Why do you need vitamins?

It is a long-held belief that you don’t need vitamins. Vitamins are supposed to be in our food. It wasn’t until the Great Depression era that we see the idea of taking vitamins. It just so happens that this is the same time that we see rapid changes in production and manufacturing of food in the United States. There are five basic ways, vitamins are produced.

1. Natural - little or no processing from vegetables, minerals or animal sources
2. Natural source - processing found vegetable mineral or animal sources, extracting vitamins from sources.
3. Nature identical - laboratory manufactured nutrients identical in molecular structure and activity and humans to natural nutrients.
4. Synthetic - inexpensive, larger isolated vitamins, laboratory manufactured.
5. Whole food - highly usable and available to the body.
   

Some people have a bad reaction to synthetic vitamins, the body does not recognize a chemically created vitamin. Even if it looks the same under a microscope has a plant-based vitamin also vitamins are not meant to be isolated. Your body sees vitamins as food there for your vitamins should be plant-based like food.

It is also suggested that you look for good manufacturing practices or GMP. Supplement providers are acquired by the DSHEA Act to regulate the quality of the vitamins and other supplements. Supplement providers that meet these standards advertise this on their logos or products. Good manufacturing practices basically mean that what is in one serving of a supplement is exactly the same as another serving from the same bottle or from a different bottle entirely. This is easy to establish when using synthetic vitamins, but whole food plant-based supplements that are the most absorbable are often harder to regulate. It’s very likely your body will notice a difference when you consume high quality nutritional supplements.

Source: http://completelyalive.com/2008/10/28/why-do-you-need-vitamins/

Natural Home Remedies for Skin Care

A natural homemade remedy is the right way for your skin because they are not just simple to make but are cost-effective as well. Some people find it hard to adapt because of the mind set created by commercial instant products but surely they should be adopted because they come with no side-effects. What you put on your skin is just as important as what you eat. The main concern for commercial products is that more often then not they contain chemicals that are absorbed by your skin finding their way into the bloodstream which can be harmful to your overall health.

Following are some of the remedies for the major issue related to skin.

Oily Skin:Mix ½ cup cooked oatmeal, 1 egg white, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, and ½ cup mashed apple into a smooth paste. Apply it to the face and leave on for 15 minutes.

Dry Skin:Alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus), available from Herbalists is used mostly as a tincture or in syrup, can be used to make a lotion for dry skin. Steep 100 grams of the fluid in 1 liter of boiling water. Allow it to cool, and then apply as a lotion or compress.

Wrinkling:Mash potatoes to a creamy texture with a little milk and mix with a few drops of glycerin and rose water. Apply this mixture to the area where skin is wrinkled. Potatoes are excellent sources of minerals, which are good for the skin.

Cleanser:Take chunks of fresh cucumber, seeded, and pureed. 1 tsp. lemon juice, 1 egg white, 1 tbsp yogurt and 2 tsp powdered milk. This paste is great for cleansing the skin as well as easing of freckles.

Burn marks and Scars: Mix 20 drops lavender essential oil,20 drops geranium essential oil 2 drops rose essential oil , and 4 ounces Aloe Vera juice Add the oils to the aloe juice in a bottle. Shake before using. Apply on the areas of the burn or scar marks.

Skin Toner:Make an herbal infusion of chamomile or lavender flowers by pouring near-boiling water over 2 to 3 tablespoons of fresh or dried flower tops. Simply add 1 ounce, or 2 tablespoons, of cider vinegar and mix well. Pour this lotion into a spray bottle or mister for easy application. Use daily after cleansing the skin.

Source: http://www.menwomenmag.com/

Little honey, lemon in hot water can help treat kids cough and cold

Wondering how to treat your kids cough and cold without using medicines? Well, a little honey and lemon in hot water will do the trick for your little one, says a leading health expert.

Parents concerned about the safety and effectiveness of over-the-counter pediatric cough and cold medicines often opt for home remedies.

A cold is caused by a virus that cannot be killed by an antibiotic, said Jacqueline Kaari, a pediatrician and chair of pediatrics at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine.

Nothing, including over-the-counter cough and cold medicines, will make it go away faster, but you can treat the symptoms, she added. Kaari suggests that making them drink honey and lemon in hot water or decaffeinated tea can effectively cure their cough.

For kids suffering from cold steam, such as shower steam, will help loosen secretions. A good nutrition and drinking plenty of liquids would also work effectively.

Use of cool mist humidifier to moisturize air passageways or throat lozenges to relieve sore throat when age appropriate, would help in faster recovery. Kaari also urges parents to keep children home from school for one to three days and for at least 24 hours after they have had a fever.

She suggested that using Tylenol, following the recommended dosage instructions could be effective for a fever.

Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sports/little-honey-lemon-in-hot-water-can-help-treat-kids-cough-and-cold_100112783.html

TIPS FOR STORING EGGS

1. To keep eggs fresh, rub them lightly with butter, glycerine or oil or apply puddled earth all over the eggs and store under mud in an air tight vessel.

2. At normal room tempertature of approx 18 deg C, eggs will stay fresh for about 10 days. In a referigerator, fresh eggs will keep for as long as 2 months.

3. Yolks can be stored for four days in a referigerator, but whites should not be kept for more than 2 - 3 days. Pour a thin layer of milk or water over the yolks to prevent them from hardening.

4. Eggs should never be stored on a rack in a referigerator, as they absorb referigerator odours through their porous shells. The eggs should be kept in cartons.

5. In the absence of referigerator, apply castor oil on the outer shell of the eggs to prevent it from rotting.

6. When the eggs stick to cartons or brown paper bags, wet the points of contact and eggs will not crack on removal.

7. Donot wash the eggs when you store them. Wash them just before use. There is a bloom on eggs that helps in keeping pdours and bacteria from entering the eggs.

8. Store eggs with broad ends. Yolks are less likely to break up if you store eggs with broad ends up.

HOW TO MAKE COOKED, FRIED, SCRAMBLED AND POACHED EGGS

1. Fried eggs won't stick or break in the pan if you add a teaspoon of flour in the hot pan before frying.

2. A little salt sprinkled in the frying pan while fran egg will also prevent the egg from sticking to the pan.

3. When poaching eggs, add a few drops of vinegar or lime juice to the water and they will set quickly and perfectly. 4. When making egg scramble, warm the fat, ghee or oil sufficiently just to melt it, take the pan off the fire, pour the mixture in and cook on slow heat stiring constantly.

5. If scrambled eggs become too firm, add another raw egg or milk or cream. Blend gently with the firm egg.

6. Bread crumbs added to the scrambled eggs will improve the flavour and make larger servings possible.

7. Eggs go on getting cooked even after they are taken off the fire. Threfore, take the pan off afew moments before they are actually cooked.

TIPS FOR MAKING OMELETTES

1. If you donot succeed in making a frothy omelette, beat the whites and yolks separately and thoroughly. Add a pinch of soda bicarb to the whites and then stir in the yolks. You will get a really tasty and frothy omelette.

2. To make an omelette soft, moist and thick, add milk at the rate of 2 teaspoons for each omelette.

3. By adding a pinch of corn starch and a pinch of powedered sugar to the yolks before beating them, you would able to make a frothy omelette which will not collapse when removed from the frying pan on to a plate.

4. To get a soft and fluffy omelette, add a tablespoon of water to the egg while baeting.

5. A teaspoon of flour added for each egg would make a bigger and fluffier omelette. This will also ensure that the egg maintains its shape.

6. If you use a wet bowl or vessel to beat an egg, the yolk won't stick to the sides.

7. If you add a pinch of salt when beating the whites of eggs, it would froth up quickly. 8. Use a wooden spoon to stir egg recipes. the eggs will not turn greenish grey.

WRINKLES ON SKIN

CAUSES

1. Wrinkles are a part and parcel of ageing process.

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2. However, premature ageing can be avoided.

3. Smoking, pollution, exposure to sun, stress, drug use, lack of vitamin E and rapid loss of weight are few causes associated with the premature ageing.

HOME REMEDIES

Whenever a pack is applied, you should not talk or smile.

1. To remove wrinkles, mix 1 tablespoon of honey & one-fourth teaspoonful of carrot juice and spread over the entire neck and face. Wait for 15 to 20 minutes. Use cotton and warm water added with little bit of Soda bicarbonate to remove it.

2. Rub a piece of Papaya all over your face for 10- 15 minutes. You can also apply paste of papaya on your face. Regular use of papaya is a wonderful way of removing/avoiding wrinkles.

3. Apply a mix of mashed ripe banana and juice of rose. Wash with warm water after an hour.

4. Dip cotton in white of an egg and spread it over your skin. Leave it for an hour. Remove it with cotton using ice-cold water.

5. Consume approx 4 litres of water everyday. It will ensure that your skin is always hydrated and moisturized.

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6. Use Aloe Vera cream with base as Stabilised Aloe Vera Gel. Normally creams with Aloe Vera advertisements donot contain more than 5 % Aloe Vera. Unlike other creams which form an oily layer on top of the skin, Aloe vera cream straightway peneterates the third layer of the skin, thus good moisturizer.

7. A regular good facial message improves the blood circulation and reduces wrinkles.