Kombuchat

This chart may help divert what you want into what you actually may need.

A recent study found that a food chemical, most famous for being contained in turkey, may relieve the effects of depression.

Tryptophan was administered in an hydrolysate (powder-added-to-liquid form) and administered to middle-aged women. A control was given the same hydrolysate without the protein.

The result was that “this supplementation dose of tryptophan rich protein hydrolysate led to a positive emotion and reduced negative bias”.

More studies will have to be performed to confirm this, but this is good news for folks who suffer from depression and feel trapped by having to take pharmaceuticals to relieve symptoms.

The study’s author claims that tryptophan may “promote feelings of wellbeing” and “[resist] deterioration in mood…or depressive episodes”.

This study shows just how important food and diet are to overall health and well-being (the often neglected part of health).

nuts, rich in tryptophan

Despite being an ancient craft, kombucha is still a mystery to most people.

Which is why I’m excited to discover a new cookbook entitled “KOMBUCHA!”.

The book “shows you how to “detoxify while you toxify” with recipes for the fermented tea, for cooking with kombucha, for kombucha-infused cocktails, and even kombucha-based beauty treatments.”

Now that kombucha is becoming more mainstream, it’s exciting for people to find more uses for the delicious beverage.

This cookbook has some interesting takes on kombucha, “including Eggs Poached with Kombucha, SCOBY Tempura Salad, Kombucha Apple Pie, a Kombucha Mint Julep, and a Whole Kombody Detox Bath.”

The cookbook, by Eric and Jessica Child, has around 50 recipes. It’s worth a look!

All of the caffeine and stimulants we consume on a daily basis combined with the consistent stress of daily life creates a recipe for poor sleep, anxiety, agitation, short-temperedness, and digestive issues.

However, there are two roots that have been used for centuries to calm and relax the body—and they’re available at your grocery store.

Valerian root has been used for “more than 1,000 years” as a relaxing supplement that won’t leave you sedated or groggy.

Several studies have shown that valerian, when taken before bed, can help you sleep more soundly and ultimately make you more rested and relaxed.

This can most likely be found in capsule form in your store’s vitamin aisle.

Another root that will calm your nerves is kava.

Found in the Pacific Island and used by locals for thousands of years, the kava root is touted as a body relaxer and hallucinogenic in high quantities.

However, in more reasonable amounts, the root can be a wonderful relaxer.

Kava tea is used in ceremonies to induce a euphoric and relaxed feeling that some compare to the effects given by a stiff cocktail, but without any of the emotional outbursts usually associated with alcohol. Kava generally makes you happy, calm and eventually puts you to sleep. And the plant does all this without giving you a hangover.

Kava is also found in supplement form in your grocery store’s vitamin aisle.

Use these powerful calming roots sparingly to achieve relaxing effects, and kick that “evening cocktail” to the curb.

Tea is usually portrayed as the chill sibling of hyperactive coffee.

But what few understand is that most teas, whether green or black, can actually be energizing as well. Before bedtime, a cup of green tea or black tea can make you restless and have the opposite effect as intended.

Many people tout chamomile as a relaxing tea.

Mark’s Daily Apple has a great rundown of other teas that have a calming effect:

• Ashwagandha
• Lemon Balm
• Passion Flower
• Hops (yes, the ingredient used in beer)
• Holy Basil
• Siberian Ginseng

Of particular interest (and with fewest side effects when consumed in high concentrations) is Lemon Balm, which is likely the easiest to find out of this list.

Lemon balm is known for the following effects:

When combined with valerian, lemon balm reduces lab-induced stress in human subjects. The combo also reduces restlessness in afflicted children.

Lemon balm appears to reduce cortisol concentrations and increase GABA, perhaps by inhibiting the enzyme which degrades GABA. This particular enzyme is a common target in anti-anxiety treatments.

Plus, if you forget the name, just remember that it rhymes with ‘calm’.

What are your favorite calming teas?

The unfortunate fact of many scientific studies is that they take a long time to disprove in the public consciousness.

As soon as a particularly intriguing or controversial study comes out, people hold onto it like gospel.

Case in point—if you have hypothyroidism, avoid the following:

kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, flax seed, peanuts, strawberries, peaches or otherwise “goitrogenic” foods.

That’s a myth.

A study in the 50s “proved” that those foods are antithyroid.

Since then, the study has never been replicated, and has been attempted multiple times over the past 6 decades.

So if you have hypothyroidism, don’t avoid these vitamin-rich foods because of an old and disproven study.

Most people associate vodka shots and bottle service with Vegas, not tea.

However, as Sin City grows, so does its appetite for tea.

Sheffield Spice and Tea Co is Vegas’s newest tea hotspot, and demand is through the roof:

“We expected tea to be about 25 percent of our sales,” Richard Sheffield said. “But when we were running out of teas the first day that we opened and had to start ordering the second day, we knew that we underestimated the demand.”
Within three weeks they more than doubled their stock of teas to 90 varieties and now have about 120 — from smoky Lapsang souchong black tea to a silky milk oolong.

In fact, tea clubs are even forming, with the Las Vegas Ladies Tea Society leading the charge.

In recent years, Vegas has been host to the World Tea Expo, which brings teamakers and tealovers alike across the world to Vegas.