In a rapidly changing and aging world more and more people suffer from age-related decline of intelligence or dementia.

Scientists are looking for more new methods to combat it, because this illness dramatically reduces the quality of life of the patient and often leads to the necessity of reconsidering the ways of living of all family members.

Flavonoids and antioxidants that are found in cocoa beans may be good sources of medicine in this situation.

Ian MacDonald, the scientist from Nottingham, United Kingdom, describes an experiment in which young women were drinking a cup of cocoa before performing complex tasks and performed them under control of a magnetic resonance imaging procedure.

The device showed a significant acceleration of cerebral blood flow in the group.

The next step was to study the impact of cocoa on the brains of people who have initially reduced cerebral blood flow.

According to the researchers, the benefits that cocoa brings were discovered during the investigation of health of the tribes of South America who drink this beverage in very large quantities.

However, the problem lies in the fact that cocoa powder which is delivered to the shops is poor with flavonoids. They are artificially extracted from raw materials, as flavonoids give this drink a bitter taste.

The researchers also fear that patients will “look” the same substance in chocolate that will lead to problems with obesity. Chocolate is food for pleasure and it will never improve health as opposed to cocoa in anticipation of bright future, scientists say.

But soda isn’t just water, corn syrup and carbonation — a can of Coke or Pepsi also contains chemical additives for coloring and flavoring. And according to one public health group, those additives could increase your chance of getting cancer.

That’s the message from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a Washington-based consumer watchdog group. CSPI has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the “caramel coloring” that is used in Coke, Pepsi and other sodas, on the grounds that the chemicals are carcinogenic.

CSPI says the artificial brown coloring — which doesn’t have much to do with actual caramel, despite the name — is made by reacting corn sugar with ammonia and sulfites under high pressures and at high temperatures. (Just like Mom used to do it!) Those reactions produce the chemicals 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole — chemicals that government studies have found to cause lung, liver or thyroid cancer in lab rats or mice. “It’s a small but significant risk, and it’s the kind of thing that government agencies should deal with,” says Michael Jacobson, the executive director of CSPI.

Is Jacobson right? A 2007 study by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) found “clear evidence of carcinogenic activity of 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) in male and
female B6C3F1 mice based on increased incidences of alveolar/bronchiolar neoplasms,” otherwise known as lung tumors. The state of California has also concluded that 4-MEI is a carcinogen, and is in the process of crafting regulations that may require food and drinks containing significant levels of the chemical to bear cancer warnings.

According to California’s regulators, a level of more than 16 micrograms per day would pose a significant risk — meaning it could result in at least one excess case of cancer per 100,000 exposed people. Given that there are roughly 130 micrograms of 4-MI per 12-ounce can of soda — and given that the average American drinks 14 ounces of soda a day, with young men drinking far more — that would mean that most of us would be at some risk.

As a result, CSPI has been petitioning the FDA to change the name or ban the use of the chemicals in soda and other foods, or at least force manufacturers to put warning labels on their packaging. “We think industry can solve this problem,” says Jacobson. “They don’t want to put warning labels on their products.”

The soda industry, however, is fighting back. In a statement the American Beverage Association — an industry group that includes soda makers — denied that 4-MEI posed any danger to human health:

4-MEI is not a threat to human health. There is no evidence that 4-MEI causes cancer in humans. No health regulatory agency around the globe, including the Food and Drug Administration, has said that 4-MEI is a human carcinogen. This petition is nothing more than another attempt to scare consumers by an advocacy group long-dedicated to attacking the food and beverage industry.

In California a number of industry groups — including the American Beverage Association — have filed a lawsuit against state regulators to block efforts to list 4-MEI as a carcinogen:

The state agency’s decision does not reflect sound science and failed to follow its own regulations. Also, it did not take into account all the data available on the subject in this process.

Source: http://healthland.time.com

Most drinks do a good job of hydrating, but the components of some common drinks sharply reduce their hydrating ability.

Which drinks are the best hydrators, and which the worst? Here are the three most hydrating and the four least hydrating drinks.

Drinks That Are Strong Hydrators

Water
Water is the preeminent beverage for correctly hydrating the body.

Herbal Teas (Infusions)
The leaves from plants such as mint, verbena, linden, balm, and so on give a pleasant aroma and flavor to the water in which they are steeped, which makes infusions a satisfying alternative to people who don’t enjoy drinking plain water.

The medicinal properties of the plants do not have a negative effect on the body’s assimilation of the water.

Note: The benefit does not extend to sweetened infusions, or if the tea is made with plants that have diuretic properties, such as dandelion.

Fruit and Vegetable Juices
The water in fruits and vegetables–their juice–is one of the liquids nature has provided for hydrating our bodies. Juice is water bound to a substance. To maintain our harmonic balance with nature and avoid taking in too high a concentration of nutrients and sugars, we should consider juice a secondary resource to be used in moderation.

Drinks that Are Weak Hydrators

Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa
Drinks that have a base of coffee, black tea, or cocoa are quite high in purins, toxins that must be eliminated from the body by urine or sweat in the form of uric acid. Purines need to be diluted in large quantities of liquid to be evacuated without irritation. A good portion of the water consumed with these drinks is used to eliminate the toxins.

Milk
Milk is a food, not a drink, and its digestion by adults is frequently incomplete.

Whey, on the other hand, is very easily digested, but its diuretic properties are an impediment to its consumption as a daily beverage.

Soft Drinks
Soft drinks often have a high caffeine base, a diuretic, which makes a body lose water before it has time to make its way into the intracellular environment. The other problem comes from the high sugar content of most sodas. The body has a hard time properly metabolizing refined sugar. To correct the reaction to this, the body has to surrender water from the extracellular fluid. Because that makes a person thirsty, a vicious circle is created, as the thirst is being maintained by the very beverage that is drink with the intention of getting rid of it.

Alcoholic Beverages
Alcohol itself has dehydrating properties, removing water from the tissues it contacts and drying them out and increasing the need for water.

Adapted from The Water Prescription, by Christopher Vasey, N.D.

A study that was recently published has determined that it would help American lose weight should the tax was large enough.

However, even then the benefits would primarily be accrued by the middle class and be modest at best.

If the United Stated added a 40% tax to the price of sugary drinks such as sports drinks and sodas that were purchased in a retail store, it would reduce approximately 12 calories from the daily intake of beverages for the average person in the United States. This would translate into a person losing approximately 1 1/4 pounds.

Without doing all of the calculations, it turns out that a 20 % tax wouldn’t work as well as a 40% tax for discouraging the drinking of sugary drinks. Also, should the tax cover more kinds of sugary drinks, the reduction in caloric intake would be somewhat increased which would reduce the options for a substitution of a lower tax.

However, if such a tax could become politically palatable, the benefits from such a tax wouldn’t be advantageous for everybody. The study also determined that increasing the taxes on sugary drinks wouldn’t reduce the weight of the poorest of the wealthiest people in the United States significantly.

The idea of taxing junk food and sugary beverages is gaining some support in some political circles. However, it might be impossible to get public support for such taxes. Recently, a survey was conducted in which people in the United States were ask for their opinion a tax increase directed at sugary drinks.

Over 3,000 people or 51% if the people surveyed either opposed or strongly opposed such tax increases. Only about 1/3 of those surveyed were in favor of a tax increase.

However, there is the deficit to consider and one factor might be how much money the increased taxes might raise. It has been estimated that a tax of 40% on a variety of sugary drinks might gather over $2,500,000,000.

This green practice makes this the world’s first coffee that offsets the negative effects of carbon. The roasting and shipping of one pound of coffee adds about 4 pounds of the equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2e) in the atmosphere.

However, the planting of trees which grow fast in the Ecuadorian cloud forest removes 54 pounds of CO2e. According to Tiny Footprint Coffee, that for every pound of coffee sold, there is 50 pounds of negative carbon goodness.

However, the trees that are planted have to suck up CO2 for 20 years in order to reach that figure of 54 pounds. Also there is much more to consider about the coffee’s carbon footprint than simply the roasting and shipping.

For instance, in your home the process of brewing the beverage and the grinding of coffee beans creates somewhere between 0.04 and 0.7 pounds of CO2e, depending on what you add to the coffee and how you heat your water. Because each pound of coffee is good for approximately fifty cups of coffee there is somewhere between 2.3 and 35 additional pounds of emission of CO2e for each pound of coffee that you purchase.

Although Tiny Footprint Coffee is 90% fair trade certified and all organic, the other 10% of coffees that are fair trade and are non certified that come from family farms that are small and aren’t eligible for certification of fair trade since they aren’t a part of a large growing cooperative.

However, they do grow sustainable, premium, and beautiful coffees that people pay above fair trade price to get. Also those numbers don’t include the widely varying farming practices that can affect the carbon footprint of growing a cup of coffee. People always buy organic coffees that are sustainably grown but aren’t limited to only reach certified fair trade coffees.

As far as the claims of the carbon negative, the CO2e calculations made by Tiny Footprint should be taken with a grain of salt. In addition, they are hard to compare with other coffee companies that are planting trees.

Wine producers touted the results of a scientific study as proof that wine is good for your health. A 1992 research study showed a correlation between high wine consumption rates in France and the low death rates in France from coronary heart disease. Further studies reported that a pattern of diet and alcohol consumption in other European countries seemed to support the earlier study.They stated that alcohol can lower heart disease.

Red wine does contain flavonoids which do work as antioxidants. It is possible that the antioxidants can help to reduce fat build up on the inner walls of the arteries. Scientists also are studying whether red wine may help maintain the flexibility of the blood vessel. Alcohol and heart problems need to be further studied.

These studies seem premature in their finding and do not consider that alcoholic drinks harm more than they help. It does address real issues with alcohol problems. A major risk of chronic alcohol use is the long-term damage that can be done to the internal organs of the body. For example, alcohol abuse is the leading factor of liver cirrhosis.

The scarred tissue of the liver cannot be returned to good health. The liver is responsible for metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates as well as the major function of excretion of waste products from the body. An alcoholic problem can also lead to stomach ulcers, weight gain, fertility issues, and exhaustion of vital minerals and vitamins.

Doctors are cautious about alcohol consumption. In fact, generally, a woman (not pregnant) can have one drink daily. A man can consume two drinks daily. However, it should be the recommended serving size. For example, a standard drink is described as follows: 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of wine cooler, 12 ounces of beer or 1.5 ounce of 80-proof distilled liquor.

Current trends of alcoholic consumption have focused on carbohydrates. Many diet plans have limited carbohydrate consumption and this is a continuation of those plans.

A newer entry has been non-alcoholic drinks such as beers. They are malt-based beverage geared towards those who cannot consume alcohol: pregnant women, designated drivers and those with health concern that prohibit any malt-based products. There have not been studies on the health benefits of these drinks.

Doctors continue to state that the best non-alcoholic drink is pure water. It is the healthiest beverage choice. It helps to remove toxins and waste from your body. Water keeps the heart healthy and improves the condition of skin.

Kombucha is a popular health promoting beverage and natural folk remedy made by fermenting tea. Kombucha is a colony or culture of yeast and other microorganisms embedded in a pure cellulose “pancake.” When the “pancake” is grown in a blend of tea and sugar, it transforms the liquid into a refreshingly lightly sparkling, sweet and sour drink with a fruity fragrance full of health giving acids and nutrients. The Kombucha culture feeds on the sugar and, in exchange, produces other valuable substances which change into the drink: glucuronic acid, glucon acid, lactic acid, vitamins, amino acids, antibiotic substances.

Kombucha tea has about 0.5% to 1% alcohol as do some fruit juices such as apple juice. Harold Tietze in his book KOMBUCHA, THE MIRACLE FUNGUS observes that Muslims and Buddhists drink it without concern. “Recovered alcoholics do not have to fear the small amounts of alcohol.” The Salvation Army is using Kombucha to help alcoholics.

Kombucha tea isn’t something you can buy in a bottle or a bag. You need to brew up a batch of kombucha starter culture and grow your own.

The health benefits of kombucha tea are many, and the taste is distinctively tart. The final product is lightly carbonated too. If you’re interested in trying some, be prepared to do a little work and to wait for the finished product.

Kombucha Tea Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 – 6 Tea bags (at least 2 are black)
• 4 litres ( 140 fl oz) Pure water, rain or spring
• 300 grams (10 oz) White Sugar
• 1 Kombucha tea fungus
• 400 ml (1 3/4 cup//14 fl oz) Kombucha tea (mother tea), from your last brew or obtained with the mushroom / fungus – If you don’t have enough mother liquid

Instruction:
Boil the water in a stainless steel pot, add sugar, turn off heat and stir sugar until dissolved. Add teabags and let soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove tea bags and allow to cool. Strain (not necessary) and pour into fermenting jar. Add the fungus and mother tea to the jar. Cover and leave for one week in a place free from contaminants such as mould, cooking fats etc.

Recipes for Kombucha Tea with Pawpaw (Papaya)

Ingredients:

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) Paw paw leaves and flowers
• 4 litres (140 fl oz) Pure water, rain or spring
• 300 grams (10 oz) White sugar
• 2 Green tea bags
• 4 Black tea bags
• 1 Kombucha tea mushroom
• 400 ml (1 3/4cup / 14 fl oz) Kombucha tea (mother tea), from your last brew or obtained with the fungus. If you don’t have enough mother liquid

Instruction:
Cut, clean and chop the stalks off the papaya leaves and flowers. Place in pot, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 1/2 hour. Let cool, strain and bring to the boil again, add sugar, turn off heat and stir sugar until dissolved. Add teabags and let soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove tea bags and allow to cool. Strain (not necessary) and pour into fermenting jar. Add the fungus and mother tea to the jar. Cover and leave for one week in a place free from contaminants such as mould, cooking fats etc.

Ingredients:
The following quantities are for one litre.

• 5 tablespoons = 1/3 cup
• 3-5 tablespoons of white sugar.
• 1 – 2 teaspoons black tea (organic).
• 1 – 2 teaspoons green tea (organic).
• 1 teaspoon elderflower tea (optional).
• 1 tablespoon papaya leaf tea (optional).
• 1 litre water (Grander water).
• 100 mls of Kombucha tea, (as an acidic starter).
• 1 piece of Kombucha plant. (about 4 inches in diameter.)

Instruction:
Add the sugar to a glass bowl, dangle the tea bags over the side, then pour on boiling water. Use the tea bags to stir the liquid and dissolve the sugar. Leave the tea bags to steep until the tea has cooled. If you are using loose tea then steep the tea in a teapot, then mix with the sugar and boiled water in a bowl. Some herbs such as papaya leaf will need simmering in boiling water for 2 hours. Strain the herbs through muslin cloth.
When the tea has cooled to below 25C, mix in the Kombucha tea, then float the Kombucha plant on the surface. Cover the bowl with a tea towel held in place with an elastic band and leave it where it won’t be disturbed for 2 – 4 weeks at 20-25C. The longer you ferment the kombucha the less sweet and the more acidic it will become. The Kombucha tea is ready when a new mushroom has covered the surface and all of the sugar has been digested. When the kombucha is ready, scoop the tea out the bowl with a small jug and transfer to bottles. Discard the sediment. Refrigerate the kombucha before drinking. Store unused kombucha mushrooms covered with kombucha tea in a jar in the refrigerator.

Honey Kombucha Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1. Two cups of starter tea
• 2. 3 quarts of water
• 3. 1 cup of Liquid Honey
• 4. 1/2 cup of sugar

Instruction:
Boil water for 5 to 10 minutes and remove from heat. Using a cooking thermometer monitor the temperature. When the temperature has fallen below 150 degrees F. add the cup of honey (or 1.5 cups to speed fermentation) and stir until the honey is dissolved. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Once the tea reaches room temperature you can pour off the mixture (leaving the sediment on the bottom behind).

Kombucha Banana Strawberry Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces orange juice
• 4 ounces Kombucha tea.
• One piece of fresh Kombucha colony (sized to palate)
• 5-6 large fresh strawberries
• 1-2 large banana

Blend all ingredients at high speed in your blender until smooth.

Jelly beans are a different flavored type of confectionery. Generally they have fruit taste and are made of sugar.

They are small like groundnut. You can easy eat them at work or while moving. Nowadays jelly beans candy producers make also sugar free candies.

What one can drink with confectionery, particularly with jelly beans?

Juice
Kids love candy with juice. But don’t drink it with moderation with candies, if candies contain sugar and juice is acidic it can be not so good for your teeth.

Soda
You probably already know about mints and cola? Therefore be very careful mixing it with different candies. But I think there won’t be any problems with jelly beans. By the way, jelly beans may serve as an alternative to a cola beverage containing 50 gm of glucose, researches say.

Tea
Tea is good with any candies. Better to drink not so hot tea, it can be both black tea or fruit tea.

Coffee
You can try to drink coffee or cappuccino with jelly beans.

Water
Best water quality is that it can wash down absolutely everything, and even more.

What do you drink with jelly beans or after them?

More than 40 components isolated from the ginkgo tree have been identified, but only two are believed to be responsible for the herb’s beneficial effects in humans — flavonoids and terpenoids. Flavonoids (such as quercetin and rutin) have potent antioxidant effects. Laboratory and animal studies have shown that flavonoids protect the nerves, heart muscle, blood vessels, and retina from damage. Terpenoids (such as ginkgolides) improve blood flow by dilating blood vessels and reducing the stickiness of platelets.

One of the most common uses of ginkgo biloba is to improve memory. Scientifically controlled double blind tests have shown that ginkgo biloba increases blood circulation to the brain, thereby improving the oxygen content of brain tissue and cells. More oxygen to the brain means more clarity, increased ability to focus, increased attention span and a general feeling of being more awake. This is the reason that ginkgo biloba is an ingredient in some energy drinks. There is a special group of healthy energy drinks which based on ginkgo biloba.

Ginkgo is generally safe and non-toxic in therapeutic dosages. Exceeding a daily dose of 240 mg of the dried extract may result in restlessness, diarrhea, and mild gastrointestinal disorders. Those on anticoagulants should have their doctor adjust their dose or should avoid ginkgo in order to avoid over-thinning their blood and hemorrhaging. Ginkgo should be avoided two days before and one to two weeks after surgery to avoid bleeding complications.

Ginkgo biloba is taken orally and can be used in varied forms as tablets, capsules, liquid extracts and dried tea leaves which can be consumed similar to tea. You can drink it with tea. It’ll be tasty and healthy.

Ginkgo biloba tea is for those people who prefer to take it in a tea form. As we mentioned above there are ginkgo biloba capsules, powder and liquids too. But for those who would love to take this herbal medicine in a cup of tea, ginkgo biloba tea is the best way for you. Ginkgo biloba tea is as effective as the capsule, powder and liquid form.

Ginkgo biloba tea goes well with other herb tea too. If you are using ginkgo biloba tea to enhance memory, you can use it with other memory-enhancing herbs such as sage, rosemary and gotu kola. Also you can prepare Ginkgo tea with ginkgo leaf, green tea and jasmine flowers.Ginkgo biloba tea could also be used with hawthorn and lemon balm herbs to promote proper circulation. To relieve stress and anxiety, especially those that involve mental stress, use oats and nettle with ginkgo biloba tea.

Ginkgo biloba tea is easy to prepare and can be prepared with other herb tea for maximum benefit. Ginkgo biloba tea is an exciting, natural and healthy alternative beverage to your usual cup of tea every morning.

1. TEA

Tea is a drink made by infusing leaves of the tea plant in hot water. The name ‘tea’ is also used to refer to the leaves themselves; and it is also the name of a mid- to late-afternoon meal in the British Isles and associated countries, at which tea (the drink) is served along with various foods.

Tea has been an item of trade and tribute for at least three thousand years. It was first cultivated and brewed in China, and many of the best varieties still come from China. Some of the finest oolongs in the world are grown in Taiwan. Japan also produces a considerable amount of green tea, most of which is consumed domestically.

After the British took up tea drinking, they began cultivating the plants native to India in order to have more control over the trade. India, Sri Lanka, and other South Asian countries produce a large portion of the world harvest.

Standage says tea played a leading role in the expansion of imperial and industrial might in Great Britain many centuries later. During the 19th century, the East India Company enjoyed a monopoly on tea exports from China.

As the Industrial Revolution of 18th and 19th centuries gained steam, tea provided some of the fuel. Factory workers stayed alert during long, monotonous shifts thanks to welcome tea breaks.

The beverage also had unintended health benefits for rapidly growing urban areas.

2. WATER

Water (H₂O) is often perceived to be ordinary as it is transparent, odorless, tasteless and ubiquitous. It is the simplest compound of the two most common reactive elements, consisting of just two hydrogen atoms attached to a single oxygen atom. Indeed, very few molecules are smaller or lighter.

From a biological standpoint, water has many distinct properties that are critical for the proliferation of life that set it apart from other substances. It carries out this role by allowing organic compounds to react in ways that ultimately allow replication. All known forms of life depend on water. Without water, your body would stop working properly. Water makes up more than half of your body weight and a person can’t survive for more than a few days without it. Why? Your body has lots of important jobs and it needs water to do many of them. For instance, your blood, which contains a lot of water, carries oxygen to all the cells of your body. Without oxygen, those tiny cells would die and your body would stop working. In addition to being an important part of the fluids in your body, each cell depends on water to function normally.

3. COFFEE

Coffee is a well-known beverage prepared from coffee beans, of the coffee plant.

The story of how coffee growing and drinking spread around the world is one of the greatest and most romantic in history and starts in the Arabian Peninsula, where roasted beans were first brewed around A.D. 1000. Sometime around the 15th century coffee spread throughout the Arab world.

When coffee arrived in Europe it was similarly hailed as an “anti-alcohol” that was quite welcome during the Age of Reason in the 18th century.

Coffee raises capacity for work, gives strengths and energy and topes up. But there is a negative coffee’s influence in the human’s health because of its caffeine.

Coffee also fuelled commerce and had strong links to the rituals of business that remain to the present day.

4. KVASS

Kvass is a very refreshing Russian beverage which is made in many Russian households about once a week. Kvass is a lacto-fermented beverage made from stale rye bread. It tastes like beer but is not alcoholic. Kvass is considered a tonic for digestion and excellent thirst. It is also recognized that kvass is safer to drink than water.

Kvass protects against infectious disease, there is no worry about sharing the glass. In wealthy households, various kinds of kvass were made either with rye bread or with currants, raspberries, lemons, apples, pears, cherries, bilberries and lingonberries.

Real bread kvass using natural ingredients in its production technology – dried rye bread, sugar and water. As a result of the fermentation process, a thirst-quenching drink is obtained, with a distinct bread aroma and a strong rye bread taste. Unifying modern production technology with ancient fermenting methods, a flavor composition is obtained reflecting a product of a completely new quality, which pleasantly quenches thirst. Recommended to be used chilled!

The alcohol content is so low (0.05-1.44%) that it is considered acceptable for consumption by children. It is often flavoured with fruits or herbs such as strawberries or mint.

5. JUICE

Juice is a liquid naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue. Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fresh fruits or vegetables without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree. Juice may be prepared in the home from fresh fruits and vegetables using variety of hand or electric juicers.

Popular juices include but are not limited to apple, orange, prune, lemon, grapefruit, pineapple, tomato, carrot, grape, strawberry, cherry, cranberry, celery and pomegranate. It has become increasingly popular to combine a variety of fruits into single juice drinks.

Juices are often consumed for their health benefits. For example, orange juice is rich in vitamin C, while prune juice is associated with a digestive health benefit. Cranberry juice has long been known to help prevent or even treat bladder infections, and it is now known that a substance in cranberries prevents bacteria from binding to the bladder.

6. LEMONADE

Lemonade is a worldwide non-alcoholic drink. Summer is the best time of drinking it especially with the mint. Iced lemonade always will slake and will raise your mood.

It’s a drink made of lemon juice (fresh better), water and sugar or honey. Lemonade much better and healthy than any soft drink. To prepare lemonade is so easy as preparing tea or coffee.

In the US, a drink made of lemon juice, sugar and water in the UK, a carbonated drink that doesn’t necessarily contain anything closer to a lemon than a bit of citric acid.