Tag Archive for 'curing the common cold'

The merits of a cold shower

coldshowerpiccoldshower

Roughly two months ago, a workmate enthusiastically relayed to me the benefits of switching to cold showers. He said it was the very reason he hadn’t caught a cold in 11 months and declared he would be a cold shower person for the rest of his life.

Earthclinic.com believes a cold shower has the following positive effects:

  • Brings blood to the capillaries, therefore increasing circulation throughout the body.
  • Cleans the circulatory system.
  • Reduces blood pressure on internal organs.
  • Provides flushing for the organs and provides a new supply of blood.
  • Strengthens the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.
  • Contracts the muscles to eliminate toxins and poisonous wastes.
  • Strengthens the mucous membranes, which help resist hay fever, allergies, colds, coughs.

Oh yeah, and Kramer takes cold showers too. Here’s a Seinfeld excerpt:

George: “What day is today? Aghh, Tuesday! I shouldn’t have worked out today. Mr Wilhem has called a big meeting and now I’m gonna be sweating through the whole thing.”

Jerry: “Why? You took a shower?”

George: “Aghh, it wouldn’t take. Ten minutes from now, I’ll be sweating all over again, I can feel it. I’m a human heat pump!!”

Kramer: “You should take cold showers.”

George: “Cold showers? They’re for psychotics.”

Kramer: “Well I take ‘em ….. they give me a whooooosh!”

kramer

The Black Seeds

Here at SuperForest we love seeds…a lot. And with the Millennium Seed Bank Coalition in full swing, I thought it would be an appropriate time to drop some crazy seed knowledge while at the same time sharing a family secret. Here it goes!!!

I proudly present to you, Black Caraway Seeds (or as we simply call them in my family…black seeds).

The seeds appear pretty normal but the reality behind their meager appearance is that they are actually very powerful. To commence our Black Seed Informative Tour we are going to go back in time. Here are a few facts…

1.Black seeds were discovered in Tutankhamen’s tomb. This implies that it may have played an important role in ancient Egyptian practices or at the very least, was important enough for them to take with them to the afterlife.

2. Dioscoredes, a Greek physician of the 1st century, recorded that black seeds were taken to treat headaches, nasal congestion, toothache, and intestinal worms.

3. The many uses of black seed has earned for this medicinal herb the Arabic approbation habbatul barakah, meaning “the seed of blessing.”

So history is trying to tell us that these little guys were important and that they can be used to treat wide variety of ailments. How amazing! Nature is so kind to provide us with such incredible gifts. A lot of scientific studies have been conducted and also validate the awesome power of the black caraway seed. Studies show that the black seeds help strengthen the immune system, inhibits histamine release, contains anti-tumor properties, fights bacteria, and works as an anti-inflammatory. Now I know what you’re thinking;this sounds too good to be true, does it work? I can only respond to this by saying I cannot remember the last time I had a cold (knock on wood).

So here comes the family secret: next time you are feeling a little under the weather, try this.

1. Go to your local market and buy a bag of these black seeds, if you know of a Mediterranean foods store try them, there is a much higher chance they carry these seeds.

2. Take a pinch of these seeds, just a pinch is all you will be eating (trust me, the seeds pack quite a punch, you won’t want to eat too much)

3. Place the seeds in your mouth and chew the seeds up really well. (This is the part where things get to get a little gross, you see, black caraway seeds are notoriously bitter. They don’t taste really good but hey, neither does medicine. You wanna get better don’t you?)

4. Swallow (probably the hardest part but trust me, it will all be worth it)

That’s it! Easy as that, take it a couple times a day and you’ll start to feel better straight away. The one thing that is important to keep in mind is that you must take the seeds right when you start to feel you’re coming down with something, if you take it when you are in the thick of symptoms, well, you might be a little too late.

And there you have it; a potential cure for the common cold. You read it here on SuperForest. In celebration, here is a lovely jam by a little band from New Zealand called…The Black Seeds (surely these lads knew the power of the black seeds when choosing their band name).

SuperForest wishes you all a very healthy 2009! Go on with your bad selves.

-C

(Here’s some more info on the black caraway seed.)