Food that makes you feel good is readily available, but what truly brings the body into balance? Dr. Anne Fleck, a nutritionist, has a few favorites.
1. black cumin oil | life-giving elixir
Lubricant: The oil is a natural anti-cancer weapon that can also reduce inflammation. Unfortunately, it isn't particularly appetizing.
That is exactly what it is all about.
The secret weapon among oils, it is said, cures everything except death. Black cumin oil, which originated in Western Asia, was used internally and externally for healing by ancient healers; it is reported that Nefertiti used it to anoint her body. For a period of time, fascinating study results in Europe have given the versatile oil a Renaissance.
For it it is good
Nigella sativa, as it is called in Latin, has been shown to have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects, alleviates digestive problems, helps with allergies, asthma and skin diseases, and can reduce the discomfort of rheumatic diseases. It has also been shown in studies to have a mild antidiabetic effect.
That is why Anne Fleck recommends it
"Black cumin oil has proven itself in my work as an adjunctive therapy, for example, for colon cancer patients, but also as a preventive measure. A study showed that black cumin oil can strengthen the activity of certain immune cells, the neutrophil granulocytes. That makes it a natural weapon against cancer cells, which, after all, are buzzing through the body every day and need to be tracked down."
Here's how to take it right
"Admittedly, the taste and smell take some getting used to," says Anne Fleck. She advises mixing it with other neutral plant oils when used topically for skin care to mitigate its own odor. For ingestion, she recommends one teaspoon daily, or in a course-like manner over four to six weeks as a therapeutic dose - for example, in autoimmune diseases - three times a teaspoon per day. Mix it with honey or juice if the taste is even too unpleasant.
2. spermidine | natural cell booster
Cell protector: Spermidine can even help with a corona infection. It is found in large quantities in wheat germ.
That's what it's all about
Yes, the name is reminiscent of reproduction - and that's because spermidine is found in high concentrations primarily in seminal fluid, but also in all other body cells. Certain intestinal bacteria also produce spermidine, but less and less as we age. Then we have to take it in through food. Anne Fleck calls the vital power of the body's own substance a "gong-beating discovery". For some years now, it is precisely the anti-aging effect and the strengthening of the body's defenses that have attracted the interest of researchers.
That's why it's useful.
The endogenous molecule is a biogenic polyamine, a type of amino acid that is required for tissue development, growth, and regeneration. Researchers are focused on the outstanding protective impact of spermidine for our cells right now, in the midst of the corona pandemic: When the polyamine was given to lung cells infected with Sars-CoV-2, virologists at Charité Berlin were able to show that the viral load of the cells decreased by up to 85 percent. The main benefit of spermidine is that it activates autophagy, our cells' self-cleaning mechanism that kicks in after lengthy periods of time without food, such as during fasting. Cells recycle their broken components, much like the body's natural waste disposal mechanism, which keeps us healthy, delays aging, and keeps us young.
That's why Anne Fleck recommends it
"As we age, our bodies produce less and less spermidine. From around the age of 40, we are dependent on external supply, for example through spermidine-rich foods or dietary supplements. This gives you a better energy level and better protection against a severe course of both infections and chronic diseases."
Here's how to take it right
Spermidine is found in large quantity in wheat germ (24 mg per 100 g), it is also in mushrooms, broccoli, mango, soybeans, peanuts, almonds, legumes, mature cheese. As an effective dose in food supplementation, Anne Fleck advises 1.2 mg per day in capsule form.