Beauty Of Bougainvillea Vines

The amazing beauty of vines - Bougainvillea In nature, bougainvillea bushes growing in the southern regions and the tropics as abundantly flowering climbing and climbing vines. Her flowers are actually coloured in purple or red, prisotsvetnye leaves. Bougainvillea loves the sun and it grows very luxuriantly.

Posted by Zaffar Iqbal Durrani

Bananas

This is interesting. After Reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas . 

Bananas are a staple starch for many tropical populations. Depending upon cultivar and ripeness, the flesh can vary in taste from starchy to sweet, and texture from firm to mushy. Both the skin and inner part can be eaten raw or cooked. The banana's flavor is due, amongst other chemicals, to isoamyl acetate which is one of the main constituents of banana oil.

Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and  glucose combined with fibre, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression : According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS : Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anaemia : High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anaemia.

Blood Pressure : This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke 

Brain Power : 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation :  High in fibre, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers : One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels,while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn : Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness : Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites : Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves : Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two

hours to keep levels steady

Ulcers : The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal = Affective Disorder (SAD) : Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6,B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress : Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the

heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be balanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes : According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine,"eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. 

Other uses:

Banana sap from the pseudostem, peelings or flesh may be sufficiently sticky for adhesive uses.[citation needed]

In regions where bananas are grown, the large leaves may be used as umbrellas when the pseudostems are tied together to form a floatation device.

Banana peel may have capability to extract heavy metal contamination from river water, similar to other purification materials.

Banana peel has displayed antioxidant activity in vitro, especially from unripe extracts.

So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

Posted by Zaffar Iqbal Durrani

THE KALASH - WHITE TRIBE OF PAKISTAN

Fascinating to say the least:-

The Kalash The White Tribe of Pakistan



In the mountains of the Hindu Kush in Pakistan, six thousand or so people live.  They claim to have lived in the area for thousands of years.





Many of the Kalash are blond haired and blue eyed!  Some believe that that they are descendants of Alexander the Great's army though their true ethnic origins are still unproven.





They have a significantly different outlook on life from the Muslims surrounding them they are polytheistic and have a completely different folklore.





DNA testing has not, however, produced any connection to Greek people.

Yet although there is no genetic support for a Greek origin, the tests on the Kalash also showed no detectable East or South Asian lineages.





Taking in to account genetic drift it was then thought that the Kalash blood line originated in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus. However, another series of tests suggested that perhaps the Kalash are in fact aboriginal to the area with only negligible contributions from external peoples. In other words, the jury is still out as to where they actually come from but it might well be exactly where they are right now.




They live in Kalasha Desh which translates as the three valleys of the Kalash and that is the limit of their people's range. There are only around five thousand speakers of the language, Kalasha, left which in terms of a language means that it is critically endangered. However, it is thought that the language probably never had more than a few tens of  thousands of speakers at any one time.






As their numbers are very small the culture of the people who

surround them have had an impact. Many of the Kalash in two of the valleys have converted to Islam, probably around fifty percent.

They still practice many of the traditional aspects of Kalash life though the non-converts call them sheiks.  A third valley, known as Birir, still clings to the traditional way of Kalash life.



By some standards the Kalash are very poor and it is true that they are subsistence farmers. Kalash houses are typically made from Deodar trunk to an ancient design. They appear singly or stacked up against each other up vertiginous hillsides.



Yet even though the houses often look precarious, they are built on solid stone foundations. Many have inbuilt beehives, given the villagers access to honey close by. Life is, however, hard. Outbreaks of cholera still happen regularly in these remote villages.



In stark contract to the culture of Pakistan the Kalash do not separate the sexes or disapprove of contact between men and women of different families.  However, there is the bashelini a house in the village where menstruating women are sent until they regain purity and rituals must be performed before she can return to her husband.





Elopement is regular in Kalash society and strangely it occurs often among married women.  The woman herself will write to the prospective groom and offer her hand, informing the new man how much her previous husband paid for her.

 

The Kalash have, for however long they have been in the Hindu Kush, made their livelihood by herding goats and farming. Yet tourism does not play a major part in their lives with many urban Pakistanis making the journey from the big cities to meet their light coloured rustic fellow citizens.

The Kalash are protected by the government of Pakistan. However, their relative isolation may well ensure the Kalash survive.

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Posted by Zaffar Iqbal Durrani