Tuesday 30 July 2013

Cucumber 'Cleanses and Beautifies The Skin'

Eating a cucumber is like drinking a glass of water. Fresh cucumbers are available throughout the season and can be eaten raw as is or in vegetable salads or juicing.

It is one of the very low calorie vegetables; provide just 15 calories per 100 g. It contains no saturated fats or cholesterol.

Cucumber peel is a good source of dietary fiber that helps digestive problems like heartburn, acidity, gastritis and even ulcers can be cured by the daily consumption of fresh cucumber juice. These benefits of cucumber are availed due to its Dietary fibers which drive away the toxins from the digestive system and hence promote the digestive process. Daily consumption of cucumbers can be regarded as a remedy for constipation.

It is a very good source of potassium,  a heart friendly electrolyte helps bring a reduction in total blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium.


Cucumbers contains unique anti-oxidants in moderate ratios such as ß-carotene and α-carotene, vitamin-C, vitamin-A, zea-xanthin and lutein. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes.


They surprisingly have a high amount of vitamin K.  Vitamin-K has been found to have a potential role in bone strength by promoting osteotrophic (bone mass building) activity. It also has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain.


Keeps you hydrated,  If you are too busy to drink enough water, munch on the cool cucumber, which is 96 percent water. It will cheerfully compensate!


Fights heat, both inside and out. Apply cucumber on your skin, and you get relief from sunburn.

All that water in cucumber acts as a virtual broom, sweeping waste products out of your system, flushes out toxins. With regular use, cucumber is known to dissolve kidney stones. Keeps kidneys in shape. Cucumber lowers uric acid levels in your system, keeping the kidneys happy.

Lavishes you with vitamins. A, B and C, which boost immunity, give you energy, and keep you radiant. Give it more power by juicing cucumber with carrot and spinach.

Supplies skin-friendly minerals: magnesium, potassium, silicon. That’s why cucumber-based treatments abound in spas.

Aids in weight loss. Enjoy cucumbers in your salads and soups.

Revives the eyes. Placing chilled slices of cucumber on the eyes is a clichéd beauty visual, but it really helps reduce under-eye bags and puffiness.

Refreshes the mouth. Cucumber juice refreshes and heals diseased gums, leaving your mouth smelling good.

Smooths hair and nails. Silica, the wonder mineral in cucumber makes your hair and nails stronger and shinier.

Good for diabetics. Patients of diabetes can enjoy cucumber while also reaping its health benefits: cucumber contains a hormone needed by the cells of the pancreas for producing insulin.

Reduces cholesterol. A compound called sterols in cucumber helps reduce bad cholesterol.


It turns out many of the benefits of cucumber. Let's always keep in the kitchen and then reap the benefits every day.

Monday 29 July 2013

Cabbage 'An Excellent Food to Prevent Cancer'

 Cabbage is a healthy and inexpensive vegetable choice. It also tastes great and can be used in many different ways. You can enjoy the spicy taste and crunchy texture of raw cabbage or the sweetness of cooked cabbage. If cooked, it is best to do so just slightly. Prolonged cooking destroys most of the nutrients. When eaten raw, it delivers plenty of nutrients into the body. It can be used in raw form in various salad mixes.

Vitamins in the vegetable are C, E, A, B1, B2, B6, K and folic acid. Mineral content includes calcium, sulfur, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium. It also contains trace amounts of iron, copper, manganese, selenium and zinc. It has several beneficial effects when integrated in the diet.

Cabbage is widely regarded as an excellent food to help prevent cancer. It has been established that fresh cabbage juice has beneficial effects in the treatment of various cancers. When taken daily, it helps to treat colon, stomach, lung, breast and ovarian cancers.  Cabbage has a compound called sulforaphane that protects cells from carcinogenic attacks. It has also been proven to be an effective treatment for ulcers within the digestive tract.

Due to the presence of high water contents, it is very low in fat, calories and rich source of dietary fiber, so it is the best food for weight loss and health conscious people. It also stimulates the digestive system and prevent constipation.


Cabbage is rich in various phytonutrients, which helps support the immune system. They reduce the harmful activities of free radicals and toxins.

The presence of potassium helps to control heart beat rate and blood pressure and iron is necessary for the formation of red blood cells. It also contains manganese, which is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase.

Cabbage is widely recognized as a rich source of antioxidants. It is  rich in vitamin C, which has anti-oxidation properties. Antioxidants enhance the body’s capacity to fight infections and diseases and capture free radicals that can be harmful to healthy cells.                                                              

Cabbage has many other health benefits like to treat acne, eczema or psoriasis, mastitis, reduce the risk of gestational diabetes, helps in detoxification of the body, treatment of fungus infection and gastritis, rheumatism, gout, renal calculi, useful in headache, asthma, bronchitis and prevention of anemia.
 
Tips for cooking
  • Remove outer leaves and rinse cabbage well.
  • To keep cabbage fresh, don’t cut it until just before you use it. 
  • To shred cabbage, cut the head into four quarters and cut out the hard stalk in the middle. Cut each quarter into fine shreds.
  • You can  shred, pickle, bake, steam, stir-fry or boil cabbage 
So start eating cabbage to get all these amazing above said health benefits



Tuesday 23 July 2013

BEAUTY AND DIET ‘WITHIN AND OUTSIDE’



The best way to glow is from within – and that means eating right. So think twice about filling up that beauty drawer with ever more cosmetics and spend the money on these delicious foods instead. Beauty has a lot to do with your diet.
Here’s what to add to your diet to improve the health of your skin

Eat your vegetables! Think of interesting ways of getting your five a day, perhaps a fruit smoothie at breakfast, or eating raw vegetable sticks with dips for your snacks. Delicious and good for you. Eating any tomato-based foods such as sauce and tomato juice may help clear up acne. “Lycopene [the phytochemical that makes tomatoes red] may lower an acne-promoting hormone,” Lycopene and other carotenoids found in orange to reddish-coloured fruits and vegetables can help improve the skin’s antioxidant status

Drink plenty of water! It flushes out the toxins, and makes your skin glow. The cheapest yet most effective skincare product! If you’re thirsty, so is your skin! It’s essential to drink plenty of water (filtered or spring water) every day, but juicy fruits and vegetables (like apples, strawberries, watermelons and celery) help with your hydration needs. Eat for great skin


Get plenty of sleep! Get about 8 hours or more per night of proper, uninterupted sleep. This can be difficult if you're a shift worker or have young children

Antioxidants! These protect your skin from the damaging effects of UV radiation and may help prevent skin cancer. Foods high in antioxidants include green tea, citrus fruits,  blueberries, prunes and leafy green vegetables like kale and spinach

Selenium! This mineral is used by your body to create a protein with antioxidant properties. The absolute best source for selenium is a handful of brazil nuts. If you can’t find those, other nuts will do. Fish, turkey, whole wheat pasta and brown rice will also help, but nothing compares to nuts!

Omega-3 Fatty Acids! Omega-3′s maintain healthy cell membranes to keep your cells hydrated and free of toxins. Fish, walnut, and flax seed oil are among the best sources.

Everything you eat becomes a part of not only your inner being, but the outer fabric of your body as well. The healthier the foods are that you consume, the better your skin will look.

The reverse is true as well,  The less attention we pay to what goes in our mouth, the more problems we may see cropping up with our skin

                                                                                                              

Friday 19 July 2013

DEALING WITH STRESS




Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. For many people, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life. Just as stress can manifest itself in a number of ways, stress can be caused by a number of things. Unknown to many, stress is actually very detrimental to our health.When we are stressed, our body produces more of the stress hormone, adrenaline.
  
Although it is vital for our survival, it increases our blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar levels, and prepares us for fight, or flight. Additionally, stress causes mood swings, and anxiety, lowering our sex drive, bone mass, immunity, and overall quality of life.  It also ages us, and invites disease

Stress  can have a negative impact on your otherwise healthy lifestyle and can really impact your efforts towards weight loss

Your reasons to be stressed could be anything ranging from relationship pressure to work pressure, loneliness or self-esteem. Here's what you can do to combat stress
- how you can fight it and deal with it in a positive and relaxing way


  • Make a list – Nothing beats stress like striking things off your to-do list. Prioritize and have a separate list for your top three priorities and another one for the mundane. Once you have your priorities in place everything else re- arranges itself
  • Make an “I Did” List- To do lists can be a helpful organizational tool, but when they are pages long they can overwhelm you and cause you to worry.  Instead, make an “I Did” list and write all the things you accomplished that day or that week.  Your accomplishments is an important part of stress management.
  • Say No – This is an art, which needs to be learnt. Especially in our society, saying yes and then weaseling out of a commitment is more of a norm than an anomaly. How often have you promised david to go for that movie, promised mom to be home for dinner and promised to take your girlfriend out for dinner the same night? Learning to say no when required will ease your stress if you are pre-disposed to over-committing.
  • Be a Kid- There is an inner child that resides inside each one of us.  Joining in your children’s fun can be just the thing you need to remind you to just let loose and enjoy!
  •  Indulge - Never mind if you have neither the time nor the resources for a long vacation or the spa. It’s the small indulges that really count. It maybe a luxurious body-wash that smells divine. Those small indulgences make a world of a difference
  • Visualization Vacation- While it is unfortunately impossible to take a physical vacation every day, you can take a mental one.  Whether it is looking at photos of you on a wonderful vacation, or viewing pictures online of a place you would like to go, visualize yourself taking a break to help give yourself a daily vacation
  • Have a Laugh- Take a few minutes to look up funny videos online.  Laughter and viewing silly things can take you out of that serious, stressed state, and put you in a lighter mood!
  •  Take a walk with your loved one - Going for a long walk with your spouse or even your dog at the end of a long day is a great way to de-stress. A nice long walk outside can relax you and let you organize your thoughts. Talking, holding hands or just listening is something to look forward to. Not to mention the benefits of an activity like walking itself. Just being active reduces stress
  •  Exercise – Studies have already proved that working out can help alleviate stress .Short bursts of activity is said to have a marvelous impact on reducing inflammation and stress related diseases. Try yoga, dancing, etc
  • Meditate- Though it may seem unnatural, taking 5-10 minutes to sit in a quiet space, closing your eyes, and taking some deep breaths can make you feel like a new person.  Clearing your mind for a few minutes every day can help you focus and feel refreshed!
  •  Go easy on yourself – You can't achieve anything by worrying too much or finding faults in yourself. It’s better to accept your limits and not get bogged down by the impossible. If you are always judging yourself and beating yourself up about any shortcomings, it may be a good idea to step back and be realistic.
  • Bubble Bath- It may seem cliche, but there is something about taking a bubble bath that can make all your stress melt away.  Use soaps with luxurious scents like vanilla, lavender, and jasmine to enhance the experience.
  •  Phone a Friend- Take a few minutes to call a close friend just to say hello.  Not only will you brighten her day, it will make you happy to talk to someone outside of your realm of stress.
  • Look in a Book- Find a book that you have been wanting to read and make it a point to read one chapter a night.  Immerse yourself in the story and step into the characters shoes for a while!
  •  Mirror, Mirror- Take a look at yourself in the mirror and list all the good things in your life.  Stress can take us away from the many positives that surround us on a daily basis.  Bringing your mind back to those things you are proud of or that bring you joy can make certain stressful elements seem trivial and it can put a new perspective on your day!