BAWANG PUTIH TEKAN HIPERTENSI

Bawang putih tidak hanya bisa menguatkan rasa masakan, juga mampu mengusir berbagai penyakit mulai dari hipertensi hingga insomnia.

JAKARTA-- Di Indonesia, bawang putih biasa digunakan sebagai bumbu masak. Padahal tumbuhan dengan nama Latih allium sativum yang termasuk genus afflum itu memiliki banyak manfaat kesehatan.

Dari umbi bawang putih per 100 gram mengandung 4,5 gram protein, 0,20 gram lemak, 23,10 gram hidrat arang, 0,22 miligram vitamin B1, 15 miligram vitamin C, 95 kalori, 134 miligram fosfor, 42 miligram zat besi dan 71 gram air.

Di samping itu dari beberapa penelitian umbi bawang putih mengandung zat aktif awcin, awn, enzim alinase, germanium, sativine, sinistrine, selenium, scordinin, nicotinic acid.

Bawang putih tumbuh secara berumpun dan berdiri tegak sampai setinggi 30-75 meter, mempunyai batang semu yang terbentuk dari pelepah-pelepah daun. Helaian daunnya mirip pita, berbentuk pipih dan memanjang. Akar bawang putih terdiri dari serabut-serabut kecil yang berjumlah banyak.

Setiap umbi bawang putih terdiri dari sejumlah anak bawang (siung) yang setiap siungnya terbungkus kulit tipis berwarna putih. Bawang putih yang semula merupakan tumbuhan daerah dataran tinggi, sekarang di Indonesia, jenis tertentu dibudidayakan di dataran rendah.

Bawang putih juga dikenal dengan beberapa nama seperi Garlic (Inggris), Bawang (Jawa), Bawang Bodas (Sunda), Bawang Handak (Lampung), Kasuna (Bali), Lasuna pute (Bugis), Bhabang pote (Madura); Bawa bodudo (Ternate), Kalfeo foleu (Timor).

Berdasarkan beberapa literatur, bawang putih berfungsi sebagai obat terhadap penyakit. Antara lain hipertensi, asma, batuk, masuk angin, sakit kepala hingga sulit tidur (insomnia) dan lain-lain. Berikut cara penggunaannya:

Hipertensi. Ambil 3 siung bawang putih. Kemudian ditumbuk halus dan diperas dengan air secukupnya. Saring. Minum secara teratur setiap hari. Atau, sebanyak 2 siung bawang putih dipanggang dengan api. Lalu dimakan setiap pagi selama 7 hari. Asma, batuk dan masuk angin. Siapkan 3 siung bawang putih, 1 sendok makan madu dan gula batu secukupnya. Kemudian bawang putih ditumbuk halus, kemudian dicampur bersama bahan lainnya sampai merata dan diperas/disaring. Minum ramuan itu setiap pagi sampai sembuh.

Sakit kepala. Ambil bawang putih laluditumbuk halus. Kemudian kompres pada dahi.

Sakit kuning, sesak nafas dan busung air. Sediakan satu umbi bawang putih, 1 potong gula batu sebesar telur ayam. Tumbuk halus umbi bawang putih, kemudian rebus bersama gula batu dengan tiga gelas air sampai mendidih. Aduk rata dan saring, minum dua kali sehari sebanyak dua sendok makan.

Ambeien. Umbi bawang putih ditumbuk halus, kemudian diperas untuk diambil airnya. Oles di sekitar dubur setiap hari. Luka memar karena tikaman atau pukulan. Ambil bawang putih dan 1 sendok madu. Bawang putih ditumbuk halus, kemudian diberi 1 sendok madu dan dicampur sampai merata. Oleskan pada bagian yang luka.

Luka kena benda tajam berkarat. Umbi bawang putih dibakar kemudian celupkan ke dalam minyak kelapa, lalu ditumbuh halus. Oleskan pada bagian yang luka.

Mengusir cacing kremi dan cacing perut. Ambil beberapa siung bawang putih, dikupas dan dicuci bersih kemudian langsung dimakan. S

ulit tidur (insomnia). Ambil beberapa siung bawang putih. Kupas dan cuci bersih. Makan langsung setiap saat sebelum tidur. (berbagai sumber/ri)http://republika.co.id/berita/16645.html

SehatHerbal.Com, menyediakan ektrak Bawang PUtih, harga 50rb/45 kapsul. Info lebih lanjut ke 021-91752768 atau bisa beli langsung di SehatHerbal.Com, Mangga 2 Square, Llantai UG Blok C- dekat Optik dan Travel.

Polyunsaturated Fat Intake: Effects on the Heart and Brain

I'm revisiting the topic of the omega-6/omega-3 balance and total polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) intake because of some interesting studies I've gotten a hold of lately (thanks Robert). Two of the studies are in pigs, which I feel are a decent model organism for studying the effect of diet on health as it relates to humans. Pigs are omnivorous (although more slanted toward plant foods), have a similar digestive system to humans (although sturdier), are of similar size and fat composition to humans, and have been eating grains for about the same amount of time as humans.

In the last post on the omega-6/omega-3 balance, I came to the conclusion that a roughly balanced but relatively low intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fats is consistent with the diets of healthy non-industrial cultures. There were a few cultures that had a fairly high long-chain omega-3 intake from seafood (10% of calories), but none ate much omega-6.

The first study explores the effect of omega-6 and omega-3 fats on heart function. Dr. Sheila Innis and her group fed young male pigs three different diets:

1. An unbalanced, low PUFA diet. Pig chow with 1.2% linoleic acid (LA; the main omega-6 plant fat) and 0.06% alpha linolenic acid (ALA; the main omega-3 plant fat).
   
2. A balanced, low PUFA diet. Pig chow with 1.4% LA and 1.2% ALA.
3. An unbalanced, but better-than-average, "modern diet". Pig chow with 11.6% LA and 1.2% ALA.

After 30 days, they took a look at the pigs' hearts. Pigs from the first and third (unbalanced) groups contained more "pro-inflammatory" fats (arachidonic acid; AA) and less "anti-inflammatory" fats (EPA and DHA) than the second group. The first and third groups also experienced an excessive activation of "pro-inflammatory" proteins, such as COX-2, the enzyme inhibited by aspirin, ibuprofen and other NSAIDs.

The most striking finding of all was the difference in lipid peroxidation between groups. Lipid peroxidation is a measure of oxidative damage to cellular fats. In the balanced diet hearts, peroxidation was half the level found in the first group, and one-third the level found in the third group! This shows that omega-3 fats exert a powerful anti-oxidant effect that can be more than counteracted by excessive omega-6. Nitrosative stress, another type of damage, tracked with n-6 intake regardless of n-3, with the third group almost tripling the first two. I think this result is highly relevant to the long-term development of cardiac problems, and perhaps cardiovascular disease in general.

In another study with the same lead author Sanjoy Ghosh, rats fed a diet enriched in omega-6 from sunflower oil showed an increase in nitrosative damage, damage to mitochondrial DNA, and a decrease in maximum cardiac work capacity (i.e., their hearts were weaker). This is consistent with the previous study and shows that the mammalian heart does not like too much omega-6! The amount of sunflower oil these rats were eating (20% food by weight) is not far off from the amount of industrial oil the average American eats.

A third paper by Dr. Sheila Innis' group studied the effect of the omega-6 : omega-3 balance on the brain fat composition of pigs, and the development of neurons in vitro (in a culture dish). There were four diets, the first three similar to those in the first study:

1. Deficient. 1.2% LA and 0.05% ALA.
2. Contemporary. 10.7% LA and 1.1% ALA.
   
3. Evolutionary. 1.2% LA and 1.1% ALA.
4. Supplemented. The contemporary diet plus 0.3% AA and 0.3% DHA.

The first thing they looked at was the ability of the animals to convert ALA to DHA and concentrate it in the brain. DHA is critical for brain and eye development and maintenance. The evolutionary diet was most effective at putting DHA in the brain, with the supplemented diet a close second and the other three lagging behind. The evolutionary diet was the only one capable of elevating EPA, another important fatty acid derived from ALA. If typical fish oil rather than isolated DHA and AA had been given as the supplement, that may not have been the case. Overall, the fatty acid composition of the brain was quite different in the evolutionary group than the other three groups, which will certainly translate into a variety of effects on brain function.

The researchers then cultured neurons and showed that they require DHA to develop properly in culture, and that long-chain omega-6 fats are a poor substitute. Overall, the paper shows that the modern diet causes a major fatty acid imbalance in the brain, which is expected to lead to developmental problems and probably others as well. This can be partially corrected by supplementing with fish oil.

Together, these studies are a small glimpse of the countless effects we are having on every organ system, by eating fats that are unfamiliar to our pre-industrial bodies. In the next post, I'll put this information into the context of the modern human diet.