Tag: Honey

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Food & Body

Foods That Will Help Heal Your Injuries/Wounds Fast

wound cuts

It is always very devastating after sustaining an injury/wound due to accidents. Many get upset because they have turned tentatively or permanently immobile while others are bothered about how the injuries have disfigured their beautiful skins. Asides the feeling of pain due to the injuries, the length and difficulty of the healing process can also add to your sufferings.

Yes, the very first point of contact during injury treatment are the medical doctors, nurses and physiotherapist. While these professionals are key in helping injured persons, the need to speak to a nutritionist to help you plan an adequate menu that will help you heal fast can not be overemphasized. See the foods that can help you achieve this healing from inside out.

4 Foods/Food Groups That Heal Injuries Fast

wound cuts

1. Tumeric:

This food item has been known to be used for many decades in the treatment of wounds. The volume of antioxidants found in turmeric lowers inflammation and speeds up the healing process during injuries. In the traditional treatment of open wounds, people of older generations form a paste out of turmeric to be used in covering the open wounds and it has proven to be effective.

However, it is much better to include turmeric into your daily meals so that your wound could heal from inside out and it could raise your immunity against infections.

2. Liver And Leafy Vegetable:

The importance of iron in the treatment of wounds is very critical and that is why foods like liver and leafy vegetables that can supply an ample amount of iron are key. A deficiency of iron, which is commonly called anemia may retard the process of wound healing.

You should not forget the loss of blood during injuries which somewhat reduces the iron level in your body. So, it is better to eat foods high in iron to quicken the healing process.

3. Milk, Yoghurt And Meat:

Protein is regarded as a macronutrient that helps in building worn out tissues. Protein from animal sources has been found to speed up the healing process because they are regarded as a complete protein as they contain all the essential amino acids needed for this process. These proteins can be combined with a healthy amount of carbs for a healthier meal.

4. Honey:

It is a super antimicrobial agent that can be used in wound care. One major problem that had reduced the use of honey in this part of the world is because original honey is rare to find. Burns are one of the most difficult problems to treat because this type of wound provides the perfect breeding and feeding ground for many organisms.

As such, burn wounds can easily become infected, and the infection often spreads rapidly into the bloodstream, which can kill the victim. This was reported by Dr. Williams, a medical researcher. He further stated that using honey to cover the face of the wounds will quicken the healing process.

Note: Asides from poor nutrition, wound healing can be a complicate process and it is usually influenced by several factors such as infection, age, sex hormones, stress, diabetes, medications, obesity, alcohol intake, and smoking.

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Food & Body

Foods That Help You Get A Good Night’s Sleep

foods that help you sleep
Photo: health.usnews.com

Sleeplessness is a condition that is fast becoming common in the lives of many and a whole lot of the people struggling with these are completely unaware that foods can actually be helpful in triggering drowsiness or sleepiness. The unhealthy thing about this condition which is technically called insomnia is that it affects the entire body function and activities.

Tiredness, sluggishness, and moodiness could become your daily expressions. It has even been reported based  on various researches that certain minerals are critical in the  remedy  of insomnia.

foods that help you sleep
Photo: health.usnews.com

Ask a  few of your friends or colleagues – How was your night? Did you sleep well? I bet many of them will tell you that they had a difficult time sleeping. Usually, so many factors are involved but foods can be a good remedy especially if you consume the foods at dinner. Let’s check some of the foods that can help induce sleep.

1. Herbal Tea:

Herbal Tea is one of the foods that has been helpful in making people get some sleep for many decades. In fact, there are many tea varieties that make people be more sleepy. These teas are known to put the body in a relaxed state.  A popular herbal tea known to be effective is chamomile tea.

A cup of tea before bed will help you relax and fall asleep faster.  Lemongrass tea is also known for helping you fall asleep. Caffeinated teas should be avoided as you all know they work in the opposite direction.

2. Yoghurt:

Dairy products are loaded with calcium and yogurt can be helpful in removing the stress out of your body and this helps you fall asleep more easily.  Calcium helps the brain make use of a certain amino acid called tryptophan to manufacture a sleep-inducing substance called melatonin.

yoghurt

This explains why dairy products, which contain both tryptophan and calcium, are one of the top sleep-inducing foods.  It is not advisable to consume whole milk products because they are not better tolerated at bedtime compared to healthy bacteria loaded yoghurt.

When taking Yoghurts, go for the quality brands that produce real yoghurt. See how to know those good yoghurts here (opens in new tab).

3. Banans:

Banana is a super night snack particularly for those hoping to gain few pounds of flesh. Asides this, research has shown that a certain mineral such as magnesium is effective as a natural remedy for insomnia.

A lack of this mineral may cause you to wake up after a few hours and not return to sleep. Other magnesium-rich foods include spinach, nuts, seeds, fish and whole grains. Fortunately, it is one of the foods you can healthily snack on at night.

4. Fish

We have said so much about fish before. As a person, I prefer fish to meat. They contain more nutrients and the fats in many of them are the healthy type and more beneficial. There is no way we want to look at it, eating fish is better than eating meat.

Oily fish

Most fish—and especially salmon and tuna—have a significant amount of vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is needed to make melatonin – a sleep-inducing hormone triggered by darkness. This has also been confirmed by an article published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

5. Almonds and nuts rich in Magnesium

Almonds contain tryptophan and magnesium. These two components help to naturally reduce muscle and nerve function while also steadying your heart rhythm. You would note that many of the foods we have mentioned above too either have magnesium or tryptophan.

almonds

Other nuts and seeds that are rich in magnesium include, almonds, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, cashews, pine nuts, flaxseed, and pecans.

You may want to add these nuts to your diet. They are even easy to snack on at night before you go to bed. They will relax you and help induce a good night sleep.

6. Sound Night Sleep? Eat Cherries!

I have heard and read uncountable times that the best way to get a good night’s sleep is to increase your melatonin intake. We talked about this melatonin under yoghurt as a sleep-inducing substance. Some other foods foods other than yoghurt contain it too.

Cherries, along with nuts and oats, are a natural source of melatonin and, when eaten regularly, can help regulate your sleep cycle. I guess this is why some people would ask that you add coffee to their oat when they take it as breakfast – they don’t want to be sleeping about.

People have reported that alcohol and milk chocolate help them sleep but I wouldn’t recommend that. Alcohol makes you wake up with a hangover and you don’t want to eat chocolate just before going to bed.

7. Honey

It has been found that honey contains glucose, which tells your brain to shut off orexin. Orexin is the chemical that is known to trigger alertness. So, when glucose tells your brain to stop the supply of orexin, you become less alert (somewhat dull) and feel sleepy.

When you are taking honey for this purpose, you should not overdo it. One tablespoon for a good night’s sleep is more than enough. Make sure you get the real honey though. See how to identify real honey.

Please note, you should avoid eating heavily at night particularly close to bed time as it will affect your sleepiness. Other foods that I find to be effective in inducing sleepiness include garri, potatoes and some other carbohydrate loaded foods.

Understand the saying “different strokes for different folks”. What works for someone might not work for the other. So, we would like to hear from you to share foods that you eat which triggers sleepiness.

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Knowledgebase

How To Know Pure or Fake/Adulterated Honey

honey fire test
Photo: menaribo.com

Some few years back, when I was much younger, my dad was used to adding a few spoons of honey to most of his cereals. He does this very religiously that he never used any form of granulated sugar. His mother was the one who does the supplies but not too long, she stopped because she cannot move around as she does in the past due to aging. Dad decided to go buy a bottle of honey by himself.

As he added the honey into his pap (Akamu or Ogi), in less than 1hour after finishing his meal, he began to show some allergic reactions. It later became severe that he had to visit a pharmacist.

Those who do this business of adulteration are smart that they try to imitate the properties of original/pure honey from appearance to consistency as much as possible but if you dig deep enough you would be able to identify those that are pure. They have several ways of making honey “not pure” – they can add sugar syrup to increase the quantity or corn starch to manipulate the viscosity (increase thickness).

honey

Sometimes you want to use for one of its numerous medicinal purpose, this means that you have to get pure honey in order to actually benefit whatever you intend to benefit from it. You cannot afford to use the adulterated one or those ones made from brown sugar syrup, you won’t get the result you expect.

Methods for Identifying Pure or Adulterated Honey

Why spend your hard earned money on something that could be poisonous to your body system. Now let us check out the best methods to Identify pure honey. These simple tests listed in this article will help you to distinguish between fake/adulterated and pure/original honey.

1. Water test for Honey:

Water can be used to distinguish between pure honey and adulterated ones and it is so simple. Get a glass jar of water or a small pot half full of water. Add the honey into it at one point of the water using a table spoon.

If the honey spreads out and dissolves in the water, the honey is not pure. However, if it remains in its pasty form beneath the water while retaining the original colour, the honey is pure.

2. Fire test for honey:

Once you have gotten your honey, use a small piece of cloth and rub a portion of the honey at the edge of the cloth or you deep the wick of a candle into the honey, lit a fire over any of the cloth or wick for few seconds.

honey fire test
Photo: menaribo.com

If it does not burn, the honey is not pure as it likely contains water but if the cloth or candlewick burns/catches fire, the honey is definitely pure. You can also use a matchstick as shown below. Put the honey in the middle of the matchstick and light the stick.

3. The Thumb Test:

Any of your right or left thumb can be used. Place a drop of honey on your thumb, if the honey slips or spread easily over your thumb, the honey is not pure but it it stays and still forms the drop on your thumb then the honey is pure.

While it might be a bit difficult to carry out the fire and water test method at the place of purchase, the thumb test can help you.

4. Paper Towel for telling honey quality:

Place a paper towel or serviette paper on a table and add few drops of the honey on it. If it absolves the honey, the honey is not pure but if it does not, and the honey stays longer on the paper then it is pure.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Many people are quick to believe the claim that ants do not go near pure honey. The veracity of this statement does not exist. Ants go after anything that is sweet and taste good. From bread to rice ants go after them talk less of honey. Other methods that can be used to identify pure honey are requesting to taste and check the consistency (thickness) of the honey. Usually pure honey is not thin in its consistency. Although, these methods cannot guarantee that you are buying 100% pure honey, they help – manufacturers of adulterated honey have developed ways of making their honey appear pure.

It is advisable to use a combination of the above-mentioned methods to ascertain if truly your honey is pure.

To reduce your chances of obtaining adulterated honey, you might want to purchase them at a honey farm, in towns that are known for honey production or supermarkets that have a very huge reputation in selling quality products. These factors will really help you.

I hope you find this article helpful. Let us know if you have any method you have been using too.