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Star Anise for Digestion

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Star Anise - the Superstar Spice

Star anise is a spice that comes from an evergreen tree, and it has a sweet licorice smell. This spice helps with gut healing, it helps to fight off gut bacteria, fungi, and even the flu virus. It is also known for its disease-fighting and pain-relieving properties. Even in aromatherapy it can be used therapeutically to help with digestion, and ease aches and pains.

For those of you who love black licorice, you would absolutely love the smell and flavor of star anise tea. If you don't particularly like it, capsules are a great way to get the benefits while skipping the flavor. When it comes to drinking star anise in your tea, the stronger the brew the better. I highly recommend it for those of you with leaky gut issues or chronic pain.

Anise Essential Oil
Star Anise Teas
Star Anise Capsules

Try My Delicious, Easy Star Anise Recipe

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Hot Licorice Chocolate Recipe

All you need is 3 simple ingredients!

* 1 Star Anise Pod or 1 Tea Bag

* 1 TBSP cacao powder

* 1tsp turbinado sugar

Instructions: Add 8oz boiling water or almond milk to a coffee mug. Steep star anise pod in water/milk for anywhere from 2 to 20 minutes (the longer the better). Then, add cacao and sugar and use a frother tool to blend it well. That is all you need to do to have the most amazing and healthy hot licorice chocolate drink. You can use this star anise recipe over and over again as an herbal remedy for healing the gut and easing pain.

 

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Health Benefits of Elderberry

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What are Black Elderberries good for anyway?

Elderberries are very versatile in nature and perform multiple functions in the body. They activate the immune system to fight infection at the onset of illness. The fruit can be taken in frequent high doses for a few days when coming down with a cold or flu. When trying to reduce the risk of catching an illness, it can be taken infrequently. Also, elderberries directly kill bacteria, viruses, and/or fungi. It goes great in combination with licorice root to soothe and heal a sore throat/cough. It also blends perfectly with elder flower (the other medicinal part of the Elder plant) to help break a fever or fight off allergens. There are numerous benefits of Elderberry but herbs are more effective when taken in combination with synergistic herbs.

I encourage you to learn more about herbal medicine (or herbalism) to uncover not only the benefits of elderberry but the benefits of all kinds of herbs and superfoods.  To be and stay healthy takes commitment to stick to a healthy on diet and supplement plan, among other lifestyle factors. I am a Holistic Nutritionist who can guide you on a path to better health and longevity. It is my pleasure to introduce you to more immune-boosting tips with my "Fight Infections Naturally" nutrition lesson.  Get started with a holistic nutrition evaluation here.

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Green Tea for Cancer? See What Nutritional Science Says…

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Green Tea for Cancer? See what Nutritional Science says…

The leading cause of death in America is heart disease, followed by cancer. Cancer affects roughly 1 in 3 Americans in their lifetime. Chances have it, you or someone you know has suffered or is suffering from this horrible disease. It is terrifying for those to have to go through treatment or see their family go through it. While diet and tea is not an alternative to cancer treatment, there are many natural ways to reduce cancer risk and fight off cancer cells through nutrition! Cancer cells silence tumor-suppressing genes, which can effect someone with good genetics. Green tea has been shown to reactivate these genes by simply being dripped on certain cancer cells (1). Over 1.7 MILLION Americans are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year, and more than a third of those people are expected to die from cancer (2). Every opportunity you get to prevent cancer is another chance to extend your life. It’s amazing that something as simple as a tea plant may have the power to suppress cancer.

Three Ways to Enjoy Green Tea:

Matcha Green Tea
The Whole Food Version of Green Tea

Green Tea:
The Extracts of Green Tea Leaves

Green Tea Capsules:
Take a green tea pill with water and breakfast

Other Green Tea Benefits

Not only can you use green tea topically for benefits, but many studies show benefits on oral consumption of green tea as well!  While water is very important for hydration and my top choice, the next best drink out there is green tea! Why? Because it contains powerful antioxidants that have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, the second leading cause of death in America (3). Green tea also activates the “alpha” brain waves which triggers the relaxation feeling people get from meditating (4). With all the stress we have to deal with on a daily basis, this is a great way to wind down – especially if you are dealing with the stress of cancer!

There are known side effects to green tea, since it contains caffeine. Ease into it with half a cup or one cup then gradually build up to more cups per day to avoid getting dehydrated or headaches. Try all the little things, and incorporate green tea into your daily routine! Regular intake of green tea can slow cancer growth, and the more cups of tea per day is associated with delayed onset of cancer (by up to 7 years for women and up to 3 years for men) in patients who do have cancer (5).

Following a plant-based diet for weight loss can be enhanced with a daily dose or two of green tea. Stay healthy and fit too with these green tea benefits.

Sources:

  1. Greger, Dr. Michael. “How Not to Die.” p10 of Introduction. Copyright 2015. e-ISBN 9781250066121.
  2.  National Cancer Institute. “Cancer Statistics.” Updated April 27, 2018. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics Accessed 8/27/18.
  3. “Consumption of green tea causes rapid increase in plasma antioxidant power in humans.” I. F. Benzie, Y. T. Szeto, J. J. Strain, B. Tomlinson. Nutr Cancer. 1999; 34(1): 83-87. doi: 10.1207/S15327914NC340112. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10453446.  Accessed 8/27/18.
  4. Effects of green and black tea consumption on brain wave activities in healthy volunteers as measured by a simplified Electroencephalogram (EEG): A feasibility study. Edward J. Okello, Awatf M. Abadi, Saad A. Abadi. Nutr Neurosci. 2016 Jun; 19(5): 196–205. Published online 2015 Feb 25. doi: 10.1179/1476830515Y.0000000008. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25714035.   Accessed 8/27/18.
  5. Greger, Dr Michael. “Can Green Tea Help Prevent Cancer?” Nutritionfacts.org. volume 35. Published March 3rd, 2017. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/can-green-tea-help-prevent-cancer/. Accessed 8/22/18.

Kelly Athletics | Author: Kelly Gibson | Holistic Nutritionist | Holistic Nutrition and Fitness | Herbal Remedies | Nutritionist Chandler AZ | Nutritionist Tempe AZ | Nutritionist Phoenix AZ | Nutritionist Arizona | Vegan Nutritionist | Plant Based Nutritionist | Plant-Based Nutritionist | Vegan Supplements | Plant-Based Supplements | Green Tea Supplements | High-Quality Green Tea | Natural Remedies

*Disclaimer: This blog is not to be taken as medical advice. Please see a physician or health practitioner prior to making any changes to your diet, medication, or treatment plan. View our Terms.

Green Tea for Cancer | Kelly Gibson | Holistic Nutritionist | Nutritionist Chandler AZ | Holistic Nutritionist in Chandler