Most of us mom’s would have become familiar with the term colostrum. What is it you may ask?
Well it’s found in early mother’s milk for newborns. It is baby’s first food and helps baby build its
Immune system. Good stuff indeed.

But did you know that colostrum is no longer just for tots? Indeed, colostrum is now being
packaged as a wonder-supplement for adults. Several years back, it was not a mother, but a
male friend who introduced me to it. “It’s great for your immune system but when I took it, my
skin improved,” he said. Now, that got me intrigued! So besides thinking of it as just baby’s first
food, I wanted to know more. What exactly is in colostrum? Colostrum has over 90 immune
factors (immune cells and antibodies), over 80 different growth factors, a host of proteins and
Vitamin A. So what does all this good stuff do for you and how can you benefit from taking
colostrum?

Here are five reasons to add colostrum back into your life.

1. Strengthening the immune system. According to one study, up to 70% of the immune
system’s cells reside in the gut. Often, when we have a weakened immune system, this
is the result of inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Studies have shown colostrum
to be excellent in healing gut inflammation, thereby rebuilding or maintaining a strong
immune system.

2. Improving moods. There are an increasing number of studies linking mood to the gut
response. When we address and heal gut inflammation, this indirectly improves mood by
encouraging the brain to produce dopamine and serotonin.

3. Supporting weight loss. Colostrum has also been shown to help the body turn to its
fat stores for fuel, instead of the proteins in muscles. This can help in weight loss.
Besides this, it has also shown to help stabilize blood glucose levels, leaving one feeling
less hungry and less fatigued.

4. Healing wounds and reducing recovery time. People taking colostrum have been
shown to have faster wound healing. This ranges from cuts to burns. It helps the body
in managing potential infections, thereby reducing inflammation and scarring associated
with the wounds. More athletes are learning about its benefits too in muscle recovery
time. This means that after a hard day’s training, the athletes need less time to recover
from aches or injuries. Interestingly, in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, the Australian
swim team took colostrum supplements and attributed their wins in part to this
supplement.

5. Improving skin. Supplementing the body with colostrum has been shown in studies to
provide the body with more human growth hormones and other growth factors, including
epidermal/epithelial growth factors that prevent skin aging.

So if you like me are now intrigued by colostrum and want to add it to your nutrient plan,
perhaps you could wander down to your local supplement or health food store. It’s usually
available in a capsules. Alternatively, you can find it in a format that resembles milk powder,
which is then added to water.

Lastly, here’s a clip I came across today on colostrum.  Hope you enjoy it!

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-36285079

​Thank you for reading my blog!

References:
​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colostrum
http://www.secrets-of- longevity-in- humans.com/colostrum-benefits.html
http://www.icnr.org/articles/skin.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2515351/

Most of us know that having lemon juice in the morning with water is good for us. Many people drink lemon juice squeezed into warm water, hoping to lose weight.  Other’s believe that it helps to keep the body’s PH level more alkaline, thereby preventing a host of other potentially chronic illnesses.
I started adding lemon juice to my morning water to encourage myself to drink more water each day.  At the time, I really didn’t like the bland taste of plain water.  Lemon juice turned out to be the answer and it’s certainly got me drinking my 6 – 8 glasses each day.

Then I discovered just how good the rind and pith and membranes were for you.  So I found a way to incorporate these into my daily lemon water.  Here are 5 reasons why you really need to be keeping the rind, membranes and pith!

1. The rind is richer in Vitamin C than the juice itself.  So why throw it away?
2. The rind is also rich in phytonutrients, which makes absorbing the Vitamin C even easier.  Some studies show they enhance and prolong the positive action of Vitamin C in our body.  
3. The bioflavionoids in the rind can assist with capillary function.  Some studies found them to be highly effective in preventing and treating varicose veins!  They also have been shown to help athletes recover more quickly from injuries.  Additional studies show that the bioflavonoids have also been shown to help significantly reduce the level of infection for common colds and the flu.
4. The natural fiber from the rind also keeps me full longer as it slows down digestion and keeps more blood glucose levels more stable too.  Pectin in the lemon fibers has been shown to promote weight loss too.
5. The type of fiber in the rind has been shown reduce cholesterol levels – especially the low density lipoproteins (LDLs) which are the bad type of cholesterol for your body. 

Interested in incorporating the rind into your water?  Here's what I do each morning. 

​RECIPE FOR MAKING LEMON WATER
Ingredients: 
1/3 lemon
25 fluid oz of water / 750 ml of water (preferably filtered)

Method
Roughly chop the lemon and remove the seeds. 
Place with a quarter of the water into a blender and blitz for a 1 minute (or less)
Add remaining water and mix.  Enjoy!

If you like additional freshness, you can add more mint leaves into your glass.  
What's interesting about preparing lemon water this way is that the water no longer tastes sour but has a clean, slightly bitter but refreshing taste. I try to drink most of the water by 11 am and if not, I sip it through the day. 

CLOSING TIPS
- Worried that your dentist will disapprove?  Drink this through a straw!. 
- Worried about the residual pesticides on the rind?  Buy organic if you can.  If you can’t look for a natural vegetable and fruit cleanser.  A brand I like is ETLNo.9.  It’s an all-purpose green cleaning formula and I use it on my fruits and veggies at home.   

Thank you for reading my blog. :)

P.S.  I know I was supposed to blog more about eating a range of foods but I hope you don’t mind me going with the flow today.  I really wanted to talk about lemons!