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This popular herb, Oregano, whose name means “mountain joy” is just loaded with health benefits! It also happens to be delicious with a warm, balsamic and aromatic flavor that makes it the perfect addition to Mediterranean and Mexican cuisines. But did you know that Oregano is known for its potent medicinal properties as well?

According to Whfoods.org Oregano is a effective anti-bacterial. The volatile oils in this spice include thymol and carvacrol, both of which have been shown to inhibit the growth of bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus . In Mexico, researchers have compared oregano to tinidazol, a commonly used prescription drug to treat infection from the amoeba Giardia lamblia. These researchers found oregano to be more effective against Giardia than the commonly used prescription drug.

It also has potent anti-oxidant activity. Oregano contains numerous phytonutrients - including thymol and rosmarinic acid - that have also been shown to function as potent antioxidants that can prevent oxygen-based damage to cell structures throughout the body. In laboratory studies, oregano has demonstrated stronger anti-oxidant capacity than either of the two synthetic anti-oxidants commonly added to processed food – BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) and BHA (butylated bydroxyanisole). Additionally, on a per gram fresh weight basis, oregano has demonstrated 42 times more antioxidant activity than apples, 30 times more than potatoes, 12 times more than oranges and 4 times more than blueberries.

For thousands of years, people of the Mediterranean have relied on oregano as a natural preservative. Modern laboratory tests have proven it to be a potent killer of food-borne microbes and pathogens, including staphylococcus, campylobacter, E. coli and giardia. In addition, oregano oil is a powerful natural remedy in the treatment of athlete’s foot, psoriasis and eczema.

Depending on the ailment, a few drops of the oil are taken under the tongue or applied topically. It’s best to dilute the oil with olive oil if using externally, to protect the skin from its mild stinging or burning sensation. If taken internally, diluting also helps improve palatability, because although it goes by the same name as the green stuff in your cupboard, this kind of oregano packs a real punch.

For more info.

You probably already know that it’s important to drink enough water. A minimum of eight glasses of water a day is recommended. You should aim for more if it is really hot, or you are working out and sweating a lot. Getting enough water in your body will prevent you from getting dehydrated. According to WEBMD the early signs of dehydration are increased thirst, dry mouth, sticky saliva and reduced urine output with dark yellow urine. You may also experience a lack of energy and a headache. None of these sound very fun. I know it is hard sometimes to drink that much water; especially when sodas and coffee tempt us. However, to stay healthy and feel great, we should strive to drink those eight glasses of water a day. Here are a few tips to help you remember to drink the water, and to make it a little more pleasant or interesting.

1. Keep a LogThis can be as simple as a little piece of paper on the fridge, or a page in your day planner. Just make a little checkmark, or dash on the piece of paper every time you drink a glass of water. The log will help you keep track of how much water you have had in any given day. You’ll also be surprised how motivating it is to try to get those eight little checkmarks on there every day. Another idea would be to use little stickers instead.

2. Add Some Lemon JuiceI tend to get bored with drinking just water after a few days. Change things up and add a little flavor by adding a teaspoon or less of lemon to your water. You can also try some other fruit juices. Just make sure you are still drinking mainly water. Just a splash of juice should be enough to make things interesting and give the water some flavor without adding a lot of sugar and calories.

3. Try Some Club SodaIf you are craving the fizz of a soda, try some Club Soda. Most brands have a little too much fizz for me. I end up watering them down with guess what water. If you want to get really fancy, check your local grocery store for flavored club sodas. Alternatively, you can also add a splash of fruit juice to your watered down club soda.

4. Drink Some Water When You Feel HungryUnfortunately many of us have gotten so out of tune with our bodies that we feel hungry when we are actually thirsty. If you feel hungry, try drinking a glass of water first. You may just be thirsty.

5. Carry A Water BottleIt’s much easier to drink water when you have it readily available. Carry a bottle of water around with you in the car, at work, while running errands, in the yard, and even while you are working around the house. You’ll be sipping away the water without even noticing it.

6. Drink More If You Are Working OutWe already touched on this, but it bears repeating. Make sure you drink a few extra glasses of water if you work out, or if you spend some time outside while it’s hot. Your body uses and needs more water when it sweats a lot. So don’t forget to fill back up on water during and after your exercise.

Just pay attention to how much you drink and implement some of these ideas if you don�t get the recommended eight glasses of water a day. Your body will thank you for it in the long run.

Susanne Myers together with Christine Steendahl, owns and publishes the Healthy Menu Mailer. Each week, we provide you with 7 dinner recipes.

Crock Bean Soup (freezable)
Serves 6+

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Salad, whole grain rolls and you’re set!
VEGETARIANS: Use veggie broth and skip the turkey ham.

The ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable shortening or coconut oil
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cup spelt flour (if you can’t eat spelt due to a wheat
allergy substitute 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. oat flour and 1/2 cup
plus 2 Tbsp. barley flour)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
1 cup oats
1/2 cup raisins

The process:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat shortening or coconut oil
with molasses and maple syrup in a large mixing bowl. Add
vanilla extract. Combine splet flour, salt, cinnamon, baking
soda and baking powder. Add to mixing bowl. Add oats, stir,
then add raisins. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto a lightly
greased cookie sheet and cook 10-12 minutes until cookies
are browning around the edges. Let cool on cookie sheet
before transferring to plate with a spatula.

From “The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook: Two Hundred Gourmet & Homestyle Recipes for the Food Allergic Family” by Cybele Pascal (Vital Health Publishing, $18.95) Copyright © 2006

Article created: 12/30/2005 04:36:33 AM

What’s Safe to Eat?
An alarming rise in food allergies among kids has parents questioning
MEG BARONE, Correspondent

Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures. And, obviously, it’s a necessity. But the very food that sustains us can also kill. When the body’s immune system mistakenly identifies certain foods as enemies it attacks the invaders, prompting any number of reactions, from annoying skin rashes to stomach discomfort to the life-threatening throat swelling. Such was the case last month when 15-year-old Christina Deforges, of Canada, died after kissing her boyfriend, who had eaten a peanut butter sandwich hours before.

Deaths from food allergies are rare, only 150 to 200 per year in the United States, according to the nonprofit Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network at www.foodallergy.org.

But allergic reactions to food prompt about 30,000 trips to emergency rooms annually, and food allergies themselves are increasing at an alarming rate. Disturbingly, so is the severity of reactions, said Dr. William Rockwell, chief of allergy and immunology at Bridgeport Hospital.

“Since the 1990s it’s been going up, not only the allergies but how big the reactions are and we really don’t know why. The medical community is dumbfounded. I don’t know whether it’s something we’re doing to the food, the preservatives or whether the human being is changing,” Rockwell said.

Some speculate it’s because of genetic engineering of produce and the antibiotics, steroids and hormones injected into livestock, but no scientific evidence exists to support or disprove the claim.

One thing is sure. Certain foods should be avoided by certain people, particularly the common culprits — peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc.), shellfish, dairy, soy, wheat, eggs and fish.

However, warns Rockwell, “Any food can be allergic for any individual. There are some people who are allergic to celery. It’s very rare but it does happen.”

In addition to foods, children and adults can have reactions to food preservatives and artificial food colorings and flavorings, said Dr. Samantha Eagle, a naturopath at the Center for Naturopathic Medicine in Stratford, who also has a master’s degree in nutrition.

A change in food labeling laws that takes effect Jan. 1 and a new cookbook due out next month will make life easier for those with food allergies.

In August 2004 President Bush signed into law the food allergen labeling and consumer protection act that will end the use of false or misleading information on labels. Beginning Sunday, food manufacturers are require to list on packages the common or usual names of ingredients in their products.

Currently, they can disguise ingredients by using less recognizable names, for example, whey, casien or casienate to represent dairy. But that could spell trouble for the person allergic to dairy products and who is unfamiliar with alternate names.

“When the new law goes into effect they can no longer say ‘may contain one or more of the following — corn oil, peanut oil.’ It has to say ‘this batch was made with peanut oil,’ ” Rockwell said.

“It’s going to be a help to people, but I’m still telling people they’ve got to use their brains,” Rockwell said.

Cybele Pascal, author of “The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook: Two Hundred Gourmet & Homestyle Recipes for
the Food Allergic Family” (Vital Health Publishing, $18.95), said she learned the importance of diligent food label-reading three years ago after her 4-month-old son Lennon was diagnosed with severe dairy and soy allergies.

Pascal, of Westchester County, New York, radically changed her own eating habits to prevent allergens from reaching Lennon through her breast milk. She switched to a non-dairy creamer for her morning coffee, but Lennon continued to suffer from bloody diarrhea.

“I discovered that the non-dairy creamer actually had dairy in it,” said Pascal, whose experience prompted her to write the cookbook.

And there is definitely a market for it.

“When I started writing my book three years ago there were seven million Americans with food allergies. When I finished the book only three years later in 2005 there were over 11 million. And the majority of them is children,” she said.

Eagle said Pascal’s book is great because it prevents the allergic child from feeling deprived and allows families to eat the same meal.

It also addresses people’s misconceptions that allergy diets are tasteless.

“It’s challenging to make tasty meals for these people but it can be done,” said Valerie Sorensen, owner and chef of Kiss the Chef, a catering company in Stratford, whose clients more frequently ask her to accommodate food allergies in her menus.

Sorensen teaches healthy cooking classes with Dr. Susan Rzucidlo, director of the Center for Naturopathic Medicine, and gives cooking tips to Rzucidlo’s and Eagle’s allergic patients.

Pascal’s cookbook eliminates all major allergens from recipes. In the past these type of cookbooks have concentrated on eliminating one item, for example eggs, from their recipes.

Drastically changing family menus and food preparation is imperative though not easy. But what initially is a minor inconvenience becomes habit, Pascal said.

“That learning curve is really steep at the beginning and it can be pretty overwhelming,” said Beth McTigue, of Fairfield, mother of Owen, 14, who has allergies. But the vigilance must be ten-fold once a child goes off to school.

“If you have your child at home it’s overwhelming anyway [to make changes]. If you’re child is going off on a bus to school, that’s really scary. Once they’re out of your hands and there are birthday parties and there are snacks and there are lunches, that’s when you begin to lose control and rely on other people to take up your role as a protector,” she said.

McTigue worked for safety initiatives to protect children with allergies in the Fairfield school system — a peanut-free table in the cafeteria, no snacks in the classroom, twice-yearly drills for severe reactions. McTigue warns parents that the teenage years are the most dangerous. “They don’t want to call attention to themselves so they won’t ask questions about food. Some object to wearing the EpiPen [a device that provides an emergency self-injectable dose of epinephrine for those experiencing an acute reaction to something they ate]. They want to blend in. Those elements are deadly,” said McTigue, whose son carries two EpiPens at all times.

“I’ve heard of kids who keep their EpiPens in their lockers, start having a reaction and never make it to their lockers. They just collapse.”

Rockwell also recommends carrying two because “35 percent of people who have anaphylaxis will need a second dose.”

The EpiPen comes with a demonstrator so people can practice administering the shot without actually injecting themselves.

“The babysitter’s got to know how to use it.” Have them practice too, Rockwell said.

McTigue learned of her son’s allergy after feeding him peanut butter when he was 10 months old. Today, doctors recommend not exposing children to allergy-inducing foods until at least age 3 when the immune system is stronger.

If there is a family history of allergies, that mother should avoid high allergy foods during pregnancy and while breast feeding, said Rockwell. “And the child should avoid eating those things until they are 3 or 4 or 5 years old. That will prevent or delay the onset of the allergy,” he said.

“There is no way to predict who’s going to have an allergy until they have a reaction, Rockwellsaid. “Avoidance is the only treatment for food allergies right now.”

Most people think allergies only affect children, some of whom are lucky enough to grow out them. But adults can also develop food sensitivities and allergies later in life.

“Some people have allergies come on after a trauma to the system. If you get the flu or have a death of a loved one, an emotional trauma, something that changes the hormonal balance in your body. Going through menopause for women will sometimes trigger allergies. Any one of those things can cause an adult to get them,” Rockwell said.

“Unfortunately there are a lot of hidden exposures. Some restaurants thicken their chili with peanut butter,” Rockwell said.

When eating away from home make sure you ask about ingredients and food preparation methods, Pascal warned.

Reprinted from the Connecticut Post

It is that time of year again, time to make your resolutions and hope you can incorporate some new life goals. This year is the “perfect” year to make some resolutions that will have some real impact on your health and happiness, and the health of our planet.

Here are a few ideas:

If you resolve to lose weight make sure that you try and achieve this goal without the use of unhealthy fad diets. Perhaps you could just resolve to start eating whole foods, more organic produce, or to stop eating processed foods instead. Perhaps you could start by emptying your refrigerator and pantry and starting over from scratch…you and your family deserve it.

If you resolve to reduce, reuse, and recycle try using some of the following tips. Since plastics are a major component of our waste, ditch them for reusable glass containers. Also look for alternatives products that do not use plastic containers such as a shampoo bar wrapped in fabric. Start using reusable cloth diapers instead of environmentally unhealthy disposable diapers. Take your grass clippings, leaves, and tree branches and hedge clippings to your compost pile and not the garbage pile.

If you resolve to lessen your impact on the earth, make it a point to explore alternative transportation such as a bicycle or your own two feet. This will certainly help you with your weight loss and/or healthier body resolutions too.

If you resolve to spend more time with your family then it may be a great time to start planning a “healthy” vacation for the summer months. Check into some fitness camps or retreats that the whole family can participate in.

Here is to a great new year filled with health and happiness for our planet and everyone on it!