Peanuts & Peanut Butter For Help In Fighting Belly Fat Part 1

Have you heard some of the rumors about the connection between peanut butter and belly fat?

Most likely, what you’ve heard isn’t the full story…

Two flab busting foods you may have mistakenly been avoiding are peanuts and peanut butter.

Many people often jump to think about the high fat and calorie content when considering nuts in their diets… when in fact, small portions of peanuts can actually help you FIGHT that belly bulge.

That’s because peanuts are high in fat, but they are high in GOOD fats…

…yes, I said GOOD fats.

Similar to other healthy nuts, peanuts are energy packed and can help curb your hunger while making you feel more full in between meals.

It’s also high in folate, protein, niacin, and even fiber… some very essential stuff!

Just 1.5 oz or about 50 nuts can actually curb hunger. But as with most foods, portion size is key. So, eating too much of a good thing could blow your diet out of the water, and you’ll still be stuck with that belly bulge.

While we are talking about peanuts, let’s also talk about the gooey, scrumptious peanut butter goodness that brings back fond memories of childhood picnics, school lunches, and late night snacking go-to.

But, when it comes to peanut butter, it’s critical that you look at the ingredients…

Butterfur Extract, A Weapon Against Allergy

It’s official.

The 2015 allergy season is one of the worst on record.

But next time your eyes start itching or your nose starts running, think before reaching for drugs, the side effects that only get worse over time, it doesn’t cure anything.

Of course a solution already exists—and it doesn’t come from a lab. It comes from a shrub that grows in damp or marshy areas.

Healers have used it for centuries to treat a range of ailments… From asthma to intestinal muscle spasms.  And it’s an excellent antihistamine. Some studies suggest it’s just as effective as Zyrtec for combatting hay fever. But better.

You see, one of the main problems with cetirizine is that it causes intense fatigue… To the point it disrupts people’s daily lives. It impairs their thinking and causes confusion.7 Their productivity suffers.

But now a study out of Switzerland put this extract head-to-head with cetirizine. And guess what happened?

Researchers found two weeks of treatment alleviated allergic rhinitis. And it didn’t cause drowsiness or fatigue.8 The cetirizine group… Their experience was very different. Sedating effects made up two thirds of the side effects they reported.

This natural allergy fighter is butterbur extract. And it’s not just about keeping your energy levels up… Butterbur also helps relieve the symptoms that make most people reach for Zyrtec in the first place.

Another team of Swedish researchers studied 580 patients with seasonal allergies. They all had nasal congestion, itchy eyes, and irritated skin. They each took two butterbur tablets per day. After just two weeks, 90% of patients saw an improvement in their symptoms.9

In other words, butterbur can help you ease allergy symptoms…without putting you to sleep. And without causing crazy withdrawal symptoms when you stop.

Look for natural butterbur supplements at your local health store or online. It should contain 8 mg of petasin per tablet. This is the amount used in most studies. How many pills you take will depend on your symptoms. But a word of caution…

Butterbur is related to ragweed, daisies, and chrysanthemums. So if you have an allergy to any of these, butterbur may cause a reaction.

If that’s the case, you can seek out other natural allergy fighters… Like stinging nettle and vitamin D3. Along with butterbur, these can also help improve immune health and prevent allergic reactions before they start.

Ginger For Help In Fighting Inflammation

Chronic low-grade inflammation has been linked to the development of many age-related health conditions. Although this process may not be noticed physically, there are things you can do to prevent or delay health issues related to inappropriate inflammation. Consider following an anti-inflammatory diet and taking ginger, a natural anti-inflammatory herb that may help to lessen the risks and/or symptoms of many inflammation-related disorders. Dried ginger preparations are actually more powerful than fresh because of a chemical conversion of its constituents on drying. Capsules of dried, powdered ginger are now commonly sold in health food stores; use only those that are standardized for their content of active components. The recommended starting dose is one gram per day (usually two capsules), taken after a meal to avoid stomach irritation. There is no toxicity and you can stay on it indefinitely.

Celery For Help To Lower Blood Pressure

You know this vegetable for being light and crunchy. You can get it in all supermarkets and probable already have it in your fridge.

And there is a good reason to chew on this vegetable.

Consuming it daily has been shown to drop both diastolic and systolic blood pressure more than 8 points. Without doing anything else.

Celery is rich in the phytochemical called ‘pthalides’ that makes it a boon for those with high blood pressure. This chemical relaxes the artery walls and increases blood flow, thus bringing down blood pressure, easily and effectively.

The celery stalk is also high in magnesium and potassium. Both are extremely powerful at lowering blood pressure.

Celery seeds contain a chemical compound called 3-n-butylpthalide (3nB), which is an active compound that lowers blood pressure.

In a recent study, published in The Natural Medicine Journal, 30 patients were given celery seed extract containing 85 percent of 3nB (150 mg/day). In just 6 weeks, the average systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings decreased by 8.2 and 8.5 mm Hg.

Celery extracts are available in most health food stores and you can take the supplements if you are not keen about eating a small cup of chopped celery (or about four stalks).

However, it’s generally good to eat real vegetables, raw or steamed, to get the best benefits. While extracts provide many useful properties, they don’t supply everything that the original vegetable does.

Celery can be consumed as fresh stalks, seeds, tablets, capsules with celery seed oil, and celery seed extract.

Common drugs used for lowering blood pressure can lower blood flow to your brain causing side effects like dizziness and depression. But celery extract improves blood flow to the brain while reducing risk of stroke.

Eating celery daily begins improving blood pressure in a week or two, so please try it out for yourself.

Green Tea & Prostate Cancer Part 2

Researchers examined men diagnosed with premalignant prostate cancer lesions: specifically, high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) or atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP). Men diagnosed with HGPIN have prostate gland cells that exhibit abnormal patterns (like cancer cells would). Men with ASAP have a collection of lesions on the prostate that cannot be definitively diagnosed as malignant or benign.

The men were randomized into two groups. For one year, 48 men took a placebo pill twice a day, and 49 men took a 200 mgs green tea capsule called Polyphenon E twice a day.  At the end of the year there was no statistical difference in prostate cancer cases diagnosed between the two groups, however, prostate cancer development seemed to be significantly suppressed in the group supplementing with Polyphenon E.

Men diagnosed with only HPIN at the start of the study had a lower combined rate of ASAP and prostate cancer development when taking green tea capsules. The catechins in green tea, primarily EGCG, also lowered prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, an indicator of prostate cancer. There were no reported side effects in men taking the 200 mgs capsules.

Another win for green tea…and another reason to drink a cup every day!