Joint Health

Today I want to talk about our joint health. We spend lots of money on supplements to help us with our nutritional values because the majority of the time, everything we tend to eat is fast and over processed. Which doesn't help us meet our nutritional values.
 Taking care of our bones and joints is really simple with a good bone stock. It is really simple to make and provides us with lots of goodness. Bone stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily, not just calcium, but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, and trace minerals. And it contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendon-stuff like chondrotin sulphates and glucosamine, remember those supplements I was just talking about! Bone stock supplies amino acids that help the body detoxify and it supplies nutrients to help with joint discomfort. I am not saying get rid of your supplements, just giving you a little bit more information on how you can take control of your nutrition values and taking care of your body.
Making a good stock from bones like a whole chicken, beef bones, or a combination of both provides us with good for you nutrition and a simple way to add flavour to other meals. And it costs way less then the canned broth we buy in the grocery store. Store bought broth isn't as flavourful or nutrient packed as making a homemade stock. To make bone stock you will need the following:

A large stock pot
two pounds of chicken bones/parts or beef bones
one large onion skinned only
three cloves of garlic
15 peppercorns
2 carrots
1 celery
1 whole peeled potato
salt to season( not a lot)

put all the ingredients into the pot fill with water to about two inches from the top and bring to simmer and simmer for 4-6 hours depending on the bones you are using. (4hrs for chicken only and 6hrs for beef) the longer you simmer the more of the bones nutrients melt into your stock and pack it with all that goodness for our bone and joint health. If you are using beef bones you will have to skim off the marrow bubbles that form at the top of the pot. After the simmering time, strain the stock into a clean pot and let cool in the fridge. Skim off the hardened fat and split stock into reusable freezer containers and ice cube trays for seasoning and making a pot of soup every week until you have to make a fresh pot of stock again!

To your bone health! Cheers :)

Benefits of Massage for the Gardener

Benefits of Massage for the Gardener

Daffodils are blooming, the birds are singing merrily from the trees across the street, the sun is shinning and our days are getting warmer. Spring brings the beginning of gardening season here in the southern part of Ontario and, with this joyful and exciting time of year, the possibility for our overdoing it in enthusiastic bouts of muscular exertion. Muscles that haven’t been worked in a while are now potentially being engaged to pry and uproot over-wintering ground covers, to add soil amendments, and to thoroughly dig and overturn dormant garden beds for planting. Intensively using muscles that haven’t been consistently worked in a while can mean that some of us will be dealing with movement restricting sore muscles, stiffness and lower back pain.

Fortunately, there is therapeutic relief available from massage therapy that is tailored specifically for gardeners. Scientific research shows that massage relieves pain and stiffness, speeds recovery time and improves joint flexibility, to name just a few of its many benefits. Massage is quite effective prior to or after a gardening session. If done just before a strenuous day of garden work, one can minimize soreness by increasing circulation to the muscles and loosening the joints. Massage is used to reduce the chance of injury –especially from those at-risk hypertonic (over strong) areas that may be prone to strain.