How to Store and Extend Shelf Life of Your Garlic

Dr. Mercola says, leaving the outer wrapping on garlic will inhibit sprouting and prevent rotting, allowing you to store the garlic longer. As a general rule, hardneck varieties will stay fresh for four to six months if stored in a cool, dry place. Softneck varieties can be stored for up to eight months or longer. For even more extended storage, you can process it in various ways:

Dehydrating: Using a dehydrator (not your oven, as heat will damage beneficial compounds) will stop the loss of moisture that naturally occurs as soon as you harvest the garlic. As moisture is lost, it gets hotter and more pungent. Dehydrating it will stop this process, preserving the garlic at whatever level of flavor it currently has.

To dehydrate garlic, make sure the cloves are firm and clean. Slice them evenly and dehydrate at 110 to 116 degrees F until completely dry. Drying time will depend on the thickness of the slices. The thinner they are, the quicker they dry. A food processor with a feed tube attachment can be helpful for creating slices of even thickness.
Store in a tightly sealed container with a desiccant to soak up any moisture! The chips can then be used in an adjustable grinder, or chopped and used in soups, chili and roasts, for example.

Pickling: While pickling will extend the usefulness of the garlic more or less indefinitely, it does alter the nature of the compounds in the garlic, neutralizing some and creating others. Hence, pickled garlic has different medicinal qualities than raw.

As explained by Enon Valley Garlic Company: "The acid in vinegar neutralizes the alliinase and slowly breaks down the rest of the cloves into odorless, water-soluble compounds that circulate via the bloodstream, mostly S-allyl cysteine (SAC), the active ingredient in Kyolic brand of aged garlic extract.

Kyolic has many studies demonstrating that SAC lowers cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar levels as well as inhibiting platelet aggregation. While SAC may have some anti-tumor properties, the odorous sulfides have far greater anticancer properties … The longer you leave the garlic in the vinegar, the more SAC is formed — for two to three years; it just gets better with age."

To pickle your garlic, clean it as you would if you were eating it raw and place in a sterile glass jar. Cover the cloves completely with 5 percent vinegar (white vinegar, apple cider vinegar or live mother vinegar). Cap with a lid and refrigerate for at least two months. Again, the longer you leave it, the better. Both the garlic cloves and the vinegar solution can be consumed, and will have the same medicinal qualities.

Preserving: The process of preservation is similar to pickling, but will not extend shelf life for years on end. You can, however, get at least a year out of it if it's stored in the refrigerator. Prepare the garlic as described under pickling, but instead of using full-strength vinegar, simply cover the cloves with distilled water and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar per quart of water. You can use more, but not less vinegar than this. By lowering the pH, spoilage is prevented.

Freezing: Yes, garlic can also be frozen for up to three years, but it's uncertain as to whether it's best to freeze it whole, or chop or crush it first. Enon Valley recommends crushing or chopping the garlic and then waiting five to 20 minutes before freezing it to optimize the possibility of having the allicin and sulfide formation occur upon thawing.

Article Source: mercola.com

Breathing Exercises Which Help to Control Anxiety and Reduce Stress

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There are many different breathing techniques out there. As mentioned above, simply inhaling and exhaling to the count of six can go a long way toward regulating your breathing and lowering your blood pressure. Be sure to breathe through your nose, not your mouth. Another variation is the "HA" breath, which involves inhaling slowly through your nose, then exhaling quickly while saying "ha" out loud.

The following is a Buteyko breathing exercise that can help reduce stress, control anxiety and quell panic attacks. This sequence helps retain and gently accumulate carbon dioxide, leading to calmer breathing and reduced anxiety. In other words, the urge to breathe will decline as you enter a more relaxed state: 

Take a small breath into your nose, followed by a small breath out.

Then hold your nose for five seconds in order to hold your breath, and then release your nose to resume breathing.

Breathe normally for 10 seconds.

Repeat the sequence.

In addition to being slow and deep, ideally you want your breathing to also be very calm and light — so light that the hairs in your nose barely move. This type of breathing, which is part of the Buteyko school of thought, helps you to enter and remain in a calm, meditative state while lowering your blood pressure. The following three steps will help your breath become lighter with practice.

Place one hand on your upper chest and the other on your belly. Your belly should move slightly in and out with each breath, and your midsection should get wider, while your chest should remain unmoving.

Close your mouth and breathe in and out through your nose. Focus your attention on the cold air coming into your nose and the slightly warmer air leaving it on the out breath.

Slowly decrease the volume of each breath, to the point it feels like you're almost not breathing at all (you'll notice your breath getting very quiet at this point). The crucial thing here is to develop a slight air hunger. This simply means there's a slight accumulation of carbon dioxide in your blood, which signals your brain to breathe.

You may feel a slight air shortage at first, but this should be tolerable. If it becomes uncomfortable, take a 15-second break and then continue. After three or four minutes of air hunger, you'll start experiencing the beneficial effects of CO2 accumulation, such as an increase in body temperature and an increase in saliva. The former is a sign of improved blood circulation; the latter a sign that your parasympathetic nervous system has been activated, which is important for stress reduction.

Article Source: http://articles.mercola.com

How Breathing Exercises Help Lower Blood Pressure

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Breathing exercises have been found to impact both your blood pressure and stress, which makes sense considering how closely tied those two conditions are. 

A recent article in University Health News cites several studies showing breathing exercises help lower blood pressure. For example, one 2005 study found taking six deep breaths in 30 seconds (each inhale and exhale lasting five seconds) lowered systolic blood pressure anywhere from 3.4 to 3.9 units, compared to simply resting in a seated position. 

As noted in the article, apps and devices are available that will guide your breathing to help you get down to 10 or fewer breaths per minute. Studies have found using such devices for five minutes, three to four times per week, can help lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension. 

Dr. Konstantin Buteyko, creator of the Buteyko Breathing Method, discovered he could lower his blood pressure simply by bringing his breathing toward normal. In this way, he successfully "cured" his own hypertension. In 1957, he coined the term "disease of deep breathing," having researched the health effects of excessive breathing for over a decade. 

The problem with shallow, rapid breathing is that it activates your sympathetic response, which is involved in releasing cortisol and other stress hormones. Controlled deep breathing, on the other hand, helps trigger your relaxation response as it activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn slows down your heart rate and digestion while promoting a state of calm. 

 

Controlled breathing exercises have also been found to modify stress-coping behaviors and initiate appropriate balance in cardiac autonomic tone, a term that describes your heart’s ability to respond to and recover from stressors.

Article Source: http://articles.mercola.com