Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Recipe of the Day

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Created by The MDM Team
Is your steak dinner DOA? Bring it back to life with this decadent brandy cream sauce that's sure to spice things up. It's downright dreamy.

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What's Your Greek Food IQ?

Baklava... Moussaka... Tzatziki... If the names don't ring a bell, you may be missing out on a whole fusion of exotic flavors. Test your food IQ and see if it's all Greek to you....

Recipe Categories

Breakfast

Italian Breakfast Casserole

Move over bacon and eggs -- we've got something leaner and more delicious.

Shrimp & Grits

This dish is a favorite of coastal residents for its low cost and great taste.

Eggs Benedictine

Eggs, ham and hollandaise sauce round out this classic a.m. treat.

Egg & Ham Biscuit

Turn your biscuits into a great breakfast sandwich with your own special touches.

Potato Casserole

Delicious layers of eggs, potatoes, and cheese in a casserole!

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Lunch

BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Get all the rich flavor of your favorite BBQ joint without ever leaving home.

Jalapeo Cheeseburger

Dump the plain burger! Make lunch a heart-warming affair with this spicy recipe.

Easy Black Bean Burritos

Need something quick and easy? Try these tasty, meatless burritos.

Panino Italiano

This Italian roast beef sandwich is an exquisite meaty medley!

Ham & Brie Sandwich

Creamy cheese and a good French baguette turns this into a well-made sandwich.

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Dinner

Stuffed Grouper

Grouper is the Cadillac of meaty white fish. Try it with tender veggies.

Marsala Filets

Wine makes ho-hum meat and potatoes sing with lots of flavor.

Chicken Tender Manicotti

This simple spin on two classics is sure to be a family favorite. Make lots of extra helpings!

Asian Sea Bass

An already-phenomenal fish gets an Asian flair that's so tempting.

Herbed Duck Breast

Don't be chicken to try this dish. Your taste buds will "quack up" with delight!

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Dessert

Raw Cheesecake

You'll be a cheesecake whiz with this no-cook cake that's simple and delicious!

Tiramisu

Espresso your love for your friends and family with this dessert.

Lemon Granita

Here's a cool treat for summer that's simple to whip up and easy on the diet.

Coffee Cake

Whether morning, noon or night, this cake is satisfying anytime.

Rice Pudding Pie

Similar to rice pudding but studded with pine nuts and orange zest.

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Beverages

Boeing 52

Fly high with a shot of this creamy, smooth Irish coffee concoction.

Iced Cappuccino

In the mood for a caffeine kick? This iced coffee drink has it and plenty of great taste, too.

Spicy Milk & Pumpkin

This classic pumpkin beverage goes down so smooth and satisfying.

Blended Fruit Shake

A blend of pineapple, strawberries make this drink refreshing.

Pink Shower Punch

This excellent drink for bridal showers will warm up your party guests.

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Appetizers

Classic Cheese Fondue

Hardly much ado about nothing -- this cheesy, blast-from-the-past fondue rocks.

Lemon Cream Fruit Dip

This great summer dip is a versatile and refreshing crowd-pleaser.

Super Serrano Salsa

Fresh ingredients make this spicy salsa a real chip off the old block.

California Rolls

Impress your friends! With a little practice, making your own sushi rolls is easy!

Cocktail Meatballs

The compliments will flow after guests sample this classic, tasty party dish.

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Or check out all of our recipes.

Premature births: Why pregnant women must take folic acid

Green pea is enjoyed as part of many
dishes by many people.Nature is full of materials that are yet to be fully tapped for the treatment many diseases. One of such materials is pea, that experts say has a protein which is able to lower blood pressure and improve kidney health, reports Sade Oguntola.

Nature is full of simple solutions to many of the health ailments afflicting the world right now. One of such is the healthy compounds found in peas. Peas has long been recognised as nutritional health diet because of its proteinous content, dietary fiber, vitamins and low-fat content.

A pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the legume Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas.

Although it is botanically a fruit, it is treated as a vegetable in cooking. The name is also used to describe other edible seeds, such as the pigeon pea and the cowpea.

Many people easily associate pea in its green form with fried rice, meat pies and salads served at parties. In Japan, China, Taiwan and some Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand and Malaysia, the peas are roasted and salted, and eaten as snacks. In the UK, dried yellow split peas are used to make peas pudding or porridge, a traditional dish.

Researchers at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, are suggesting that the next generation of high blood pressure medications may actually come from peas. They reported that proteins found in a common green pea shows promise as a natural food additive or new dietary supplement that controls or even prevents high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease (CKD), at least in rats.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for CKD, a condition that has been affecting an increasing number of people. Chronic kidney disease is the permanent loss of kidney function and it may be the result of physical injury or a disease that damages the kidneys, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. When the kidneys are damaged, they do not remove wastes and extra water from the blood as well as they should.

CKD is a silent condition that in its early stages hardly gives any symptoms. It is one of the deadliest complications of hypertension, which often develops so slowly that many people don’t realize they’re sick until the disease is advanced and they are rushed to the hospital for life-saving dialysis.

Kidney failure is only a part of the picture and even a small loss of kidney function can double a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Meanwhile, many of these people will experience heart attacks or strokes before they become aware of their kidney disease. So identifying and treating CKD early can help prevent heart problems as well as postpone kidney failure.

Dr. Kolapo Akinroye, Nigerian Heart Foundation, Lagos, in a reaction to the study said that he was not aware that eating peas could help to prevent hypertension or its complications. He pointed out that this was a study in animals that still required to be proved beyond all doubts in humans. Dr. Akinroye explained that if such a common food item could be tried in a large population of people and found to really protect against the unset of hypertension and kidney problems, then it would really be exciting.

Professor Gboyega Ketiku, a human nutritionist at the Department of Biochemistry, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, said that from all indications, eating green peas may not reduce blood pressure or protect from kidney failure. He declared that science has found that eating peas just like cowpea can help ensure a good blood cholesterol level, stressing, “there is no cause and direct relationship between eating peas and blood pressure or kidney problems. This may not be true.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Adesoji Fasanmade, a consultant physician at the University College Hospital, (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, said many drugs were initially discovered as a result of tests to ascertain the active substances in many food items and that the case may be same with the pea. He declared that many herbs have active substances that need to be fully understood and their benefits tapped into.

In the study Dr Rotimi Aluko and his colleagues purified a mixture of small protein, called pea protein hydrolysate, from the yellow garden pea and fed small daily doses of the protein mixture to laboratory rats with the severe form of kidney disease.

After an eight-week-long follow-up, the researchers found that the protein-fed rats with kidney disease had their blood pressure dropped by 20 per cent compared to diseased rats who consumed normal diet.

Dr. Aluko, a food chemist at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, stated “what we seem to have here is a sort of natural approaches to treating this disease, as opposed to the normal pharmacological approach. We’re talking about an edible product, not a drug, which can help to reduce blood pressure and, at the same time, reduce the severely negative impact of kidney disease.”

According to him, the protein from pea could potentially delay or prevent the onset of kidney damage. Also, in people who already have kidney disease, the protein may help them maintain normal blood pressure levels so they can live longer.

The scientists are currently not sure of how the protein in pea helps ensure normal blood pressure, but proposed that the pea extract may boost production of cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), a protein that boosts kidney function.

A majority of chronic kidney disease patients actually die from complications that arise from the high blood pressure associated with kidney malfunction.

However, Dr. Aluko said eating yellow peas in their natural state will not produce the desired health benefits as the purified protein extract. To have the potential health benefits, peas must be activated by treatment with special enzymes.

He declared at the March meeting of the American Chemical Society’s 237th national conference in Salt Lake City in US that this pea-based therapy may be available for people to buy within the next two to three years after it would have been tried out in humans.

While we are yet awaiting the pea protein extract for blood pressure, individuals may focus on techniques that will help endure normal blood sugar and pressure levels. These include:
• Exercise: A regular, effective exercise programme can go a long way toward reducing insulin levels and blood pressure.
• Avoid foods that raise insulin levels, such as sugar-type foods such as rice, pasta, breads and potatoes. Inclusions of such spices like garlic are helpful.
• Even mild stress can raise your blood pressure. Prayer and meditation are all useful techniques for managing your emotions.
•Optimise your vitamin D levels. It has recently become clear that normalizing your vitamin D levels can have a powerful effect on normalizing your blood pressure.

Stem cell transplantation, an alternative to organ transplantation

Stem cell transplantation is a breakthrough in modern medicine. Used for the treatment of cancer, spinal cord injury, among others. The treatment, which is otherwise known as quality life without diseases is a struggle against very serious diseases.

Dr. Perry Iloegbunam, the Chairman, National Committee on the Research and Application of Stem Cell Transplantation Technology - a committee set-up by the Federal Government in recognition of the therapy, described stem cell transplantation as, "the use of cells, organ and tissues for the treatment of diseased, disordered organs, tissues and whole range of human disorders.

"Stem cell transplants are another form of medication, individually prepared by a physician, for his specific patient, by agreement with his patient, confirmed by the signed informed consent prescribed by law."

He continued by saying that, "Life started with a cell, before its division by the process of mitosis until they gave rise to tissues and organs of the body. Now, as we grow per second, we lose cells and they are replaced.

"Human body contains about four trillion cells, all of which rose from one unified cell through multiple cycles of division and continue throughout life, as new ones replace old and weak cells."

The chairman further said: "Scientists have it that a human being loses 25 million cells over seconds and they are replaced accordingly. As we grow older, which starts between 35 and 45 years, the replacement of the cells does not equate the death of the cells. So, in this way, we continue to go down until we die.

"If a particular organ of the body is diseased, during the aging period, the cells in the organ die faster. When the cells die to an extent, the organ dies as well. It is vital to note that the human body cannot do without these organs and will eventually lead to the death of the individual.

"In the previous time, when these organs are diseased, we don’t have any means of fixing them. But today, scientists have developed the stem cells therapy, to repair diseased tissues and organs, which are done by stimulating or regenerating the weak cells in the body, thereby restoring the organs and the tissues."

While explaining the stimulation and regeneration of a weak cell, Iloegbunam said that in a case of kidney transplant, if the organ of a patient is getting bad, the patient will be evaluated with a view to finding out if there are cells in the said organ. If there is, then the cells will be stimulated to work again. But according to him, "If a patient allows the cells of the kidney to die before coming to us, at this point, there is nothing we can do to it, rather, he will be referred for outright kidney transplantation."

In this manner, every diseased human organ can be treated with stem cell therapy, which is the latest technology in medicine that has been brought to Africa, and Nigeria in particular.

"When a patient is brought to us, the physicians evaluate such patient. Having done that, we reject or accept the patient for stem cell treatment, upon which we start the manufacturing of transplants for that particular person," Iloegbunam said.

Usually, it takes 20 days to manufacture the transplant, because it is an individualised system. It does not have a shelf life. It has to be manufactured to suit the body of the patient. There are no ready-made transplants.

Talking about efficacy, over six million patients have been treated with this method around the world, without any case of after-effects or rejection.

Iloegbunam shed more light on this: "It might interest you to know that German Supreme Court ordered investigation on stem cell Xeno-transplantation, which lasted for three years. After that, it ruled that the use of stem cell Xeno-transplantation should continue to be applied in the country, because they found it very safe and efficacious.

"In Germany, nothing goes under the table when it comes to medicine, therefore, no institution anywhere or anybody anywhere in the world can fault that German Supreme Court ruling, because the issue here is ‘re ipsa loquitor’ (facts speak for themselves). By implication, it became binding to all the European Union (EU) to follow suit."

On how the treatment in Nigeria, the medical expert said: "We have three major treatment centres in Nigeria - Enugu, Abuja and Lagos. The treatment is still high for the poor Nigerians, but still more affordable compared with overseas travel for outright organ transplantation embarked upon by Nigerians."

He further said: "In fact, this is why every state government should, as a matter of urgency, promote the use of stem cell treatment to better the lives of the people.

"Stem cell transplantation can make the individual grow younger and live longer. There is an anti-ageing treatment, which any person between the ages of 35 and 45 can start with. The treatment will be renewed every five years and that person hardly can fall sick. It means one can live without the infirmities of old age."

It has been said that President Dwight Eisenhower of America, Winston Churchill of Great Britain, Charles De Gaulle of France, and even the legendary Konrad Adenaver of Germany, availed themselves of stem cell transplantation therapies in order to maintain their power of concentration and physical endurance.

With this, there is no reason why Nigerians should travel abroad for major surgical operations or treatment, which are obtainable here in the country, at a cheaper rate.

Charlie Chaplin, a German once said the therapy enabled him to father children after aged 70, while Adenaver said the therapy helped him to rule Germany even at 90 years of age.

Iloegbunam further explained that there are different types of transplantation. For instance, there is Xeno-transplantation, and Allo (human) transplantation.

"Xeno-transplantation is the transplantation of cells, tissues and organs between species. That is, from animal to man, from man to animal, or from one animal species to another, such as from dog to cat. But we use rabbit, because everything about human being is in rabbit, except for a portion of the brain. So, why do we need to destroy human embryo, when we can get the solutions from an animal.?

"Allo, is the transplantation within the same species from man to another man, one dog to another dog, within the same species.

However, there are other types of stem cells transplantation such as Auto-Logus stem cell transplantation, which means from one part of human being to another part," he said.

In his own opinion, Dr. Masahide Yoshikawa, a specialist at the Cell Transplantation Centre of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, College of Medicine, the University of South Florida, in his response to the question as to when a stem cell can be used for treatment, said: "A stem cell transplant is an option which is considered for various cancer conditions, such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The transplant is also used for some rare non-cancerous blood disorders.

"Stem cells can be gotten from your own body, from a close relatives body, from a bone marrow, or from the blood."

The specialist said, a stem cell transplant can be given the same way blood transfusion is given.

"The solution containing stem cells is given into one of your veins via a drip. The stem cells travel through your bloodstream and end up your bone marrow. Here they start to make blood cells.

"As simple as the transfusion is, it also has its risk. Infection is the main risk. There could also be bleeding problems," Yoshikawa said.

Mental balancing (III)

Generally, if we train ourselves in character rather than resorting to risky drug use, we are able to balance well our mental state during various circumstances and events in life. Furthermore, we should not use mind altering drugs on other people without their knowledge or desire.

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Back pain also known “dorsalgia” is pain felt in the back that usually originates from the muscles, nerves, bones, joints or other structures in the spine.

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Aspirin may cause bleeding in the brain, researchers claim

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Stapylococcus (IV)

Natural Health

Staphylococcal infections can lead to erectile dysfunction in men. Erectile dysfunction is the inability of a man to produce a consistent or maintain an erection of the penis sufficient to have a sexual intercourse.

Mental balancing

By Our Reporter
Published 9/05/2009
Natural Health

If somebody tells you that you are ugly, you smell , or you’ll never make it in life, some normal reactions you could have are depression, anger, resentment, hatred, or vengeance.

Mental balancing

If somebody tells you that you are ugly, you smell , or you’ll never make it in life, some normal reactions you could have are depression, anger, resentment, hatred, or vengeance.

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Tuesday, May 19 2009 This Afternoon 16°C This Evening 9°C 5-Day Forecast

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