ForYourBody
Spices and Herbs do much more than you can imagine; enhancing extraordinary reactions in your body
Got the Sniffles Yet?
Has anyone else noticed the obscene amount of rain that has been occurring this summer?
Maybe it’s a Northeast Coast thing. I’m in New York City, where the theme of this season seems to be, “Humidity: The Musical.” It’s as if as soon as the clouds start gathering up their share of sweltering heat, then we’re immediately due for a storm. (Not very awesome during a torrential downpour, when your local Dungeons and Dragons group meets over forty blocks away from your humble living space and you, dear genius, forgot your umbrella because the gigantic handbook takes up most of the space in your backpack.)
But regardless of where you’re residing, if you’re running into rainfall, then you know what’s coming next:
Sniffles.
Sniffles are the sad baby cousin of a full-blown cold, and usually come after being caught in the embrace of an unexpected shower.
In previous years, I would save my arsenal of sniffles teas for the autumn, when folks are getting back to school or other close-quarters living situations, and immune systems are recalibrating themselves for new invaders.
This year, however, the post-rain sniffles are hitting extra early, so why not be proactive about defensive measures?
Here are a few anti-sniffle blends that should be sure to knock them out in a few sips:
Composed of arabica tea leaves, cinnamon, lemongrass, ginger, cardamom, cloves, red peppercorn- what’s not to love in this blend?
If you’re the kind of person who normally shies away from any menu items that have a cautionary chili pepper next to them, this is where I’m going to encourage you to abandon any fear of peppercorn as you pour yourself a cup of this spicy, spicy concoction. Peppercorn contains piperine, a highly-studied compound that has immense health benefits and can even help with chronic illness. Get some of that in you, pronto!
Made of apple pieces, lemongrass, orange peel, blue cornflowers, lavender, and natural flavors, this sweet thing has the power to tame the sniffliest dragon.
Lavender has been used historically to soothe the senses, and is proven by modern medicine to effectively calm the nervous system. You’ll get some great naps out of this, and sleep is the most underrated tool to fight illness.
It’s the Return of the Peppercorn! Blended with ginger, green rooibos tea, natural flavors, red and black peppercorn, orange, marigold flowers, and strawberries, you can be sure that it takes no prisoners if there’s anything awry in your immunity.
The heat of the ginger really punches up the power of the pepper, which is great because ginger is also an incredible anti-inflammatory. Red noses from excessive sniffling, begone!
Goodness, did I forget to include a caffeinated option? Well, this should certainly do the trick for you in the morning. With Yerba mate tea, orange, marigold, and natural flavors, this blend is a sensational punch of vitamin C from its citrus component. Vitamin C is crucial for a healthy immune system (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5707683/), and you definitely want that on your side when doing battle against airborne bugs.
I got super excited for a moment there, but then quickly realized that this is a different kind of Serenity than the one that belongs to Joss Whedon… Anyway! This blend is truly serene, made of apple pieces, rose hips, natural flavor, pineapple, peach, chamomile flowers, and lemon verbena. The final ingredient possesses similar qualities to lavender in its calming nature as it soothes cranky nerves and protects against inflammation.
Given all the different options you now have to fight the oncoming sniffs, you also want to make sure that you have the best equipment to use each of them to their best advantage. For such purposes, I always recommend the VarieTEA kettle for accurate temperatures when brewing, especially if you’re ever unsure how how hot the water should be before you steep a cup.
And if you’re feeling a little blue from being stuck inside in all this rain, then try treating yourself to some uplifting teaware like this Midori Matcha Bowl— it’s the perfect shade of happy blue to undo any sad blue that might come your way!
Cheers!
Natasha Nesic
NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach, Founder of Work Life Fitness
Herb-U-up
Everyone
Protect yourself
Inside Your Body
(Anti-oxidants, Polyphenols, and Flavanoids)
Protect Your Immune System
Protect Others
Outside Your Body: Clean Your Hands, Wear Your Mask, and Keep Your Distance
Herb-U-up
Protect Yourself
and
Protect Others
Herb-U-up
Jean Lee
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Legend has it that upon the advice of who we might label today as a homeless person, at age 72, 14th century Queen Elizabeth of Hungary added rosemary to her health regime to restore her youthful vitality. After consistent use of this “rosemary water” tonic, she professed a renewed vigor, and soon thereafter accepted the marriage proposal of the 26 year old king of Poland.
Today, popular with essential oil practitioners and aromatherapy enthusiasts, rosemary oil is used to treat hair and scalp issues.
https://www.buddhateas.com/rosemary-tea.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw0qOIBhBhEiwAyvVcf0AgAALS4pf1MCP1fMVy2hoczFKSExi29gwaKLWw3Tn_VO7lFsTEBRoC2OkQAvD_BwESo if you’re seeking a potent hair tonic and not opposed to smelling like an Italian kitchen, go for the rosemary!
In Everything: Be
New King James Version
Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.
Sis 'U'
A pescatarian is someone who adds fish and seafood to a vegetarian diet.
There are many reasons people choose to forgo meat and poultry, but still eat fish.
Some people choose to add fish to a vegetarian diet so they can get the health benefits of a plant-based diet plus heart-healthy fish.
Others might be trying to curb the environmental impact of their diet. For some, it might be simply a matter of taste.
This article explains more about the benefits and drawbacks of a pescatarian diet, including exactly what a pescatarian does and doesn’t eat.
Most simply, a pescatarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat, but does eat fish.
The term pescatarian was coined in the early 1990s and is a combination of the Italian word for fish, “pesce,” and the word “vegetarian.” Sometimes it’s spelled “pescetarian,” but this means the same thing.
In scientific literature, this diet is often described as “pesco-vegetarian,” and is lumped into the spectrum of vegetarianism (
By that definition, a pescatarian is someone who chooses to eat a vegetarian diet, but who also eats fish and other seafood.
It’s a largely plant-based diet of whole grains, nuts, legumes, produce and healthy fats, with seafood playing a key role as a main protein source.
Many pescatarians also eat dairy and eggs.
Of course, just as vegetarian diets can vary widely, so can pescatarian ones. It’s possible to eat a meat-free diet that’s full of processed starches, junk food and fish sticks, rather than a healthier one based on whole foods.
SUMMARY:A pescatarian is someone who follows a mostly vegetarian diet but also eats fish and seafood.
There are several reasons people may choose to eat a pescatarian diet. Here are some of the main ones.
There are many proven benefits to plant-based diets, including a lower risk of obesity and chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes (
According to research, you can get many of those protective benefits from a pescatarian diet too.
One study found that women who were pescatarians gained 2.5 fewer pounds (1.1 kg) each year than women who ate meat (
And people who shifted their diet in a more plant-based direction gained the least amount of weight, showing that reducing your animal consumption may be good for you no matter your current eating patterns.
Another study concluded that pescatarians had a lower risk of developing diabetes at 4.8%, compared to omnivores at 7.6% (
Additionally, one large study looked at people who ate meat rarely or were pescatarians. They had a 22% lower risk of dying from heart disease compared to regular meat-eaters (
Raising livestock comes with a high environmental cost.
According to the United Nations, raising livestock contributes to 15% of all human-made carbon emissions (5).
In contrast, producing fish and seafood has a lower carbon footprint than producing any type of animal meat or cheese (6).
A 2014 study calculated that diets of fish eaters caused 46% less greenhouse gas emissions than the diets of people who ate at least a serving of meat a day (
Ethics can be a major reason why people choose to go vegetarian. It can be a major reason for pescatarians too.
Some of the ethical reasons people choose not to eat meat include (
Eliminating land animals from your diet addresses some of these ethical concerns. That said, aquaculture and overfishing can also be problematic.
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program is an excellent resource for finding fish that are caught or farmed in ethical ways.
SUMMARY:There are several reasons people choose a pescatarian diet, including concerns about health, ethics and the env
A typical pescatarian diet is primarily vegetarian with the addition of seafood.
SUMMARY:A healthy pescatarian diet is largely made up of minimally processed plant foods, plus seafood and possibly dairy and eggs
Benefits of Adding Fish to a Vegetarian Diet
There are many health benefits of adding fish to a vegetarian diet.
Many people are concerned that completely excluding animal products or avoiding animal flesh could lead to a low intake of certain key nutrients (
In particular, vitamins B12, zinc, calcium and protein can be somewhat harder to get on a vegan diet (
Adding seafood, including fish, crustaceans and mollusks, to a vegetarian diet can provide beneficial nutrients and variety.
Fish is the best way to get omega-3 fatty acids (
Some plant foods, including walnuts and flaxseeds, contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a type of omega-3 fat. However, this type of ALA is not easily converted to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the body (
DHA and EPA have additional health benefits, helping not just the heart, but also brain function and mood (17).
In contrast, oily fish, such as salmon and sardines, contains EPA and DHA.
Humans only need about 0.8 grams of protein per 2.2 pounds (1 kg) of body weight daily to stay healthy. That’s about 54 grams for a 150-pound (68-kg) person.
However, many people prefer to eat more protein than that.
A high-protein diet can be hard to achieve with just plant proteins, especially if you don’t want extra carbs or fat with your protein.
Fish and other seafood offer an excellent source of lean protein.
Beyond omega-3s and protein, seafood is rich in several other nutrients.
For instance, oysters are extremely high in vitamin B12, zinc and selenium. Just one oyster delivers 133% of the RDI for vitamin B12 and 55% of the RDI for zinc and selenium (18).
Mussels are also super rich in vitamin B12 and selenium, as well as manganese and the rest of the B vitamins (19).
White fish varieties such as cod and flounder don’t deliver much omega-3 fats, but they are a source of extremely lean protein.
For example, just 3 ounces of cod provide 19 grams of protein and less than a gram of fat. Cod is also an excellent source of selenium and a good source of phosphorus, niacin and vitamins B6 and B12 (20).
Being a vegetarian can be limiting at times.
Eating out at restaurants often leaves you with a not-so-healthy choice, with dishes like cheesy pasta as the main “veggie” option.
If health at least partially motivates your food choices, then becoming pescatarian will give you more options.
And fish is generally a good one, especially if you get it baked, grilled or sautéed, as opposed to deep-fried (
SUMMARY:Adding seafood to a vegetarian diet gives you more options and is a good way to get protein, omega-3s and other nutrients.
There are not many health drawbacks of this diet.
That said, some people may be more vulnerable to high intakes of fish.
Fish, especially larger species, can contain mercury and other toxins (
For this reason, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that young children and women of childbearing age, especially pregnant and nursing women, should avoid tilefish, swordfish, shark and king mackerel (
These populations should also limit albacore and yellowfin tuna to one palm-sized serving or less per week. Light tuna is lower in mercury and it’s fine to eat 2–3 servings a week.
Since this diet is primarily vegetarian, it’s subject to some of the other traps that frequently accompany vegetarian diets. For instance, it can be easy to overeat carbs, especially if you rely on lots of processed grains.
SUMMARY:There can be some drawbacks to eating a pescatarian diet. It’s easy to overeat carbs and some fish are high in mercury.
A pescatarian diet can be quite healthy.
What’s more, it lets you avoid some of the ethical and environmental issues related to diets that include meat.
Additionally, this way of eating provides more flexibility and some additional nutrition compared to a standard vegetarian diet.
Overall, eating a plant-based diet with some seafood is a healthy choice.
Online, 6/20/2021,
Health Benefits: Okra 08/07/2024, https://images.app.goo.gl/T9p4BAcJ8YGpBtY46