healthy body tips

Black berry fruits are soft and juicy. Black berry is the main source of antioxidants and some additional presence of vitamins just adds to the list of health benefits of black berries. What we find in black berries is water, fats, carbohydrates, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, potassium and copper. This list is almost the nutrition which is required by our body to maintain good health. Apart from the nutritional health benefits of black berries they are used as a weapon to prevent the various types of cancers specially the breast cancer. Black berries are one of the best source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

Black Berry Fruits are used as an ingredient in preparing jams, juices, syrups and even wine. Most of the children are fond of the taste for black berries. Black berries also aid the health by increasing the immune system. Not only the black berry fruit has benefits but the leaves of black berries are also used in preparing a healthy tea which when consumed can help people who suffer from infections like sore throat and mouth irritation. Fibrous contents of the blackberries will help in maintaining the digestive health and blood sugar level in control. Vitamin C and the antioxidants can give one a younger look and make our skin glow. Most of the beauty creams have blackberries as content because of above health benefits. Same reason makes them the ingredient of different medicines.

Some other health benefits of black berries are
1) Black berry leaves is used to make the tea which is important to stomach cancer.
2) Black berry is the rich sources of fiber which plays a vital role in weight loss and lowering the cholesterol level.
3) Almost all the prescribed medicines for weakness in the form of syrup has blackberry in some quantity. Blackberries when taken along with diet can recover a sick person quickly because of its highly nutritious nature.

Spirulina is one of the blue green algae and and is considered as a super food. Spirulina has recieved a lot of recommendation from FAO and FDA to be included in daily diet. Spirulina found in single cell form ranges from 0.3 mm to 1 mm. These cell forms capture energy from the sun. The photosynthetic reaction in the watery environment produces minerals, vitamins, proteins, fatty acids and sugars needed by our body.

How we stay away from balanced diet
Human body is made up of almost 60 trillion cells. Our health depend on how healthy these cells are. In order to keep us healthy we require quality water and balanced nutrition. Like water and oxygen are necessary for survival, nutrition is required for maintaining good health. Balanced nutrion is considered to be a blend of acidic and alkaline food.

Balance Nutrition = 80% alkaline + 20% acidic food

However in today's hectic life one is always on a run. This leads a person into getting addicted to fast food which are highly processed and acidic in nature. Continuation of such foods is like inviting a lot of diseases such as stress, chronic indigestion, loss of concentration, rheumatic and arthritic conditions, sometimes irritability as well. Without balanced nutrition the body cannot perform the work of repairing the non functional tissues or producing the new ones and absorption of essential nutrients greatly reduces. The digestive environments become more acidic as a result of unbalanced nutrition leading to health related disorders in future.

What spirulina has to offer for balanced diet
Spirulina is a great source of nutrition and in addition has an exceptional quality to increase the absorption power of the digestive system. This gives a boost to the immune system promoting good health. Spirulina is a 100% alkaline food which adds to the balance nutrition. 5 nutrients which are present in Spirulina are carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins. The 4 natural pigments which are present in spirulina are Chlorophyll, Beta Carotene, Phycocyanin and Xanthephyll which has their own health benefits ranging from blood purification to preventing cancer. It is preferred for the anemic patients. Spirulina is a complete food source. 65% of spirulina is proteins and too in an easy to digest form.

Recommendations of Spirulina
In 1974 the Food and Agriculture organization of United Stated announced that spirulina is best food for tommorow. In 1981 Food and drug administration declared spirulina to be the best supplement for nutritional benefits. And finally in 1983 spirulina received the best natural food award in West Germany International food exhibition.

Tip: A teaspoon of spirulina can keep you healthy throughout life. If you want to dig deeper into spirulina benefits please read the below site which is dedicated to spirulina antennaindia.org.

I mentioned that I was on a break couple of weeks ago and had made somewhat small descriptive post about my holiday in goa here. Well I had a tuna sandwich at a shack( a beach side hotel) for breakfast and I loved it so much that I had to order another one. But it was 14 days after that, when I ran into an article which said that tuna is a rich source of selenium which fights against the advanced prostate cancer. So I wondered how it does it, what can be other sources of selenium and what selenium is basically.

What is selenium?
Selenium is one of those minerals which are needed by our body in small quantity. To be specific 200 micro grams per day is more than enough for a person.

What are benefits of Selenium?
As I described earlier, studies show that adequate selenium intake has lowered the risk of prostate cancer.

What are the Sources of Selenium?
Other than fish, brazil nuts, wheat flour, part skim ricotta cheese, pork and turkey are some of the sources of selenium.

Related Posts:
Minerals needed by our body.

Minerals are not produced by body so we have to take them externally in form of food. If you don't know minerals form 4% of the body mass. Since women loosed much more minerals than men, women requires a larger intake of minerals.


Here is a list of some important minerals the body needs and there functions,
1) Calcium : Body needs the calcium mineral for proper development of bones and teeth, nerve functioning, blood clotting and muscle contraction.
2) Magnesium : Instead of writing down where magnesium is used by body, I would just mention, it is required by almost every process that our body performs.
3) Phosphorus : Phosphorus is one of the mineral needs of the body as it constitutes to the bones, teeth, formation of enzyme which is used in energy conversion reaction. It also maintains a balance of the acids in the body.
4) Zinc : Zinc is vital mineral for strong immune system.
5) Chromium : Chromium is used by body to maintain a balance of sugar in human blood and thus is used to treat a diabetic patient.
6) Cobalt : Cobalt is required for maintaining the number of RBC's in body and to build a healthy nervous system.
7) Copper : RBC's production, maintaining healthy skin, cartilage and bones, promotion of skin color, hair color, maintain cholesterol levels and utilizes the vitamin C are some of the functions of copper.
8) Iodine : Iodine is required by body to prevent Goiter (swelling under the neck [my mother has it but it is under control and the swelling has decrease gradually in years from medications]).
9) Iron : Iron helps in transportation of oxygen through out the body.
10) Manganese : Helps in normal functioning of brain.
Some other minerals required by the body are Molybdenum, Selenium, Vanadium and Boron.

If you want to read each of the element in detail, there is a great site dedicated to minerals and deficiency.

Related Posts:
Tuna fish, a rich source of selenium

It has been some time, I have been reading some articles and came across a great one which enlists some of the mineral and vitamin provider chart. I am listing the chart for your use below.

Item	Provides	How much	Benefit
Yoghurt	Vitamin B, Calcium	2 cups/day	Boosts Immune System Reduces Diarrhoea
Spinach	Vitamin A, C and E Minerals. Phytonutrients Carotenoids	2 cups/day	Reduces the risk of Cancer Heart disease Stroke and Cataracts
Orange	Vitamin C Carotenoids, Minerals	3 oranges/week	Increases Immunity Reduces the risk of cancer, prevents stroke
Fish	Omega-3 fatty acids	2 or 3 times/week	Brain Development Regulating cellular harmones
Beans	Antioxidants	4 cups(cooked)/week	Control blood glucose level
Ash Gourd	----	100 gm/day	Must ingredient for diabetic and obese people Healing ulcer