IS CUCUMBER REALLY THAT WONDERFUL?

IS CUCUMBER REALLY THAT WONDERFUL?

(photo from ufseeds.com)

A friend forwarded me this mail.  I am sharing it because it's very interesting.  However, please be very discerning. I have not checked the veracity of any information here.  I do not even know where this article came from.  So, have fun reading it. Use wisdom and caution when trying the tips.  And own up.  Whatever the results, you were warned and you were the one who made the decision to try.

In short, don't blame me if you fall asleep after eating a cucumber. And don't blame the cucumber if people still shy away from you because of foul odor coming from your not-so-kissable mouth.  Even if you put 10 cucumbers at the roof of your mouth, the article didn't say you should stop brushing your teeth.  The cucumber is supposed to be a stop-gap measure. It was never meant to be a toothbrush, much less, a toothpaste.

Here goes:

"1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need.  Every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a
Cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that Quick pick-me-up that can last for Hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a
Cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, Spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give Off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the
Area.

5 Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6.. Want to avoid a hangover or Terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices
Before going to bed and wake up refreshed and Headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B Vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and
headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers
Have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a Quick and durable shine that not only looks
great but also repels Water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a Cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic Hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, Facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire Cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or Mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 Seconds to eliminate bad breath, the Phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your Mouth responsible for causing bad Breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel?
Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the Surface you want to clean, not only will it Remove years of tarnish and bring back the Shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm You fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a Pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen Writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!"

Careful with your Tea

Twig tea, anyone? Study says labels often mislead
Published July 21, 2011

OSLO (Reuters) - Herbal teas often contain unlisted extra ingredients such as weeds, ferns or bits of tree, according to a study by New York high school students that could help tighten labeling rules.

"A third of the herbal teas had things in them that are not on the label," Mark Stoeckle, of the Rockefeller University who helped oversee the project, told Reuters by telephone.

The students collected dozens of teas and herbal teas and found extra ingredients in some including ferns, grass, parsley, other weeds and even traces of an ornamental tree, Taiwanese cheesewood, they said.

"For me, the most surprising ingredient was the annual bluegrass," said Catherine Gamble, 18, of Trinity School. "It seems kind of outrageous to have it in a tea."

"I think nothing was outright poisonous...but things like chamomile (found in some samples) have been known to cause allergic reactions to people. To have those in tea and unlabelled could be dangerous," she told Reuters.

The students said that three of 70 tea products tested and 21 of 60 herbal products contained rogue ingredients not on the labels.

The tea study, using $5,000 equipment for genetic testing and a technique known as DNA barcoding, could help regulators tighten labeling rules for teabags and make manufacturers improve what they put in the brews, they said.

Testing can be done for about $15 a sample and takes about 24 hours. The teas and infusions were from 33 manufacturers in 17 nations, according to the findings, published on Thursday in the online journal Scientific Reports.

"It's a mystery why ingredients are unlisted," said Grace Young, 15. "It might just be a weed picked up during harvesting or the residue of a plant used in one product gets passed to the next product in a processing facility."

Stoeckle said extra ingredients such as chamomile or parsley might be added deliberately to provide flavor or color. Or manufacturers may seek to sell full-looking tea bags and so pad them with filler.

"This is something that manufacturers and regulators could use," Stoeckle said of the DNA technique for tea. Importers, for instance, could double check if a shipment of dried leaves is really tea.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/qNdUjy Scientific Reports, online July 21, 2011.

MY THOUGHTS

Is there cause for alarm?  For me, yes!  I don't want to take in anything that  I am not aware of.  Chamomile is fine. I'm not allergic to it.  But bluegrass? check out the pic.  i doubt you'd like to eat that.  unless you're a cow?

from ipm.msu.edu

Chiropractors have an ethical duty

Chiropractors have an ethical duty to tell their patients about risks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2011/jul/12/chiropractors-ethical-duty-patients-risks

A survey suggests fewer than half of chiropractors always discuss the risks of cervical manipulation with patients

Most consumers seem to think all alternative treatments are natural and therefore safe. I have repeatedly pointed out that this is not necessarily true. Some alternative therapies are associated with very significant risks. Chiropractic, for instance, has left many patients in wheelchairs and some have even died.1 Yet most chiropractors vehemently deny any responsibility.

A recent article by researchers from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic in Bournemouth started with the telling statement that "the risk associated with cervical manipulation is controversial".2 This is certainly true. About every second patient experiences transient adverse effects after chiropractic, and several hundred cases of permanent neurological deficits or death are on record.1,3,4 Most of these serious complications are caused when an artery in the neck gets damaged during extreme manipulations of the upper spine. When this happens, the patient suffers a stroke and, as we all know, one can die of a stroke.

The Bournemouth team sent questionnaires about risk-related issues to 200 randomly selected UK chiropractors and received 92 responses. Their results show, among other things, that "only 45% indicated they always discuss [the risks of cervical manipulation] with patients ... "2

In plain language, this means that the majority of UK chiropractors seem to violate the most basic ethical standards in healthcare. If we assume that the 92 responders were from the more ethical end of the chiropractic spectrum, it might even be the vast majority of UK chiropractors who are violating the axiom of informed consent.

I applaud the authors for their courage in publishing their findings. They conclude that, "notwithstanding legal obligations, reluctance to disclose risk ... still remains, despite acknowledgement of moral and ethical responsibility."2 There is nothing to add to this clear message.

MY THOUGHTS

Better hash up on this issue.  I love going to the chiro.  But this is scary.