Fresh grass jelly is fragrant, with a lightly smoky undertone. The grass in question is Chinese mesona, a plant in the mint family grown usually as a secondary crop. It’s a perennial herb that’s harvested only once a year in the spring.
Photo by Munchies. Image of grass jelly in Los Angeles sourced from Munchies. Available at: https://munchies-images.vice.com/wp_upload/grassjelly-in-los-angeles_27045654290_o.jpg?crop=1xw:0.84941275167785xh;*,*&resize=20:*
Digestion is crucial to overall health. If your digestion isn’t working, then the rest of your body can slowly start to fall apart: Your sleep will become poor, you'll lack energy, your bowel movements will change, your skin will be affected, and much more.
Image by Shutterstock. Image of pepper rasam, a South Indian dish, sourced from Shutterstock. Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/pepper-rasam-south-india-which-very-319143509
Step back, and you see a method to this madness: The pots are arranged in a decorative circle, and for all their variety, they share one trait. They are all herbs. Culinary herbs, household herbs, healing herbs.
Image by Shutterstock. Image of a kitchen garden with vegetables, herbs, and flowers sourced from Shutterstock. Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/kitchen-garden-vegetables-herbage-flowers-55549897
Tao Porchon-Lynch, 97, breezed into her regular Wednesday evening yoga class in a brightly colored outfit: stretch pants, sleeveless top, flowing scarf and three-inch heels.
Tao Porchon-Lynch teaches a yoga class in Scarsdale, N.Y. “I haven’t finished learning,” says Ms. Porchon-Lynch, who is 97. “My students are my teachers.” CreditGregg Vigliotti for The New York Times
Plants like the periwinkle have contributed to the development of 25 to 50 percent of all prescription drugs used in the United States, either directly or by providing biochemical models, or templates, used to make synthetic compounds. Digitalis, which is used to treat chronic heart failure, comes from the leaves of the foxglove plant, and ephedrine, a component of many commonly prescribed respiratory medicines, is derived from a chemical formula from the ephedra plant. But overall, in the past 40 years there has been little development of new plant-based pharmaceuticals. During that period the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fewer than a dozen drugs derived from plants.
In Chinese medicine, every organ has its functions or “responsibilities” . These are not all physical, they are psychological and spiritual as well. The heart has special importance in TCM as it is seen to be the “ruler” of all the other organs, and when the body is healthy and balanced, it is a kind and benevolent leader.
Photo by Chinese Medicine Living. Image of a person holding a heart-shaped object sourced from Chinese Medicine Living. Available at: https://www.chinesemedicineliving.com
Diabetes mellitus is among the most common disorder in developed and developing countries, and the disease is increasing rapidly in most parts of the world. It has been estimated that up to one-third of patients with diabetes mellitus use some form of complementary and alternative medicine. One plant that has received the most attention for its anti-diabetic properties is bitter melon, Momordica charantia (M. charantia), commonly referred to as bitter gourd, karela and balsam pear. Its fruit is also used for the treatment of diabetes and related conditions amongst the indigenous populations of Asia, South America, India and East Africa.
Image by Shutterstock. Image of slices of bitter gourd arranged on a white background sourced from Shutterstock. Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/slices-bitter-gourd-arranged-on-white-286289255
Results of a three-month study released Monday by the university show opioids, such as morphine, cause an increase in chronic pain in lab rats, something that could have implications for people, too.
Image by Shutterstock. Image of hands of a woman holding a pack of medicament sourced from Shutterstock. Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/hands-woman-holding-pack-medicament-255027928
Elevated blood viscosity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis, Aquifoliaceae) tea, a popular South American beverage made from the leaves, has been found to have lipid-lowering effects, antioxidant activity, and other potential cardiovascular benefits. There were, however, no clinical studies that evaluated the effects of yerba maté tea on blood viscosity. So, the aim of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was to evaluate the effects of yerba maté tea on blood viscosity, microcirculatory parameters, and other CVD risk factors in subjects with high blood viscosity.
In 999 A.D. they recorded a flowering of Chinese Mainland Bamboo. It was probably an astonishing sight, since no one alive at the time had ever seen the species flower before. The bamboo plants died, their seeds sprouted, and the forests did not flower again till 1114. After the species was imported to Japan, the Japanese recorded flowers in the early 1700s, and then again in 1844 to 1847. The flowering in the late 1960s was just the next burst of a 120-year cycle.
Phyllostachys bambusoides, a species of bamboo with a 120-year flowering cycle. Photo by Emmanuel Lattes, Alamy. Image sourced from National Geographic. Available at: https://i.natgeofe.com/n/c701f64e-551c-40d1-ab74-b6aa820cc7a6/bamboo-1200.jpg?w=1280&h=677
On the other hand, Patel says, there’s now a growing body of work that suggests that actually learning to play a musical instrument does have impacts on other abilities. These include speech perception, the ability to understand emotions in the voice and the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
A bassist at the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Boston plays during a recital rehearsal. Research has found music instruction has beneficial effects on young brains. Photo by Jesse Costa/WBUR. Image sourced from KQED. Available at: https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2014/07/cellist.jpg
They don’t snore, but might creak during their slumbers. For the first time, trees have been shown to undergo physical changes at night that can be likened to sleep, or at least to day-night cycles that have been observed experimentally in smaller plants.
Time to rest your weary branches. Photo by Dmitry Savin/Getty. Image of tree branches with leaves sourced from New Scientist. Available at: https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/18162330/gettyimages-1495132231.jpg?width=800
Time and time again, we hear from patients that they never felt depressed or anxious until they started experiencing problems with their gut, Tillisch said. Our study shows that the gut–brain connection is a two-way street.
Image by Shutterstock. Image of a kernel of a walnut isolated on white background sourced from Shutterstock. Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/kernel-walnut-isolated-on-white-background-157638134
Relative to males, females exhibited greater brain activation in the right-sided postcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus, precuneus, postcentral gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, declive, middle occipital gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus.
Image by Shutterstock. Image of puzzle pieces representing a man and a woman sourced from Shutterstock. Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-vector/puzzle-man-woman-152017826
Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg, known as Rabbi G, has helped more than 5,000 kids kick cancer by learning martial arts. Photo by NBC News. Image sourced from NBC News. Available at: https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best/newscms/2016_20/1090271/rabbi-martial-arts-today-tease3-160517.jpg
Fermented oat kissel is a traditional Russian drink that goes back to the 10th century. It was made by fermenting oats with a piece of rye bread in water for a couple of days, then straining the liquid from the solids, and allowing the starch to settle on the bottom. The starch is the most digestible part of the oat grain, which is what lactic bacteria, and particularly Lactobacillus Plantarum, prefer, and it is where the beneficial by-products of fermentation would concentrate, while bran and germ stay more resilient.
Photo by Beets and Bones. Image of fermented oats in a jar sourced from Beets and Bones. Available at: https://www.beetsandbones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fermented-oats.jpg
A variety of animals at the Zoo benefit from regular acupuncture treatments. With animals living longer in zoos, this non-invasive technique can block chronic pain signals and help them live comfortably.
Photography by Ken Bohn. Image of an animal receiving acupuncture treatment sourced from San Diego Zoo. Available at: https://stories.sandiegozoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/acupuncture1-1358x500.jpg
The hits just keep on coming when it comes to the health benefits of meditation. Research is now emerging that would justify implementing this practice within hospitals and schools (some already do) as well as including it in treatment recommendations for various diseases.
It looks so ordinary, this vine. But it’s not. It is, arguably, the most mysteriously talented, most surprising plant in the world.
Photograph courtesy of Ernesto Gianoli. Image of a stunning landscape sourced from National Geographic. Available at: https://i.natgeofe.com/n/198fa995-edf3-4674-8db6-7569aaf865b7/Gianoli-cover-image1.jpg?w=718&h=907