Temu Hitam, Indonesia Black Curcuma

The story was began on the past days ago when me and my son was visit durian plantation which owned by my father in law located in Kuningan as tourism city at West Java province, Indonesia. It was wonderful experience for me when I am able to see directly about durian fruit on the tree in the area almost 3 ha. I post the picture on this blog. But not only durian tree actually that make me so interesting about the last visit, there are some plants on the plantation area that attract me to take a picture which grows wild as plants and  shrubs among many durian trees that have become flowers and fruit.

Other heritage of Indonesia herbs and spicesafter I search with google related the picture of the plant above, Indonesia words said for that plants name are Temu Hitam with the latin name called Curcuma caesia, Temu Hitam familiar also called by Black Curcuma in the international market. I try to find out more information regarding the benefits of Temu Hitam for human health with google search, well, the plants that are apparently grows wild as a shrub in Indonesia who would have had a lot of amazing benefits to human health. Some information that I got from Wikipedia, Temu Hitam or Black Curcumaas herbs is a kind of plant in Indonesiawhich the rhizome can be used as a mixture of traditional and herbal medicine in Indonesia.

Temu Hitam or Black Curcuma as a plant in Indonesia is almost that grows wild such as on the teak plantation or can be also durian plantation but it can be cultivated too as commercial herbs plantin the yard with the height of land level start 400 meters above sea level for the ideal condition. Some of the benefits Temu Hitam or Black Curcuma for human health in Indonesia such as presented by one of the Indonesian herbal expert, Prof. Hembing Wijayakusuma, Temu Hitamor Black Curcuma can neutralize toxins in the human body where since a long time ago, Temu Hitam has known used as herbsfor appetite enhancer of children. Today, in economic business scale, Temu Hitam or Black Curcuma can be market and needs to herbal medicine industry. 

Some other good information that I got from the website of Siddha Medicine and Natural Treatment about Black Curcuma benefit for human health, Black curcuma is a wonder herb and contains the highest content of curcumin among all curcuma or turmeric species, a chemical substance with many curative properties. It is perhaps one of the few medicinal plants that are used in herbal treatment. If you are suffering from toothache, take a pinch of black turmeric powder and rub it gently against the teeth. You will get relief from the problem. Make sure that only a small quantity is used, as an excess of black turmeric powder may induce vomiting. Take a fresh rhizome of black turmeric or Temu Hitam, wash it properly and crush it. Apply it to wounds and nagging sores for relief and quick healing. 

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Natural cures for angina

Are there natural cures for Angina?.
Angina, sometimes called angina pectoris, is the pain that occurs when your heart isn’t getting enough oxygen. You feel a sensation of heaviness or pressure in the middle of your chest. Sometimes the pain radiates to your left arm, throat, or jaw.
Exercise, a large meal, emotional upset, or stress can bring on an attack of angina. But the condition that makes such attacks possible is narrowing of the coronary arteries, which carry oxygen-rich blood to the heart.
What makes these arteries leading to the heart become narrower? Little clumps of cholesterol-based substances called plaques, which accumulate along the artery walls. It’s similar to the gunk that builds up in the pipe draining your kitchen sink.
Elevated blood cholesterol is one cause of plaque, but it’s not the sole cause. According to current theories, the initial step for plaque formation is a injury to the inner lining of the artery, called the endothelium.
What causes that injury? Scientists don’t yet know for certain. But as in the beginning of a murder mystery, many suspects have been implicated. Cigarette smoking is one common cause, as are the normal chemical processes of aging. Vitamin B6 deficiency is thought to play a role. Other possible factors include immune-system malfunctions; physical injury, viral, bacterial, or chemical assaults; drug use; and poor diet. Also, certain chemical agents can cause blood cells called platelets to clump together, helping plaque to form.
Angina is a serious problem and should never be ignored; it can lead to a heart attack. This is not time to play the stoic. If angina-like symptoms begin to occur with greater frequency or with less provocation than usual, they could be a sign of worsening heart disease and impending heart attack. And if you have any undiagnosed chest pain, see your doctor immediately for an evaluation.
Because angina is such a serious disease, you must continue to see your family physician or cardiologist on a regular basis. If you are on medications for angina, work with an experienced herbalist-there are many potentially dangerous ways that drugs for the heart and herbs can interact. Do not stop taking prescribed medications on your own.
Herbal treatments for angina focus on preventing attacks. Once and episode of angina is occurring, take your nitroglycerin. Herbs can do much for angina-lower blood cholesterol, prevent and heal injuries to the endothelium of arteries, prevent the clumping of blood platelets, shrink plaques, and expand or dilate involved arteries. Herbs can also strengthen the heart in general, especially the herbs that improve energy metabolism within the heart.

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NATURAL TIPS TO BOOST HEMOGLOBIN LEVELS

HEMOGLOBIN IS THE PROTEIN MOLECULE IN RED BLOOD CELLS THAT TRANSPORTS OXYGEN FROM THE LUNGS TO THE BODY'S TISSUES AND GIVES CARBON-DIOXIDE FROM THE TISSUES BACK TO THE LUNGS. IRON SUPPLIED TO THE RED BLOOD CELLS, DETERMINE THE LEVEL OF HEMOGLOBIN IN THE BLOOD. FOODS RICH IN IRON ARE BELIEVED TO BOOST THE LEVEL OF HEMOGLOBIN IN THE BODY.YOUR BODY MAKES HEMOGLOBIN FROM THE IRON IN YOUR DIET SO IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU EAT PLENTY OF IRON-RICH FOODS DAILY. THE ESSENTIAL NATURAL REMEDIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

RED MEAT: THE IRON FROM ANIMAL SOURCES IS IDEAL BECAUSE IT IS THE EASIEST TO ABSORB. LIVER, BEEF, LAMB, CLAMS AND SHRIMP, ARE EXCELLENT IRON SOURCES.

FRUITS: GOOD FRUIT SOURCES OF IRON INCLUDE WATERMELON, RAISINS, AND GRAPEFRUIT. ORANGE, CANTALOUPE, PINEAPPLE, BANANA, RASPBERRY, STRAWBERRY, GUAVA, PAPAYAS, KIWI FRUIT, BLACK CURRANTS, MANGO, LYCHEE, CHERRY ARE OTHER ESSENTIAL FRUITS TO INCREASE HEMOGLOBIN.

VEGETABLES: (GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES) SPINACH, LEGUMES, DRIED FRUITS AND IRON-FORTIFIED CEREALS ARE VEGETARIAN IRON SOURCES. TRY EATING ONE OF THESE FOODS AT EACH MEAL TO MAXIMIZE ABSORPTION. CONSUME TOMATOES, BROCCOLI, BRUSSELS, SPROUTS, RED CAPSICUM, BEAN, CABBAGE, PEAS, BEETS, ASPARAGUS, CORN , AND LENTILS IN YOUR MEALS.

MILK SHAKE OF DATES: MILK SHAKE OF DATES IS THE BEST IRON-BOOSTING REMEDY. TAKE EVERYDAY ONE GLASS OF DATE MILK SHAKE FOR AT LEAST A MONTH REGULARLY, AND RAPIDLY BOOST BLOOD HEMOGLOBIN LEVELS.

BLACK SESAME: BLACK SESAME SEEDS IS ALSO THE ESSENTIAL NATURAL REMEDY TO INCREASE HEMOGLOBIN. ONE TEASPOON OF BLACK SESAME SEEDS SHOULD BE SOAKED IN WARM WATER, THEN IT SHOULD BE CRUSHED AND STRAINED.THEN,MIX IT WITH A CUP OF MILK SWEETENED WITH JAGGERY. THIS MAKES A GOOD DRINK FOR INSTANT INCREASE IN HEMOGLOBIN.

FENGREEK REMEDY: COOK ONE TEASPOON OF FENUGREEK SEEDS WITH YOUR EVENING MEAL EVERYDAY, PREFERABLY WITH A LITTLE RICE, FOR 12-15 DAYS TO HELP BOOST HEMOGLOBIN LEVELS.

OTHER FOODS: FORTIFIED CEREALS, DRY FRUITS, NUTS, SUNFLOWER SEEDS, JAGGERY, WHOLE BREAD, WHOLE GRAINS, BAKER'S YEAST, OAT AND WHEAT BRAN, AND BUTTER ARE SIGNIFICANT HEMOGLOBIN BOOSTERS.

 IRON & VITAMINS: VITAMIN C IS BELIEVED TO IMPROVE THE ABSORPTION OF IRON IN THE BODY, AND HENCE PATIENTS WITH LOW LEVELS OF HEMOGLOBIN IN THE BODY MUST MAKE IT A POINT TO INCLUDE FOOD ITEMS RICH IN VITAMIN C, ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE DIET. OTHER ESSENTIAL VITAMINS ARE VITAMIN B6, B12 AND FOLIC ACID. I HOPE THIS POST HAS BEEN OF GREAT BENEFIT ON HOW TO INCREASE HEMOGLOBIN LEVELS

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Are You Not Cutting Out More Thin Meat From Your Diet?

Many vegetarians fall into the dangerous trap of eliminating meat and fish from their diets without compensating for lost nutrients.

If balanced diet is important for vegetarian adults, it is even more vital for children last year, a senior lecturer of nutrition found that 80 % of mothers questioned believed low-fat high-fiber diets were appropriate for heir infants, and 20 % felt high kilo joule food was not important. Increasingly, traditional foods like baby cereal with whole milk are giving way to a “nursery starvation diet” of low fat yoghurts and fruit and vegetable purees.

Non-meat-eating can also be problematic for teenagers, particularly girls, a spokesperson says many young women have an iron intake puts them at risk of anemia. They often don’t realize that they have to replace meat with good sources of iron, sources that are not necessarily at the top of their lists of favorite foods.

One common misconception is that the processed vegetarian foods often favored by teenagers, such as vegetable burgers and prepared chilled foods, are “healthier” than the real thing. Often they are not. Surrounding a lump of tofu with pastry to turn it into a pie can cancel out many of the health benefits the tofu may provide. Also meat substitutes may require strong flavoring, and can be high in salt. Some contain nearly three times as much saturated fat, as meat.

Another danger is missing out on dairy foods that contain vitamin B12 and calcium. Certainly vegetarians who don’t have dairy products daily can at risk of not getting enough.

Although vitamin B12 deficiency is rare, an expert of nutrition says that it can cause severe irreversible damage to the nervous system. He also has concerns about Soya milk, another popular alternative for vegetarians. Giving Soya milk to children at better than no milk at all but should be a resort.

While many studies suggest that a vegetarian diet is a good one, that may be a result of other differences between meat-eaters and vegetarians, for example, vegetarians don’t drink or smoke as much and generally weigh less. And there is evidence that even balanced vegetarian diets do not significantly reduce some health risks. A research study last year found that deaths from stomach, breast, prostate & lung cancer not markedly lower among vegetarians.

With so much publicity about how we treat our animals, and what we feed them-it is not surprising that, more and more people are becoming vegetarians, the problem is, how many will encounter just as many health hazards as meat- eaters?

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A FOOD ALLERGY

A FOOD ALLERGY OCCURS IN CONSEQUENCE OF AN IMMUNE SYSTEM RESPONSE TO FOOD INGREDIENTS THAT ARE GENERALLY HARMLESS AND INOFFENSIVE. AFTER THE FIRST INTAKE OF APPROPRIATE FOOD, IT MAKES SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES. THIS APPEARS FIRST AS NO ALLERGIC REACTIONS, BUT IT IS HELD TO RAISE AWARENESS. EACH TIME CONSUMING THE PRODUCT IS THEN TRIGGERED BY THE ANTIBODIES HAVE AN ALLERGIC REACTION.

SUFFER IN TERMS OF THE DISTRIBUTION IS MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY WOMEN AS MEN TO FOOD ALLERGIES. MOST COMMONLY AFFECTED ARE VERY SMALL CHILDREN BECAUSE THEIR INTESTINAL MUCOSA IS VERY THIN AND EVEN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM REACTS MORE HEAVILY.

THE CAUSES OF FOOD ALLERGIES ARE VARIED ON THE INCOMPATIBILITY OF ADDITIVES IN FOOD AND TO STRESS-CAUSING FACTORS.

TO ASSESS THE PRESENCE OF FOOD ALLERGY AND TO OBSERVE CLEARLY, AN ALLERGIST TO BE DRAWN. THERE IS A SKIN TEST OR SEROLOGICAL TESTS IN WHICH THE ANTIBODIES ARE MEASURED. IF AN ALLERGY-CAUSING FOOD IS FOUND, USUALLY PREVENTED BY AVOIDING THE SAME, AND BY THE ELIMINATION OF A FOOD GROUP WITH THE ALLERGY-CAUSING SUBSTANCES, FURTHER BREAKING OF THE ALLERGY. THIS IS TO ENSURE THAT THE DIET REMAINS BALANCED IN ORDER TO CALL FORTH ANY DEFICIENCIES.
AMONG THE FOODS THAT CONTAIN VERY COMMON ALLERGENS ARE SUCH AS DAIRY PRODUCTS, EGGS, NUTS, FLOUR, SOYBEANS, ETC.

WITH REGARD TO THE SYMPTOMS OF AN ALLERGIC REACTION ARE ITCHING AND SWELLING IN FRONT AS WELL AS CRAMPS AND ASTHMATIC REACTIONS.

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Tumors Continue Growing Even When Cells Get Old

Based on the knowledge that cancer cells grow indefinitely, the general belief is that senescence could act as a barrier against tumor growth and has the potential of being used as a cancer treatment.

According to findings published in the 19th January issue of the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, a collaboration between a cancer biologist from the University of Milano, Italy, and two physicists, from the National Research Council of Italy and from Cornell University, has shown that although cell senescence occurs spontaneously in melanoma cells, it does not stop their growth, which is sustained by a small population of cancer stem cells.

The study examines the association between melanoma and senescence, which is the normal process in which cells decline and eventually stop duplicating after reaching maturity.

The researchers observed the long-term evolution of melanoma cell populations by monitoring the number of senescent cells, and discovered a slowing in growth with the majority of the cells turning senescent after three months. However, growth did not stop and was eventually resumed at its initial rate until the senescent cells had nearly disappeared.

The researchers applied a mathematical model of the experimental data using the cancer stem cell hypothesis, in which a sub-group of cancer cells multiply indefinitely, and therefore remain unaffected by senescence. These cancer stem cells produce a larger population of cancer cells, which are only able to replicate a certain number of times. The results of the model achieved an indirect confirmation that cancer stem cells are present in melanoma, an issue that remains to be controversial in the cancer research community.

The researchers conclude that even though a large percentage of cancer cells are susceptible to senescence, inducing senescence is unlikely to provide a successful therapeutic strategy because these cells are not important for tumor growth. The say however, that the indirect evidence of cancer stem cells in melanoma could potentially enable the development of new strategies for the treatment of specific types of cancer.

However, the strong resistance to drug induced senescence that may be found in the cancer stem cells will present a major challenge. Based on this study, treatment of tumors would concentrate on targeting only these cancer stem cells, instead of every single cancerous cell.

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Tame hunger and cravings with serotonin

Food-mood connection

Known mainly for relieving melancholy and agitation, serotonin is a powerful regulator of brain function. The lion's share of serotonin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract, but the brain, kidneys and liver also manufacture this neurotransmitter in small amounts. Carbohydrates are necessary for serotonin production -- giving insight into the irritability that is often found with those on a low-carb diet. Studies have shown that people who restrict carbohydrates are significantly more crabby than their carb-loving counterparts.

Using carbohydrates to manage appetite

Surprisingly, serotonin isn't just a potent brain chemical responsible for feelings of well-being and calm -- it plays an important role in the management of appetite too. A clinical study found that consuming small amounts of carbohydrates 20 minutes before a meal helped increase serotonin and reduced hunger. Participants of the experiment shared common traits like fatigue, irritability and depression that would usually strike between 3 and 5 p.m. Concentration, mood and energy levels of the volunteers were measured both before and after drinking either a carbohydrate or protein-rich test beverage. Only those who consumed the carbohydrate drink had improvement in mood and energy along with reduced food consumption throughout the day. Afternoon slumps and carbohydrate cravings were also diminished.

Maximize serotonin in the body

Have a look at the following tips and take advantage of serotonin's mood and appetite regulating benefits:

1. Enjoy small amounts of healthy carbohydrates

One of the most effective ways to increase serotonin is to consume carbohydrates. Timing carbohydrate consumption produces even better results. By eating 25-35 grams of carbohydrates 20 minutes before a meal, the body has time to produce serotonin -- naturally curbing appetite and boosting mood. Good choices include amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat and millet. Avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates to keep blood sugar levels stable. Beware of consuming carbohydrates along with fat or protein as this hampers the production of serotonin.

2. Reduce stress

We have all heard that stress causes a variety of health problems. Stress also interferes with serotonin. When we are tense, the body produces cortisol and adrenaline which block serotonin. Deep breathing, meditation, yoga and exercise help to manage chronic tension while keeping serotonin levels balanced.

3. Try Rhodiola rosea herb

Not only does rhodiola increase stamina and resilience to stress, it also slows the breakdown of serotonin within the system. As an added bonus, rhodiola helps to dissolve fat -- especially around the mid-section.

With all the great benefits of serotonin, why suffer low-carb diets? Instead, enjoy small portions of carefully timed carbohydrates to maintain healthy weight and a bright outlook.

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