. A handful of grains for suhoor (pre-dawn meal) are ideal for balanced health over the Ramadan fasting period.

Prophet Muhammad of Islam told his companions that each pomegranate potentially held a heavenly grain, “There is not a pomegranate which does not have a pip from one of the pomegranate of the Garden (Jannah) in it.” (Abu Nu’aim)

And these pips, along with the outer skin, are rich with antioxidant and antibacterial properties, testimony to its benefits for cleansing the palate. The prophet therefore also said, “Pomegranate and its rind strengthen digestion (stomach).” (Abu Nuaim, narrated by `Ali)

Uses Of Pomegranate

Among its various uses in the culinary world, the scarlet flowers of the pomegranate plant produce a vibrant red dye for textiles, which has been used for centuries in Central Asia.

Pomegranate plants also provide herbal medicines for diarrhoea, fevers, gum disorders and earaches. Resourceful explorers have found the bark of the pomegranate shrub to have medicinal use while the fragrant flowers of the tree can be used to relieve sore eyes.

We have a wonderful recipe here for the adventurous on how to make pomegranate molasses. 

Find more fruity goodness:

Go Green this Ramadan! (6 Steps)
June Seasonal Produce, Melons, Cherries, and Apricots
4 Unique Aloe Vera Juice Recipes for Summer and Health

The post Plants Of The Quran: Pomegranate appeared first on Green Prophet.

The NHRA will look to World Health Organization guidelines for guidance to create a list of approved specialties.

The Middle East is home to diverse traditions of alternative medical practices.

Sunni Muslims healing with music

For example the Adyghe people, a predominantly Sunni Muslim minority originally from the Northern Caucasus, has a time-honored tradition of musical treatments for healing.

“Adyghes considered that music could treat not only the body, but also the soul. It has a special influence on a person before the beginning of a battle, invoking bravery. In Abkhaz-Adyghe fairy tales there are scenes that the musician could heal wounds of the warriors through tunes, and then the warriors were ready to fight again. Even in the 20th century, people wishing to praise a good player on the harmonica said that he played so well that paralyzed people rose from their bed and began to dance.”

They believe that music penetrates the body and can thus heal a person from the inside. Folk songs are traditionally prescribed to soothe patients with burns or women experiencing difficult births.

Musical remedies were not a substitute for medical treatment but have generally been used the ease discomfort, much like a modern painkiller.

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization estimates that over 2 million Adyghes currently live in Turkey and over 150,000 in Jordan, Israel and Syria.

In recent years modern science has discovered the medicinal properties of common spices often used as herbal treatments, including thyme as a topical treatment for acne and cumin as a remedy for a range of ailments.

As in Bahrain, medical professionals in the United Arab Emirates are also perfecting the art of balancing traditional remedies with western medicine. The first western-style hospital in the UAE was a 12-bed facility opened in 1951 with British aid. Today modern hospitals are common place in big cities. But this has not eradicated local traditions. The UAE has recently seen a resurgence of demand for alternative treatments.

“Modern and traditional medicine are complementary to each other,” Dr. Carina Huwari told The National. “Balance them properly and don’t underestimate the body’s natural power to heal. It just needs a little bit of help.”

Image of woman doctor by Michael Jung, via Shutterstock. Image of Circassians in Israel via Andynapso, Wikimedia Commons 

Read more about alternative medicine: 
Natural Herbs for Breast Health and Enhancement
Boost Your Natural Immune System With Medicinal Plants and Herbs
The ABCs of Middle East Spice Medicines, Part IV – Oregano to Rosemary

The post Bahrain Balances Traditional and Modern Medicine appeared first on Green Prophet.

Call us trendsetters: here at Green Prophet, we’ve long been reporting on breast health as well as the environmental concerns women face with regards to proper care and nutrition of their curves. Now, with the recent news that as many as 850 Israeli women have the faulty breast implants made by a French firm, and thousands more in the Middle East, the consequences underscores two important particulars: Breast enlargement for vanity’s sake is highly controversial from environmental and health points of view.

What’s more, natural mastogenic compounds make getting implants virtually unnecessary for many women, if they only knew about them.

Mastogenic compounds are those that increase bust size, and natural health experts point to the value and role of plants rich in phyto-estrogens in doing so. Less drastic than surgery, many of the natural supplements such as those listed below have a reputation for doing more than beautifying cleavage.

Fenugreek: This herb, which tastes like a combination of celery and maple syrup, has been shown to minimize the symptoms of menopause, and increases breast size and milk production in nursing mothers. Specifically, India’s traditional Ayurvedic physicians prescribe it to nursing mothers to increase their milk, and in American folk medicine, fenugreek was considered a potent menstruation promoter. More locally, Middle East harem women ate the seeds to become more buxom.  How does it work? Fenugreek seeds contain steroid precursors, diosgenin and other phyto-estrogens that are thought to increase breast size.

Saw Palmetto: This compound is popular as a natural treatment for prostate enlargement and impotence in men, but it is also recommended by those who practice natural medicine to increase a woman’s bust size and sexual desire. Many cultures have used it throughout the centuries. Native Americans used the berries for food and medicine, particularly for breast disorders in women. Saw palmetto berry also tones the urethra, and it may be used to uphold the healthy function of the thyroid gland and urinary system.  How does it work? Phyto-nutrients stimulate breast tissue, increasing health and size.

Wild Yam: This most popular herbal tonic is noted for its benefits to a woman’s reproductive system, including minimizing premenstrual and menopausal symptoms, again because of it’s phyto-nutrients. It can be taken in capsule or tea form. The powder can also be added to cream with which a woman can use to massage her breasts.

Fennel:  This herb has been used to treat amenorrhea (absence of a menstrual cycle), low sex drive in women, and to increase bust size and promote milk production in new mothers. Rich in phyto-nutrients, it works well with Fenugreek, and can be added to creams like Wild Yam to be massaged directly on the breasts.

There are many supplements on the market with wide-ranging doses. Some websites suggest that if a woman intends to use breast-enhancing herbs, she take them as single ingredients for maximum results. That way, she can control how much she takes and start with just one or two at a time.

With that said, we recommend that you see your health care provider before starting any new regime, since dosages are not standardized, and there still could be some risks, especially if a woman is pregnant, nursing or taking other prescription drugs or supplements.

Keep in mind that using natural herbs and supplements are less drastic and invasive than getting implants. Until more research is conducted on these and other breast enhancing compounds, we can’t establish universal guidelines or success rates. Individuals are likely to experience different outcomes.

Our recommendation?
Check with your physician, obtain these from a reliable source, preferably organic and sustainably harvested, and conduct your own personal research to determine which herbs are best for your breasts.

photo via Dan Zen

Read More Breast and Related Health News:
PIP Breast Implant Warning Hits the Middle East
Are Hormones in the Environment Making Women’s Breasts Bigger?
Public Breastfeeding in the Middle East

Tinamarie is the Green Love and Sex Columnist for Greenprophet. You can follow her on @ModernLoveMuse and facebook. She blogs at www.tinamariebernard.com.

The post PIP Implant Scare Underscores Natural Options for Breast Enhancement appeared first on Green Prophet.