Can Eating Flowers Ward Off Disease?
Sounds a little too new-agey for me. But a new study has found that eating certain kinds of flowers could ward off chronic disease. Newswise.com reports that some e dible flowers, which have been used in the culinary arts in China for centuries, contain phenolics that have been correlated with anti-inflammatory activity and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. "The findings of this study show that common edible flowers have the potential to be used as an additive in food to prevent chronic disease, help health promotion and prevent food oxidization," the Web site notes . However, the antioxidant mechanisms, the anti-tumor, anti-inflammation and anti-aging activity of the edible flower extracts still need to be further studied to develop more applications as natural antioxidants. Here are some of the flowers, and diseases they might prevent, according to The Times of India: Apple and Orange Blossoms: They're clearly the most popular ...