Botanicals – News by Nature

Is Crash Diet Really A Solution For Perfect Body?

29May

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Diet, Wellness

Is Crash Diet Really A Solution For Perfect Body?

We are what we eat. Maybe, because of this statement, many people go through the ‘diet phase’ more than once in their life. But, how far can one go to get into the desired shape? How desperate can someone be to lower the blood pressure and diabetes levels? Well, there a few (actually many) who are very keen on shedding that extra fat. Did you know there is something called ‘vampire diet’ which calls its followers to eat only red foods at each meal? Red meat is the main component of this diet but there is a catch, the diet prefers uncooked meat (supposedly to preserve nutrients). And this is not the only diet which commands its followers to go raw. There is this diet named ‘The raw food diet’. This diet bars you from eating anything which is heated beyond 115°F. Well, your palate is n...

Industry Welcomes GM Food Disclosure Standard Proposed Rule

3May

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Diet, Genetically Modified Foods, Wellness

Industry Welcomes GM Food Disclosure Standard Proposed Rule

The publication of a proposed rule that would provide consistency in the disclosure of information regarding bioengineered or genetically modified foods was welcomed by representatives of the food industry. According to Sarasin, FMI’s efforts in this cause include joining with farmers, manufacturers and retailers “to provide accurate, simple and unbiased information to our customers,” with a focus on consumer education through such means as SmartLabel. Food Ingredients News has reported, however, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn’t expect to meet the July deadline to create the new rule, with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue admitting that “we’re not as close as I’d like” to doing so. The holdup appears to be due to the White House Office of Management & Budget...

New Study: High Fruit Diet Could Help Women Conceive

3May

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Diet, Wellness

New Study: High Fruit Diet Could Help Women Conceive

Researchers who looked at more than 5,500 women from Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand found those who consumed the least fruit were 50 per cent more likely to be infertile. Similarly, compared to women who never or rarely ate fast food, women who consumed fast food four or more times a week took nearly a month longer to become pregnant. Their risk of infertility also doubled from eight to 16 per cent. Professor Claire Roberts, of the University of Adelaide, Australia, who led the study, said: "These findings show that eating a good quality diet that includes fruit and minimising fast food consumption improves fertility and reduces the time it takes to get pregnant." For the study pregnant women were surveyed by midwives on how long it had taken them to become pregnant, ...

Better Diet Data Via Tooth-Mounted Sensors

26Mar

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Diet, Genetically Modified Foods, Remedies, Wellness

Better Diet Data Via Tooth-Mounted Sensors

In First World countries, where famine is unheard of, people are instead eating themselves to death. Oftentimes, diet studies rely on self-reported surveys and journals that are hostage to the whims of each participant. People forget. People feel self-conscious about their food choices and may fudge (pun intended) the data. However, a new sensor that fits on a person’s tooth could cut out this unpredictable variable—human nature— altogether. Researchers from Tufts University School of Engineering designed a tiny sensor that, when stuck to a tooth, can wirelessly relay precise information about glucose, alcohol and salt intake. When the device comes in contact with salt, for example, its electrical properties shift, causing its other components to absorb and transmit different radiofr...

A Diet High In Fat Is Best – With The Right Kind Of Fat

2Jan

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Diet, Genetically Modified Foods, Remedies, Wellness

A Diet High In Fat Is Best – With The Right Kind Of Fat

This is the time of year we tend to consider a change in diet. There has been a lot of confusion in recent years about what constitutes a healthy diet, with many people advocating and espousing a ketogenic diet, similar to the Atkins diet: a low-carbohydrate, high-fat/high-cholesterol diet (HF/HC). Since most North Americans will die of a heart attack or stroke if they don't die young from another cause, this is a big mistake. In 2016, there were large headlines trumpeting that "we can eat cholesterol now; the new U.S. guideline says so." But that's not what the guideline said. It said that there were insufficient data on which to base a specific limit to daily cholesterol intake, as in the past, but the intake of cholesterol should be as low as possible within the recommended eating pa...

1Jan

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Diet, Genetically Modified Foods, Remedies, Wellness

Is GMO Opposition Immoral?

Evaluation of GMO crops that emphasizes independent science — rather than nonpublic research by pesticide companies — reflects that in 2015, the research arm of the World Health Organization analyzed all published glyphosate studies and determined the pesticide was a probable carcinogen. That finding prompted California to add glyphosate to its list of cancer-causing chemicals. Escalating use of GMO crops and glyphosate has triggered the growth of glyphosate-resistant superweeds across nearly 100 million acres in 36 states. To combat that, pesticide companies are now pushing the use of the highly toxic, drift-prone pesticide dicamba on a new generation of GMO crops that tolerate both dicamba and glyphosate. I have long been perplexed that so many people continue to condemn foods made...

Popularity of Botanical in the U.S. Market

6Dec

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals

Popularity of Botanical in the U.S. Market

Botanical dietary supplements continue to be popular in the United States. The American Botanical Council (ABC) recently published the Herb Market Report 2016, which listed a number of reasons behind the current interest by consumers. Botanicals that are believed to be beneficial for overall health—rather than a specific health condition—showed greater increases in sales. In alignment with this is the uptick in sales of a number of adaptogens--substances that allow the body to better resist various stress factors. Plants in this category include ashwagandha, Asian ginseng, mushrooms and Rhodiola. The increased interest in herbs used in Ayurvedic medicine has also been obvious by the fact that Boswellia, turmeric, and fenugreek posted some of the largest gains in 2016. But the success...

Botanical Transparency: How DNA Technology Can Complement Traditional Identity Tests

7Sep

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals

Botanical Transparency: How DNA Technology Can Complement Traditional Identity Tests

There has been a great deal of focus on transparency both in finished products and raw materials at the worldwide level. This debate followed actions by the New York Attorney General’s, who after an agency investigation found four out of five tested herbal products did not contain any of the herbs promised in their labels, called for the producers to conduct advanced genetic testing. These tests are intended to ensure the herbal products actually contain the ingredients promised on the label. For plants, there is no universal DNA testing methodology and the choice of a particular technique is often a compromise that depends on a number of factors. Each plant needs a dedicated method, developed on its own genome. DNA sequencing-based tests are emerging as highly reliable and powerf...

25Jan

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals

Health Benefits of Herbs and Botanicals

According to the National Health Statistics Report, shoppers are turning to alternative medicine, not only as a complement to conventional care but also as a sole means to help relieve pain from conditions that are impairing their health. But with so many choices, how will shoppers know how to make sense of it all? Here, we explore up and coming herbs and their many health benefits. Black Cohosh First used for medical purposes by Native American Indians for colds, coughs and kidney disorders, the root of the black cohosh plant, Actaea racemose, is most commonly used today to help treat acne, menstrual cramps and by some midwives to induce labor in pregnant women. Milk Thistle Milk Thistle, a member of the Asteraceae family that also includes daisies and sunflowers, is native to the...

11Oct

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Remedies, Wellness

Herbal medicine: A relic of the past or a signpost of the future?

Dr. Carol Barron has been researching the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin (UCD) consist of 3,000 bound volumes of folklore to see what people used when they were sick. “For colds, people took garlic or onion, and the fumes worked like a eucalyptus decongestant,” says Barron. “We see elderberry wine feature heavily. But it’s not wine as such: they mean elderberry with sugar and some blackcurrant. This is straightforward vitamin C. Fruit comes up a lot. We find cures which say to use fresh fruit.” Some of the cures are simply fascinating in their own right, she says. “A lot of the herbs were either boiled in milk or mixed with butter or lard as an emollient, ointment or cream. Mint was commonly used.” One cure that comes up, again and again, is a spider’s w...