Strawberry Consumption Helps Prevent Cancer

Scientists have studied that consumption of strawberries may help in decreasing the risk for esophageal cancer.


Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer and in China together carried out the study. This was the first-ever joint Ohio State cancer clinical trial to be conducted in China.

"We concluded from this study that six months of strawberry treatment was safe and easy to consume. In addition, our preliminary data suggests that strawberries decreased histological grade of precancerous lesions and reduced cancer-related molecular events," said Tong Chen, lead author, and assistant professor at Ohio State.

Laughter Is Not The Best Medicine?

“Laughter is not the best medicine”.  That’s what a scientist has pointed out.

A recent study was conducted by Dr. Margaret Stuber, a psychiatry professor at University of California, about whether laughter truly helps patients.

After discussing and analyzing, she found out that laughter helps in mood improvement and lessening distraction, but she could not find a benefit from laughter alone (Discovery News).

Health Benefits of Queen Mangosteen

Mangosteen is an evergreen tree that has leathery leaves and a round, purple or reddish-brown fruit that is smaller than a tennis ball. The bitter rind is inedible, and the juicy pulp fruit has about four to eight segment. Some says mangosteen taste ranges from strawberry, peach, vanilla ice cream with a very slight sourness. Others say it is a mix between lychee and grapes or pear and strawberry. 

Scientists have found the juice from the thick and rough rind of mangosteen to contain xanthones -- biologically active, natural chemical substances that have extremely potent antioxidants that can fight inflammation, bacteria, fungus infection, allergies, and even cancer. The greatest discovery to date is that xanthones can inhibit the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). 

The Versatile Eggplant: Does it have Egg contents?

Does eggplant, or aubergine as it is known worldwide, have egg contents, hence the name eggplant? Of course not! It's just that eggplant used to be small, white, and egg-shaped, when it was first discovered.

Eggplant is a vegetable highly prized for its deep purple and glossy skin. It comes in small, medium, or large sizes, and in pear or banana shape. Its mild, subtle taste and soft, cream-colored, somewhat spongy texture is never missed out in the menu lists of both restaurants and sidewalk eateries. 

While eggplant cannot boast about its nutritional content as compared with green and yellow vegetables, it does have nutritional, culinary, and medicinal merits.

Passionflower: Nature's Passionate Stress Solution

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnat) also goes by the name passion vine, apricot vine, or Corona de Cristo. It's a hardy, climbing vine that is noted for its beautiful flowers and tasty fruit. This perennial creeper is native to Central and South America, the West Indies, and the southeast region of the United States. The climbing tendrils can be trained so that the vine can easily grow on a trellis. The aerial parts are normally collected during the flowering and fruiting period and used either fresh or dried. The leaves and stems of the plant provide the mild sedative activity.

Passionflower was cultivated by Native Americans, both for its edible fruits and for its medicinal value. In the nineteenth century, it was a popular treatment for insomnia. Europeans learned about passionflower from the Aztecs of Mexico, who used it as a sedative to treat insomnia and nervousness. The plant was taken to Europe, where it is now widely cultivated and used in herbal medicine (as a tea or as capsules) in combination with valerian and lemon balm. There appears to be a synergism between the components in this mixture. This herbal preparation is a useful treatment for tenseness, restlessness, and irritability, and provides mild sedation without any addictive properties.

Cayenne: Spicing up your health!

What is Cayenne? It's a red hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes, and for medicinal purposes. Scientifically known as Capsicum frutuscens, cayenne prefers warm, moist, and nutrient-rich soil in a tropical climate.

Cayenne has healing powers. Its most active ingredient is capsaicin which has pain-relieving qualities. The capsaicin cream, when applied on the skin, can ease the discomfort of psoriasis, nerve pain, and arthritis. Be careful, however, not to apply topical capsaicin on cracked skin or open wound.