Eating Pumpkin Seeds

When people think of pumpkins, most people think of those orange gourds that are fun for picking and carving during the autumn season. Pumpkins are also great for making delicious and flavorful recipes. However, did you know that the pumpkin can also be used for its seeds?

You've heard of eating sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and other various types, but it may be time to add pumpkin seeds to your list if you haven't already. The dietitians on our Medical Expert Board gave us insight into what would happen if you added them to your diet. Read on to see what the effects of pumpkin seeds are. Then, be sure to check out Surprising Side Effects of Eating Flax Seeds, Says Science.

According to Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, LDN, CLEC, CPT, author of The First Time Mom's Pregnancy Cookbook, The 7 Ingredient Healthy Pregnancy Cookbook, and Fueling Male Fertility, pumpkin seeds contain zinc, a nutrient that supports immune health.

"Eating them consistently may help you take in enough of this key mineral and support your immune health," says Manaker.

"Pumpkin seeds are high in fiber which can be a good thing, but practicing portion control is important," says Lisa Young, PhD, RDN, author of Finally Full, Finally Slim, and a nutritionist in private practice.

If you do consume too many pumpkin seeds at once, Dr. Young suggests that it may lead to gas and stomach discomfort.  READ MORE...

Boosting the Immune System

Understanding which vitamins boost the immune system is imperative. After all, our world is not sterile. Every day, we are exposed to a myriad of harmful microbes that are constantly evolving to get better at infecting us.


Knowing the risks, we often try to do everything in our power to protect ourselves from falling ill. We might put on a jacket, drink some hot tea and head to a pharmacy for some reinforcements. 

But do we know which vitamins boost the immune system? And is it even possible to fight off a cold with certain nutrients, or is it just a marketing gimmick?

It’s hard to understate the role that nutrition plays in maintaining our health and wellbeing. Studies(opens in new tab) have shown that a diet that consists mostly of wholefoods and provides a sufficient amount of good quality protein (our guide to the best protein powder can help if you’re struggling to meet your intake) is key to longevity and improved quality of life. 

However, our immune system is arguably the most complex part of the human body apart from the brain and it may require more than getting few specific nutrients to keep it in peak condition.

Here, we’ll look at whether vitamins can really boost the immune system and which of these nutrients are important for helping you to stay healthy.  READ MORE...

Matching Drugs to DNA

We have the technology to start a new era in medicine by precisely matching drugs to people's genetic code, a major report says.

Some drugs are completely ineffective or become deadly because of subtle differences in how our bodies function.

The British Pharmacological Society and the Royal College of Physicians say a genetic test can predict how well drugs work in your body.

The tests could be available on the NHS next year.

Your genetic code or DNA is an instruction manual for how your body operates. The field of matching drugs to your DNA is known as pharmacogenomics.

It would have helped Jane Burns, from Liverpool, who lost two-thirds of her skin when she reacted badly to a new epilepsy drug.

She was put on carbamazepine when she was 19. Two weeks later, she developed a rash and her parents took her to A&E when she had a raging fever and began hallucinating.

The skin damage started the next morning. Jane told the BBC: "I remember waking up and I was just covered in blisters, it was like something out of a horror film, it was like I'd been on fire."

Her epilepsy medicine caused Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which affects the skin and is far more likely to happen in people who are born with specific mutations in their genetic code.

Mrs. Burns says she was "extremely, extremely lucky" and said she supports pharmacogenomic tests.

"If it saves your life, then it's a fantastic thing."      READ MORE...

Our Legs

When we are old, our feet must always remain strong.

When we age, we should not be afraid of hair turning grey (or) skin sagging (or) wrinkles.

Among the signs of *longevity,* as summarized by the US Magazine "Prevention", *strong leg muscles* are listed on the top, as *the most important and essential one*

Do not move your legs for two weeks and your leg strength will decrease by 10 years.

A study from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark found that both old and young, during the two weeks of *inactivity,* the legs muscle strength got weakened by a third_ which is 
*equivalent to 20-30 years of ageing.*

As our leg muscles weaken, it will take a long time to recover, even if we do rehabilitation exercises, later.

Therefore, regular exercise like walking, is very important.

The whole body weight/load remain on legs.

The feet are a kind of *pillars,* bearing the weight of the human body.

Interestingly, 50% of a person's bones and 50% of the muscles, are in the two legs.

The largest and strongest joints and bones of the human body are also in the legs.

Strong bones, strong muscles, and flexible joints form the "Iron Triangle" that carries the most important load on the human body.

70% of human activity and burning of energy in one's life, is done by the two feet.

Do you know this? When a person is young, his *thighs have enough strengths, to lift a small car!

The foot is the *center of body locomotion.

Both the legs together have 50% of the nerves of the human body, 50% of the blood vessels and 50% of the blood flowing through them.

It is the large circulatory network that connects the body.

Only when the feet are healthy then the *convention current of blood* *flows, smoothly, so people who have strong leg muscles will definitely
have a *strong heart.*

Aging starts from the feet upwards.

As a person gets older, the accuracy and speed of transmission of instructions between the brain and the legs decreases, unlike when a person is young.

In addition, the so-called *Bone Fertilizer Calcium* will sooner or later be lost with the passage of time, making the elderly more prone to bone fractures.

Fractures in the elderly easily triggers a series of complications, especially fatal diseases such as brain thrombosis.

Do you know that 15% of elderly patients will die within a year of a thigh-bone fracture.

Exercising the legs, is never too late, even after the age of 60 years.

Although our feet will gradually age with time, exercising our feet is a life-long task.

Only by strengthening the legs, one can prevent further aging.

Please walk for at least 30-40 minutes, daily to ensure that your legs receive sufficient exercise and to ensure that your leg muscles remain healthy.

Trying to Stay Healthy

Balance of Nature - fruits & vegetables in pills  --  $100/month

Prevagen - helping one's memory in pills --  $30/m0nth

                                                                                       $130/month or $1560/year or $15,600/decade

Here's the deal...

I never used Balance of Nature but during my lifetime, I WAS NEVER SICK WITH A COLD OR THE FLU and this was the case because I exercised, slept, ate what I wanted and still never got sick.   So, in my mind, this is a scam on the America getting them to spend their money on something they don't really need.

Another example of the this is Prevagen and how it helps one's memory...  In all my education and experience, I have discovered that one can TRAIN ONESELF to learn and memorize FOR FREE...  all it takes is practice and all practice takes is time.  I learned to speed read on my own and without taking a pill to help me improve that skill.

DON"T BE FOOLED AMERICA...

If you want or think you want more fruits and veges, then use the money ($1200 annually) and invest in a JUICER...  You can juice these fruits and veges and get the same benefits if you think you need them at a much less cost to you and spend that money on something else that you think you need or want.