Medicinal Properties of Garlic

Herbs and spices are among the healthiest, most nutrient-dense foods available. They're really a "secret weapon" that just about everyone can take advantage of, regardless of your budget. Not only are they generally inexpensive to buy, they're even less expensive if you grow them yourself. Garlic in particular has long been hailed for its healing powers, especially against infectious diseases like cold and flu.

Research confirms fresh garlic has potent immune-boosting, antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal effects. Historically, garlic has been widely used in medicine for circulatory and lung ailments and modern research backs the wisdom of many of these historical claims — and more. For example, studies show that regular consumption of (primarily raw) garlic:

May be effective against drug-resistant bacteria, including MRSA
Reduces risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke
Helps normalize your cholesterol and blood pressure
Helps protects against cancer, including brain, lung and prostate cancer
Reduces your risk of osteoarthritis

Many of its therapeutic effects come from sulfur-containing compounds such as allicin, which also give garlic its characteristic smell. As allicin is digested, it produces sulfenic acid, a compound that reacts with dangerous free radicals faster than any other known compound. Other health-promoting compounds include oligosaccharides, arginine-rich proteins, selenium and flavonoids.

Garlic must be fresh to give you optimal health benefits, though. The fresh clove must be crushed or chopped to stimulate the release of an enzyme called alliinase, which in turn catalyzes the formation of allicin. Allicin in turn rapidly breaks down to form a number of different organosulfur compounds. So, to activate garlic's medicinal properties, compress a fresh clove with a spoon prior to swallowing it, or put it through your juicer to add to your vegetable juice.

A single medium size clove or two is usually sufficient, and is well-tolerated by most people. Allicin is destroyed within one hour of smashing the garlic, so garlic pills are virtually worthless. You also won't reap all the health benefits garlic has to offer if you use jarred, powdered or dried versions.

For these reasons, growing your own garlic is a simple and inexpensive way to ensure you have a supply of medicinal garlic on hand — not to mention garlic is one of the most popular flavor additions to a wide array of dishes. In short, you really cannot go wrong growing garlic in your garden.

Article Source: mercola.com

How to Boost Your Networking Skills

 As an entrepreneur, having a network is a given. Your network is one of your most powerful assets if you want to be a successful entrepreneur. It requires real skills to build and nurture a good network. Great networking simply means creating relationships that will last your entire career. These here skills come in very handy in that quest. 

Get into social media: No matter how shy you are, with social media, it is easy to socialize with people. That enables you to make friends acquaintances and business contacts. LinkedIn and Facebook are very handy to use when you want to build a network of real people.

 

Keep a priority contact list: With it, you can get to know a few influential people very well. You can build a list of about 100 contact persons whom you can continuously interact with like family. This list can include the top people in various fields in your industry whom you want to get to know and then regularly reach out to. With time, you can get recommendations from some of these people to open doors for you.  Depending on the business you are in, some of these people can become clients while others could lead you to clients. That helps your network a great deal.

Run a group: You can get involved in running a trade association or networking group. That way, you’ll get to know the stakeholders well, and with time, they’ll introduce you to others. Simply running a social group on WhatsApp is helpful here.

Be sociable at events: Being sociable is a very big asset any entrepreneur can have. Anytime you get into an event, it helps to quickly strike conversations even with folks you haven’t met before. You can easily walk up to someone you know who’s speaking to people you don’t know and become part of their conversation. That gets you noticed easily if you are at home with their topic of conversation. You can also arrange to sit by strangers at meals or coffee breaks to strike up conversations with them. That helps to build your network. A follow up thereafter helps to deepen the relationship.

Speak on a panel: This can either be on Radio, TV or both. It could even be to a large physical audience. If the event you are speaking on is well publicized, you can never tell who and who are looking/listening in. Speaking on a panel gives a very good opportunity to become a thought leader and an expert in your field. People easily pick interest in you if the topic you are discussing is of interest to them. They can arrange to link up with you thereafter for further business relationships.