Tips to avoid coughs and colds

Everyone still seems to be coming down with a cough, cold or even the flu. But you can avoid the snuffles, by putting our Top 10 tips into action
1.Think green.

Dark green leafy vegetables, like kale, greens and spinach, Vitamin C and E all help your body fight infections and boost your immune system.
- Find lots of tasty recipes with spinach and kale
2. Don't be a sinner.

Smoking and drinking may be enjoyable for many of us, but they won't help you fight off an infection. Smoking means you're more likely to get a sore throat, while wine and beer will attack your liver and it will take longer for any germs to leave the body.
- Find tips on how to stop smoking
3. Chill out.

Stress is a huge factor in staying healthy, so if you can cut out the things that get you all knotted up, then you're less likely to catch a cold.
- More information on stress and how to beat it
4. Go for a curry.

Turmeric and ginger are both common ingredients in curries and research has shown that they can help to boost your immune system and protect against infections.
- Try one of our great curry recipes
5. Make a fruit cocktail.

If eating lots of fruit sounds like hard work, why not rustle up a fruit juice. Oranges, limes, strawberries, blackberries and apples are all packed with immune-boosting nutrients and can really help fight off sniffles.

6. Have a wash.

We're not saying you smell! Washing your hands is one of the best and easiest ways of stopping viruses getting to you.
- Get expert advice about hand washing
7. Get up and out.

We're not suggesting that you start training for the London Marathon, but getting regular exercise, even if it's a 20-minute walk to the shops, will help. Working your body increases its natural defences and reduces the chances of getting ill.
- More easy exercise tips on goodtoknow.co.uk
8. Think like the French.

Garlic can be a real turn-off to some people, but it is one of the most powerful anti-bacterial and anti-viral nutrients around. If you find the taste too strong, you can always take it in tablet form.
- More recipes and tips for garlic
9. Get some sleep.

While you're under the duvet and your brain is having a rest, your body is using the time to recharge and fight off any infections.
- More information on insomnia and tips for a good night's sleep
10. Watch a funny movie.

It has been proved that laughter raises the levels of immune-boosting hormones in the blood, that help to fight infections. Laughter really is the best medicine.
- Talk about what makes you laugh with others

Pomegranate juice against prostate cancer

U.S. researchers reported that pomegranate juice - which was notorious as a health drink - has the effect of anti-prostate cancer, according to research conducted on laboratory mice.

The researchers said in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said the prostate tumors in mice that were transferred to human cancer prostate tumors shrank after drinking pomegranate juice.

The researchers stressed that this drink dark red rich in antioxidants are chemicals that give fruits and vegetables their deep colors and play against the chemicals that damage cells, leading to cancer and other diseases.

A professor of dermatology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Dr. Hasan Mukhtar - who led the research team said in a statement released on Tuesday - that's reason enough for being tested on humans this fruit to treat cancer and prevention.

However, the difference is still significant between the treatment of mice infected with human cancer and the transition to treat the same rights but other studies have shown that pomegranate juice and other foods rich in antioxidants may help fight tumors.

It is known that prostate cancer is the second biggest killer of men after lung cancer. According to the American Cancer Society is expected to kill this type of cancer, 30 thousand people this year.

The Assembly also expects that the disease is detected at 230 thousand Americans this year, most likely not to choose the control treatment but slow growth of the cancer concern.

White Bread: Why Is It Bad For You?

White Bread: Why Is It Bad For You?

This one item that has long been a constant at every body's breakfast tables, has earned quite a bad reputation over recent years.
We keep being told that white bread is bad for us, for your health; why exactly is this? What is it about white bread that is so bad for you?


Here are three of those reasons which will make you think again about the bread you choose to buy.

Refined flour

The process of refining wheat flour strips it of many of the nutrients and health giving properties that wheat naturally has.

The wheat germ and bran, which are the most nutritious part of the wheat grain, includes vitamins and minerals and these are removed when making refined flour. All that remains is starch and small quantity of protein.

This protein is not a good quality protein. The starch is converted into sugar and is stored in the body as fat. Refined flour provides what are sometimes known as empty calories, or calories without the goodness or nutritional value of wholesome food.

Low Fiber

Fiber is an essential for the healthy functioning of the human body and for the efficient working of the digestive system. In milling of refined flour, the fiber of the wheat grain is removed and what is left is not healthy.

Lack of sufficient fiber in the body also makes it difficult for the colon to evacuate the bowels of waste matter effectively, which can lead to irritable bowel syndrome and even cancer of the colon.


Digestive rates and the efficiency with which the food is digested slows down. There are also greater amounts of fat deposits and this increases how negatively eating white bread can impact health.

Bleaching

Have you ever wondered why that loaf of white bread is so white when the grain that it comes from is brown? Well the fact is that the flour that is used to make the bread is routinely bleached using chemicals, which results in the white color.

There are several potentially harmful bleaching agents used for this and among them is chloride oxide, which, when combined with whatever proteins are still left in the flour, produces alloxan. This is a poison and has been used to produce diabetes in laboratory animals. Chlorine oxide destroys the vital wheat germ oil which is another nutritive element destroyed.

For someone who has eaten white bread all their lives, the switch to whole grain bread (as against brown bread, which may simply have some caramel added for the color) may be a bit difficult, however you can soon get used to the change, and can also start to appreciate a healthier and tastier meal option.

Importance of Vitamin C

Importance of Vitamin C



Vitamin C is really important to your family health if you want to boost your immune system especially now that Influenza A (H1N1) is threatening everybody’s health, better eat vitamin C-rich foods everyday. Vitamin C reduces blood pressure, has the ability to reduce the severity of colds and could protect you against cataract and certain cancers too.
Red and green bell peppers, strawberries, citrus fruits, raw tomatoes, cantaloupe and broccoli are food that are rich in vitamin C. Garlic contains vitamin C too. On a book about health benefit of garlic, a professor of School Tropical Medicine from Calcutta, India revealed that vitamin C act like insulin in the body, it helps metabolize carbohydrates. Not only that, several researchers showed that vitamin C serves as great therapeutic measure in case of ulcers. Wow… what a revelation, right?

Eat only the unpolished whole grain rice that takes 40-45 min to cook

There are a lot of different types of rices out there and it can be hard to choose which one to eat if you wanna be healthy.In general, the longer the cooking time is for rice, the more nutrition the rice contains because the more of the actual rice still exists. White rice - compared to whole grain rice - has its husk, bran and germ (the "heart" of the seed) removed which all contains good nutrition among omegas, protein, vitamins and minerals.It's not very common for smaller food stores to have unpolished whole grain rice, but health food stores usually have. Go there to find the rice that takes 40-45 minutes to cook.

Soak dried beans over the night instead of cooking canned beans

Here's something I started doing recently. A few times of the week I soak dried beans over the night and cook them the day after. I like to experiment and try new things; so far I've tried kidney beans, aduki beans and mung beans (picture). (And yes, they are all tasty!)The back of the boxes usually say some specific amount of hours the beans should be soaked (usually between 6-10 hours), though I do it over the night so I don't have to count the hours.The reason you should eat dried (organic) beans that you soak yourself instead of canned beans is because there usually is an unnecessary color preservative added, and a thick, salty liquid that the beans swims in...Always try to go as natural as possible when cooking food.I have to admit that it was hard in the beginning to soak all these dried beans the night before because I wasn't used to do it. At times I even forgot to do it, even if I planned it in advance.Like I've mentioned in a lot of health tips on this blog before - I think it's all about making "healthy" a habit. It will be hard in the beginning, yes, but after time, it will get easier and after a while it will come naturally for you.

Buy frozen vegetables instead of fresh vegetables for more nutrition

Yes, this might sound weird.How can frozen vegetables contain more nutrition than fresh vegetables?The answer applies to the vegetables that you buy that has been imported from abroad...It usually takes 2-3 days from the time that the vegetable is still growing in the soil to when it actually hits the store. In order for the vegetable to not grow old during this time, they harvest it 2-3 days before it's 100% ripe. The vegetable ripen during the transportation, however, since the plant is litterally "in the dark", it doesn't get the final benefits from the sun that allows more nutrition to develop.

When it comes to frozen vegetables, they get harvested when they are 100% ripe and are therefore more nutritious when you buy those over fresh ones.But keep in mind that this usually isn't the case when you buy vegetables that has been grown locally, or vegetables that has been added with preservatives or additives.The organic vegetables - frozen or fresh - are always the better option (like broccoli!).And yes, this goes for fruits and berries too...

Boil your food instead of fry it to be healthier

If you have a choice of boiling the food you're gonna cook or to fry it, go for boiling it.Now I'm not talking about fries or hambugers (which doesn't taste very good boiled!) but instead of fish filets and chicken filets (and likes). Frying food always changes the molecules in food to the worse - just like microwave owens does - even if you fry it lightly or heavily. Nutrition gets lost, or the food becomes unnatural (as to what it was "designed"). I always boil my organic chicken filets (20-25 minutes) that I'm eating and they can be quite tasty when the right herbs and spices are used. Boiled chicken filets are also perfect for salads!

Buy organic salmon because...

...organic salmon doesn't contain chemical coloring agents that makes them look more reddish and "tastier".
Enough said!

Clear your kitchen cabinets of outdated food to prevent accidental sickness

My brother gave me the mission to clean and clear up his kitchen cabinets today.And what was the results ??I found that almost 40% of the food he had in his cabinets were outdated - ready to be tossed away months ago.Even most of his herbs and spices were outdated!After I was done I decided to go back to my place and do the same, and I got the result of having 5% of outdated food. A number that should be zero.

Eating outdated food can cause serious illnesses, as everyone knows. You should never eat outdated food. Never.I was really surprised by the results of my cleaning and I am guessing that more people than me and my brother has bad food stored up that they are not even aware of.I hope to make you aware of this so you won't accidentally eat any bad food and get sick...

Eat oranges as fast as you can to get rid of your cold

Today I woke up with cold symptoms. I feel it in my throat and nose that I'm about to get sick. Last time this happened was about half a year ago.I remember how I got "cured" after just 24 hours.I bought a bunch of oranges and clementines that I ate throughout the whole day.And that was it!I was very surprised that I felt 100% well and healthy the day after, leaving me zero cold symptoms.Everyone knows oranges contains Vitamin C which is good for you when you are sick, but maybe the trick is to eat more than "a few" whenever you feel you're getting a cold and to eat them right away. It worked for me! And I'm hoping today's cold will be fixed very quick too.Time will tell!

Open your windows for a couple of minutes before going to bed for better sleep

This is widely known and a helpful tip if you have troubles falling asleep or have insomnia.Before you are going to bed, just open your bedroom windows for 5-10 minutes to let in fresh and cool air. The usual room temperature of a room is around 24 Celsius/75.2 Fahrenheit degrees which is a little too warm for the body when you're about to go to bed.The perfect room temperature when falling asleep is 18 Celsius/64.4 Fahrenheit degrees which is achievable if you open your windows.I wouldn't recommend having your windows open all night though, as for me I always wake up in the middle of the night because it's too cold...

Place your apples and tomatoes far from each other in the fridge for freshness

Quick tip.Apples gives out a scent, a gas, that shortens the freshness of tomatoes. So in order to keep the tomatoes fresh the longest possible - keep these two fruits and vegetables far apart in the fridge, preferably having the tomatoes in plastic bags or likely.

Hard to breathe through your nose at night is a sign of unhealthy eating

Every now and then - do you have a hard time to breathe through your nose at night? Feeling that it is stuffed but you can not do anything about it?Besides the possibility of having an allergy, it probably means that you eat more unhealthy food than you actually think.One of the side-effects of bad food is that it makes the body produce more slime and this is what can be clogged up your nose those nights it's hard for you to breathe.What's good or bad food can be discussed, but even a thing like cheese can increase the produce of slime.There is a solution though. You can use a nasal cleanser which you fill up with salty water and rinse your nose with. It's actually the sinus, which is situated at the bottom of your forehead, the water "cleanse" and not your nose.In my opinion this should just be a temporarily solution. A nasal cleanser gets rids of the symptons - but it doesn't cure the cause of the problem. Which in your case might be unhealthy eating, an allergy, or something else.

Do as I do, see the hard-to-breathe-nights as punishments from your own body. That it is telling you to be more aware of your health!

Buy a plant to prevent illness

The indoor air can be up to 10-15 times more polluted than outdoor air.Why?Because of paint, wallpaper, furniture, carpets...well, almost anything. A plant can clean this air significantly, thus resulting in an overall better health.Studies shows that people recover faster from sickness if they have plants in their surroundings, and that people who has plants at their desks at work feel better while working than others.The more plants - the cleaner the air.

Mashed potatoes with coconut oil

When you normally do mashed potatoes you add some fat to it, like butter.I tried adding coconut oil instead of butter and voilá - the mashed potatoes turned out delicious!I used some garlic pepper aswell, but I really didn't need it. The flavor of the coconut made it taste so exotic. And since this was the only ingredient I added - this type of mashed potatoes is much healthier than regular ones.

Drinking water

Drinking water

Drinking water or other beverage should be done between meals, and not during them. Having liquid in your stomach at the same time as you have food makes it harder for the stomach to digest the food and can cause problems such as gas and/or other stomach troubles.

30 minutes before a meal and two hours after one is what's most optimal. If your stomach is empty and you drink water, it passes through after half an hour. For food it takes two hours.

I stopped drinking water during meals last year. I did it to see if I felt any difference, and I did. Got a "better"overall stomach feeling.The first weeks or so was hard to not drink because you're used to do it, but now I'm used to not drink during meals.It's all about changing ones habits.

Add some apple flavor to your boring water

Think drinking water is boring?Then make it different!It's easy. Just add some slices of apple in a pitcher full of water.Yes... Slices... in a pitcher...

Tips for health

What's healthier than water?But do you drink it as often as you should?You should drink water throughout the whole day. If you can afford, choose bottled mineral water without carbonate over tap water. But keep in mind that tap water is better than mineral water with carbonate as carbonate can thicken arteries, not to mention making your overall pH level in your body sour.A tip would be that the first thing you do in the morning is to drink half a glass of water. This helps the stomach to get started for breakfast.I recently read "The Hidden Messages in Water" by Masaru Emoto. It mixes science with belief and in it are photographs of water chrystals exposed to different type of things. It turns out that water chrystals that are exposed to positive words such as Love and Thank You are formed beautifully, while water that was exposed to negative words such as Idiot made the chrystals deformed or not formed at all.
The water chrystal to the right in the first picture was exposed to Beethoven. The one below it to heavy metal music.