Saturday, 25 September 2021

What Is Bone Broth, and What Are the Benefits?

Bone broth is one of the most popular trends in health and fitness right now.

Some people are drinking it to lose weight, improve their skin, and nourish their joints.

This article takes a detailed look at bone broth and its health benefits.

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Bone broth is a highly nutritious stock that can be made by simmering animal bones and connective tissue.

Recipes for bone broth often include an acid-based product, such as vinegar or lemon juice.

This breaks down the collagen and connective tissue, and leaves you with a tasty, nutritious liquid commonly used in soups and sauces.

Bone broth has been getting a lot of buzz for the last few years among the health conscious. In fact, there are people who swear by drinking a cup each day.

You can make bone broth from any animal bones, but a few popular sources include:

Any marrow or connective tissue can be used, including feet, beaks, gizzards, spines, legs, hooves, hocks, whole carcasses, or fins.

SUMMARY

Bone broth is made by simmering animal bones and connective tissue. The resulting nutrient-dense liquid is used for soups, sauces, and health drinks.

The nutrient content of bone broth depends on the ingredients and their quality:

  • Bone. The bone itself yields minerals like calcium and phosphorus. Sodium, magnesium, and potassium may also be present.
  • Marrow. Bone marrow gives you vitamins A, B2, B12, and E, plus omega-3s, omega-6s, and minerals like calcium, iron, selenium, and zinc (1Trusted Source, 2).
  • Connective tissue. This tissue provides glucosamine and chondroitin, which are popular dietary supplements for arthritis and joint pain.

Bones, marrow, and connective tissue are all largely made up of the protein collagen, which turns into gelatin when cooked.

Gelatin has a unique profile of amino acids and is particularly high in the amino acid glycine (3).

SUMMARY

Bone broth contains many vitamins and minerals, which can be an important part of your diet.

Making bone broth is easy, and many people don’t even use a recipe.

All you really need are bones, vinegar, water, and a pot.

But if you’re not sure where to start, here’s a simple recipe you can follow:

Start to finish: 4 hours (or up to 24 hours)

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Put bones and any vegetables into a large stock pot.
  2. Pour water into pot so it covers bones and vegetables. Add vinegar, then bring to a boil over high heat.
  3. Reduce heat, add salt and pepper, and let simmer 4–24 hours. The longer it simmers, the tastier and more nutrient dense it will be.
  4. Allow broth to cool, then strain out the solids. Now it’s ready.

You can also add other meat, veggies, or spices to your broth. Popular additions include:

After it’s done, you can store the broth in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Instead of a pot, you may want to use a pressure cooker, slow cooker, or Crockpot.

SUMMARY

Bone broth is very easy to make, and all you need are a few simple ingredients.

Bone broth is high in many different nutrients, which may provide some impressive health benefits.

For example, it contains:

  • high amounts of various minerals
  • the protein collagen
  • the amino acid glycine
  • the joint-improving nutrients glucosamine and chondroitin

Keep in mind that there aren’t any scientific studies that have looked at the benefits of bone broth directly.

However, based on its ingredients, bone broth may have the following potential health benefits:

SUMMARY

Bone broth contains a number of healthy and beneficial nutrients. It may have anti-inflammatory effects, can help improve bone and joint health, and may improve sleep quality.

Here are answers to the most commonly asked questions about bone broth.

Where can I get bones?

You can use bones from the previous night’s dinner or get them from your local butcher.

The best thing is that bones are cheap and sometimes free. You may be able to find butchers who will give them to you at no cost instead of throwing them away.

Is there a difference between bone broth and bone stock?

Not really. These are essentially the same thing — the terms are used interchangeably. However, bone broth can sometimes be thicker.

How much of each nutrient is there in bone broth?

Ultimately, the nutrient content of bone broth depends on the quantity and quality of the ingredients. It also depends on the following factors:

  • which animal the bones come from and what that animal ate
  • how much bone is in the recipe you’re using
  • the length of time the broth cooks for
  • if the meat on the bone you’re using was previously cooked

Bone broth is high in many nutrients, some of which have health benefits.

However, there’s currently a major lack of direct research on bone broth.

At the very least, bone broth is a nutritious, tasty, and incredibly satisfying addition to your diet.

Last medically reviewed on August 4, 2021

Source:

Healthline

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Friday, 3 September 2021

原形食物不妨多吃

 原形食物（Whole Food）是指未經加工並且不含額外添加物的食物，它們與加工食品不同，後者一般添加大量鹽份及調味料，長遠進食或會構成健康風險。相反，原形食物的鹽份較低，貼近「三低一高」的飲食法則，提供人體重要的營養，有助穩定血糖及維護心臟健康。不妨留意以下建議，選擇適合個人喜好的原形食物。

燕麥、黃豆類製品例如豆漿，豆腐︰有助心血管健康
深海魚類、吞拿魚及三文魚︰含有豐富奧米加-3脂肪酸
綠茶、碧螺春︰含有兒茶素等抗氧化物，減低血管栓塞風險
蕃茄︰含有茄紅素
果仁︰含有豐富不飽和脂肪酸，有助降低膽固醇







程詠詩 
嘉諾撤醫院營養師
加拿大註冊營養師
衛生署認可營養師名冊會員

(Source: Hong Kong Asia Heart Centre) 2021-08-20

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Tuesday, 24 August 2021

How do processed foods affect your health?

Processed foods, such as ready meals, baked goods, and processed meats, can have negative health effects.

Most food needs some degree of processing, and not all processed foods are bad for the body.

However, chemically processed foods, also called ultra-processed foods, tend to be high in sugar, artificial ingredients, refined carbohydrates, and trans fats. Because of this, they are a major contributor to obesity and illness around the world.

In recent decades, ultra-processed food intake has increased dramatically worldwide. These foods now account for 25–60%Trusted Source of a person’s daily energy intake throughout much of the world.

This article looks at how processed foods can affect a person’s health and what to avoid. 



What are processed foods?

The term “processed food” can cause some confusion because most foods are processed in some way.

Mechanical processing — such as grinding beef, heating vegetables, or pasteurizing foods — does not necessarily make foods unhealthful. If the processing does not add chemicals or ingredients, it does not tend to lessen the healthfulness of the food.

However, there is a difference between mechanical processing and chemical processing.

Chemically processed foods often only contain refined ingredients and artificial substances, with little nutritional value. They tend to have added chemical flavoring agents, colors, and sweeteners.

These ultra-processed foods are sometimes called “cosmetic” foods, as compared with whole foods.

Some examples of ultra-processed foods include:

  • frozen or ready meals
  • baked goods, including pizza, cakes, and pastries
  • packaged breads
  • processed cheese products
  • breakfast cereals
  • crackers and chips
  • candy and ice cream
  • instant noodles and soups
  • reconstituted meats, such as sausages, nuggets, fish fingers, and processed ham
  • sodas and other sweetened drinks

Ultra-processed foods tend to taste good and are often inexpensive.

However, they usually contain ingredients that could be harmful if consumed in excess, such as saturated fats, added sugar, and salt. These foods also contain less dietary fiber and fewer vitamins than whole foods.

One large studyTrusted Source, involving more than 100,000 adults, found that eating 10% more ultra-processed foods was associated with above a 10% increase in the risks of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disorders.

The researchers reached this conclusion after accounting for saturated fat, sodium, sugar, and fiber intake.

Another large studyTrusted Source, involving almost 20,000 adults, found that eating more than 4 servings of processed food daily was linked with an increased risk of all-cause mortality. For each additional serving, all-cause mortality risk increased by 18%.

Other researchTrusted Source indicates that eating highly processed foods can lead to weight gain.

Below, we look at seven reasons why processed foods can increase the risk to a person’s health.

Processed foods tend to contain added sugar and, often, high fructose corn syrup. Added sugar contains no essential nutrients but is high in calories.

Regularly consuming an excess of added sugar can lead to compulsive overeating. It is also linked with health conditions such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and inflammatory diseases.

Processed foods and beverages are among the major sources of added sugar in the diet. Sweetened beverages are a particularly significant source; people tend to consume much more sugar than they realize in soft drinks.

Cutting down on added sugar — by drinking sparkling water instead of soda, for example — is a quick and effective way to make the diet more healthful.

The ingredients list on the back of processed food packaging is often full of unrecognizable substances. Some are artificial chemicals that the manufacturer has added to make the food more palatable.

Highly processed foods often contain the following types of chemicals:

  • preservatives, which keep the food from going bad quickly
  • artificial coloring
  • chemical flavoring
  • texturing agents

Also, processed foods can contain dozens of additional chemicals that are not listed on their labels.

For example, “artificial flavor” is a proprietary blend. Manufacturers do not have to disclose exactly what it means, and it is usually a combination of chemicals.

Official organizations have tested most food additives for safety, though the use of these chemicals remains controversialTrusted Source among doctors and researchers.

Carbohydrates are an essential component of any diet. However, carbs from whole foods provide far greater health benefits than refined carbohydrates.

The body breaks down refined, or simple, carbohydrates quickly, leading to rapid spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels. When these levels then drop, a person may experience food cravings and low energy.

Because refined carbs cause frequent increases and decreases in blood sugar, consuming them is linked with an increased riskTrusted Source of type 2 diabetes.

Highly processed foods are often high in refined carbohydrates.

Healthful sources of carbohydrates include:

  • whole grains
  • vegetables
  • fruits
  • beans and pulses

Ultra-processed foods are very low in essential nutrients, compared with whole or minimally processed foods.

In some cases, manufacturers add synthetic vitamins and minerals to replace nutrients lost during processing. However, whole foods provide additional healthful compounds that ultra-processed foods do not.

Fruits, vegetables, and grains, for example, contain healthful plant compoundsTrusted Source with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticarcinogenic effects. These include flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins, and carotenoids.

The best way to get the full range of essential nutrients is to eat whole, unprocessed, or minimally processed foods.

Dietary fiber has a wide range of health benefits.

Fiber can slow the absorption of carbohydrates and help people feel more satisfied with fewer calories. It also acts as a prebiotic, feeding the friendly bacteria in the gut, and can help boost heart health.

Most ultra-processed foods are very low in fiber, as natural fiber is lost during processing.

Healthful high fiber foods include:

  • legumes
  • vegetables
  • fruits
  • nuts and seeds
  • whole grains

The way that manufacturers process foods makes them very easy to chew and swallow.

Because much of the fiber is lost during processing, it takes less energy to eat and digest ultra-processed foods than whole or less processed foods.

As a result, it is easier to eat more of these products in shorter periods. In doing so, a person consumes more calories — and uses fewer in digestion — than they would if they had eaten whole foods instead.

This increases a person’s chances of taking in more calories than they use up, which can lead to unintentional weight gain.

Ultra-processed foods are often high in unhealthful, cheap fats. For example, they often contain refined seed or vegetable oils, which can be easy to use, inexpensive, and last a long time.

Manufacturers create artificial trans fats by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils, making them more solid.

Trans fats increase inflammation in the body. They also raise levels of low-density lipoprotein, or “bad,” cholesterol, and decrease levels of high-density lipoprotein, or “good,” cholesterol.

Eating trans fats is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. For example, according to a 2019 studyTrusted Source, a 2% increase in energy intake from trans fats is linked with a 23% increase in cardiovascular risk.

The best way to avoid refined oils and trans fats is to avoid processed foods. A person can replace these with healthful alternatives, such as coconut oil or olive oil.

In recent decades, ultra-processed foods have become common in diets worldwide. However, eating large amounts of these foods increases risks to health.

To rebalance the diet or make it more healthful, a person can replace ultra-processed foods with whole foods, including grains, nuts, seeds, lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.


Source: Medical News Today
Last medically reviewed on April 8, 2020

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Monday, 23 August 2021

The clinical difference between ginger and dried ginger-生姜与干姜的临床区别

POSTED ON  BY TCM

11
May

Ginger is well known in our lives. It is not only a food, but also an important medicine. I mistakenly used dried ginger as ginger in clinical practice, and I personally experienced the difference in the efficacy of the two in drinking warm water.

The patient, a 53-year-old female with asthma and cough, went to the doctor for 1 year. The patient had a cough with no obvious cause a year ago. The condition was mild and severe with medication. In the past month, the cough has worsened, chest tightness, shortness of breath, asthma at night affecting sleep, and asthma attacks. I sometimes cough a lot of thin white foamy sputum, neutralize the mouth, fear cold, fear cold on the chest and back, have normal stool, drink less urine and drink a little bit astringent pain, fat tongue, large fur and white teeth marks. Differentiating the six meridians is the syndrome of Taiyin and Taiyin, and the syndrome is Xiaoqinglong Decoction.

At the second visit 5 days later, he was informed that the cough was relieved and the amount of sputum decreased slightly after taking the upper part. When I looked at the record of the last visit, I found that the dry ginger in Xiaoqinglong Decoction was written as ginger by mistake, so I changed it. The patients of the third consultation reported that the effect was very good this time, the sputum volume was significantly reduced, and the cough was also relieved.

“Shen Nong’s Materia Medica” does not record ginger, only the dried ginger is born in Youliang, ginger “Famous Doctors”: [Ginger] tastes pungent. Lukewarm. Indications of typhoid fever, headache and nasal congestion. Cough up breath. Stop vomiting. Sheng Qianwei and Jingzhou Yangzhou. Picked in September. It was warm again. Xin. Go to Five Zang. Go light. Get angry. Stop vomiting. In addition to wind and heat. Jiufu Xiaozhi Shaozhi. Sad.

Dried ginger “Shen Nong’s Materia Medica”: [Dried ginger] is pungent. temperature. Indications full of chest. Cough up breath. Wenzhong. Stop bleeding. Sweating. By rheumatism. Intestinal diarrhea. The survivor Youliang. Take a long time to get rid of the odor. Divine. Sheng Qian is Chuan Gu.

“Famous Doctors”: [Dried Ginger] is hot. Non-toxic. Indications of cold abdominal pain. Evil. cholera. Fullness. Wind evil all poisons. Gas between the skin. Stop saliva.

Reading books or listening to teachers often talk about dry ginger Wenzhong Huayin, ginger sweats stomach to relieve vomiting, clinical use is based on the composition of the original prescription and the teacher’s experience to learn to apply, I did not really appreciate the difference of the drug.

Although these two medicines are used to treat wet phlegm and drinking water, dry ginger is mainly used for warming thin water, such as Xiaoqinglong Decoction, Linggan Wuwei Jiangxin Decoction, Ganjiang Lingshu Decoction, etc. Xiaoqinglong Decoction treats white phlegm cough Foamy and thin sputum, these symptoms are caused by drinking, drinking evil is relatively thin, fluid and diffusive, people’s symptoms are severe, or the secretion is thin.

Ginger is mainly used to reduce the thick phlegm, such as Xiaobanxia Decoction, Banxia Houpu Decoction, etc., Banxia Houpu Decoction treats chest tightness. Phlegm in the pharynx, sticky phlegm, or foreign body sensation in the pharynx, this is the texture is relatively heavy Muddy viscous or invisible sputum.

Author: Zheng Jun

Unit: Weihai Third Hospital

姜在我们生活是人人皆知，它不仅是食物，也是一味重要的药物，我在临床中误把干姜用成生姜，亲身体会到了二者在温化水饮功效上的区别。

患者，女53岁，哮喘咳嗽1年就诊，患者1年前无明显诱因出现咳嗽，用药物治疗病情时轻时重，近一个月来咳嗽加重，出现胸闷气短，夜晚发哮喘影响睡眠，哮喘发作时咳大量稀白色泡沫痰，口中和，怕冷，前胸后背怕凉，大便正常，小便饮水少略涩痛，舌胖大苔白齿痕。辨六经为太阳太阴合病，辨方证为小青龙汤方。

5天后二诊，告知服上方后咳嗽减轻，痰量略减少，看上次就诊记录时发现误把小青龙汤中的干姜写成了生姜，遂改之。三诊患者反馈，这次效果非常好，痰量明显减少，咳嗽也减轻。

《神农本草经》未录生姜，仅于干姜条言生者尤良，生姜《名医别录》：【生姜】味辛。微温。主治伤寒头痛鼻塞。咳逆上气。止呕吐。生犍为及荆州扬州。九月采。又云微温。辛。归五藏。去淡。下气。止呕吐。除风邪寒热。久服小志少智。伤心气。

干姜《神农本草经》：【干姜】味辛。温。主治胸满。咳逆上气。温中。止血。出汗。逐风湿痹。肠澼下痢。生者尤良。久服去臭气。通神明。生犍为川谷。

《名医别录》：【干姜】大热。无毒。主治寒冷腹痛。中恶。霍乱。胀满。风邪诸毒。皮肤间结气。止唾血。

看书或者听老师经常讲干姜温中化饮，生姜发汗健胃止呕，临床使用时就是按照原方的组成和老师的经验学着应用，没能真正的体会到药物的差别。

虽然这两个药都是治疗痰饮水湿的，但干姜以温化稀薄水饮为主，如小青龙汤、苓甘五味姜辛汤、甘姜苓术汤等，小青龙汤治疗的咳白痰泡沫样稀痰，这些症状是饮为患，饮邪相对稀薄流动和弥散性比较强，人的症状反应重，或者分泌物清稀。

生姜是以化粘稠的痰浊为主，如小半夏汤，半夏厚朴汤等，半夏厚朴汤治疗胸闷咽中有痰、痰粘咳不出来或是咽中有异物感，这就是质地比较重浊粘稠或是无形的痰饮。

作者：郑军

单位：威海市立三院

Source:

TCM Author: Zheng Jun 
Unit: Weihai Third Hospital
https://www.traditional-chinese-medicine.org/herbs-research/the-clinical-difference-between-ginger-and-dried-ginger-%E7%94%9F%E5%A7%9C%E4%B8%8E%E5%B9%B2%E5%A7%9C%E7%9A%84%E4%B8%B4%E5%BA%8A%E5%8C%BA%E5%88%AB/

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