DAAN Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

As summer approaches, with good food, parties, and BBQs, why not incorporate some healing herbs and spices into your food, both for a great taste and their healing properties.

“Cooked beef tends to develop more HCAs [heterocyclic amines - a chemical that may increase your cancer risk] than other kinds of cooked meats, such as pork and chicken,” said Professor Smith. “Cooked beef patties appear to be the cooked meat with the highest mutagenic activity and may be the most important source of HCAs in the human diet.”

Professor Smith’s team studied six spices, cumin, coriander seeds, galangal, fingerroot (also known as Chinese ginger or Chinese key), rosemary and turmeric. Fingerroot, rosemary and turmeric were the most effective, with rosemary in the lead.

Using rosemary to prepare your meat before barbecuing should help to reduce the risk. The British Dietetic Association (BDA) also suggest marinading meats before you cook them as this can reduce HCA levels by 95 per cent. The ingredients often used in marinades, such as citrus juices, herbs, spices and olive oil are rich in cancer-fighting anti-oxidants. Other healthy barbecuing tips from the BDA include serving meat from the barbie with yogurt, as the bacteria help to protect your digestive tract, and cutting off the most burnt bits before you tuck in.

A concise list of the best foods for your health, along with the benefits they provide. Here’s a taste:

Read the whole thing, and incorporate these foods into your diet.

Spices and herbs have been growing in popularity as ways to promote health. They don’t just taste good, they’re “super foods.”

February is Heart Health month and what better day than Valentine’s Day to keep you and your sweetheart healthy? Remember, Food is medicine and the best way to get this medicine is to eat whole foods to get your daily nutrients.

For the appetizer, you can create a dish with tomatoes,feta cheese, balsamic vinegar, garlic, olive oil and rosemary. Tomatoes have lycopene, an antioxidant similar to Vitamin A, which provides that bright red color to tomotoes. Lycopene is believed to have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. It helps prevent prostate cancer. Lycopene is absorbed better when tomatoes are cooked, or combined with olive oil, as in this dish. Lycopene is also found in strawberries, watermelon, guava, apricots and pink grapefruit.

Rosemary has been traditionally felt to improve memory. In fact, in ancient Greece, students would place rosemary sprigs in their hair when studying for exams. Rosemary should not be used by pregnant women or women who wish to become pregnant.

Garlic is believed to help reduce blood pressure and the risk of heart disease. Slicing, chopping, mincing or pressing garlic before cooking will enhance the beneficial effects of garlic. Garlic is also being investigated for it’s potential anti-cancer properties. Garlic should be eaten raw, or stand for ten minutes before heating, in order to preserve it’s beneficial properties.

The sliced avocado is a nice accompaniment because has heart healthy monounsaturated fat.

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Cinnamon, which was used in traditional Chinese medicine, is sprinkled over the dessert. Again, it is felt that cinnamon may help control blood sugar levels.

Here are some heart healthy beverages that go well with a healthy Valentine’s Day dinner. First there is hot green tea, with a bit of sliced ginger. Green tea and black tea come from the same plant. The key difference between the two is in preparation. For black tea, the leaves are allowed to ferment, a process believed to lessen the potency of the active ingredients in green tea. Green tea is made by steaming the freshly cut tea leaves. Eating lycopene rich foods as well as green tea daily is felt to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Red wine is part of the Mediterranean diet and can help reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke. Remember though, you lose that benefit to the heart if you have more than one glass of red wine a day. The same benefit to the heart can be gained by drinking purple grape juice instead of red wine. And pomegranate juice has three times as much antioxidant activity as red wine, so it may be a healthier option.