Tag Archives: health

In Context: Spice Things Up

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.

Indian food is rich, aromatic and very, very flavorful. The key to Indian cuisine lies in five spices: Turmeric, Red Chili, Cumin, Mustard seeds and Coriander.

Traditional Indian spice box, aka "masala dabba" Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

In addition to being responsible for a bonafide flavor explosion, these spices have been used to cure various ailments since ancient times.

Photo by Steve Jackson courtesy of Creative Commons

Turmeric has been used for over 2500 years in India.

Known for its anti-inflammatory properties, this spice:

  • Has antiseptic qualities and is used in disinfecting cuts and burns
  • Helps prevent the spread of cancer, studies have shown that it prevents breast cancer from spreading to the lungs in mice
  • Detoxifies the liver
  • Is a natural painkiller
  • Slows down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease
  • Aids in fat metabolism

Cumin is an antioxidant and is thought to prevent osteoporosis. Studies are being done on the spice’s effect on diabetes. When orally dosed, its effect on diabetes in lab mice show that cumin prevented cataracts.

Photo by Gusjer courtesy of Creative Commons

Not a fan of curry? You can still incorporate cumin in your diet by substituting it for black pepper.

Coriander (the seeds of the cilantro plant) has components of 11 essential oils and six types of acids, ascorbic acid, better known as vitamin C, is one of them. Coriander is anti-carcinogenic, anti-convulsant and anti-histaminic.

Photo by Steve Jackson courtesy of Creative Commons

Among other ailments, it is used to treat:

  • Swelling
  • High Cholesterol
  • Mouth ulcers
  • Anemia (as it has a high iron content)
  • Indigestion

 

Mustard seeds are among the oldest known herbal remedies. They’re a great source of selenium, magnesium and omega 3 fatty acids, and like the other spices, it is an anti-inflammatory. Other benefits include:

Photo by WordRidden courtesy of Creative Commons

  • Migraine relief
  • Improved digestion
  • Improved metabolism
  • Help with insomnia and anxiety
  • Improved hair quality and prevents hair loss (just massage some mustard oil onto the scalp)

Capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers (and what makes it hot), offers a ton of health benefits. The more capsaicin a pepper has, the hotter, and, if you can handle the heat, the better it is for you.

Capsaicin:

Photo by Cam Vilay courtesy of Creative Commons

  • Fights Cancer. A study done on cancer research has shown that, when tested on mice, capsaicin causes cancer cells to “commit suicide”
  • Manages pain. It inhibits Substance P– a key transmitter of pain to the brain. Substance P also causes your nerves to swell which can result in headaches and sinus pain
  • Relieves congestion. The heat stimulates secretions that help to clear your nose, relieving nasal congestion. When consumed regularly, aids in the prevention of chronic sinus infections
  • Fights inflammation. It’s being looked at as a potential treatment for arthritis and psoriasis
  • Protects you heart. It reduces cholesterol and triglycerides. Cultures around the world that use hot peppers more frequently than others suffer lower rates of heart attacks and stroke.

In Context: A Spotlight on Poverty in Canada

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.


Photo by Darcy Kiefel, courtesy of Heifer International

Canada has seen some noticeable economic improvements in thelast ten years; however:

  • 1 in 10 Canadians live in poverty
  • 1 in 3 Canadian adults that work full-time do not makeenough money to sustain themselves and their families with a healthy lifestyle

Canada measures poverty in relative terms and does not havean official poverty line. Canadian poverty statistics are calculated byCanada’s Low Income Cut-Offs (LICOs), which is calculated by comparing thepercentage of income individuals and families spend on basic needs with otherCanadians.

Many blame unemployment as the “big, bad” reason for povertyin Canada and other developed countries, but that’s not always the case. As amatter of fact, the Canadian unemployment rate is in decline. An overlooked andunderlying factor of poverty in many of the world’s wealthy, industrializedcountries is income inequality, which is the extent to which income is unevenly distributed in one country.
In 2008, for everydollar the average Canadian family in the poorest 10% of the population had, Canadianfamilies in the richest 10% of the population had 13 times as much.
When income inequality in a country is high, it reflects onhow a country uses its resources. The higher the income inequality in acountry, the slower the economic growth, usually begging the question: “Is thecountry utilizing its citizenship’s skills and capabilities to the fullestextent?”
Measured by the Gini Index (which calculates how far incomedistribution among individuals in a country deviates from an exactly equaldistribution), income inequality in Canada has increased more over the last 20years than in any other country with similar income per capita.
Nearly 400,000 full-time, Canadian adult employees earn lessthan $10 an hour, drawing them and their families deeper into the cycle ofpoverty. And with poverty comes poor health— The World Health Organizationhas named poverty as being the single largest determinant of health.
  • The majority of theworking-poor cannot afford secure and affordable housing and healthy (or inmany instances an adequate amount of) food
  • Parents on limitedincome often skip meals so their children have an adequate diet
  • Limited food budgetsand lack of access to fresh food often results in Type 2 diabetes—which wasformerly seen in adults only, but is now increasing in children

And perhaps one of the scarier statistics to surface:

  • According to a studyconducted by McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, there is a 21-yeardifference in life expectancy between the poorest neighborhood and thewealthiest neighborhood

Research by Poverty is Making Us Sick show that if annualincome were increased by $1,000 a year to the poorest 20% of Canadians, it wouldlead to as many as 10,000 fewer chronic conditions and 6,600 fewer disabilitydays every two weeks.

So, while poverty in Canada doesn’t look like poverty inunindustrialized nations, it exists nonetheless. The difficult decisions familiesmust make (pay rent or buy food) are the same, contributing to a decline inquality of life and degrading the emotional and physical health of a nation.
Photo by Darcy Kiefel courtesy of Heifer International

You can help make a difference and learn more about howHeifer Canada is helping at www.heifercanada.org.


Livestock and Training Help Fight HIV/AIDS

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Today is World AIDS Day. This year’s theme is “Getting to Zero,” with a commitment to zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination.

Our two-pronged strategy to help fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, is to a) provide livestock to increase incomes so impoverished families can afford AIDS medication and b) teach sustainable farm methods integrating livestock with crop production to add protein to family diets so the AIDS medicine will be more effective.

Our work in the field has other positive effects that will help us “Get to Zero.” Watch these short videos to hear it directly from our participants.

Heifer Improves the Nutrition and Health of People Living with HIV/AIDS


Heifer Helps HIV/AIDS Orphans


Heifer Helps End Discrimination Against Survivors



World Toilet Day: Give a Crap

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Ugandan biogas toilet. Photo by Dero Sanford.

Happy World Toilet Day, everyone.

Wondering why there’s a day for toilets (I mean, there’s a day for everything, right?) around the world? I’ll let the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation explain that one. For those of us who take toilets for granted, it’s hard to believe that 2.6 BILLION people poop on the ground because they don’t have any other place to go.

Although we’re not exactly The Toilet People, in many of our projects, sanitation and hygiene are key objectives for the community. We include these topics as part of the training we provide, where needed. In our biogas projects in Uganda, we help participants build composting toilets that connect to their biogas units, helping them contain and then make the most of their family’s waste products.

I took this picture of one of the Ranch’s
composting toilets (a “squatty potty,”
if you will) during my last stay in the
Global Village.

Two of our Learning Centers, Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas, and Overlook Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts, have composting toilets on their campuses to both educate about toilet conditions around the world and put the compost to use on the growing trees.

So dig in to World Toilet Day and see how you can help make the world a cleaner, healthier place. And while you’re at it, try giving a crap this holiday season.

Boycott National Fast Food Day!

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Today is National Fast Food Day in the United States, apparently. And I want you to boycott it in favor of real food. Why do I care? First, I have a personal interest in the health of our nation’s people. Second, fast food is practically the antithesis of food sovereignty, sustainable food sources, self-reliance and caring for the Earth.

Watch this video for a visual representation on how processed foods have changed American’s health:

Here are some alarming figures:
These are not reasons to celebrate fast food, if you ask me. These are reasons to become more educated about processed foods and, if you haven’t already, make an effort to increase the amount of real, whole foods in your diet.
Here are a couple of resources for you:
Bruce Bradley is a former marketing executive from food giants like General Mills, Pillsbury and Nabisco. Visit his blog, and read this interview Grist did with him about his past and current relationship with processed and real foods.
Once you’re convinced that you shouldn’t be buying, eating or feeding processed foods, head over to the Real Food Challenge and help shift $1 billion to real food by 2020. Also check out Slow Food USA and these articles by Grist and Constant Chatter to learn more about Real Food.

Reasons and Tools for Transitioning to Vegetarianism and Veganism

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Today is Blog Action Day 2011. It is also World Food Day. This year’s theme for Blog Action Day is Food. Bloggers all over the world are writing about this one theme, from their own unique perspective. To find out more, visit the Blog Action Day website. Read more of our Blog Action Day posts on Heifer Blog here. 


The following post is by Erin Snow, communications manager at Heifer International. 

The reasons people decideto adopt a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle can be numerous and, even despitesimilarities, very personal. I grew up eating meat at most meals, but it wasnever my favorite part. I always preferred the starches and leafy green vegetables.Looking back, I never really felt good about eating something that lost theirlife so that my meal could be “complete,” but I didn’t make any real changes tomy diet until 1999 when a medical issue caused me to look more closely at thefood I consumed and how it affected my health. As a single mom to aone-year-old daughter, I was determined to be proactive about our future andkeep whatever I could control in check. At that time, vegetarianism seemed thelogical answer. Over the past 12 years, I’ve been a lazy vegetarian, not eatingmeat, but definitely not eating enough vegetables and fruit to be healthy. I’vealso dabbled in pescetarianism, where seafood is okay, but all other flesh isout, a choice made while visiting my now-husband in New Orleans, where shrimp,crab, oysters and other aquatic jewels can be found as far as eye can see. Po’Boys and crawfish and gumbo, oh my! In an effort to be serious about my healthand safeguard against predisposed laziness, I’ve recently taken the next stepand become vegan.


Sticking to a diet that isvoid of animal-derived products has been educational, for sure. Fortunately, Ihave a couple of vegan friends, Rena Wrenand Meredith Simonds, who have happily shared recipes, websites, books andgeneral tips for being vegan in a carnivore world. Meredith’s website, The Vegan Pledge, features a pledge,blog and other resources. Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Life website and book, The Kind Diet, have been my go-toresources on my vegan journey. Kris Carr, who went vegan for health reasons,also has an extremely helpful website, CrazySexy Life, and books, including CrazySexy Diet. Did you know there’s such a thing as wine that is not vegan?Isinglass, a collagen that comes from dehydrated swim bladders of fish, isoften used in the clarifying process for beer and wine. Barnivore is a great website guide forfinding insinglass-free vegan beer, wine and liquor.


These resources have beenvaluable tools on a lovely and healthy lifestyle journey that I’m having funfiguring out.

Wash Your Hands

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I tell you what, October is chock full of Official Days. I had no idea!

In addition to being International Day of Rural Women, it’s also Global Handwashing Day.

Handwashing is a critical part of hygiene and health and can mean the difference between life and death in some parts of the world.

We’ve blogged before about the tippy tap, which is a simple, appropriate technology being adopted in several of Heifer’s project communities in Africa.

I saw a tippy tap in action in Uganda, and Marleen New wrote about them on her trip to Zambia.

Lelo Bwacha: An Awakening in Zambia

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by Marleen New, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations

 
A recurring theme on our trip to Zambia, I’ve found, is how such simple ideas, built from inexpensive and everyday items, can make a world of difference. 

The local Bemba phrase “Lelo Bwacha” when translated literally means “dawn” or “morning,” but in Zambia, it is used to describe an awakening, or “Our eyes have been opened” and “We didn’t know such simple things could change a life.” We heard this over and over, time and again, and it certainly seemed to resonate with what we were seeing and experiencing.
Zambian project participant showing how the Tippy-Tap system works.

 Consider the Tippy-Tap. As mentioned in the previous post, having a hand-washing facility convenient and close by the latrine improves hygiene.

Simple Tippy-Tap method

In its simplest form, this could be achieved by providing a plastic jug filled with water. If you drill a small hole close to the bottom of the jug and plug the hole with a stick, you don’t even have to touch the jug to wash your hands. Just remove the twig, wash your hands under the running water and stick the twig back in to stop the flow. Simple.

The Tippy-Tap takes this idea a step further and completely removes the necessity of handling the container.  The jug is suspended by a rope slung over a branch, which is then tied to a stick on the ground.  Stepping on the stick tilts the jug so water can flow to wash your hands. It’s hard to explain but the pictures can demonstrate much better than words.
Considering the incredibly high rate of water-borne diseases, (60 percent of our targeted community members have experienced diarrhea at least once in the last three months) this alone could make a big difference.

Today we visited some families that I had met nine months ago when I came with Elanco staff to see what was then a future project area. During that visit, we met a family that had begun to build a barn—just in case they were selected to receive animals once the project began. Imagine building an entire barn, just in the slim chance you might receive an animal. We decided the phrase “The Audacity of Hope” applied quite well to this farmer! When we returned today we found the barn completed, as well as a bigger, stronger, more impressive barn right next to it. I asked why the second barn and was told — since the barn was built before any Heifer training had taken place– the knowledge and expertise needed to construct a facility strong enough to hold a 500-pound animal hadn’t been utilized. No worries, the farmer told us, he would just use his first structure for storage and smaller animals that he planned to purchase one day. But he was mighty proud of his new one.  We could only imagine the hard work required to build it. It was amazingly strong and built using only his hands—no machinery—and not one nail!
Lelo Bwacha indeed!
Tomorrow we participate in the next handover ceremony of 42 draft cattle to 20 more families!

Nadine Burke: My Food Journey

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How has your relationship to food and health evolved over the years? In this clip from the Nourish Video Encyclopedia, pediatrician Nadine Burke discusses her personal food journey, and how she learned that eating well can be fun.

Dr. Nadine Burke is the Medical Director of the Bayview Child Health Center, where she oversees operations and provides care to children and youth living in the Bayview-Hunters Point community of San Francisco. She has conducted research on food access in vulnerable communities and speaks passionately about issues such as food, health, and the environment.
Watch additional videos from Nadine Burke on the Nourish website. Stay tuned for more selections from the Nourish Video Encyclopedia, a collection of short films that explore the story of our food.
Nourish is a national educational initiative designed to open a meaningful conversation about food and sustainability, particularly in schools and communities. Explore Nourish at www.nourishlife.org. Follow Nourish on Twitter and Facebook.
Be part of the food revolution. Nourish yourself. Nourish the world.
Nourish is a program of WorldLink, a non-profit organization dedicated to education for sustainability. Heifer International is a sponsor of the Nourish initiative.

Nourish Launches New Website and Nourish California

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Are you a California educator, parent, or advocate interested in food and sustainability? WorldLink just launched a bold, new initiative called Nourish California, designed to increase food literacy and build healthy communities. The initiative provides free educational resources for use in California’s schools.

Learn more and sign up at: www.nourishlife.org/california

For those outside of California, Nourish has a new website (www.nourishlife.org), an online hub for teaching and learning about the story of our food. The website includes free curriculum resources, a short film library, Q&A articles from leading voices of the food movement, and more. We’ll be rolling out new short films each week, so stay tuned.

Nourish is a national educational initiative designed to open a meaningful conversation about food and sustainability, particularly in schools and communities.

Be part of the food revolution. Nourish yourself. Nourish the world.

Visit the Nourish website, and follow Nourish on Twitter and Facebook.

Nourish is a program of WorldLink, a non-profit organization dedicated to education for sustainability. Heifer International is a sponsor of the Nourish initiative.