Herbs from India’s Tribal Pouch: Ginger

'Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is the member of family Zingiberaceae, locally known as Adrak or Ada in India. This plant is small, rhizomatous, erect and perennial. It is cultivated commercially for edible rhizomes in many parts of India and it has been part of various medicine systems across the world for time immemorial. Tribesmen in Patalkot (Madhya Pradesh) and Dangs (Gujarat) largely practice Ginger and its parts in preparation of traditional herbal formulations (Acharya and Sancheti, 2005; Acharya and Shrivastava, 2008).'


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How To Turn Any Juice Into Lacto-Fermented Soda

'At Nik's suggestion, we lacto-fermented this standard, store bought grape juice that we had in our pantry from our grocery-shopping days (read about how we quit the grocery store here.) The grape soda that resulted was exceptionally delicious, perfectly sweet and bubbly without being cloying like a canned soda. Plus, fermentation greatly reduces the sugar content in juices and increases the beneficial enzymes and lactic acid.


I like that we took pasteurized juice off the shelf, a basically dead, sugar loaded food (it has no added sugar, but still) and brought it to life through natural fermentation. You really can ferment anything, any sweet liquid can be vitalized this way. Why drink plain old juice when you can make it bubbly, and much better for you?'




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9 Tips for Avoiding Nausea

 

'Vomiting and nausea are not illnesses -- they are really just common complaints that can go along with many diseases and conditions.


The problems caused by nausea and vomiting, however, can sometimes be serious. Nausea and vomiting from motion sickness, flu, or cancer therapy can result in loss of water and electrolytes, which can lead to dehydration. 

The good news is that the unmistakable, unpleasant, queasy feeling in your throat or stomach that may result in vomiting is actually a message sent by your brain. It tells you that something isn't right. Sometimes this is beneficial, like when you have food poisoning. Sometimes nausea can just be a big pain in the stomach with no useful purpose -- and that's when an alternative remedy can come to the rescue.' 


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