ES Health Talk

5-HTP is derived from the Griffonia Simplicifolia plant.

The Griffonia simplicifolia seed, part of an African vegetable, yields Griffonia extract containing a concentration of 30 percent 5-HydroxyTryptophan (5-HTP). 5-HTP is an amino acid that is a direct precursor of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter having pain soothing and relaxing effects. It is not present in significant amounts in a typical diet. The human body manufactures it from L-tryptophan, a natural amino acid found in most dietary proteins. However, eating food that contains L-tryptophan does not significantly increase 5-HTP levels.

5-HTP is an amino acid that is the intermediate step between tryptophan and the important brain chemical serotonin...

High Intensity Interval Training

High intensity interval training (HIIT) refers to a very specific and particular type of training, and it’s possible to do interval training, or high-intensity training, without actually doing a real HIIT workout. Understand that our bodies have developed to carry out physical activity in bursts of effort followed by recovery, or stop-and-go motion instead of consistent state motion. Current research is suggesting that physical variability is one of the most important aspects to think about in one’s training. This tendency can be seen throughout nature as all animals show stop-and-go movement rather of constant state movement. People are the only animals in nature that try to do “endurance” type physical activities.

The majority of competitive sports (with ...

Infrared Sauna

An infrared sauna warms the body without heating the surrounding air while a traditional sauna uses heat to warm the air, which in turn warms your body. Infrared saunas produce heat that deeply penetrates the body up to 1-3/4 inches, whereas traditional saunas produce heat that only penetrates about 1/8 inch of the body.

There are two types of infrared saunas – near light emitting and far light emitting. Near-infrared light emitting saunas use incandescent reddish “heat lamps” for heating. Far-infrared light emitting saunas use metallic, ceramic or black carbon elements for heating.

Health Advantages

Weight Loss – When it’s hot, your body works hard to keep its core temperature level by sweating...

Raw Food

A raw food diet consists mostly or completely of raw vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. Some people also consume raw eggs and dairy as well as raw fish and meat, although, less commonly. Grains and legumes can be eaten, but need to be soaked or sprouted first.

As long as the temperature never goes over 118F (48C), a food is considered to be raw. It also is not refined, pasteurized, or processed in any way. Preparation methods include juicing, blending, soaking, sprouting and dehydrating.

Most specialists who support the raw food diet say that just 75-80% of the diet is required to be raw to get all the benefits. The main idea of a mostly raw diet lies with the truth that lots of vegetables and fruits lose a significant percentage of their nutrients when the food is cooked...

Ayurveda

Ayurveda is a holistic healing system more than 5,000 years old with roots in the Vedic culture of India. Aspects of Ayurvedic medicine can be found in Tibetan, traditional Chinese and Greek medicine. Some of these ideas are described in ancient Ayurvedic texts such as the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita.

The word Ayurveda consists of “Ayur” which means life and “veda” which means science or knowledge. So, Ayurveda is the science of life. It believes that every person is made from five basic elements – space, air, fire, water and earth. These elements combine in the body to create three life forces or energies. These energies are known as doshas.

The vata dosha contains the space and air elements and is considered the most powerful dosha...

Bee pollen

What is bee pollen?

Pollen is collected from plants and then mixed with a secretion from bees’ salivary glands. This is brought to the bee hive where it is packed into the honeycomb cells. The surface is covered with a combination of honey and wax. This substance then ferments and is preserved by the resulting lactic acid.

Research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture concluded that bee pollen is the most nutritious food we can consume. It is the only natural food that contains almost all of the 22 building blocks from which the human body is composed. It contains eight essential amino acids, a dozen vitamins, 28 minerals, 11 enzymes and co-enzymes, 14 fatty acids, several antioxidants and phyto-nutrients...

Juicing vs Blending

Juicing or Blending?

Juicing extracts water and nutrients from produce and discards the pulp or indigestible fiber. The nutrients are more easily absorbed into the body. One can consume more servings of fruits and veggies in a single serving of juice than if one tried to eat all the fruits and vegetables that became the juice. Freshly made juice is nutrient dense.

Blending combines the entire fruit or vegetable and contains all of the fiber. However, the blending process breaks the fiber apart which makes it more easily digestible. Blended drinks, often called smoothies, tend to be more filling due to the fiber and produce a slow, steady release of nutrients into the body...

Good Night Sleep

Specialists state that older Americans frequently have difficulty getting a great night’s rest. It is a huge quality-of-life issue, given that contrary to common belief, the senior needs about the same quantity of sleep as younger people. According to senior research study partner Dr. Harrison Bloom of the International Longevity Center, sleep problems and disorders are not an inherent part of aging. In addition, he likewise stated that it’s basically a misconception that older people need less rest than younger individuals.

In a study published recently in the American Journal of Medicine, researchers discovered that over half of older Americans have issues in getting the rest that they require. Dr...

Free radicals

Throughout normal metabolic functions, highly reactive substances called free radicals are created in the body. To make up for their shortage in electrons, they will respond with certain chemicals in the body and interfere with the cell’s capability to work normally. It has been found that a substantial link exists in between free radicals and more than sixty different health conditions including the aging process, cancer, and atherosclerosis.

But just as the body naturally produces free radicals, it likewise has a way to defend against them. The body produces a number of types of antioxidant enzymes or antioxidants (chemical compounds) including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase...

household cleaning products

Most of the conventional products sold in supermarkets for personal hygiene and household cleaning contain toxic chemicals that impair one’s health. The Environmental Working Group has compiled a database of personal care products with a safety rating system and descriptions of the dangers of certain ingredients. It is a very useful resource in helping to determine if one wants to continue using a product as well as finding a new product to use or just comparing products.

There is a report on their Web site that contains information about household cleaning products. The report is updated regularly and contains some surprising data about the safety, or lack thereof,  of home cleaning products...