Carrots
Description:
The ancient Greeks first used Carrots for medicinal purposes, particularly for stomach disorders. Carrots are an excellent source of the carotenoids that produce vitamin A, especially the carotenoid beta-carotene, but they also contain high amounts of magnesium, potassium, vitamins C and B complex, and a form of calcium that is readily absorbed by the body.
This vegetable is said to help cleanse the intestines and have diuretic, re-mineralizing, anti-diarrheal, and anti-anemic properties, as well as being a good overall tonic. Carrots are also rich in alkaline which purify and revitalize the blood, nourish the entire system, and help maintain the acid-alkaline balance in the body.
Carrots have a reputation of helping maintain good eyesight, but they also stimulate the appetite. This vegetable is used to treat asthma, general nervousness, dropsy, flatulence, chronic coughs, dysentery, windy colic, chronic renal diseases, anemia, and rheumatism. It is also effective in treating skin disorders such as broken veins/capillaries, burns, creeping impetigo, wrinkles and sun damage.
Carrots also help stimulate milk flow during lactation. There is some scientific evidence that suggests Carrots can prevent cancerous growths as well. Carrot tea can help promote menstruation. Carrot juice, when combined with beetroot, is used as a blood purifier and an anti-diarrhea agent.
Cayenne Pepper
Description:
Cayenne Pepper contains beta-carotene; beta-ionone, citric acid, hesperidin, imonen, lutein, and quercetin just to name a few. It also contains capsaicin, which reduces pain and inflammation. When combined with other herbs, Cayenne Pepper helps increase their effectiveness by helping them enter the blood stream faster. Capsaicin can also stimulate and then desensitize the warmth detectors in the hypothalamus gland so that a drop in body temperature is evident. This enables natives in hot southern climates like Central and South America and Africa, to tolerate the heat a lot better than we would.
Cayenne Pepper has been known for its ability to aid in digestion, improve circulation, and reduce or stop bleeding from stomach ulcers. Taken internally it stimulates circulation and induces sweating to breed a fever. Some native people of Thailand believe that eating Cayenne everyday helps reduce blood cots. Herbalists recommend it to treat colds and infectious diarrhea, arthritis and rheumatism.
There is scientific evidence that suggests adding Cayenne Pepper to meals boosts vitamin C levels and revs up the metabolism. This pepper is also used with lobelia to help soothe nerves. It is beneficial for the heart, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, spleen, and stomach. In naturopathic medicine, Cayenne Pepper is combined with lemon juice, and salt to relieve even the worst sore throat pain for up to 4 hours.
It also fights viral infection. When applied topically in a lotion or salve Cayenne works to soothe muscle aches and pains associated with arthritis, rheumatism, backache, strains and sprains.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)has approved Capsaicin for pain caused by shingles, an adult disease that is caused by the virus that causes chicken pox in children. Such over-the-counter (OTC) creams as Zostrix or Heet contain capsaicin and are applied externally to treat rheumatic and arthritic pains, cluster headaches, diabetic foot pain, fibromyalgia, and post-herpetic nerve pain. These creams usually contain 0.025–0.075% capsaicin. In 2002 there was some research done that helped to determine Capsaicin’s pain relieving effects.
Creams that contain the compound lowered pain in arthritis sufferers’ hands by 40% when used four times a day. A study done for pain from long-term shingles found that 77% of the people had reduced pain after using the cream for four months. The study also said that Capsaicin containing ream is less expensive and safer than other painkillers used for the same conditions.
Cranberry
Description:
For hundreds of years, Cranberry was used as a remedy for stomach ailments, gallbladder attacks, and fevers. Cranberry contains four anti-asthmatic compounds and is high in vitamin C and phytonutrients, including flavonoids, such as the proanthocyanidins, which are antioxidants.
Scientific studies have shown Cranberry to be effective in helping to prevent or eliminate urinary tract infections. This berry is useful in fighting yeast infections. It is also used for kidney stones and chronic kidney inflammation, but there is no scientific evidence to support its effectiveness. There is some evidence to suggest that Cranberry extracts may help prevent heart disease by inhibiting oxidation of harmful LDL cholesterol, and cancer, due to its anti-carcinogenic activity in the proanthocyanidin fraction of the fruit.
In June of 2006 a study was reported at the International Association for Dental Research's 84th General Session & Exhibition in Brisbane, Australia. This study focused on the use of Cranberries to help fight dental plaque. This study found that the antioxidants in Cranberries made it harder for the bacteria to behave normally. Weakened by the antioxidants, Streptococcus mutans might not be able to help make dental plaque the way it normally does.
In an ACP Medicine article in early 2005 there was a study done about Cranberry juice and urinary tract infections, also known as UTI’s. The finding of this study done on healthy females stated, although the efficacy of cranberry juice for the prevention of UTI needs further evaluation, there is mounting evidence that it may be effective in young, otherwise healthy women.
In San Diego at Experimental Biology 2000, the annual meeting of professional research scientists for the life sciences had research being presented there that continues to support the potential benefit of cranberry juice in protecting against cholesterol oxidation. In a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, cranberry juice was tested for its ability to inhibit oxidation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and proved to be effective as an antioxidant. These results, though preliminary, suggest a benefit of cranberry juice in maintaining cardiovascular health.