Calendula a flowering herb that not only adds beauty to the garden but medicinal and culinary value to healthy life style as well

Last Updated on Friday, 14 October 2011 09:10 Written by Natural Health Team Friday, 14 October 2011 09:10

Health Information about Calendula a flowering herb that not only adds beauty to the garden but medicinal and culinary value to healthy life style as well

It seems no matter where we go, we are being marketed by products that promise to make us young, beautiful and healthy, whether it is on a billboard, television, radio, or sent to us through the mail.  The scary thing is the majority of these products are not  healthy for us at all.  We live in a world where just about everything is being altered for quicker results and greater quantity, which usually produces poorer quality. When this occurs in the products we consume through our mouths and skin, we really need to question: is it worth it?  These are some of the reasons I have decided to make my own soaps, laundry detergent, household cleaning agents, and have even changed my diet.  Our skin is our body’s largest organ and is permeable, everything we put on our skin will be absorbed into our body.  Natural ingredients such as Calendula are safe and have been around forever.

For as long as medical books have been around, physicians have been writing about this wonderful plant and its amazing benefits for the skin.  Calendula Officinalis also known as Pot Marigold or English Marigold, got the name because the dried flowers of the plant were traditionally used in soups and stews to fight off illness.  The name Calendula comes from the Latin word Calendae, meaning the first day of the month, as this plant can bloom every month of the year in its native climate.  Calendula is known for many health benefits but is most recognized for its effectiveness in healing skin problems, such as wounds, burns, insect bites, eczema, shingles and skin ulcers, to name a few.

Calendula is easy to grow; it is not too picky about soil conditions and can be grown from seed in just about any sunny location.  Once the plant starts to bloom you will constantly find yourself cutting the flower heads as they open; hence the word “calendae”, it does have a very long bloom season, and does reseed easily.  Once you have harvested the Calendula flower, you will need to spread the cut flowers out to dry.  This works best out of sun light and moist areas.  When the flower heads have dried you can store them in jars and use as needed.

Calendula can be taken internally as well as externally.  For internal use, Calendula can be used in salads, and to spice up meats and fish; it also can be made in to a tea.  Externally, Calendula is used in lotion salves, creams, soaps and refined oil.  I use the Calendula that I grow in my garden in my Calendula Orange Bars, and I have refined some Calendula oil which I use in my lip balms and also keep it handy for medicinal purposes.

I do hope you have enjoyed this article and have found the information useful, and that it has inspired you to want to learn of more natural and practical alternatives for healthier living.  As always I do hope you make that Pure-N-Simple choice.

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A Modern Herbal : The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs & Trees with Their Modern Scientific Uses

Last Updated on Saturday, 24 April 2010 10:46 Written by Natural Health Team Saturday, 24 April 2010 10:46

$9.54
5.0

• ISBN13: 9780486227986
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Product Description
Volume 1 of the fullest, most exact, most useful compilation of herbal material. Gigantic alphabetical encyclopedia, from aconite to zedoary, gives botanical information, medical properties, folklore, economic uses, much else. Indispensable to serious reader. Total in set: 161 illustrations…. More >>

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A Modern Herbal : The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs & Trees with Their Modern Scientific Uses

Miracle Fruit Berry ? the Latest Culinary Discovery Makes Sour Food Sweet

Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 April 2010 09:45 Written by Natural Health Team Wednesday, 21 April 2010 09:45

The Miracle Fruit Plant (Synsepalum dulcificum) is a plant first documented in 1725 during an excursion to its native West Africa. Local tribes picked the berry from shrubs and chewed it before meals. Miracle Fruit Berries contain a harmless active glycoprotein which temporarily gently binds to the tongue’s taste buds, causing bitter and sour foods, such as lemons and rhubarb, consumed after eating miracle fruit, to taste sweet. It is extremely simple to use: just chew the fruit or dissolve one “tablet” on your tongue and the effect will last from 10 minutes to 2 hours, depending mostly on what you eat.  When the effect wears off, everything tastes as before (lemons are sour again).

Miracle Fruit is safe and has no known side effects (well, lemons taste sweet!). It has been used for centuries (in Africa) and for decades in the US and Asia. Miracle Fruit is available as fresh fruits or freeze dried extract which can be stored for a much longer period of time. Miracle Fruit berries can be chewed before eating sour fruit (grapefruit, rhubarb, lemons, strawberries and similar) or used in combination with special recipes to make sugar free desserts. The desserts can be made without sugar and artificial sweeteners, pure freshly squeezed natural fruit juices are more than enough to make any dessert extremely sweet. Besides desserts, Miracle Fruit can also be used to prepare sugar free cocktails, 100% natural lemonades and other delicious drinks. Innovative chefs like Ian Kleinman of Westin, Colorado, are using Miracle Fruit powder and tablets to make innovative foods like Miracle Fruit gum and miracle fruit popsicles.

Miracle Fruit first caught attention of party goers. Numerous Miracle Fruit parties have been organized worldwide, some of which received wide media coverage in newspapers like New York Times and The Guardian. Foods served at a typical Miracle Fruit Party include all sorts of citrus fruits, dark chocolate, wine, beer, cocktails, and essential fresh strawberries, kiwi and rhubarb. Miracle Fruit can also improve the taste after chemotherapy. Results are inconclusive but it seems to work in around 50% of all cases. It also has endless possibilities as a sugar substitute for diabetes patients. They can finally enjoy in desserts without sugar and controversial artificial sweeteners, some of which have been rumored to cause health problems.

In Japan, Miracle Fruit tablets have been on sale since 2006. Miracle Fruit Café’s, serving sugar free desserts and Miracle Fruit berries have become very popular in Japan in the past two years. Tablets are of medicinal quality and produced in a pharmaceutical clean room. They contain no artificial additives (such as colorants or preservatives).

Miracle Fruit is also known as Synsepalum dulcificum, Frutto dei miracoli, Fruta maravillosa, Fruto milagro, Fruta de milagro, Frutamilagrosa, Sideroxylon dulcificum, Mirakelfrukten, Mirakelfrukt, Mirakelbær, Mirakelbaer, Wunderbeere, Mirakelbes and Le Fruit Miraculeux.

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Liquid Sense Culinary Flavors, Lemon Grass, 1-Ounce Bottles

Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 April 2010 09:45 Written by Natural Health Team Wednesday, 14 April 2010 09:45

$13.50

• Liquid Sense Lemon Grass is the fragrance of pure lemon grass
• Liquid Sense can be used for fragrance, aromatherapy, or as a refreshing skin care product
• Liquid Sense uses natures finest ingredients – flowers, fruits, spices and organic herbs
• The Liquid Sense products are floral and fruit hydrosol essences that can be used for fragrance or as a refreshing skin care product.
• The purity of these floral hydrosols also makes them desirable in the aromatherapy markets where scent therapy contributes to health and well being.

Product Description
Liquid Sense Lemon Grass… More >>

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Liquid Sense Culinary Flavors, Lemon Grass, 1-Ounce Bottles