Nettle root comes from the stinging nettle plant, also known as Urtica dioica. With a long tradition of medicinal use, stinging nettle was historically used to treat joint pain and help the body rid itself of excess water.
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Freshly made raw apple juice is not only a refreshing, natural beverage, it is also rich in many nutrients, and provides you with an easy way of consuming the nutrients that raw apples have. Raw apple juice is also a good source of quercetin, which is a natural antioxidant.
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Senna is a plant native to Northern Africa, and both the leaves and the seeds are used in herbal medicine. Known primarily for its purgative properties, senna works as a natural laxative and is often taken in a capsule, pill, granule or tea format.
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Black currants are small, dark red and purple berries, so darkly colored they may actually appear black, hence their name. Juicy and sweet, with a slightly tart aftertaste, black currants are often used to make jams, jellies and preserves.
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Harvested off the northwest coast of France, Celtic sea salt is gray in color and a little less salty-tasting than table salt or other sea salts. It is found in clay ponds that are built near the shore -- as the saltwater evaporates, a mineral-rich sea salt is left behind.
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White tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, the same one that produces green, black and oolong teas. Like green tea, white tea leaves are minimally processed, but unlike green tea, only the youngest leaves and buds of the plant are used.
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Mint tea, made from peppermint leaves, is common to Middle Eastern cultures and other cultures worldwide.
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Vital wheat gluten is made by extracting all of the gluten in wheat and leaving behind the starch. It is sold as a powder that is available in many health food and specialty food grocers, as well as at certain high-end supermarkets.
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Traditional to Asian cuisine, kelp noodles are most commonly found in Korean cooking, where the light taste and springy texture of the noodles take well to the rich and fragrant sauces of the cuisine.
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Vitamin B-12, along with the seven other members of the B vitamin complex, aids the body with its metabolic functions, thus earning it the reputation as a vitamin that can provide energy.
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Rich, strong, gleaming hair requires proper hair care -- washing and cutting on a regular basis -- as well as a healthy diet. While hair loss and duller-looking hair that becomes thin and breaks easily can be the result of many factors, a diet low in protein, such as during a crash diet, can lead to poor hair health.
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Vanilla extract is made by dissolving vanilla beans in alcohol to create the dark colored liquid with the powerful scent of natural vanilla. All vanilla extracts are high in alcohol, but the alcohol evaporates when exposed to high heat, such as during baking.
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Pomegranate juice is often sold as a bottled drink, but it is also sold as a powder. As a powder, pomegranate juice can be added to foods as a flavoring agent, or it can be mixed with water and drunk.
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First discovered in the mountain ash tree, potassium sorbate is a variation of sorbic acid, a polyunsaturated fat. As a potassium salt, potassium sorbate is used as a food preservative and is now produced synthetically.
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When you melt butter and remove the milk solids and water that rise to the top, you produce clarified butter. Despite its name, clarified butter does not have the same taste or smell of regular butter, and it can be heated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit before it burns.
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Date fruits, also called date palms because they are the fruit of the palm tree, come in a range of colors, from golden brown to black. Medjool is the most common variety of black dates. This type is prized for its rich taste, large size and velvety black-brown color.
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Israeli couscous, also sometimes called pearl couscous, is a pasta. The Israeli company Osem lays claim to inventing it in the 1950s, but it in fact existed long before then, in North Africa, Palestine, Jordan, Syrian and Lebanon.
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Sardines, those small, oily fish, are a staple in the Mediterranean diet. Including sardines -- canned or fresh -- in your diet not only provides you with a host of nutritional benefits, but it can help reduce hair loss.
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Microwaves are now commonplace in American homes, prized for their convenience. Using electromagnetic energy, microwaves heat or cook foods ranging from vegetables to canned soups to meat. The primary factors in retaining nutrients when using a microwave are short cooking times and little added water.
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Butter lettuce is a variety of butterhead lettuce, known for its smooth, loosely bunched, tender leaves. Because of its delicacy, this heading lettuce is often kept in plastic clamshell containers in grocery stores to protect it from accidental bruising.
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