once symptoms are established, it will take two to three days to work its magic.
Benefi ts of Elderberry In the body, elderberry does what you need. It is rich in antioxidants, as well as vitamins and minerals—including vitamin C, B- complex, potassium, phosphorus, calcium— and many other constituents. It can serve as a pro-infl ammatory to enhance the immune response when you’re not feeling well, but it can also be anti-infl ammatory to calm the body when you are well. T e fl owers of the tree, elderfl ower, are
also a very useful herb to have in your herbal medicine cabinet. Swollen sinuses, colds, fl u, bronchitis, diabetes and constipation are just some of the powerful benefi ts of elderfl ower. It is used as a diuretic to increase urine
production and a diaphoretic to increase sweating which is helpful when dealing with a fever. Elderfl ower is also known to lower blood sugar. T e most common way you’ll fi nd
elderberry as a medicine is elderberry syrup. Below is a wonderful elderberry syrup recipe.
DIY Elderberry Syrup 1 cup elderberry 6 cups water 2 Tbsp ginger 2 tsp cloves 1 cinnamon stick 1 1
/2 cup raw unfi ltered honey
Directions: Put everything in a pot except the honey and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer, and let it go for 30 minutes to an hour or until it has re- duced by half. Take it off the heat and let the mixture cool off . Strain out the ingredients to a clean container and add the honey. Do not add the honey while the mixture is hot, otherwise you’ll burn off the healing proper- ties of the honey. Once cooled all the way transfer to a jar, and cover. Take one table- spoon daily or one tablespoon every three to four hours when you start to feel icky.
Robin Cervantes, CHC, AADP, is the founder of Sanctuary Holistic Kitchen, in Georgetown, and Terri Williams is the founder of Melanat- ed Apothecary, in Hutto. For more informa- tion, visit
SanctuaryHolisticKitchen.com.
January 2020 15
Munch More Nuts to Stave Off Weight Gain
Chomping on more nuts daily keeps the pounds at bay, according to research published in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. Using records from three long-term longitu- dinal studies spanning 20 years and including nearly 300,000 health professionals, the report from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that increasing nut intake by a half serving a day—about 12 almonds or seven wal- nut halves—was linked to lower instances of weight gain and obesity. Swapping out a serving of meats, refi ned grains or desserts for half a serving of nuts was associated with staving off weight gain of between 0.9 and 1.5 pounds in any four-year period. A consistently higher nut intake of at least half a serving a day was associated with a 23 percent lower risk of putting on 11 or more pounds and becoming obese in the same timeframe. No such links were found for eating more peanut butter. T e researchers suggest the high fi ber content of nuts can make a person feel full longer, and that that the fi ber also binds well to fats in the gut, aff ecting a greater discharge of calories.
Take Cordyceps to
Enhance Immunity Cordyceps, a fungus that grows on caterpillars high in the Himalayas, has long been used in Traditional Chinese Medi- cine as a rejuvenating and performance-enhancing medi- cine. T e latest Korean research shows it also boosts the immune system. Scientists tested 79 healthy adults for eight weeks, giving 39 of them 1,680 milligrams of cordyceps a day in capsules and the other 40 were given a placebo. T e cordyceps produced a 38 percent increase in natural killer
(NK) cell activity, which plays a role in immunity by detecting and killing virus-infected cells, tumor cells and abnormal cells.
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