A spa is a health resort at which natural waters or baths can be taken for therapeutic purposes. The name is derived from the town of Spa in Belgium, one of the oldest watering places. Many forms of natural waters exist, suitable for the treatment of various complaints, but the particular characteristics of the water is not the solefactor which gives a spa its therapeutic efficiency. The spas often provided a period of hygienic living to people who otherwise were deprived of it, and this often proved as beneficial as the waters themselves.
Chlorophyll is the green colouring matter of plant leaves and absorbs the light necessary for photosynthesis.
Chlorophyll absorbs mainly red, violet, and blue light and reflects green light. The great abundance of chlorophyll in leaves and its occasional presence in other plant tissues, such as stems, causes these plant parts to appear green. In some leaves, chlorophyll is masked by other pigments.
Chlorophyll is a large molecule composed mostly of carbon and hydrogen. At the centre of the molecule is a single atom of magnesium surrounded by a nitrogen-containing group of atoms called a porphyrin ring. The structure somewhat resembles that of the active constituent of haemoglobin in the blood. A long chain of carbon and hydrogen atoms proceeds from this central core and attaches the chlorophyll molecule to the inner membrane of the chloroplast, the cell organelle in which photosynthesis takes place. As a molecule of chlorophyll absorbs a photon of light, its electrons become excited and move to higher energy levels. This initiates a complex series of chemical reactions in the chloroplast that enables the energy to be stored in chemical bonds. Research Chlorophyll
Nutrition is the strategy adopted by an organism to obtain the chemicals it needs to live, grow, and reproduce. The term is also applied to the science of food, and its effect on human and animal life, health, and disease.
Nutrition involves the study of the basic nutrients required to sustain life, their bio-availability in foods and overall diet, and the effects upon them of cooking and storage. It is also concerned with dietary deficiency diseases. There are six classes of nutrients: water, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Water is involved in nearly every body process. Animals and humans will succumb to water deprivation sooner than to starvation. Carbohydrates are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The major groups are starches, sugars, and cellulose and related material (or ' roughage'). The prime function of the carbohydrates is to provide energy for the body; they also serve as efficient sources of glucose, which the body requires for brain functioning, utilisation of foods, maintenance of body temperature. Roughage includes the stiff structural materials of vegetables, fruits, and cereal products. Proteins are made up of smaller units, amino acids. The primary function of dietary protein is to provide the amino acids
required for growth and maintenance of body tissues. Both vegetable and animal foods are protein sources. Fats serve as concentrated sources of energy, and protect vital organs such as the kidneys and skeleton. Saturated fats derive primarily from animal sources; unsaturated fats from vegetable sources such as nuts and seeds. Vitamins are essential for normal growth, and are either fat-soluble or water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins include A, essential to the maintenance of mucous membranes, particularly the conjunctiva of the eyes; D, important to the absorption of calcium; E, an antioxidant; and K, which aids blood clotting. Water-soluble vitamins are the B complex, essential to metabolic reactions, and C, for maintaining connective tissue and cell functioning. Minerals are vital to normal development; calcium and iron are particularly important as they are required in relatively large amounts. Minerals required by the body in trace amounts include chromium, copper, fluoride, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sodium, and zinc. Research Nutrition
Bones (or osseous material) serve a number of diverse purposes in the human anatomy. In addition to providing structure, protection, and support for the organs of the body, bones also house marrow, which produces blood cells. Within the bones are also stored the calcium deposits which the body may access, via resorption, when needed. Additionally, bones detoxify the system, by removing heavy metals, such as lead and arsenic, as well as other toxins, from the bloodstream. Osseous tissue itself is made of water (about 1/4 of the bone weight), organic material (about 1/3 of the bone weight, most of which is the protein, ossein) and inorganic minerals (calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium predominate, though iron, sodium, potassium, chlorine, and fluorine are also present in small amounts). Most bones (with the exception of those of the skull) are initially pre-formed in cartilage and are then ossified as the newborn develops.
Two basic classification methods exist to categorize the bones of the body. These two classification systems are based upon anatomical location (axial or appendicular), and shape (long, short, flat, and irregular). Axial bones are the eighty bones which lie along the central, vertical axis of the body and support and protect the head and torso and include the skull and the spinal column.
Appendicular bones include the one hundred twenty-six bones which comprise the appendages, including the shoulders and hips, arms and legs, hands and feet, and fingers and toes. The shape classifications include long bones (such as the radius, humerus, and femur), the short bones (such as the carpals, tarsals, and manual and pedal phalanges), flat bones (such as the sternum, cranium bones, and scapulae), and irregular
bones (such as the vertebrae). Research Bone
Choline magnesium trisalicylate is a drug used to treat arthritis; mild-to-moderate pain and fever. It has the possible side effects of: ringing in the ears and hearing loss, nausea, vomiting, gastric distress, hidden bleeding, rash, hypersensitivity manifested by shock and/or asthma. Research Choline Magnesium Trisalicylate
Magnesium Trisilicate is a fine, white, odourless, tasteless powder used in industry as an odour absorber and as a decolouriser. It is used in medicine as an antacid. Research Magnesium Trisilicate
An acid is a chemical compound that reacts with metals to form salts by releasing hydrogen.
Their general properties are sour taste, the power of changing vegetable blues into reds, of evolving hydrogen in presence of magnesium, of decomposing chalk with effervescence, and of being in various degrees neutralized by alkalis. An acid has been defined as a compound of hydrogen, the whole or a part of which is replaceable by a metal when this is presented in the form of a hydroxide; being monobasic, dibasic, or tribasic, according to the number of replaceable hydrogen atoms in a molecule. Some acids also contain oxygen and these are called oxy-acids. Varying amounts of oxygen in an acid are reflected in its name ending -ous or -ic, and the salts formed from such acids are similarly named ending in -ite and -ate. Research Acid
Bittern is the syrupy residue from evaporated sea-water after the common salt has been taken out of it. It is used in the preparation of Epsom salts (sulphate of magnesia), of Glauber's salt (sulphate of soda), and contains also chloride of magnesium, iodine, and bromine. Research Bittern
In chemistry, the term calcigenous describes substances which exhibit a tendency to form, or to become, a calx or earth-like substance on being oxidized or burnt. Such as magnesium and calcium for example. Research Calcigenous
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Chlorophyll
