What other health benefits come with cranberries?

I know you probably heard atleast one time or another that cranberries are good for cleaning out your kidneys. Since dried cranberries (with li hing mui) is one of my favorite snacks I was wandering if they are good for anything else. So besides cleaning out your kidneys what other health benefits come along with eating cranberries?

Additional benefits...

Searching the web I have came across a website I would never have thought of... have you ever heard of the Cranberry Institute? Well, they got everything you want to know and find out about cranberries they're there!!! From research to news and just the simple information on the fruit we call cranberries.

Cranberries contain proanthocyanidins (PACs) that can prevent the adhesion of certain of bacteria, including E. coli, associated with urinary tract infections to the urinary tract wall. The anti-adhesion properties of cranberry may also inhibit the bacteria associated with gum disease and stomach ulcers.

A little history on this little fruit with a big amount of benefits...

The North American cranberry industry has a long and distinguished history. Native peoples used cranberries as food, in ceremonies and medicinally. Revolutionary War veteran Henry Hall planted the first commercial cranberry beds in Dennis Massachusetts in 1816. Today cranberries are farmed on approximately 40,000 acres (16,200 hectares) across the northern United States and Canada.

Scientific research is revealing how healthful cranberries can be. Packed with nutrients like antioxidants and other natural compounds, cranberries are a great choice for the health conscious consumer. Cranberries are available in a wide variety of forms including fresh fruit, juice, sauce, and dried. Juices and sauce are available year-round at your grocery retailer. Fresh fruit is generally available from September to December. Include more cranberries in your diet and start eating healthier today!!!

Global Warming

More and more people talk about global warming today but it seems like nobody is really doing anything about it. So my question here is what exactly is global warming and the effects it has on our earth, and what's causing it? I was curious to do my blog on global warming from my last weeks blog... I think not only does the sun and moon have an effect on the rising and dropping of our ocean's tides but I also feel global warming has an effect on our tides too.

The definition of Global Warming...

Global warming is, in simple terms, the rise in temperature of the earth's atmosphere. It can also be quite complicated in terms of where the Earth's average surface temperature has risen by about five degrees celcius since 1890 due to mainly an increase in greenhouse gasses, where carbon dioxide (CO2) is highly generated. That’s certainly a big part of global warming! Also and most definitly, the high and growing levels of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere got there because of what we have been doing for the past few hundred years!!! We humans are the main coprate of this environmental tragedy called global warming otherwise know as the "Green House Effect".

Some of the Effects Global Warming has on our Earth...

• Melting of polar caps in the north and south


• The widespread melting of snow and ice


• Rising sea levels


• Damages Earth's Ozone layer

This list is just to name a few but there are definitly more effects that global warming has on us.

Now, what's causing all this environmental tragedy?...

Like I mentioned earlier we are the main coprates that cause this environmental tragedy which we call global warming. I definitly feel it's due to technology and inventions of things in need for fuel and electricity (energy in general)! And a lot of it has to do with carbon dioxide. This is what I feel and briefly know but I also know there is a lot more cause to this.

The Moon and the Changing of The Tides

Ever wondered what makes our ocean's tides rise and fall? Well, from what I briefly know is that the moon has something to do with it. There is some sort of a "gravitational pull" that the moon has on the earth, I guess when it's doing it's rotations around the earth, which then makes our ocean's waters rise and fall.


Another thing I wondered about is on tide calendars there are always the different moon phases along with the times when there is low tide and high tide. There must be some relationship there I guess.







Another reason...

Why this question came to mind is that from the movie "Bruce Almighty" starring Jim Carrey, who wishes he was God and then it happens, it shows a part where he pulls the "full" moon in real close to earth. He was trying to make it romantic and all for his girlfriend. Well, what had happened when he pulled the moon in real close the next morning on the news he comes to find out it had created a tsunami in other parts of the world. Therefore, even coming from a movie, this had me thinking the moon really does have an effect on the rising and falling of the ocean's tides.


So, my question here is what are the effects that the moon has on our ocean's rising and falling tides?

First of all here is a description of what a tide is:

Tides are cyclic rising and falling of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the moon and the sun acting on the earth. Tides cause changes in the depth of the sea, and also produce oscillating (turning) currents known as tidal streams, making prediction of tides are important for coastal navigation. The strip of seashore that is submerged at high tide and exposed at low tide is called the intertidal zone which is an important ecological product of ocean tides.
The changing tide produced at a given location on the Earth is the result of the changing positions of the Moon and Sun relative to the Earth coupled with the effects of the rotation of the Earth and the local bathymetry (um....how do you say that, well in other words it means deep).

Now, how does the moon have an effect on the tides...

Doing some research on the internet I've come across many different websites that contained a lot of information. It pretty much comes down to the same meaning of gravity forces that pull between the earth, the moon, and the sun which causes low and high tides of the ocean. Yet I learned durning different parts of the year the tides are different, spring and neap tides which are also called lunar tides. Here is this moon tidal website that the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) created and it goes really into detailed information on how it actually can be quite "techniqually" complicated on the effects that the moon has on the ocean. There are pictures and all. You should definitly go and check it out.

WHITE TEA

Have you ever heard of white tea? Compared to green tea, what is white tea good for and where does white tea come from?


I haven't heard of white tea until Anneliese had mentioned about it from my last blog on green tea. Doing a little reasearch I have come to find that white tea is actually very popular out there compared to green tea.



Some info on white tea...





White tea is produced in a different way to all other teas. The leaves come from special varietal bushes and are not processed but are dried in the sun. Only special leaves are selected, the ideal is two leaves wrapped around a new shoot. After drying the leaves they are again selected and sorted by hand. White tea is especially potent in that it is has three times as many antioxidant polyphenols as green or black tea and has been shown to be 100% more effective in mopping up free radicals that cause skin to sag. Some of the world's top cosmetic companies are becoming very interested in white tea for skin creams and the result is that high grade white tea is becoming even more rare than before.






Where did white tea come from and how did it get its name?


Just like the popular green tea (which has been noted for its antioxidant qualities, particularly among Asian cultures, dating back centuries), white tea is derived from the Camellia sinensis plant. However, unlike most other varieties (including traditional black tea and oolong tea), the leaves of white tea are harvested before they are fully opened. Indeed, the name "white tea" is derived from the fine white hair that covers the uppermost tender buds of the plant. For this reason, white tea is sometimes referred to as the "Rolls Royce" of the tea family.