WHAT is HEALH? WHAT is DISEASE?

The definition of health:

WHO (World Health Organization) define healt as " a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being".

It is very important, that is not only absence of ache and disability. 

And not only physical well-beeing. Mental and social are important too.

What is disease?

Disease is absence of one or more  component of health. If one component is not in condition of well-being -  it is enough to say: it is disease.


It is so easy.

IS THE YEW POISONOUS?

Yew (Taxus baccata)

Yew is a shrub or small tree. Big old tree can growing up to 15 meters, but it is rare. Yew was used to make bows and instruments. Large trees were in Europe cut for wood.

Yew provides food for birds. His red fruits are edible and tasty. People can also eat the fruit of yew, but you must spit out black seed from the middle of the fruit. It is important be careful not to chew seeds. One chewed seed will not kill you, but the whole plant is poisonous. Wood, needles, twigs of yew are poisonous, seeds are also poisonous. The red part of fruit is the only eatable part of the yew.

You can also swallow the seed, if you do not chew it. Not chewed seed is resistant to digestive enzymes. Seed go not damaged by the whole entire intestine.

Red part of fruit, is called cover, and it is tasty, red, sweet, slightly fruity aroma. If the fruit is large and growing at sun light it can have a very pleasant taste.

Yew fruits appear attractive especially in late autumn, when there are no other fruits in the fields and forests.

Bon Appetit!

FROZEN

 Is it possible to freeze and effective unfreezing of the human body?

The main problem is that the water in the cells of the human body freezes in the form of crystals. The crystals damage the cells and structures within cells. Cells burst. There is no method to prevent the precipitation of crystals of water so far. If the cells burst, our medicine does not know how to repair such damage. It will be so for a long time, unfortunately. If someone froze, then we can not go to defrost.

But I'm optimistic message. Just being in the cold if you do not freeze, causing the brain reduces the need for oxygen so that it is possible to restore to life, even after quite a long time. Longer than those famous three minutes, in which it is necessary to restore circulation to an unconscious person.

I hope that this knowledge will never be needed.

IS THE OAT GLUTEN FREE?

The oat is naturally gluten free.

Why we can hear that popular oat contain gluten?

Commonly used oat contains some wheat. It is a reason.

Oat seed is similar to wheat seed. It is hard to notice difference and separate it. It is much more easer for millet and buckwheat seed. They have got different seeds.

There are 3 ways of contamination of oats with wheat:

1. It is impossible to gather all seeds. Some of them are left on the field and grow next year, contaminating a new species of grain.
2. Porridge are produced in the same mill as popular wheat flour. The fine dust from wheat can pollute oat.
3. Combine harvester and other machines are the same for all grains. One kind can pollute another.

To have pure oat you should buy certified oats from certified gluten-free farms. On these farms are planted only gluten-free grains, used special separate machine and mills. Gluten grains cannot be planted for 20 years before certification. Price of such oat is much bigger....

How much of wheat is in oat? Is it necessary to buy pure oat?

I do not know how much.

I use common cheap oat, in spite of my intolerance for wheat and not have sings of intolerance, this is enough pure for me. If your allergy is strong, it is possible that you should buy pure certificate oat.

(foto from wikipedia)

FRIED BLAC LOCUST FLOWER

Black locust (acacia) is one of the most common popular wild edible plant. 

We can fried flowers of black locust in pancakes butter. Ther are two posibilities:
1. we can pick flowers from the stem and add it to pancakes butter or
2. we can use whole bunch with flowers, an dip it in in pancakes butter.
Both ways are good.

The best flower pancakes we can get if we use only eggs, float and sugar, without milk. You can use milk, but pancakes will be more hard. I prefare no-milk version. It can be matter of personal preference.

How to frie flower puncakes:
Just put bunch of flowers into pancakes butter. Hold the stem, dip in pancake batter, and fry on both sides. If you prefer pick  flowers as you can see at fotos below - put flower in the batter, stir it, take small portion of puncakes butter by the spoon, and fry small thick pancakes.

Remember to collect the daisies with a clean area, away from the pollution. Flowers can be added to salads, or as etible decoration for cakes or other meels.

Bon Appetit!

POPULAR WILD ETIBLE FLOWERS

The most common popular in temperate wild edible flowers include:

- daisy
- rose (all varieties)
- dandelion
- black locust (acacia)
- elderberry.

All of them can be added to salads. Remember to collect the daisies with a clean lawn, away from the highway pollution and away from herbicides, pesticides spraying in orchards or some gardens.

Flowers of black locust and elderberry can be fried in pancakes butter. The best flower pancakes we can get if we use only eggs, float and sugar, without milk. Just put bunch of flowers into pancakes butter. Hold the stem, dip in pancake batter, and fry on both sides. If you prefer pick  flowers as you can see at fotos below - put them in the batter, stir and fry small thick pancakes.

LET'S EAT DAISIES

Daisies are edible (and tasty!)

The best to eat are young flowers, just after developing. Old flowers are not poisonous, but not so tasty. Young flowers are soft, and delicate.

The  taste is mild. Some people say, they sense the delicate flavour similar to radishes. Maybe a little bit, but daisies are not spicy. I find daisies taste more like a salad with flower aroma.

You can decorate sandwiches, add to the salad, decorate a cake. You can also add flowers to tea. You can use fresh flowers, or dry flowers in winter. Due to the delicate flavour and pale colour daisies should be the additive rather than the main ingredient. I drink them as an addition to the weak black tea. The aroma of flowers is clearly perceptible and enjoyable.

Remember to collect the daisies with a clean lawn, away from the highway pollution and away from herbicides, pesticides spraying in orchards or some gardens. Make sure that your neighbour does not spray plants. If you need to spray your tree in an orchard, remember that tiny droplets of the spray can float far. The grass near the tree can be sprayed as well. You should check protection period on product labelling, after that period your daisies will be good to eat. It should be in the instruction. Typically it is 2 or 3 weeks.

If you buy daisies for the garden it is better to wait 2-3 weeks before eating - they could be sprayed during growing.

Bon appetite!

IS YEAST HEALTHY?

- Is yeast healthy? - asked my friend. She meant common baker's yeast.


 - It is, but only dead yeast. - I said. - It contains a lot of  B vitamins group and they are well absorbed. Still, if you eat yeast alive, it will survive in your digestive tract. It can survive the digestion in the stomach feeding on your ingested food. It does not make you ill, but it steals your vitamins. But if you kill it, then you eat the yeast. High temperature in pouring boiling water or baking the yeast  is enough to kill yeast.


Good excuse to eat a few yeast cookies, huh?

Author: Liliana Trzpil, Interesting Medicine blog.

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TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT before bedtime?

"Should we eat carbohydrates before bedtime?" – my friend asked me today. She wants to get rid of overweight, and she looks for a good way to do it.

Well, what about eating before bedtime? What should we eat, when should we eat? Is it wise to eat anything before bedtime?

My dear Readers. There are many different ideas about how to eat, what to eat, and when to eat. But there is just one simple and undeniable principle:

If you eat less than you need – you lose weight. If you eat more – you get fat. Neither morning nor evening, there is no way to have extra chocolate.  (I wish it were possible...)

It is so important, that it would be a good moment to finish my post, but I want to tell you just two tips more:

1) If you have been eating just before going to bed (before lying down), you are exposing yourself to the reflux, which is manifested as heartburn. The English term for heartburn contains a word "heart", but actually it is the esophagus which hurts. And it is located near the heart. Let me explain the mechanism:

The term "reflux" means that the food from the stomach backs up into the esophagus, because the gravity does not help in keeping it in the stomach. If the food is mixed with the stomach acid (it usually is), it is very irritating to the wall of the esophagus and it hurts. It can be a really big pain.

If someone does not tend to reflux, the lying position is not harmful. But there are many people who cannot lie down or lean down having a full stomach.

So, when should we eat in the evening to avoid the reflux?

– Two hours before bedtime will be safe. One hour is a little bit short, but it should be enough.

2) There are two contradictory facts about a late supper:

- On one hand we do not need as much energy at night, while sleeping, as during the day, when we move. Therefore it is better not to eat before bedtime.

- On the other hand the night means an 8 or 10 hours long break in nutrition, so it is better to to eat before bedtime . I am hungry after so many hours, if I hadn't eaten anything before I went to sleep. It is such a strong feeling that I can wake up from hunger. Intermittent sleep certainly is not healthy. Therefore it is better to eat beforehand.

Conclusion:
So... To eat or not to eat?  Choose whatever suits you more.
Remeber: neither a day, nor a night, nor even eating meal while standing on your head – nothing allows you to eat more chocolate. Sorry. I wish I could eat more too, I like chocolate very much.

                                                                                                       Author: Liliana Trzpil, Interesting Medicine blog.

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The first post.

This is an English version of the blog "Ciekawa Medycyna", which mean "Interesting Medicine" in Polish.

I'm a doctor, MD, from Poland, and I present the official medicine. Posts will written in a simple, interdisciplinary language. People say I can explain difficult things in a simple way.

Enjoy reading!
Shere, if you like.