Three Easy Mushroom Varieties To Grow at Home

It is important to gain control over what goes into your mouth. Understanding where your food comes from is great for your body and the health of the environment, but starting another container tomato plant or a itty-bitty herb garden in your kitchen window can start to get old after a while. If you’re sick of sprouting greens and eager to try your green thumb at something new, the wonderful world of mushrooms might be calling your name.

Cast off your concerns that all homegrown mushrooms are poisonous. That’s something mothers tell young children to prevent them from chomping on a death cap in the backyard. In truth, there are dozens of mushroom varieties that you can grow right at home, all without putting your health at risk. Best of all, homegrown mushrooms are incredibly tasty and versatile. Rich in flavor and easy to toss into any recipe, homegrown mushrooms infuse an earthy taste into every dish you add them to, all for far less cost than buying them at the store.

What is a Mushroom, Anyways?

Not a plant or a vegetable, mushrooms are in their own fungal family. Often called saprophytes or organisms that extract nutrients from decomposing plants and animals, mushrooms get their nutrients by breaking down tree stumps, leaves and other material on the forest floor. Scientists estimate that there are over 140,000 species of mushrooms in the world today, though less than 10% have been fully studied at this time. However, the ones that have withstood scientific scrutiny are nothing less than impressive. Ranging in color, texture, shape and toxicity, mushrooms open an entire world of culinary adventures, though only a small number of edible mushrooms actually make it to the supermarket shelves.

Benefits Of Eating Mushrooms

No other food can quite compare to the health benefits of mushrooms. Not only can regular consumption help reduce your risk of developing breast cancer and diabetes, but mushrooms also naturally lower bad cholesterol levels and fill you up with protein, vitamins, antioxidants and more. Mushrooms are full of valuable substances like riboflavin, pantothenic acid, folate, thiamine, and niacin. As they are the only naturally vegan dietary source of vitamin D, mushrooms can naturally help inhibit the growth of cancer cells. One cup of stir fried shiitake mushrooms provides 3 grams of fiber, which helps you feel full for longer after your meal. Because most varieties are almost 90% water, mushrooms are extremely low in calories but still make for a top rate meat substitute that will leave you feeling satisfied.

Top Reasons to Grow Your Own Mushrooms

Your mushroom experiences have been stunted if you haven’t branched out beyond boring portabello mushrooms. Despite what you might think, growing your own mushrooms doesn’t require acres of farmland or specialized knowledge. All you need to get started is a little knowledge, the right spores, and motivation. The techniques for mushroom cultivation tend to be very basic, meaning that a little experience will take you a long way towards becoming self-sufficient and sustainable with your fungi consumption.

Top Three Types to Grow Yourself

Risotto fans, rejoice! Growing your own mushrooms is a simple way to enjoy the benefits of these fascinating fungi, and there are dozens of delicious mushroom varieties that are simple for the beginner to grow. Once you start growing one of these three mushroom varieties, you will soon start branching out into ever fancier varieties to grow. But be warned; mushroom cultivation is addictive, and once you start, it’s too hard to stop.

Pearl Oyster Mushrooms

You don’t need lots of yard space to grow these guys. With the smallest amount of effort, homegrown pearl oyster mushrooms can be yours to enjoy. All it takes is a plastic container full of something you throw away every day without thinking: coffee grounds.

To make these mushrooms work, you’ll need to collect more than two gallons of coffee grounds. If your caffeine consumption can’t quite handle that rate, simply visit your local coffee shop and see what kinds of grounds they have to spare. You’ll be sure to come home with more than you need.

Once you have enough grounds to get started, add them to a two-gallon bucket and blend pre-bought mushroom spores into the top inch of coffee grounds. Use a spray bottle to keep the spore-soaked grounds moist, and cover the bucket with plastic wrap. Punch six or more holes into the plastic wrap. For an even better effect, you can also drill holes in the bucket just a few inches above the top of the grounds so that CO2 from growing mushrooms can escape with ease. Put the bucket in a warm, dark place and spray it down twice a day to keep it moist. In a matter of weeks, small mushrooms will start to appear that can be easily harvested and eaten. Once your bucket seems to slow down its production, you can swap out those grounds and get started with fresh ones.

Lion’s Mane Mushrooms

If you want to grow something that truly stands out, lion’s mane mushrooms might be the variety for you. These softball-sized clusters of white fungi grow with long, white spines down the sides that look like the long hairs made famous on the King of the Savannah. Not only do lion’s mane mushrooms taste amazing when sauteed with other vegetables, they also have been shown to have plenty of neurotropic capabilities and are excellent brain boosters, especially for people suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. grow bagAll you need to get started is a grow bag. Mushroom grow bags come with roughly 5lbs of sterilized spawn that have been inoculated into a substrate. When kept in ideal growing conditions, most bags can produce

A grow bag is all you need to get started. Mushroom grow bags come with roughly 5lbs of sterilized spawn that have been inoculated into a substrate. When kept in ideal growing conditions, most bags can produce more than a pound of stunning lion’s mane mushrooms.

Keep your bag unopened until you’re ready to fruit it (refrigerators work best). Once you start to see white mycelium starting to form throughout the bag it is ready to fruit. At this time, set the bag on a dinner plate or shallow container and keep it somewhere where it will get light and consistent humidity. Make a small slit in a place where the white fungus is extra thick, being careful not to cut into the block. Next, roll down the top of the bag so that it’s tight against the block and pull a piece of fabric over the bag to keep it in the dark. Keep the fabric wet by misting it with a spray bottle a few times a day, checking it repeatedly to see if the mushrooms have grown (this usually takes a few weeks).

Once you start to see a large mushroom growing out of the slit, you can harvest it by twisting and pulling it out of the block. Don’t use a knife, as it might contaminate the block. It’s easy to enjoy your giant mushroom in your favorite dish. If you keep the block moist for several more weeks, you should get additional mushrooms to form through the same hole.

Shiitake Mushrooms

Popular in Asian cooking, shiitake mushrooms are full of flavor and have a highly distinctive, almost meat-like texture. They are delicious when sauteed or baked, and tend to be big successes at farmers markets or natural food stores because they are simple to dry out and can be re-hydrated in a matter of minutes to restore the full flavor. Though shiitake mushrooms are well suited for a small mushroom business, they are also an ideal mushroom for first-time growers to start with if they want to learn how mushroom logs work.

Like many mushroom types, shiitakes need to be grown on hardwood logs that stay moist, well shaded, and out of the way of fierce winds. While oak wood tends to work best, any hardwood can work in a pinch. The best time to cut down mushroom logs is in the late winter in order to allow them plenty of time to set before getting inoculated in the early spring. Logs that are between 3-8 inches are ideal, and each log shouldn’t be longer than 3-4 feet. Make sure to choose logs with intact bark, as gaps provide perfect openings for wild spores to get inside and compromise your mushrooms.

In order to inoculate your logs, a high-speed drill is necessary to drill holes that are one inch deep, 5/16 inches in diameter, and spaced six inches apart. After drilling, you can fill each whole with a mix of sawdust and shiitake spores, and then seal the mixture in place by covering the top with melted cheese wax.

Once the logs are inoculated, they need between six months to a year for the spores to fully spread throughout the log in a thread-like network called the spawn run. Throughout these months, the mushroom logs need to be stacked in piles that allow for good air flow while still being protected from wind and rain. The best strategy is to shoot for 35-45 percent moisture content at all times and keep the logs off the bare ground in order to prevent contamination from strains of wild fungi.

After the spawn run is complete, the shiitake mushrooms will start to pop up from the log every few days. Once the caps are just about completely open they are ready to be harvested. It’s easy for mushrooms to go from almost ready to overripe in a matter of hours, so make sure to check your logs often to ensure they are being harvested enough. Once harvested, shiitakes can be stored for many months so long as you keep them in well-ventilated containers or dry them out before storage. After the harvest of most of the logs fruiting bodies, it’s best to let it rest for the next few months in order to give the mycelium in the logs time to regain their energy in order to bloom again. When taken care of in this way, most shiitake mushroom logs can fruit for 2-8 years with no problems.

In Summary

The wild and wonderful world of mushroom cultivation is not to be underestimated. If your only experience with mushrooms has been the boring button varieties at grocery stores, the time has come to branch out. Start out with one of these three simple strategies for cultivating your own mushrooms, and you’ll soon be a fungi fanatic who can’t leave them alone.

Related products:
Related Reading:
Sources:


So Now It’s 10 Vegetables and Fruits Every Day? REALLY?!?

How many vegetables and fruits do you eat each day? Are you getting the maximum benefit from your food choices?

In the early 2000s, The World Health Organization (WHO) began a campaign to raise awareness of the connection between health and adequate fruit and vegetable consumption. The quality of health wasn’t the only issue. Mortality itself was measured in units of fruit and vegetable consumption.

WHO estimated 2.7 million lives could be saved each year if fruit and vegetable consumption was raised to a sufficient level. They stated that low consumption of fruits and vegetables was one of the top ten risk factors for global mortality. The recommendation equaled a minimum intake of 400g (14 ounces) of fruits and vegetables excluding potatoes and other starchy tubers. This is about 5 servings a day. This level of consumption reduced the risk of heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

The latest research says we should do better. Now the recommendation is 10 servings (800 grams or 28 ounces) of fruits and vegetables per day.

https://youtu.be/nT8d60XSaZc

The study conducted by scientists from the Imperial College London, analyzed 95 studies on fruit and vegetable intake. It included “up to 2 million people,” assessing “up to 43,000 cases of heart disease, 47,000 cases of stroke, 81,000 cases of cardiovascular disease, 112,000 cancer cases, and 94,000 deaths.” Their conclusion was an estimated reduction of 7.8 million annual premature deaths if everyone followed this dietary advice.

When compared to not eating any fruits and vegetables, ten servings a day was associated with:

  • 24 % reduced risk of heart disease
  • 33 % reduced risk of stroke
  • 28 % reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
  • 13 % reduced risk of total cancer
  • 31 % reduction in premature death

While we at OLM and many others promoting a plant-based diet agree with this conclusion, we believe there is more to healthy eating than the volume of vegetables. The study did say not all fruits and vegetable were equal, but it did not stress the need for a large variety of vegetables and fruits or to choose organic and mostly raw.

We’d also like to see five servings a day versus ten, and what about 15? When do the benefits wear off? Raw or cooked? Another question this raises for us is, are we needing to double our intake of produce because of nutrient depletion in our soil?

What we do know is that gut health provides the basis of our health. Gut health determines the strength and efficiency of our immune system, the intake of nutrients to fuel our entire body, the creation of many of our neurotransmitters, and the ability to detox. An unbalanced microbiome allows an overgrowth of one bacteria over others or an overgrowth of Candida or parasites. A leaky gut is like a sewer leaking filth and disease into the bloodstream.

We have always recommended a diet consisting of 80% raw, organic produce– a wide variety of vegetables and fruit, mostly vegetables. In addition, we recommend the elimination of all artificial colors, flavorings, and preservatives; refined sugar; trans fats; MSG; and GMOs. The perfect diet is all real food, with no packaged, processed concoctions added in. Real food doesn’t have an ingredient list. There are no added chemicals.

It is important that your vegetable and fruit consumption includes a wide variety. Every fruit or vegetable contains its own combination of nutrients. We need a variety to consume as many nutrients as possible. In addition, we don’t want to overfeed just one or a few of our friendly or not so friendly bacteria or yeast by favoring one food over others. We want to maintain balance in all ways. For instance, if all of our fruit choices are high sugar, Candida thrives. We need a diverse microbiome to fend off a wide array of pathogens and to achieve this, we need a wide variety of nutrients to feed a wide variety of helpful microbiome bacteria.

If you are ill or you don’t feel well, changing your diet will change your life. We’ve seen it over and over again. If we eat a perfect diet until all traces of disease are gone, we heal very quickly. No supplement can achieve the change of health we accomplish by eating one large, organic salad filled with 15 or more vegetables each day.

If you are ready to change your life, change your diet. Go for 10+ a day. And remember, variety is key! Check out the salad recipe in the first article below.

Further Reading:
Sources:


Gluten-Free Eaters Have Higher Levels of Arsenic and Mercury

The number of people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity is on the rise. When they eliminate wheat and other gluten containing grains from their diet, they usually significantly increase their consumption of rice. Unfortunately, as it is growing, rice soaks up heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, and cadmium from the soil and water. According to a new study,  researchers found those who have been on a long-term, gluten-free diet have double the amount of arsenic in their systems and 70% more mercury than their gluten eating counterparts.

The Metal Sponge

Why does rice suck up arsenic and other heavy metals? Rice is flooded while it’s growing, in part to keep weeds in check and to discourage pests. Water enables the rice’s root system to draw in more nutrients from the soil. As it draws up nutrients, it also sucks up other things in the soil, like mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and tungsten.

Most of the rice in the U.S. is grown in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas, and California on farmland that was formerly used to grow cotton. Arsenic-based pesticides were used on much of the land to combat boll weevils. Combine those specific pesticides with rice’s extraction abilities, and high levels of heavy metals are the result.

What to Look For in Rice

This does not mean a gluten-free diet dooms you to heavy metal poisoning. With some smart planning and healthy choices, a gluten-free diet can leave you feeling great.

Not all rice is created equal. Though organic rice still has arsenic in it, it’s the best choice to avoid excessive pesticides on top of the metals naturally found in the rice. Brown rice has higher levels of arsenic than white rice. The hull or bran of the rice that gives brown rice its’ higher levels of magnesium, fiber, zinc, and folate also stores arsenic. Of the places where rice is grown, Basmati rice that is grown in California, India, and Pakistan contains less inorganic arsenic.

Variety is the Spice of Life

Another answer to the rice problem? Eat less rice and a greater variety of gluten-free grains. Rotating rice with grains like quinoa or millet will both decrease arsenic exposure and increase your body’s exposure to another nutritional profile. The same rotation can be applied to alternate flours. If you chose processed or pre-made foods, look for ones with alternative flours like chickpea or coconut. Switching up the type of flour you use at home can also limit your arsenic intake.

Get Them Out!

There are also foods that pull heavy metals from the body. Garlic, onions, and cilantro all help detox heavy metals and add extra flavor to food. Other edibles like chlorella, spirulina, and activated charcoal are also great at attracting heavy metals and helping the body process them out. Learn about Diatomaceous Earth, Total Nutrition, and read Top 5 Foods that Detox Heavy Metals and Toxins – With Protocol.

A Healthy Diet is The Best Defense

Someone on a gluten-free diet is more likely to eat rice and foods made with rice flour. The trade-off for this is higher levels of arsenic and mercury. This doesn’t negate the benefits of a gluten-free diet. It can even be seen as a motivation to incorporate new foods and grains into your diet. And check out How To Reduce the Arsenic in Your Rice by 80%.

Related Reading:
Sources:


How To Reduce the Arsenic in Your Rice By 80%

In the past year, many articles have been published to raise concern about the alarming levels of arsenic found in rice. Although arsenic levels should be a health concern for anyone who consumes rice, it is certainly more of a concern for those who eat rice frequently or on a daily basis.

High levels of arsenic are toxic to humans, and arsenic is associated with cancer, heart problems, developmental problems, and diabetes.

The Telegraph has published an interesting article about the safest way to prepare rice to eliminate most of the arsenic. Andy Meharg, a much-published scientist and a professor at the school of Biological Sciences, Queens University Belfast, conducted an experiment comparing methods to cook rice. The telegraph article outlines the following methods:

  1. Cook with 2 parts water to 1 part rice. Water is “steamed out” during cooking.
  2. Cook with 5 parts water to 1 part rice. Excess water is washed off.
  3. Soak rice overnight, then thoroughly rinse before cooking.

The article, which is sourced below, reported the results incorrectly. The article stated that choice #2 removed close to 50% of the arsenic while soaking (#3) removed 80%.

I was curious as to what percentage would be removed if the rice were soaked and it was cooked with a 5:1 water ratio so I questioned Professor Meharg directly. He stated that soaking and cooking with 5 parts water removed 80% of the arsenic (a combination of #3 and #2) was the action that resulted in the 80% reduction. He said he couldn’t tell me what soaking alone would do to reduce arsenic as that particular test was not conducted. He stated, “We did not check the intermediate stage, primarily as we were concerned with levels in the final product.” 

I’ve asked him to please let us know if he ever does test the arsenic levels after soaking before cooking. In the meantime, if we want to remove 80% of the arsenic, we need to do the following:

  • Soak rice overnight and rinse thoroughly until the water runs clear.
  • Cook with 5 parts water and pour off the excess water after the rice is done.

There you have it: an 80% reduction in arsenic.

Recommended Reading:
Sources:


Monsanto’s Glyphosate, Fatty Liver Disease Link Proven – Published, Peer-reviewed, Scrutinized Study

Glyphosate. The world’s most popular herbicide. An alleged cause of cancer. Available in supermarkets across the nation, whether you want it or not. So what is the latest accomplishment for Monsanto’s golden child? Fatty liver disease!

Dr. Michael Antoniou from King’s College in London has found a link between the herbicide and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a condition whose symptoms include fatigue, nausea, jaundice, cirrhosis, and abdominal pain, among others. It is found primarily in overweight and obese people, people with diabetes, and those with high cholesterol. According to Dr. Robin Mesnage, another author of the study,

The concentration of glyphosate that was added to the drinking water of the rats corresponds to a concentration found in tap water for human consumption. It is also lower than the contamination of some foodstuffs.”

Where is the Science?

Glyphosate has been on the market since 1974 and since the advent of genetically-modified, Roundup ready crops in 1996, more than 18 billion tons of the stuff has been used worldwide (nearly a fifth of that was in the U.S. alone). It’s been linked to environmental degradation, and the number of studies linking glyphosate to health issues are growing. The work from King’s College is the first to definitively identify a real risk glyphosate poses to human health. Dr. Antoniou says,

The findings of our study are very worrying as they demonstrate for the first time a causative link between an environmentally relevant level of Roundup consumption over the long-term and a serious disease.”

Long-term studies on the impact of glyphosate are few and subject to huge amounts of scrutiny. A previous two-year study, the Seralini study in 2012, tested rats for long-term toxicity and found that the rats developed tumors and had shorter life spans. The study was heavily criticized, and the publisher retracted it in 2013 despite protests from the authors.

The recently discovered link between glyphosate and fatty liver disease is peer-reviewed, scrutinized, published in Scientific Reports, and from a prestigious university. But it has only now been released. One of the authors on the paper is Gilles-Eric Seralini (he of the previously retracted study), and this study uses the same, roundly criticized breed of rat from the previous study. The Crop Protection Association has already called the validity of this study into question saying, “Glyphosate is amongst the most thoroughly tested herbicides on the market, and those studies by expert regulators have consistently concluded that glyphosate does not pose a risk to public health.”

Americans Enjoy a More Substantial Glyphosate Allowance

The Crop Protection Association is correct. Glyphosate is one of the most tested herbicides on the market (although generally for 90 days, not 730). From this testing, the government has decided that there is a safe amount of glyphosate that can be ingested. That amount, the allowable daily intake (ADI), is 1.75 mg per kg of body weight in the United States. In Europe, the ADI is much lower at 0.3 mg per kg of bodyweight. Immediately, this discrepancy calls to mind a certain stereotype, that of the overweight American tourist bobbing merrily through a sea of slim and sneering Europeans. With the link between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and glyphosate, is it too much of a leap to think that the rise of obesity in America could be caused by our lax attitude towards the omnipresent herbicide?

What is Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease?

Basically, fat accumulates in the liver when the liver cannot break it down or process it fast enough. The liver normally stores some fat, but when the liver builds up more than 5 – 10 percent of its weight in fat, it’s called fatty liver disease. In alcoholic fatty liver disease, the liver can break down if it is unable to process the amount of alcohol ingested. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease follows the same model, only without the alcohol. This problem, like so many health problems, starts in the gut.

Bacteria in the large and small intestine like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are responsible for breaking down fats in the body. The liver helps with this, sending bile into the small intestine to help with turning the food into smaller molecules. But a digestive system without enough beneficial bacteria to properly digest food is left with something closer to the original fat molecules. Unabsorbed fats should stay in the intestine, but the bile from the liver is responsible for cleaning the intestine. Almost all of that bile is recycled back to the liver, potentially carrying the less digested fats with it. From there, the liver can be overwhelmed by the accumulated fats that it can’t clear out, much like its response to alcohol in alcoholic fatty liver disease.

And the Glyphosate Is…?

Much of the blame for non-alcoholic liver disease can be placed squarely on the diet of those who have it. Processed sugars and refined foods feed opportunistic, less helpful microbes in the gut like Candida, that in turn crowd out beneficial bacteria and place more stress on the liver. It’s all about the processed foods – the foods likely to have the highest concentration of glyphosate. And the glyphosate is everywhere.

The Detox Project at the University of California San Francisco found glyphosate in 93% of the urine samples from their early tests. This is the glyphosate that was processed out of the body. Meanwhile, the poor liver chugs along like some cliche of an overworked housewife, left with the overload of improperly digested food molecules, toxic food additives, and who knows exactly how much herbicide piled on top of it.

Research Matters. So Where’s the Rest of It?

Lack of research is the biggest issue with current government attitudes towards glyphosate and why this study matters. The authors of this study saw the connection between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and glyphosate with a regular dose 75,000 times below the European limit and over 400,000 times below the U.S. limit. There is no way to measure how much glyphosate people are being exposed to through proximity to agriculture, their food, and even their tap water. Glyphosate is everywhere, and we barely even know the results of long-term, repeated exposure to it.

Imagine a study, much in the vein of this one, where scientists gave test subjects the full U.S. government allowable daily intake of glyphosate regularly for two years. Do you even want to see those results?

Further Reading:
Sources:


Red Panax Ginseng – Amazing Herb Inhibits Chronic Inflammation and Pain

When naturally treating shoulder, knee, or chronic pain few people consider the wonder herb, ginseng (Chinese Panax Ginseng), and its ability to help with inflammation. This prized herb with its nutritious roots, which can live up to 100 years, has been used for centuries in Oriental medicine to alleviate numerous conditions.

Based on two-thousand-year-old writings, the Chinese believed ginseng helped supplement the spleen, calm nervous irritation, aid the heart, nourish the body, eliminate evil Chi energy, sharpen and quiet the mind, and prolong life. Throughout history, ginseng was so prized that it yielded a higher value than gold and was considered a most beneficial tonic and cure-all. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), ginseng was known as the herb that could restore the dying to health and restore the dead to life.[1]

Ginseng is an Ancient Remedy

According to Dr. Dharmananda, the use of ginseng in China, and throughout Asia, is based largely on the description in the ancient text, Shennong Bencao Jing (Classic Herbal of Shennong) written around 100 A.D.[2] This text mentions ginseng, also known by its two other names, renxian and guigai, and it describes in detail its nature, its sweet and cold taste, and its healing effects, but it never outlines a description of how to take the herb.

Chinese Ginseng and Korean Ginseng

Oriental ginseng can be divided into Chinese ginseng and Korean ginseng. Chinese Panax ginseng is grown in the Chiang Pai mountains, in the northeastern area of China (Manchuria) and is usually available as a tea or tincture. It is often white in color because the roots are dried in the sun, breaking down enzymes and therefore decreasing its potency. Chinese ginseng has milder energy boosting effects, so it is thought to be better suited for young children, the elderly, and the very ill as cited in “Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica.”[3]

Red Panax Ginseng is the Most Potent

Korean ginseng, or Red Panax ginseng, is considered the most potent and the most popular due to it being harvested after six years and undergoing steam harvesting before drying, thereby preserving its health benefiting ginsenosides.[4] This variety contains vitamins, antioxidants, amino acids, B-sisterol, panaxic acid, ginsenosides (0.7 -3%), and essential oils, which help in numerous areas including anemia, memory loss, depression, blood sugar and uric levels, promoting biosynthesis of RNA, cancer and influenza prevention, helping erectile dysfunction, enhancing sports performance, and aiding stress reduction by producing more endorphins in the brain.

Studies Show Ginseng Helps Chronic Inflammation and Pain

If ginseng is reported to help with such a broad spectrum of conditions, does ginseng also help with chronic inflammation and pain? Recent studies have confirmed the answer to be yes.  Allan Lau and his team of researchers from the University of Hong Kong have identified seven ginseng constituents or ginsenosides, which showed immune-suppressive effects. A. Lau said, “The anti-inflammatory role of ginseng may be due to the combined effects of these ginsenosides, targeting different levels of immunological activity, and in doing so, contributing to the diverse actions of ginseng in humans”.[5] A 2013 study conducted in Brazil has shown that Panax ginseng effectively promoted an improvement in pain in patients who suffer from fibromyalgia.[6] This research has shown ginseng’s steroid-like phytochemicals (ginsenosides) being adaptogenic and anti-aging.

The University of Maryland Medical Center mentions that the gnarled ginseng root has been traditionally used to treat fever, headache, infertility, and indigestion as well as being considered an all-around stimulant.[7] Ginseng has also been found to be helpful for treatment of postmenopausal symptoms and as a natural alternative to anabolic steroids for athletes and body builders.

Eastern vs Western Dosage

It is interesting to note that the usual recommended dosage of ginseng in Asia is around the range of 3-9 grams/day. By contrast, in the West, people are recommended to use far less, with amounts so low that they are deemed questionable in providing any of the desired ginseng health benefits.[8] Despite continental dosing differences, healing benefits are still believed to be present, and it is estimated that around 6 million people regularly take ginseng in the U.S.

How to Prepare the Best Ginseng

The key in taking ginseng is to ensure taking an all-natural and high-quality ginseng. The Dr. Shen clinic in California states that dried ginseng root tea is best. Use 3-9 grams per person. Slowly boil the sliced herb for about an hour, and drink the tea on an empty stomach.[9] The clinic goes on to state that, “Most Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners prefer whole herbs or simple water extractions over standardized extracts because extracts are often taken from herbs that have poor appearance, weak taste, and lower potency. Low-temperature water extracts, which have not been chemically manipulated in order to standardize ginsenocides, are more like the herb as it is found in nature.”[10]

So the next time you reach for something to help alleviate your pain and chronic inflammation, try some Red Panax ginseng and make it part of your natural medicine cabinet. For a specific recommendation on ginseng, visit almaholistichealth.com and contact us for more information.

Interesting fact: The Chinese Emperors used wild Manchurian ginseng.

Related Reading:
Sources:


Migraines and Magnesium – Is this What Migraine Sufferers Are Missing?

Few things conjure up bigger grimaces and more dread than migraines. For sufferers, the effects are debilitating, the prevention is expensive and ineffectual, and pinpointing causality is very challenging.

What Is a Migraine?

Migraines are still being studied and aren’t fully understood. Originally thought to be a vascular condition, neuroscientists are now learning that it’s not quite that simple. Migraines seem to be more nervous system related than they originally thought. What scientists do know is that during the onset of a migraine, there are some electrical changes that take place across brain tissue.

First, there is an initial wave of excitation, which basically means that there’s an electrical wave that passes over the brain before the vessels begin to contract and then subsequently become inflamed. The rapid change in pressure is what causes unbearable pain.

This rapid contraction and inflammation of the blood vessels has been observed primarily in migraine patients who present with an aura and is believed to be strongly linked to those effects.

Migraines can last anywhere from 2 to 72 hours and typically present as an intense, pulsating pain on one side of the head. Symptoms vary wildly between patients, with sufferers experiencing intense symptoms often associated with strokes and seizures.

Migraines typically occur in stages. Long before the pain starts, many sufferers experience neck pain, tension, mood swings, and a general lack of focus. Without intervention, the migraine may progress to the aura stage, and then on to the pain stage, which can last for days.

What is a Migraine with Aura?

Migraines can either be a simple combination of nausea and intense pain, or they can include a series of symptoms characterized as “aura”. Migraines with aura may include any combination of the following symptoms:

  • Partial temporary loss of vision (blind spots, fuzziness)
  • Visual anomalies, like zigzag lines, white spots, and in some cases, colorful lines and spots
  • Numbness and tingling in the extremities
  • Dizziness and disorientation
  • Difficulty with speech and comprehension
  • Intense nausea and vomiting
  • Extreme sensitivity to light and sound

Migraines with aura present with a series of interesting neurological electrical patterns that scientists use to study them. Without an MRI, they can sometimes be confused with strokes or seizures. The symptoms are intense and often very alarming for the patient. Experiencing a migraine with aura can be terrifying.

The Difference Between a Migraine and a Headache

This is where things get a little grey. There is a simple distinction between migraines and headaches, and knowing the difference can help reduce their frequency.

Though tension and sinus headaches can concentrate in a certain part of the body, (like the neck, forehead, or sinuses), the pain of a migraine is almost always focused on one side of the head.

The Causes of Migraines

Common migraine triggers:

Conventional migraine treatment and prevention don’t consistently work. Prevention involves expensive daily medication, and the efficacy of these drugs vary wildly. The side effects of these drugs are often intense, and patients are faced with deciding whether the tradeoff is worth it.

Side effects can run the gamut from mild to pervasive and include everything from nausea to memory problems. Some report weight loss, weight gain, nausea, eyesight disturbances, and even numbness and a disturbing loss of motor function. In short, migraine prevention drugs are expensive, and generally not worth the side effects.

Magnesium – The Miracle Mineral

For many people, magnesium is the simple, cheap, and effective home remedy they’ve been looking for.

Magnesium is astounding in its importance in the human body. This mineral is used in more than 300 enzyme systems in the body that regulate everything from protein synthesis to blood pressure. Magnesium is required for bone development and structure and DNA and RNA synthesis. It even plays a crucial role in heart rhythm and muscle contraction.

Magnesium is arguably one of the most crucial minerals for our bodies’ health and well-being, and yet it’s estimated that 80% of Americans suffer from magnesium deficiency. The vast majority doesn’t even know it.

Magnesium deficiency is very common due to the increasingly processed diet so many people in the developed world consume. There’s plenty of magnesium found in nuts and greens but none found in potato chips and bread.

Why Magnesium Can Stop a Migraine in Its Tracks

So what makes magnesium one of the most effective ways to prevent and treat migraines? Though the evidence of users is still largely anecdotal, the consensus seems to be that it’s magnesium’s effect on the nervous system and the role it plays in muscle function that makes it such an effective migraine prevention and treatment.

Magnesium gets the body’s systems moving. It is frequently used as an anti-inflammatory treatment by athletes and is frequently recommended by physicians for conditions like restless leg syndrome.

Over the decades, only a few studies have been conducted to determine the efficacy of magnesium. Results have varied. Researchers have discovered that test subjects show low levels of magnesium during a migraine.

Salome Range, a certified holistic health coach says,

After looking into information about magnesium supplementation for my own health, I also read about how low magnesium levels can be linked to numerous ailments, including migraines and morning sickness. I happen to know many people affected by both and started offering a topical magnesium body butter which was received with high praise.”

Her custom butters take advantage of magnesium’s easy absorption into the skin.

The more and more people who come back to me and tell me it’s been a lifesaver convinces me of the efficiency and importance of magnesium. I have also experienced major relief from chronic pain with regular magnesium supplementation.”

Though more studies are needed to confirm the efficacy and effects of magnesium on sufferers of migraine attacks, regular use and application during a migraine headache have been reported to reduce and even completely stop migraines in their tracks. It’s definitely worth a try.

Using Magnesium for Migraine Prevention

Magnesium is available in several different mineral compositions and forms. As with most vitamins and minerals, the best way to get it into the body is through a healthy, balanced diet. Minerals in foods are usually accompanied by what the body needs to adequately absorb them. If not, other needed nutrients will be available through a wholesome, unprocessed diet.

Ditching the sweets and chips and reaching for salads and sprouted raw mixed nuts are good ways to increase magnesium intake. Greens, legumes, nuts, and seeds are good dietary sources of magnesium. A spinach salad with some garbanzo beans and walnuts makes a nutritious, magnesium-rich lunch. The benefit of getting magnesium from a variety of whole foods is that nutrients stay balanced. Foods contain all the cofactors and co-nutrients in the amounts for best digestion, assimilation, and optimal health. When you’re using supplements, you need to become a bit more savvy about how nutrients influence and synergistically affect each other.

Chlorophyll, which enables plants to capture solar energy and convert it into metabolic energy, has a magnesium atom at its center. Without magnesium, in fact, plants could not utilize the sun’s light energy. ” – The Need For Balance by Michael Spencer

Some Foods High in Magnesium: 

  • Seaweed, agar, dried (770 mg)
  • Coriander (dried) (694 mg)
  • Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened (499 mg)
  • Flaxseed (392 mg)
  • Almonds (247mg)

Though choosing the “right” formulation of magnesium can certainly impact how well the body actually absorbs this mineral, studies have shown the greatest factor in mineral absorption varies with individual organ and body chemistry. Kidney function, for example, plays a tremendous role in how well the body stores and distributes magnesium. Since the body stores and redistributes magnesium as needed via the kidneys, so it makes sense for some to supplement when dietary intake cannot provide and maintain adequate levels.

In addition to oral supplementation, topical application of magnesium oil is a fast way to get magnesium into the body. Since magnesium is stored primarily in muscle tissue and bones, the best bet for immediate migraine relief is to rub magnesium directly into the closest available muscle tissue.

Using magnesium oil or magnesium butter on the neck is the most effective way to use magnesium to treat a migraine headache. It can also be rubbed into the scalp and forehead.

Magnesium injections are another alternative that some physicians offer. As regular readers know, OLM does not recommend this method.

Magnesium Supplementation

As a migraine sufferer, my M.O. with magnesium is to kick migraines in the teeth long before they become an issue. If you suffer from migraines and you know you’re not a salad munchin’, nut crunchin’ kinda person, start supplementing daily. I like this one. Before shopping, here’s what to know about picking the right kind:

If for whatever reason you decide you need a supplement, be aware that there are a wide variety of magnesium supplements on the market, which includes Magnesium glycinate, Magnesium carbonate, and Magnesium citrate. Courtesy of the fact that magnesium must be bound to another substance. There’s simply no such thing as a 100% magnesium supplement.  The substance used in any given supplement combination can affect the absorption and bioavailability of the magnesium, and may provide slightly different, or targeted, health benefits – Dr. Mercola

Magnesium glycinate is a chelated form of magnesium that tends to provide the highest levels of absorption and bioavailability and is typically considered ideal for those who are trying to correct a deficiency. Magnesium oxide is a non-chelated type of magnesium, bound to an organic acid or a fatty acid. Contains 60 percent magnesium, and has stool softening properties.
Magnesium chloride / Magnesium lactate contains only 12 percent magnesium but has better absorption than others, such as magnesium oxide, which contains five times more magnesium. Magnesium sulfate / Magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia) are typically used as a laxative. Be aware that it’s easy to overdose on these, so ONLY take as directed.
Magnesium carbonate, which has antacid properties, contains 45% magnesium. Magnesium taurate contains a combination of magnesium and taurine, an amino acid. Together, they tend to provide a calming effect on your body and mind
Magnesium citrate is magnesium with citric acid, which has laxative properties Magnesium threonate is a newer, emerging type of magnesium supplement that appears promising, primarily due to its superior ability to penetrate the mitochondrial membrane, and may be the best magnesium supplement on the market

The doc goes on to say that it’s important to maintain balance with magnesium, calcium, vitamin K2, and vitamin D.

For example,  Lack of balance between these nutrients is why calcium supplements have become associated with increased risk of heart attacks and stroke, and why some people experience vitamin D toxicity.”

I take it in conjunction with a whole-food multivitamin and an otherwise fairly balanced diet, and some vitamin D and calcium. If my diet is particularly crappy one week, I double up on my dose, but if I’m doing a good job of eating my vegetables, I may even be bold enough to skip a dose. To each their own.

When it comes to symptoms of an oncoming storm, immediate intervention is needed. I keep magnesium butter on hand that my good friend, Salome, concocted and massage it into the left side of my neck where the trouble usually starts. This always (knock on wood) stops migraines in their tracks.

Magnesium oil is a good way to get magnesium into the body fast. If you’re in a particularly tight spot and feel a migraine coming on, start working it into your scalp and even try for your forehead. Though these spots will be less effective, as long as you have adequate circulation, it should still help. Maximize the effect with a plunge into an icy shower to get your blood flow up. On that note, check out Hot and Cold Hydrotherapy.

A hot bath with bath salts detoxifies the body, and it’s a great way to destress. It’s also a great way to absorb lots of magnesium in your body. All natural bath salts contain magnesium and many other minerals, coupled with the benefit of your pores opening in the hot water which increases absorption into the blood stream. This is not the most bioavailable way to consume the mineral, but it is a good supplement to a broader supplementation routine and an enjoyable way to escape a migraine. It also makes sense to use oils and baths for those with impaired digestion, which is the case with most who suffer from migraines.

Related Reading:
Related Products: