The latest Informaiton on General Health

goji berry seedLutein and Health

Lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants in the carotenoid family, are fat soluble pigments naturally occurring in plants.

Dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, have high amounts of Lutein, which can give some foods, like egg yolks, a red, orange, or yellow color; plant chlorophyll will mask the other hues.

Because the body does not produce it, Lutein must be consumed; 30 mg daily is considered a safe dosage.

The LAST---Lutein Antioxidant Supplementation Trial--study, completed in 2004, administered Lutein to veterans, who, as a result, experienced improved vision. Lutein consumption is known to produce other benefits.

Given the results of the LAST study, sufferers of bath macular degeneration and cataracts may benefit from Lutein; it may also protect against cancer, eye degeneration, and skin damage caused by exposure to the sun�s ultra-violet rays.

Lutein may protect cells from free radical damage, reduce skin inflammation and redness, decrease the risk of breast cancer, and prevent or slow down arthrosclerosis, clogged arteries and heart disease.

Less known positive effects of lutein use:

1) Lutein, according to research done at the University of Utah Medical School, which indicated that consuming even a small amount of ii slashed the risk of colon cancer, is a possible Anti-cancer agent.

2) Lutein helps both ward off the effects of bad cholesterol, and keeps arteries clear.

3) Lutein helps combat the aches and pains of arthritis and osteoarthritis. Lutein�s multiple health benefits can be traced to its being a potent antioxidant, which can counter free radical damage. If left unchecked, free radicals can lead to internal cellular damage, believed to be to be a leading cause of heart disease, cancers, and premature aging. How to Select a Lutein Supplement

1. Always obtain your supplements from a pharmaceutical GMP compliant manufacturer, which complies with the world�s strictest regulatory standards for the manufacture of nutritional supplements. Consumers of health products need to be vigilant, because the supplement industry is largely unregulated, both in the U.S., and other countries, and many products have been shown to harbor contaminants, or not contain the ingredients stated on the their labels.

2. Make sure your lutein supplement does not contain any fillers or additives like sugar, starch, gluten, silica (sand!) or artificial colors or flavors of any kind.

3. Lutein, if taken for eye health, must be combined with zeaxanthin and zinc; zinc, an essential mineral, has been shown by the National Eye Institute to have possible benefits in reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

The product we personally use called Total Balance - http://www.natural-nutritional-health-supplement.com is the best supplement we have come across. We have been using this supplement for over 3 years with excellent health results.

We highly recommend you learn more about our best natural nutritional supplement if you are interested in improving your overall health.

John Gibb runs a series of health websites, We offer a free health book for subscribers to our websites newsletter. We cover everything you need to know on nutrition and how to improve your general overall health. Check out our nutrition e-book, for more information on our nutrition book.

Easter - A Time for Family, Love and The Traditional "Easter Lamb Cake"

Easter holds such beautiful memories from my childhood. Every year we would drive "over the river and through the woods" to my grandmother's house. There was a feeling of excitement in the anticipation of the traditional Easter Egg Hunt. With eleven grandchildren that was a lot of Easter eggs! As much as grandmom was an expert in the kitchen, Grandpop von Hohen was a expert Easter egg hider! He got such a kick out of it! There was always "one more egg" which no one could find. It would usually turn up in a basket grandpop had tied to the ropes of the flagpole and hoisted to the top of the pole! We'd all laugh when the older cousins would finally discover its location and try to get it down.

This special holiday comes at a most wonderful time of year - spring time! Adding to the fun and festive atmosphere of the day was the beauty of my grandmother's gardens. There were bulbs galore! All different varieties and colors of daffodils, tulips and narcissus. There was also a lovely backdrop of the forsythia hedge. Oh, and who could forget those fuzzy pussy willows! We'd be running around the yard in our Easter bonnets and it felt more like we were in the middle of a fairytale. The beauty around us seemed almost magical.

The beauty of the outside graced the inside of grandmom and grandpop's cozy home with colorful floral arrangements scattered throughout the dining and living rooms. But what always graced the center of the Easter Sunday Dinner table? It was the traditional Easter Lamb Cake. This was a pound cake baked in a lamb shaped mold and covered with white frosting and coconut with jelly beans for the eyes, nose and mouth. The silver tray it rested on was beautifully decorated with paper doilies, green Easter grass and sprinkled with colorful hard boiled eggs and all types of Easter candy - jelly beans, chocolate butter creams and coconut nests are the ones I remember most.

I hope you are making beautiful memories for your children and grandchildren. If not, why not start now? They will be so impressed with YOUR Easter Lamb Cake as a centerpiece to your holiday table. Below is the recipe for the Easter Lamb Cake. Enjoy!

Best Pound Cake

Take 2/3 cup sweet butter and 1� cups sugar and mix together until creamy. Add � teaspoon lemon rind, 1 teaspoon vanilla, pinch of mace or nutmeg and 1 jigger (equals 1 shot) of rum. Sift 2 cups flour, � teaspoon salt and � teaspoon baking powder. Blend with butter and sugar mixture with 2/3 cup milk. When blended add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating each one in well. If preferred add � cup nuts or currants. Pour into a buttered and floured lamb shaped mold and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Fluffy White Frosting

• 1 cup sugar
• � teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar, cream of tartar, 1/3 cup water and a dash salt in a saucepan. Cook and stir until bubbly and sugar dissolves. In a large bowl combine egg whites and vanilla. Add sugar syrup very slowly to unbeaten egg whites while beating constantly at high speed about 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form. When cool, frost the cake and sprinkle with coconut. Make eyes, nose and mouth with appropriate colored jelly beans.

Carrie J. Gamble is co-author, editor and publisher of Grandmother's Cookbook, a collection of recipes, treasured memories, wildflower watercolors and feelings from the heart. Details about the cookbook and more delicious recipes of Carrie's grandmother, Elizabeth Rose von Hohen, can be found on their website. You'll experience "living life the old fashioned way" with Grandmother's Cookbook. Visit the website and download FREE recipes and "A Family Love Letter" chapter at http://www.grandmotherscookbook.com Enjoy!

Facts About Bottled Water

Drinking water can be divided into two large categories: the olfactory, bacteria-infected, poisonous tap water and the nice, cheap, disinfected, cleansed, plant-prepared bottled water. The problem is that these two groups are more often confused to the extent that we even don�t know what we are drinking. Tap water can be infected with higher degree of poisonous substances, which serves by no means as an assertion that boiled water is the best option.

There are a lot of validated proofs that bottled water can be really mistrustful. Take for example the fact that we use it only for DRINKING. What happens when we are taking a shower, when we are cleaning the dishes, washing our teeth? We use the ordinary tap water. We don�t buy bottles for every usage of water in our homes. Which amounts to the same quantity of both bottled and tap water being infused into our bodies: either by direct consumption or by infusion into the pores, the ears, the nose, the mouth when washing. So, we are bacteria- infected either ways. Why don�t let go of those preposterous beliefs that bottled water will guard us from the numerous bacteria which flow all around?

Another proof can be the infiltration system used by many bottling plants. Bottled water is being cleaned from bacteria only once before it is sipped into the bottles. That is certain to lift the question what if some bacteria survived the unreliable filtering systems? This immediately brings to a practical mind that buying water is a waste of money. This fact has been alluded in the name of a famous mark bottled water: read vice versa, it means NAIIVE in French and English. What more eye-hammering hint can be given to signify that we are actually getting sheer nothing for our money?

Thus, it is better to name bottled water semi-clean. There is no valid test to distinguish clean water from unclean water. There are bacteria everywhere. Anyway, there are some things that really distinguish bottled water (or let it call less-bacteria-containing water) from the really infected one. That is the rotten smell of canalization which is spread when using tap water. You can smell it when washing your dishes, for example. If you really distinguish it, this will mean that you�d better buy bottled water, no matter the feeling of being cheated. Bottled water is not so expensive, and sometimes it can be really good to use, especially when it comes to drinking large amount of bacteria daily.

Let alone the ice filling, teeth washing, bathing and showering, planting your vegetables and such minor activities. A small amount of bacteria hasn�t harmed anyone. The real trouble begins when drinking it regularly. That�s� what bottled water is trying to reduce, and it should be a naivete to ignore the fact.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning food and drink. Get the information you are seeking now by visiting Bottled Water

goji berry recipes | goji berries nutrition