You know you should drink it, but research into the health-promoting properties of green tea is yielding new information that links green tea to skin cell rejuvenation.
Compounds in green tea, called polyphenols, help eliminate free radicals, which can cause cancer by altering DNA. Polyphenols also safeguard healthy cells while ushering cancer cells to their death. Research at the Medical College of Georgia has concentrated on the healthful effects of topical application of green tea. Scientists were astonished to discover that one of the polyphenol components of green tea reactivated dying skin cells. Skin cells are in a constant state of renewal, migrating from the lower layers of the skin toward the surface epidermis. Once they reach the surface, their metabolic activity slows dramatically and they prepare to die. As they die, another wave of migrating cells moves in to replace them. Youthful skin renews the surface epidermis every 28 days, but as skin ages, cellular replacement time lengthens leading to skin that is dull and lifeless.
Green tea polyphenols appear to be a fountain of youth for skin cells. When exposed to polyphenols found in green tea, dying surface cells are reactivated, produce more energy and begin dividing again, which leads to a more youthful skin condition. The green tea polyphenols are not absorbed beyond the epidermis so the benefits are limited to the outer layer of skin but those benefits are significant. Even small amounts of green tea compounds provide skin-renewing benefits. Researchers are also encouraged that green tea will aid skin conditions such as psoriasis, rosacea, wrinkles, and wounds, including the stubbornly resistant wound healing processes resulting from diabetes.
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Attention Chocoholics: You will love this!Don’t throw that chocolate Easter bunny just yet; comfort food is back in favor. Just when you thought the food police had won the battle to deprive you of all your favorite indulgences, here come the guardian angels of chocolate with good news, from the world of science no less.
In a report published in the February 2006 Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers in the Netherlands found that daily cocoa intake over a fifteen year period resulted in a two to three mm reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings, a 50% reduction in cardiovascular mortality, and a 53% lowered rate of mortality overall.
Cocoa is rich in nutrients known as polyphenols and bioflavonoids. In another study, participants were assigned to consume either white chocolate, which contains no polyphenols, or polyphenol-rich dark chocolate. The latter group saw a reduction in their blood pressure within ten days. The white chocolate group had no reduction.
Polyphenols and bioflavonoids are powerful antioxidants. Just one ounce of DOVE Dark chocolate packs more than twice the healthy antioxidant punch of red wine or other dark chocolates. The cocoa in dark chocolate provides effects similar to aspirin as it reduces blood clotting, making plaque less likely to travel and cause a stroke or heart attack. Unlike aspirin though, some of the flavonoids in cocoa help keep arteries flexible and increase blood flow, with implications for blood pressure control. A Penn State study reported that people who ate a diet rich in cocoa powder and dark chocolate had lower oxidation levels of bad LDL cholesterol, higher blood antioxidant levels, and four percent higher levels of good HDL cholesterol.
Before you unwrap another Hershey bar, keep in mind that not all chocolate is created equal. Chocolate is still chocolate in terms of fat composition and there is the downside of increased calories. In your heart you know that the more prudent nutritive course is to look for fruits, vegetables, green and white tea, red wine, olive oil, and pomegranates for their natural cardio-protective qualities. But…don't despair. The good news to take away from this is that if you want a chocolate fix once in a while, enjoy it and don’t feel guilty. Remember that bitterer is better. Now, where is that rabbit?
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NATURE’S PHARMACY: KITCHEN CURES
RAGGED CUTICLES
Rub a little olive oil into your cuticles and fingernails the next time you are cooking. Add extra strength to your fingernails by covering them with mayonnaise, keeping them covered for approximately five minutes, and then wash with warm water.
HEARTBURN / gas
Relieve heartburn by chewing a stick of spearmint gum. Spearmint acts as a digestive aid the activity of chewing gum stimulates the production of saliva, which neutralizes stomach acid and corrects the flow of digestive juices. The oils in the spearmint also act as an antiflatulent.
HORSE PILLS
If you have trouble swallowing large pills, coat the pill with a little butter or other cream or oil. The pill will easily slip down your throat. Yes, you can even use whipped cream. Purely for medicinal purposes, of course.
DISCOLORED, SCALY ELBOWS
Use reamed out lemons to scrub and lighten discolored elbows. Add a little baking soda to the inside of a reamed out lemon, mix with residual lemon juice and pulp, then rub the abrasive lemon paste into your elbows for a smoothing, soothing, and exfoliating treatment.
natural FLEA CATCHER
Fleas love light. Place a few drops of dish soap into some water on a plate; place the plate on the floor next to a lamp. Fleas will jump on the plate and drown.
