Healthy Benefits Of Zobo Drink?

In Nigeria the flower, Hibiscus sabdariffa is used to prepare a popular beverage called ‘zobo’. It is cultivated in the northern part of the country. Extracts of the flower is alkaline in nature and has been known to have cleansing properties. It helps to keep the body’s pH balanced, (without white sugar).

The extract is used fresh for making wine, juice, tea, spice and the likes. The flower has pectin that CAN make a firm jelly. It can also be used raw in salads. The red flower contains antioxidants including flavonoids. The flesh Hibiscus flower is also rich in riboflavin, Vitamin C, niacin, carotene, calcium, and iron which are all nutritionally necessary.

Your Diet—Can It Kill You?

“You have a severely blocked coronary artery, about a 95% obstruction . . . At this moment you are a heart attack statistic just waiting to happen.”

THIRTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD Joe could hardly believe these words of a cardiologist who examined him to determine the cause of his chest pain. Almost half of those who will die of heart disease are not even aware that they have it.

But what led up to Joe’s condition? ‘For 32 years I ate the typical American “meat and milk” diet,’ laments Joe. ‘Somehow the fact that the American diet is hazardous to my health fell through the cracks.’

Your Diet and Heart Disease

What was wrong with Joe’s diet? Basically, it contained too much cholesterol and fat, especially saturated fat. From his youth, Joe had been setting himself up for coronary heart disease with nearly every forkful of food. A high-fat diet is, in fact, linked to five of the ten leading causes of death in the United States. At the top of the list is coronary disease.

The connection between diet and heart disease is seen in a study conducted in seven countries on some 12,000 men aged 40 to 49. The extremes are particularly revealing. The study showed that Finnish men—eating 20 percent of their calories as saturated fat—had elevated blood-cholesterol levels, while Japanese men—eating only 5 percent of their calories as saturated fat—had low blood-cholesterol levels. And the Finnish men had a rate of heart attack six times greater than the Japanese men!

Coronary heart disease, however, is no longer rare in Japan. In the past several years, as Western-style fast foods have become popular there, the consumption of animal fats has gone up 800 percent. Now, Japanese boys have even higher blood-cholesterol levels than American boys of the same age! Clearly, dietary fat and cholesterol are implicated in life-threatening conditions, particularly heart disease.

Diet Types For Loss Weight

 Fixed-menu diet

A fixed-menu diet provides a list of all the foods you will eat. This kind of diet can be easy to follow because the foods are selected for you. But, you get very few different food choices which may make the diet boring and hard to follow away from home. In addition, fixed-menu diets do not teach the food selection skills necessary for keeping weight off. If you start with a fixed-menu diet, you should switch eventually to a plan that helps you learn to make meal choices on your own, such as an exchange-type diet. 

Healthy Gums, Healthy Heart?

Regular brushing of teeth, which prevents periodontal disease, may lower the risk of suffering a stroke or a heart attack, reports Mexico City’s Milenio newspaper. Researchers from the University of Minnesota found that people with high levels of bacteria that cause periodontal disease also had a narrower carotid artery. 

One possible explanation is that “the microorganisms that cause periodontal disease emigrate and travel throughout the bloodstream, which stimulates the immune system and provokes inflammation,” says the paper. In turn, that inflammation increases the buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries or contributes to the formation of blood clots that can lead to heart attacks, researchers theorize. Therefore, “caring for oral health may have a significant impact on cardiovascular health,” says Milenio.

Your Hands and Health

“When a person sneezes and puts his hand across his mouth or blows his nose, the hands need washing before touching telephones or doorknobs,” says The Medical Post of Canada. The Post quoted the U.S. Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, which says that “80% of common infections are spread directly by hands and touching, not through the air.” 

 Dr. Audrey Karlinsky of the University of Toronto recommends washing frequently and rubbing soap into your hands “for 10 to 15 seconds, taking care to get in between the fingers and under the nails.” After that, she suggests, you should rinse your hands in hot water and use a paper towel to turn off the faucet. How can you get children to take enough time? Have them recite the whole alphabet while they soap up, suggests Dr. Karlinsky.

Why Care About My Health?

Put a • next to each goal you would like to reach.

○ Lose weight

○ Improve complexion

○ Have more energy

○ Be more alert

○ Reduce anxiety

○ Control temper

○ Feel more confident

THERE are some things in life that you as a young person don’t get to choose—your parents, your siblings, and where you live, to name just a few. Your health, however, is a different story. Whether you’re in shape or not can depend on hereditary factors as well as the lifestyle you choose.