Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Turmeric for Supple Skin


Turmeric is a staple ingredient in most Indian cuisines. It has many therapeutic effects. 

Indians have been using turmeric to beautify themselves since ages now. 

If you have an uneven skin tone and would do anything to get that perfect peaches and cream complexion, then turmeric's what you need. Turmeric evens out the skin tone by reducing the traces of pigmentation. 

Mix a little turmeric powder along with cucumber juice or lemon juice and apply on skin. Wash it off after 15 minutes. But remember to do this everyday to notice a significant change in your skin colour. 

Turmeric makes for an awesome body scrub. This is why most Indian brides used to smear a paste of turmeric and besan on their bodies before their wedding to get skin that is super smooth, baby soft and glowing. 

Application of turmeric and a little milk cream also makes the skin supple and improves its elasticity. 

Sunday, December 2, 2012

How much water should you drink in a day and why?


There are so many factors used to determine it. These can include your health, where you live, or how active you are. Knowing about your body’s fluid needs will help you get a good estimate of how much you need. We lose water from our bodies by sweating, urinating, and breathing. 

You must replenish this loss with drinking water and eating foods that are high in water content, such as melons and tomatoes. The average, healthy man should drink about 13 cups of water a day, and a healthy woman about 9 cups a day. There is an “8X8” rule: 8 glasses of 8 ounce fluid a day. 

Women who are breast-feeding or pregnant should drink more water. If you exercise, you must drink enough water to make up for the loss that you experience when you sweat and such. Living in an area that is high in humidity also causes you to sweat, meaning that you will require a higher water intake. 

Those who have been ill, including vomiting, fever, or diarrhea should also drink more fluids. We need to keep enough water in our bodies because most of our organs require water to function. This includes flushing of toxins, carrying nutrients to the cells, and giving your ears, nose, and threat tissues a moist environment. 

Low water levels lead to dehydration which an drain your energy, making you tired, or causing a headache. Keep adequately hydrated and live a great and healthy life!

Tea or Coffee


Tea and Coffee are similar, there are differences. Both are part of the same family, and are grown similarly. They both contain caffeine, but in different amounts; coffee contains more than tea when made, but when dry, tea has more caffeine. The amount of caffeine in coffee can cause us anxiety, while the caffeine in tea can help us concentrate better. 

Tea contains quercetin, which has been shown to help prevent cancer and cardiovascular problemscoffee contains none of this. Tea also has ingredients that can help with inflammatory disordersarthritis, and blood clots. 

Coffee is not all bad though; it contains ingredients to help with Parkinson’s and asthma. Both coffee and tea contain antioxidants, which are good for our bodies. In teas, these help help reduce cholesterol and lower our stress levels. In coffee, these help us regulate our blood sugar and prevent gallstones. 

Some people like both, some like neither, and some like one or the other. Both have health benefits, so either is good to have. Pick the one you prefer, and enjoy!

Benefits of Ginseng


Ginseng has been around for thousands of years, and is one herb that people have been using to help improve their health. This herb is known to help one’s body restore itself, and typically has no side effects. If you are recovering from an illness, ginseng can help. It gives us a great sense of well-being, and helps with stamina. Improvement of physical and mental performance is another area in which it can help. Some common ailments that ginseng is great for helping with include hepatitis Cerectile dysfunction and menopause symptoms. If you have high blood glucose levels or blood pressure, it is great for helping to regulate those as well. Both men and women tend to get stressed at certain times in our lives, and ginseng can help lower these levels of stress. Many people use ginseng to lower cholesterol, get more energy and/or endurance, and even prevent infections. If your age is really showing, ginseng makes a great anti-aging supplement. Some of the side effects that ginseng can create are headachesgastrointestinal, and sleep problems. Some people suffer from an allergic reaction after taking this herb. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you should not take this because of the estrogen-like effects that it produces. 

Minerals in our Water


Most of us think that water is just that: pure water. However, many times a good spring water will contain a ton of minerals and nutrients that we need to help keep us healthy and balanced. To begin with, water contains bicarbonate, which is present in all of our organs and fluids. This mineral is a buffer to help maintain the correct pH balance in your body. It also helps you to aid with digestionWater and bicarbonate tends to be enough to help with an upset stomach. Sodium, which is also known as salt, is also found in our spring water. This helps to regulate the water present in the bodySodium also helps you to generate electrical signals to your brain, and communicate with the muscles and central nervous system. Water also contains tons of calcium, which we know to be important for our bonesCalcium also helps the body to clot blood, develop muscles, and assist the central nervous system to function. Lastly, magnesium is a mineral that is vital to our bodily structure and its function. Most of this is stored in our skeletal system, and helps us to create energy. Water not only helps to keep us hydrated, especially during the summer, but also contains some of the nutrients and minerals that our bodies need. So go drink some water and start living a little healthier now.

Honey helps relieve Cough


Winter often brings sickness and colds. These in turn cause us to cough, which can be annoying, uncomfortable, and sometimes even painful, and often can prevent us from sleeping at night.Coughing serves the purpose of expelling mucus and/or irritants from the lungs. Coughing is a natural body reflex stimulated by the respiratory system

There are two types of coughing, and each is treated differently. The first type is the chest cough, which causes phlegm to loosen and expel. The second type is the dry cough, which does not produce phlegm. There are many things that we can use for these coughs, but here we will focus on honey and its effects on the dry cough. Note that honey should not be used for chest coughs as this will restrict the phlegm from releasing. However, honey is a great treatment and prevention for the dry coughHoney helps with dry coughs by coating the back of your throat, which will soothe the irritation, as well as prevent stimulation of the sensory nerves. And although this is only a temporary solution, a tablespoon of honey straight, or mixed with hot water and lemon, will at the very least help you get a night’s rest. Research has even shown that honey can be more effective than over-the-counter medications. It should be warned that one should not give honey to children under the age of 1 because of the health risks. However, if you are suffering from a dry cough and are looking for a suppressant, honey may be just the solution you need.

Drinking Green Tea helps to Improve Memory


Green tea has many benefits for the human body, including weight loss, lower cholesterol, protect against cardiovascular diseases, and is full ofantioxidants. Recently, scientists have found that green tea can also help improve your memory. The main ingredient in green tea is epigallocatechin-3 gallate, or EGCG. EGCG is an antioxidant that has been found to protect the body from degenerative diseases that often come with age. Research has found that EGCG helps neuron cells generate. EGCG also has been shown to help in the creation of neural progenitor cells. These are similar to stem cells which are known to turn into other types of cells. These cells can improve our cognitive  functions, including both short and long-term memory.  This is why green tea and its ingredients can help fight off degenerative diseases, as well as memory loss. There are many other benefits that can come from drinking green tea. Among these include a reduction in the risk of esophageal cancer; delaying Alzheimer’s symptoms; calming and relaxing those that suffer from depression; reducing wrinkles to improve your skin; lowering high blood pressure; and lastly slowing the rise of blood sugars, which is beneficial for diabeticsGreen tea has so many benefits that one would be foolish not to drink it.