Kombuchat

The hottest new drink out of Vegas

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.

 

Newest supporter of alternative medicine is…Prince Charles?

As alternative medicine becomes mainstream, more and more individuals are taking notice of its effectiveness.

One such individual is Prince Charles, who has urged the UK’s Coalition government to move forward on studying and adapting alternative medicine practices.

A source said that the Prince wanted to see “evidence-based complementary treatments taking a proper integrated approach that gives people choice and where regulation would build confidence in making choices”.

This is a reasonable and surprising position to take, because it shows people at even the highest levels of government are showing interest in alternative cures to some of the unsolvable medical issues of our time.

It’s becoming increasingly popular among the citizenry as well:

Under Labour, there were two public consultations – in 2004 and 2009 – which found high levels of public support for regulation of those practising herbal and Chinese medicines.

Hopefully, government can find a way to license and regulate practitioners without burdening the ability of healers to engage in their practice.

How dermatologists are using probiotics to treat patients

“Probiotics” is a term you hear all over the place these days. Yogurts, juices, smoothies, vitamins—everyone’s on the probiotics train.

But what do they actually do?

Kombucha is a probiotic, which means it’s filled with millions of tiny bacteria and organisms that are designed to replenish and rebalance natural good bacteria in your body. Obviously, antibiotics kill bacteria, and with the continual reliance on antibiotics, nutritionists fear that we’re killing the good bacteria as well.

University of Connecticut dermatologist Meagan McCusker is a fan of probiotics, using them to alleviate “a wide variety of conditions including acne and psoriasis”.

McCusker says, “Probiotics can impact just about everything in the body. They really can’t and shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to overall health maintenance.”

Kombucha is one of the most widely-used sources of probiotics—which goes to show how important kombucha can be to a healthy diet.

This South Pacific plant may prevent lung cancer in smokers

Smoking has been mostly moved to the margins of society in the Western world, but smoking-related diseases like lung cancer and emphysema are still among the largest killers across the globe.

But one area that bucks this trend is the South Pacific, where “studies in such islands as Fiji and Western Samoa have found very low lung cancer rates despite relatively heavy tobacco use.

Scientists point to the kava root, a “mild sedative” consumed by islanders.

A recent study on mice which showed suppressed tumor growth correlates with prior scientific discovery:

Earlier studies found an inverse correlation between the amount of kava consumed and the cancer rate among smokers, indicating that the earthy beverage might be blocking tumor growth.

Further studies will be performed on the root to isolate the compounds that stem tumor growth. If brought to market, this could be one of the most important natural cures in history.

Try these natural New Year’s detoxes

Detoxing is becoming the new “gym membership” for New Year’s resolutions, and many companies are capitalizing on this trend by issuing “detox” products.

However, you don’t need to buy a fancy juice cleanse to detox. Here are some ways you can keep your resolution without breaking the bank:

First things first: water. If you find yourself to be constantly fatigued, headachey, and irritable, you’re likely not getting enough water. Water flushes your body out and keeps your cells firm and hydrated.

Next might surprise you: cut out all the sweets—including replacements for sweets:

Skip sugar – and low-calorie sweeteners. You want to ground zero your sweet taste buds with more limited intake of sweet of all kinds. Cut out sugary drinks, snacks, and treats, and you’ll be surprised how fruit will satisfy your sweet tooth. And taking a break from all low-calorie sweeteners helps you learn to tamp down your perception of sweetness.

Artificial sweeteners are designed to be sweet, and reinforce your body’s desire for sweet things, keeping you on a cycle of cravings. The whole point of detox is to calm your body down, so cut out the diet sodas and the Stevia and find yourself craving sweet things less.

Last: sweating is your friend.

Skin is the body’s largest organ, and sweating helps you eliminate excess body salts and other metabolites of body processes. Breaking a sweat every day is a good way to support your body’s healthy elimination of metabolic breakdown products.

Lululemon has a quote printed on their bags that says something to the effect of: “sweat every day, it regenerates your skin”.

This goes to show: you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on an official “Detox” from some marketing company.

It may be time to detox your wallet, too.

 

Why are dieticians bashing kombucha?

While households across America are discovering kombucha, some individuals are less than convinced.

In an article documenting how Tennessee homes and grocery stores are starting to brew kombucha, a dietician is quoted saying the following:

“I think it’s just another health trend, like juicing or the Paleo diet,” says Amy Autuori, a registered dietitian at Memorial Hospital. “And I’ve heard it tastes horrible. Why don’t people just eat a yogurt and drink some black tea?”

What kind of dietician would dismiss something so easily out of hand without actually trying it?

This shows an ignorance of the types of bacteria too, because the bacteria found in yogurts is different than the bacteria found in kombucha.

Black tea and yogurt are great additions to a diet, don’t get me wrong, but would this dietician be prescribing yogurt for someone who is lactose intolerant?

Unfortunately, many “dieticians” like this don’t do their research or stay on the up and up products like kombucha. And it’s their patients who suffer.

Woman asks husband to take nude yoga photos of her, the results are beautiful

Despite just being good for mobility and overall wellness, yoga moves the body in ways that are simply beautiful.

Luba Shumeyko had her husband, Petter Hegre, photograph her in a variety of yoga poses in the nude.

Her body stretches in gorgeous angles, showing how yoga complements both the curvatures and the rigidity of the human form.

One of the best things about yoga is that its accessible for all body types and all ages.

Although doing it in the nude is a little daring, it goes to show that yoga can enhance the artfulness of the body.

How you can prevent inflamed joints

Inflammation of the joint, also known as osteoarthritis, is not “wear and tear or old age”, nor is it “bone on bone”. It is “a whole joint disorder – all involved in an inflammation repair process, which means your body is trying actively to make you better or stabilise an area under strain.”

This means that this can afflict the young as well as the old, and that preventative care is the cure to manage this.

Research has shown “increasing evidence supporting the use of chiropractic care as part of a preventative approach”.

In fact, the chiropractic community is redefining osteoarthritis, seeking to “regard it instead as a natural repair process that, with help from the health care professional and patient, often leads to a better functioning, pain free joint.”

And the best solution? “[W]ith the right care and support including manual care, a third of people with arthritic knees get better”.

Manual manipulation, such as chiropractic therapy, can help many osteoarthritis sufferers breathe a little easier.

Is the medical industry finally willing to accept meditation?

The medical industry has been slow on the uptake when it comes to meditation. However, now that healthcare costs have reached unsustainable levels, the medical industry is looking to meditation to provide some guidance.

After all, “[u]nlike insurance-driven medical models, this one comes free and is available to virtually anyone. All it takes is a willingness to learn, discipline and plenty of practice.” UC Davis, with the Shamatha Project, is studying the effects of meditation in a program endorsed by the Dalai Lama himself. And now there is proof that meditation can scientifically help people’s health and well-being.

Hopefully, this completely-free treatment is employed in helping people suffer from a variety of diseases currently being treated with costly, ineffective measures.

Is meditation a form of brainwashing?

As meditation becomes more popular, it has raised more concerns.

There are fears that meditation is a cult, especially meditation with soundtracks or suggested phrases. People are afraid of brainwashing.

But you must think of the brainwashing you to do yourself so you can positively—wash your brain.

Think about how many negative thoughts go through your mind on a daily basis. Your mind may be sullied with low self-confidence, anger, frustration, lack of empathy, impatience, anxiety or depression. There are also the repetitive negative thoughts that surface when you least expect them to. These are all stains on the fabric of consciousness, and these thoughts need to be washed out. The alternative is to just let the negative thoughts pile on day after day, year after year, lifetime after lifetime until we are drowning in the onslaught of our own misery.

Many people just let these thoughts run free in their minds, and it’s disquieting. They quiet them with drugs and alcohol instead of thoughtfulness and calm. You can’t create more noise to block out the other noise. It’s time to find an activity, like meditation, that can quiet down the whole system.