WATER IN HUMAN BODY & HEALING

It's been a while since I've been watching Spirit Science videos, for some reason I watched the first episode again, I meditated after it, opening my heart chakra, igniting my kundalini energy and as I was strengthening the kundalini energy flow I spontaneously started to heal my hurt vertebra and suddenly my mind made the connection Emoto's water crystal pattern experiments of attaching a label on the jar and concentration that energy to it - and healing my back!

Sending love to my two hurt vertebra was such a strong experience that I begun to cry because it made me so happy. I decided that at the end of my meditation I would do what Emoto did and label "the jar with Love" aka take a piece of ban-aid and write I Love You on it and stick it to my back where the pain originates.

Cho Ku Rei means

"Place the power of the universe here"

Of course this was not all - after doing this I was drawn to view another completely focused video on Water and it blew my mind - see for yourself here :

CHANGE YOUR BRAIN, CHANGE YOUR LOVE LIFE ~ AUDIO

I truly recommend this discussion!
Daniel G. Amen is interviewed by Gay and Katie Hendricks about our Brain and how having an unhealthy brain causes grave emotional relationship problems, and how a healthy brain can handle the tools to improve their emotional skills. Interesting sidetracks happened where Daniel G. Amens talks about natural remedies vs. drugs in treating brain related troubles, he speaks how using a drug like Xanax in brain spectrum imaging shows up as brain being drunk, where as St. Johnswart a natural herb for debression only shows a healthier brain, but has same results.
Interestingly he also talks of how alcohol makes your brain smaller and how overweight people have smaller brains, talks about the studies conducted on them.
I personally already was aware of these two studies, but it was interesting he brough them up as well.

Monday May 23rd 2011 "Change Your Brain, Change Your Love Life" @ http://consciouspartnering.net/program

Daniel G. Amen, MD is an award winning physician, psychiatrist, best-selling author, international speaker, and brain enhancement expert.  He is the founder, CEO, and medical director of the world renowned Amen Clinics, Inc.
Dr. Amen educates companies, organizations, and individuals on the importance of brain health and the impact of the brain on every aspect of life. The host of 4 highly successful PBS programs and a frequent radio and TV guest, Daniel is the author of 24 book, including the New York Times best-sellers, “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life,” “Magnificent Mind at Any Age” and “Change Your Brain, Change Your Body.”  He is an engaging and entertaining speaker, and he is at the forefront of applying brain science to improve everyday life.
Visit his website: http://www.amenclinics.com

Love, Light and Joy!

Niina

THE HAIR, THE HEAD AND THE BLOOD STREAM

There is something I've been thinking lately, which has to do with feminine vanity as well as personal hygiene and looks.

It's very normal for women to dye their hair these days, my mom does it, my sister's do it, my aunts do it, I do it, gosh everyone I know does it! Well every woman I know.

I know it cannot be very good for me, after all I imagine those chemicals activating the coloring soak through your scalp and perhaps get into your blood stream.

 "Last year on December 1st, a ban on 22 hair dye substances issued by the European Commission, a body that drafts legislation for the European Union, took effect. These substances had been linked to bladder cancer in a 2001 University of Southern California study." ~ http://www.naturalnews.com/022575.html

Of course they are making hair dye as safe as possible, but let's face it they still have to sell hair dye with a good profit so the major brands aren't gonna go all organic and safe - no don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

I started using this shampoo & conditioner that was organic and bio degradable, very good for hair, head and nature, but not stellar on dyed hair. I got a gift to the hair salon, to get my hair dyed with few colors, it cost bloody 100€ so I thought I'd get the salon quality dyed hair shampoo & conditioner, L’Oreal’s something Professional. Now I didn't see the difference right away it took about a month, but I noticed a lack of interest. Thinking back I can point to what did it. It's interesting that after dyeing my hair ( which I admit I do every two months or so at home ) at the salon, then buying chemical shampoo after getting use to of my organic shampoo that I noticed I wasn't quite so interested in spiritual matter as I was in my first half 2010.

It happened to be a giant bottle of that shampoo, so it is still in use, and I am seriously considering of dropping them, the conditioner as well.

On that note I am considering stopping dyeing my hair - which is a much bigger issue of vanity ( can't imagine I know a lady who would disagree that dyeing is done due to vanity ) and much harder to do. I recall I spend four months not dyeing my hair until I couldn't take it any longer and gave in.

Of course there is the organic way and brands, but how is that any different when you get down to the point of vanity and altering your looks?

Why do I need to look different, or specifically be a certain tone of brunette?

Spiritually speaking I do not see any need for that.

Vanity's point of view is different of course! Finns are known to have this interesting hair color in the shade of ash. Yep - not really pretty under the current standards, where colors are pure and dark and hair needs to be glossy. I recall a hairdresser telling me how my normal hair color was a pretty brown but just dull and not glossy. I didn't think much of it then, and agreed - but I bloody well want to like my own hair! If it happens to be the color of field mouse then be it, it doesn't change anything about me, doesn't change who I AM.

I have been searching some Finnish blogs and there seems to be a trend currently of bringing back our natural hair color, Yay! I don't mind at all jumping into that bandwagon and taking a ride. One lady even went as far to say that natural Finnish hair color can seem exotic to the non-Finns. ( http://pupulandia.indiedays.com/2010/05/10/hiusvarien-taisto-maantie-vs-toffee/ ) LOL! That's a very good positive attitude! 

Also I asked my husband if he would develop symptoms of panic and get urges to divorce me if I stopped coloring my hair, his answer was fairly simple although repeating it I will remove the sexual context for younger audience, 'As long as you women have long hair, were all good...'

Should be a test worth taking, huh? A little dare.

Alright I dare you, Niina, to not dye your hair for a year. To use organic shampoo & conditioner and not spray your head with chemicals.

I would like to not dumb myself down with product of vanity, not lose interest and to be lighter just by knowing I am doing the right thing by my body. I'm ready to enjoy this adventure of a life organically, just as my body was created without messing with the basics. Now a nice shirt or pair of shoes is enough of a decoration!

Love, Light and Joy!

Niina

ASPARTAME PUTS DIE IN DIET SODA

If you haven't heard of Aspartame yet - watch this short video below.

Aspartame: Is the sweet taste worth the harm?
You can't imagine how hard soft drinks sweetened with Aspartame are on your body. A must-see for anybody with a sweet tooth, this exposé reveals the dangers of Aspartame consumption. Americans constantly obsess over the latest diet fads and skinny trends, yet we're one of the unhealthiest nations on the planet.

According to the US Surgeon General, obesity plagues more than 30% of Americans, killing over 300,000 people every year! Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are also all on the rise, with one of the main culprits in this disturbing trend being sugar. Almost 20% of our daily calorie intake comes from refined white sugar. That works out to about 150 pounds of sugar per year!

Consumed in small amounts, sugar actually helps your metabolism and supplies a quick boost of energy. In excess, sugar adds nothing but empty calories to your body. Many people have recognized this and now opt for sugar free alternatives, allowing for the rise of the artificial sugar industry. The most prevalent artificial sugar in our food supply today is called aspartame, which is also recognized as NutraSweet or Equal. Aspartame has made its way into more than 6,000 products including almost all diet sodas, chewing gum, frozen desserts, yogurt, and even vitamins and cough drops.
200 times sweeter than sugar, aspartame is a combination of two amino acids: aspartic acid and phenylalanine.


Even though the safety of aspartame has been affirmed by the Food and Drug Administration 26 times in the past 23 years, the FDA has received more complaints about adverse reactions to aspartame than any other food ingredient in the agency's history. In fact, at least 30% of the US population is sensitive to even moderate doses of aspartame and may suffer several symptoms. Immediate reactions include severe headaches, dizziness, attention difficulties, memory loss, throat swelling, and seizures. Long term effects include blood sugar problems, insomnia, diabetes, ovarian cancer, and brain tumours. One study from Kings College in England found that the more NutraSweet is consumed, the more likely tumours are to develop. With all of the hazards associated with aspartame, how did this sweetener get approved in the first place?
The flurry of debate about Searle's tests prompted the FDA to establish a Public Board of Inquiry, comprised of independent scientists to rule on safety issues surrounding NutraSweet. In 1980, The Public Board of Inquiry concluded that NutraSweet should not be approved pending further investigations of brain tumours in animals.

The following year, Ronald Reagan became President of the United States. His transitional team, which included Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of Searle (manufacturer of aspartame), then handpicked Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. to be the new FDA Commissioner. In one of his first official acts, the new FDA commissioner overruled the Public Board of Inquiry's recommendations and authorized aspartame in dry foods and carbonated beverages. In fact, The National Soft Drink Association (NSDA) to delay approval of aspartame for carbonated beverages because of its instability in liquid form. When liquid aspartame reaches a temperatures above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, it breaks down known toxins and side effects become worsened.

Arthur Hull, FDA commissioner who pushed through aspartame, later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety and took a position with Burson-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle, revealing his apparent conflicts of interest with aspartame's manufacturer. The first carbonated beverages containing aspartame hit the market in 1983 and for the last twenty-five years aspartame has made its way into thousands of food and beverage products.
Even in the face of its sordid past, weight-conscious Americans will likely still opt for products containing aspartame because it is marketed as a weight loss aid. Ironically, studies have shown that it actually increases appetite and sugar intake because the empty sweetness from artificial sugars makes your body expect food. When it doesn't arrive, you actually get hungrier! Recently, many people are jumping on the sucralose, or Splenda bandwagon, but this might not be the best substitute.

http://www.sweetpoison.com/phenylalanine.html

Aspartame Symptoms Submitted to the FDA
http://www.sweetpoison.com/articles/0706/aspartame_symptoms_submit.html

Aspartame (NutraSweet) Toxicity Info Centre
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/

Abuse of the Scientific Method Seen in Monsanto Aspartame Research
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/abuse/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

http://www.stevia.com/Stevia_Article.aspx?Id=2269

From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVrTKxTpZWY

WOMEN, FOOD AND GOD (BOOK)

I just visited a really good scandinavian "amazon.com" called Adlibris which has a genuinly great amount of english language books for us who don't like to wait for translations on interesting titles that may never arrive.

I first heard of "Women, Food and God" by Geneen Roth when she opened as quest when the teleseries ( free by the way ;) ) Women on the Edge of Evolution started again.
Then another e-mail to her 150$ online retreat arrived - it sounded really good, but as on a forever budget I have no way to participate I decided to look up her book instead ( 13€ vs. 150$  - and we had a clear winner ). From the first paragraph on her prologue and I wanted the book and ordered the book! Have look yourself and see if you order it as well.

Geneen Roth's pioneering books were among the first to link compulsive eating and perpetual dieting with deeply personal and spiritual issues that go far beyond food, weight and body image.

She believes that we eat the way we live, and that our relationship to food, money and love is an exact reflection of our deepest held beliefs about ourselves and the amount of joy, abundance, pain or scarcity we believe we have (or are allowed to have) in our lives.

Rather than pushing away the "crazy" things we do, Geneen's work proceeds with the conviction that our actions and beliefs make exquisite sense, and that the way to transform our relationship with food is to be open, curious and kind with ourselves--instead of punishing, impatient and harsh.

In the past thirty years, she has worked with hundreds of thousands of people using meditation, inquiry, and a set of seven eating guidelines that are the foundation of natural eating.

This and more at Amazon.com Preview!

Love, Light and Joy!

Niina connecting with Food

LETS MOVE FOR A HEALTHY BODY

Healthy Body. Healthy Mind.

I'm sure you've heard that before.

Healthy Body has no "one size fits all" - it has no weight limit one way or other. What healthy body is, is when you feel Great (no cheating thoughts allowed)! When you are aware of the state of your body. There are a lot of spiritual talk about 20 minutes of activity per day - actual getting to know and use your muscles sort of exercise.Our bodies are made to move - it is their natural state, natural physical state.
We can calm our minds, we can steady or thoughts, so why not exercise our bodies.

I have added to this Blog of mine, options for a well being body.
Under the header you can find two links to two pages.

★ Full Fitness Videos 1 (free)

♥  Full Fitness Videos 2 (free)

What are in these two pages, here is an excerpt!

KEEPING YOUR BODY FIT & HEALTHY ONLINE VIDEOS

( there are many videos on this page, so give your computer a moment to upload the page before scrolling down to see the what is offered here )

These will be in parts and what I recommend and what I do with these is I open all three (or how many there are up) and either buffer them all so I can just view one after another  OR  if you have slow connection, as you do 1st you buffer up 2nd, and as you do 2nd you buffer up 3rd and so on...

Drink a cup (2,5dl) of water 15 minutes before working out, and then keep on hydrating every ten minutes.
This is a key to a healthy and most beneficial workout.
Two keys to weight loss with working out, Drink Water and Breathe.

On this page "Cheer Cardio", "Island Girl Dancing" and "Belly Dance Fitness".

HERE WE GO! 

HEALTHY BODY HEALTHY MIND - AMAZING BODY AWARENESS!

If you feel like Exercising, Moving, Streching or Dancing I am giving you links to pages where you can do this right now ( or ideally in 15 minutes ;) ) and feel the benifit and the surge of happiness hormone endorphins!
Try some Cheerleading, Learn Tahitian Native Dancing or Belly Dancing, Burn Calories at the Beach or Experience whole new muscles with Tracy Anderson! All free and online.

Just remember if something hurts, stop, do what your body allows, be aware of it.

Love, Light and Joy!

Niina

DIS'EASE AND ILLNESS AS TEACHERS

I was involved in conversation, of sorts, about helping heal illness.
I know many healers, and I am not blogging this to undermine them or myself because I am a healer as well.
What I am posting here is not a cure all - trust me, and your intuition on that!

But I am going to tell you about managing and curing dis'eases (diseases) and illnesses that have been detected in our bodies. I'm going to use myself as an example here.
Some of you know I have asthma and to it related allergies - I have medication for them as well.
We should never let go of medication as a whole ( yes homeopathic medication counts just as well ) as long as we inhabit human bodies. Nothing in life happens immediately, that is not how creation works on four dimensional world.

So how do I manage illness and dis'ease then?

What I do is research the illness or disease, in my case asthma, then see where it fits in my life and what I can do to change it.
Asthma is pressure in the chest, inability to breathe, suffocation, to me this indicates I am not expressing myself correctly, I am holding back causing pressure in my lungs and chest which indicates communication and speech problems.
What I can do is speak up, open my mind to allow me to communicate, say no, say yes, release any blockage I have concerning being afraid what my words can do.
I believe I have asthma to physically remind me every time I slip to "suffocating" myself by holding in my emotions and thoughts inside as I fear hurting others and them not liking me if I say the wrong thing.
I actually like my asthma now, now that I know why it occurs - and yes I have noticed when I am open, my airways stay open as well. When I silence myself wrongly for a period of time my asthma acts up.

Detecting Consistencies

Whatever it is that you have, especially if it a life long 'condition' I urge you to first study it - get to know everything about it. Then see what it symbolises in your life, Asthma for  communication dis'ease, Back Pain for carrying too much on your shoulders, High Blood Pressure for stress management... Don't just take my word for it, or the word of a physician. You know your spiritual/emotional state, you know your body! 
It helps to ask yourself, alone or in channelling, meditation or with the help from your Higher Self some of these questions: 
What does this organ/body part do? (f.ex.Teeth? Part of digestion process, making things smaller for stomach to be able to digest them) 
What does this present in spiritual light? (Analysing matter to digest them) 
What does it "not working right" mean? (Over analysing can cause teeth problems) 
What can I do to fix this? (Over come the urge to analyse to death, trust your heart, your intuition) 
This dis'ease is a sign, not to be taken lightly or ignored or simply medicated to numbness - this is a sign of what is it in this life time that demands your focus so you may grow.

Life Time Lesson

Asthma is for a Life Time.
It is not "curable" by medical science.
Then from Spiritual view point - why do I have it?
To go deeper for a while, what is the purpose of my life this time around. In this reincarnation what am I here for? What am I here to LEARN?
Asthma = Communication, "deep from the center my being" communication.
Then...
If I were to never learn when to say No, how would my soul evolve?
If I were to never stop fearing what others will think of me for what I have said, how would I Grow at all?
If I were to never breathe easy and be at peace with what I say, if I were to never speak from Unconditional Love that cannot hurt - how would I learn to evolve myself?
You see how important our bodies’ signs for us are?

Our lives, our bodies, are our vehicles of Ascension and Awakening - so why numb them?
Embrace your dis'ease and learn. Bless this Teacher, see its true highest purpose and find Peace.

Love, Light and Joy!

Niina

P.S: You might find this blog entry on similar subject interesting:
http://niinac.blogspot.com/2010/09/maintaining-healthy-body-tuning-in.html

MAINTAINING A HEALTHY BODY (TUNING IN)

I feel blessed that I am so attuned to my body, if something is wrong it usually doesn't take that long to figure out what and why.

To give an example is I have been eating so well this year, vegetarian, organic (as much as possible) and eating foods my body need for its nutrition - blessing the food to fill its highest purpose on earth.
But then somewhere I had a taste of sugar, in a form of candy, and my human genetics took over. Humans are so easily addicted to two flavors sweet and salty, and once you have a taste of them the cycle is tough to break again. See this article on Sugar Addiction by Holistic Health website M. Ed, Cynthia Perkins.

So - I had a taste of sugar and it snow balled! Especially after one child's birthday!

So here am I am, addicted to sugar again, all kinds, candy, cinnamon buns and sweet yogurts and such...
I knew this was a problem, but I had thought of it very little from "How is my body doing?" - view and more from, oh buggers my diets shot to hell. ;)
But on my defence I had thought about at least little, instead being totally clueless. ;)

So yesterday, there I was, at work, having a piece of candy left over from a party and  - TOOTH ACHE.

Oh yes - the worst reminder possible of you are abusing your body, Miss.
That stopped my candy eating pretty darn quickly.

It took me two seconds to realize my body is telling me to stop, I can't abuse my body with toxic, refined-to-death sugar without consequences. I cannot maintain a Healthy Body, Spirit and Mind if I pollute my own body, aura and life force.
It is a small pain, but the message of it was written on my forehead with cat size letters.

So what to do?

• a) stop eating sugar you fool - you've done it before, you can do it again!
• b) in visualisation bless and do healing work on you teeth and body, and aura
• c) brush brush brush 
• d) if necessary, get an appointment with a dentist

The body gives us notices all the time - all we need to do is listen...

How to do this listening?

If you are new to listening to your body, this is how it is done!

You need few follow up questions:

• a) Where does it hurt? 
• b) What is the first cause that comes to mind? (this is where you body-mind intuition needs to be trusted)
• c) What have you recently been worried about? (health, jealousy, anger, money, relationship?)
• d) Unite above 3 questions as a whole package and determine what needs to be done to fix it (look at the abcd above this for frame work "stop-heal-act" method)

I believe it was Ken Wilber who stated in Second Teleseminar of Beyond Awakening that  there are stages where You Are (we call this I AM presence in spiritual circles) - for example, right now awake you know you are - when you sleep and dream you know you are existing, right? - when you meditate you know you are still you - when you go beyond normal meditation and become aware that you are spirit, soul, you are still you, you exist in spirit, and when you go beyond, body, mind and spirit to primordial existence where you are the witness to your own existence, you still are, you are there in nothing everything witnessing your spirit, your soul, your body, your life. You are NOT your body but the witness of life in it.
If we communicate with our body we can live in peace with it - it is almost like a loved home that we want to keep in good shape, a lovely home where electricity runs smoothly, windows are intact, plumbing works. ;)
If your stove is broken you don't ignore it for weeks do you?
If at winter you windows leak warmth out you don't ignore that for weeks do you?
Fix your stove, repair your windows, keep your home healthy, beautiful and fully operational - This is not so different from listening to your body, stopping-healing-acting on what your body deems important.

Don't know where to start, but want to try it connecting with your body?

Take notice of these:

• a) Is there any pains or discomforts in your body or mind?
• b) How do you feel after you eat meat/fish/sugar/salt?
• c) How do you feel after a hard day of work, mentally or physically?
• d) How does "Jane Doe" make you feel, do you like being around her? What feelings spring up? (this is what we could call soul relationship work, reincarnation work and soul mate work)

Have a go at it! If you need help determining anything e-mail me or connect me on comments.

THE FOODS, THE BODY AND YOUR HEALTH

I was reading the Vegetarian threads at Spiritual Forums when I ran across Jason72's interesting topic "Heavenly Food...!" on foods that have deep visual and nutritional and spiritual connections.

What am I talking about?

Check this out...

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes...

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All o f the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food. .

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them)

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility. . .

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts. . .

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

I also found another website on the matter... FYI: Fruits, Vegetables and Human Bodys

Slice a carrot and it looks just like an eye, right down to the pattern of the iris. It’s a clear clue to the importance this everyday veg has for vision. Carrots get their orange colour from a plant chemical called betacarotene, which reduces the risk of developing cataracts. The chemical also protects against macular degeneration an age-related sight problem that affects one in four over-65s. It is the most common cause of blindness in Britain. But popping a betacarotene pill doesn’t have the same effect, say scientists at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore

Walnut – Brain
THE gnarled folds of a walnut mimic the appearance of a human brain – and provide a clue to the benefits. Walnuts are the only nuts which contain significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. They may also help head off dementia. An American study found that walnut extract broke down the protein-based plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at Tufts University in Boston found walnuts reversed some signs of brain ageing in rats. Dr James Joseph, who headed the study, said walnuts also appear to enhance signalling within the brain and encourage new messaging links between brain cells.

Tomato – Heart
A Tomato is red and usually has four chambers, just like our heart. Tomatoes are also a great source of lycopene, a plant chemical that reduces the risk of heart disease and several cancers. The Women’s Health Study — an American research programme which tracks the health of 40,000 women — found women with the highest blood levels of lycopene had 30 per cent less heart disease than women who had very little lycopene. Lab experiments have also shown that lycopene helps counter the effect of unhealthy LDL cholesterol. One Canadian study, published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine, said there was “convincing vidence’ that lycopene prevented coronary heart disease.

Grapes – Lungs
Our lungs are made up of branches of ever-smaller airways that finish up with tiny bunches of tissue called alveoli. These structures, which resemble bunches of grapes, allow oxygen to pass from the lungs to the blood stream. One reason that very premature babies struggle to survive is that these alveoli do not begin to form until week 23 or 24 of pregnancy. A diet high in fresh fruit, such as grapes, has been shown to reduce the risk of lung cancer and emphysema. Grape seeds also contain a chemical called proanthocyanidin, which appears to reduce the severity of asthma triggered by allergy.

Cheese – Bones
A nice ‘holey’ cheese, like Emmenthal, is not just good for your bones, it even resembles their internal structure. And like most cheeses, it is a rich source of calcium, a vital ingredient for strong bones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Together with another mineral called phosphate, it provides the main strength in bones but also helps to ‘power’ muscles. Getting enough calcium in the diet during childhood is crucial for strong bones. A study at Columbia University in New York showed teens who increased calcium intake from 800mg a day to 1200mg – equal to an extra two slices of cheddar – boosted their bone density by six per cent.

Ginger – Stomach
Root ginger, commonly sold in supermarkets, often looks just like the stomach. So it’s interesting that one of its biggest benefits is aiding digestion. The Chinese have been using it for over 2,000 years to calm the stomach and cure nausea, while it is also a popular remedy for motion sickness. But the benefits could go much further.
Tests on mice at the University of Minnesota found injecting the chemical that gives ginger its flavour slowed down the growth rate of bowel tumours.

Banana (smile) – Depression
Cheer yourself up and put a smile on your face by eating a banana. The popular fruit contains a protein called tryptophan. Once it has been digested, tryptophan then gets converted in a chemical neurotransmitter called serotonin. This is one of the most important mood-regulating chemicals in the brain and most anti-depressant drugs work by adjusting levels of serotonin production. Higher levels are associated with better moods.

Mushroom – Ear
Slice a mushroom in half and it resembles the shape of the human ear. And guess what? adding it to your cooking could actually improve your hearing. That’s because mushrooms are one of the few foods in our diet that contain vitamin D. This particular vitamin is important for healthy bones, even the tiny ones in the ear that transmit sound to the brain.

Broccoli – Cancer
Close-up, the tiny green tips on a broccoli head look like hundreds of cancer cells. Now scientists know this disease-busting veg can play a crucial role in preventing the disease. Last year, a team of researchers at the US National Cancer Institute found just a weekly serving of broccoli was enough to reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 45 per cent. In Britain, prostate cancer kills one man every hour.