Tag: kidney function

Flaxseed Health Benefits

Flaxseed, or Linseed has many, many health benefits. For a start, it is one of the most beneficial foods for preventing heart disease.  But just take a look at the list of flaxseed health benefits below……

Linseed oil, now more commonly known as flaxseed oil, has been used for centuries in the palette of the artist, but it is only fairly recently that flaxseed, or linseed, has become widely used in other palettes:  it is now recognised in westernised countries for its valuable health giving properties and used as  a health-giving addition to the diet by many people all over the world.

  • Ground linseed, or flaxseed is beneficial to the heart.
  • Linseed is high in omega-3 fatty acids which help to lower ‘bad’ cholesterol in the body.
  • Flaxseed taken daily helps  reduces the incidence of stroke, blood clots, and heart disease.
  • It helps prevent atherosclerosis.
  • It increases the metabolic rate of the heart muscle.
  • It is regarded as a cancer preventative and as a beneficial addition to the diet for those who have cancer. This is because the omega-3 fatty acids have an effect on the body’s manufacture of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are necessary, but if you produce too many, then this can lead to tumour growth. Linseed regulates the prostaglandin making process.
  • Another of the flaxseed health benefits is that it acts as an antioxidant.  This helps the heart, helps prevent cancer and other disease, and improves your immune system.
  • It is beneficial to the kidneys
  • Flaxseed in the daily diet has been known to  help lupus sufferers to restore their kidney function.
  • Omega-3 fatty acids in flaxseed or linseed help the nervous system to stay healthy and function well.
  • Flaxseed is good brain food:  Omega-3  fatty acids in flaxseed  have a valuable effect on the nerves, and well nourished nerves help you to maintain good vision and an alert brain.
  • High Fiber: Flaxseed, either ground or whole,  provides great fiber for your intestines.  High fiber in the diet definitely reduces the risk of getting colon cancer. High fiber also keeps cholesterol levels balanced and keeps your intestines clean of effete matter.
  • Another flaxseed health benefit is that it improves the skin.  It sometimes works to heal long-term skin conditions like psoriasis,  eczema and acne, when other treatments seem to fail.  This is partly due to the better functioning of the bowel when flaxseed is included. An application of flaxseed oil, used externally on the skin, has been effective in treating some skin conditions, as well as taking the ground flaxseed in the diet daily.
  • It is helpful to the growth of the hair.  Taking flaxseed every day in the diet will help you regrow hair and improve your skin, bone and nail tissue.

Note: The flaxseed, or linseed must be ground up in your blender, or coffee grinder for it to be truly efficacious.  Taking whole linseed provides good fiber for the intestines,  for sure, but you get more nutrients  and oils out of the seeds when they are ground.

See merrilyn’s post entitled Gluten Free Banana Bread for a nutritious banana bread with added flaxseed.

Chlorine in Water

CHLORINE

Chlorine is a necessary part of our cell make-up. It forms part of the hydrochloric acid in our stomachs.
Fish, meats, eggs and vegetables all contain naturally occuring chlorine. We get additional chlorine from table salt, which is known as sodium chloride, which is really not the best thing.

Natural, dietary chlorine helps in the digestion of food and forms  part of cell fluids.
It helps to maintain the health of the lymph system
It helps to maintain correct acidity of blood
It helps to maintain correct action of the liver.

However, too much chlorine destroys intestinal flora which can upset your digestion and inhibit absorption of valuable Vitamins, Minerals and fats.

The most common way in which we overdose ourselves on chlorine is through the chlorination of water, which  is something most of us  have to live with these days.

Water is chlorinated to protect us  from diseases such as cholera,  typhoid fever and many other life-threatening diseases  which previously were a threat before the practice of chlorinating water was adopted. However, the many side effects from drinking chlorinating water would suggest that it really is better not to drink it at all if you can possibly avoid it.

If you drink a lot of water, or tea, or coffee, then you will be ingesting high amounts of, not just  chlorine, but also  fluroide, and aluminium.  Filtering your water to rid it of  the chlorine in your water supply, or boiling your tap water, or letting it stand in the sunlight in a green bottle for several hours, are several options to consider for minimizing the chlorine in your water. However, these treatments do not necessarily remove all the harmful or un-wanted additives which are in tap water. 

One helpful tip: The volume of some  chemicals in treated water can be reduced, and their toxicity negated,  by putting fresh grass or some fresh garden herbs into a bottle of water which is then left in the sun
for an hour before straining.

Drinking chlorinated water affects our digestion on a long term basis.

The effect of absorbing too much chlorine can be felt  after you have bathed in a swimming pool for half an hour or so: this causes excess chlorine to be absorbed through the  pores of the skin. From there, it enters  the bloodstream:  Heart palpitations, weak pulse, pins and needles,  numbness in the limbs, and dizziness,  are some symptoms which can be experienced by sensitive people when they are  exposed to  excessive chlorine such as the amounts found in swimming pools.
The kidneys have to work hard to eliminate this surplus: this can tire the kidneys, which often results in a candida infection,  or some other urinary tract infection after swimming in chlorinated pools. People often think that they have ‘caught’ something’ in these pools, and in a way they probably have, but it is the chlorine which sets the climate for bugs to invade, as it kills off the friendly bacteria in your body, lowers immunity, and tires and
weakens the kidneys as they try to cope with the overload.