Your beautiful body

You are born to love your body – that is the way we were created. Just ponder a moment what your body does each day, it is not just an ornament of beauty, it is an instrument of life! Handle it with care and let others respect it.

Always respect yourself and judge yourself as a whole person, not just as a body with defects – moles, pimples, fats, etc. Act the as if you had the perfect body. Do not let your weight or shape keep you from doing things you enjoy. Count your blessings, not your blemishes.

Pamper your body, do something that will let you enjoy your body: stretch, dance, walk, sing, take a bubble bath, get a massage, have a pedicure. Keep your head held high, be proud and confidence in yourself as a person. Wear comfortable sexy and feminine clothes that you really like and that feel good to your body - clothes that would give you feelings of power, strength, and comfort. Become the expert on your body – let your beauty and individuality shine!

Find a method of exercise that you enjoy and do it regularly. Do not exercise to lose weight or fight your body -- exercise to love your body. You must be your body's ally and advocate, not the enemy.

Let your body radiate the message, "I'm beautiful inside and out."

Remember this: "Beauty is only skin-deep."

Woman to woman

Beautiful South Africa

The health benefits of yoghurt

The benefits of yoghurt come from ‘acidophilus’ bacteria in it. These convert milk into yoghurt by forming lactic acid, which partially curdles the milk and suppresses the growth of harmful bacteria population of the gut, helping to fight off infections. Most yoghurts are sold with these bacteria still alive but, kept dormant by refrigeration, and develop a sharp, acid taste if the bacteria in them are allowed to be active. In heat-treated yoghurt, the bacteria have all been killed off, but the lactic acid has by then already been produced and the growth of harmful bacteria inhibited. However, once the carton has been opened, the yoghurt is then still subject to bacterial contamination.

Yoghurt is a source of protein, natural sugars, fat, calcium, and other minerals, as well as of B vitamins. The amount of fat it contains depends on the milk used. Yoghurts sold as low-fat are less than 2 per cent fat, compared with about 3,5 per cent fat in whole-milk yoghurt.

Make your own yoghurt

Bring 600 ml milk slowly to the boil in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Let it cool to blood heat - test by sprinkling a few drops on the inside of your wrist. It should feel neither hot nor cold.

Stir in a tablespoon of live yoghurt (from your last bought carton). Then pour the mixture into a clean shallow dish, wrap it in a linen cloth and then in a thick towel, and put it in a warm airing cupboard for six to eight hours. The yoghurt will keep for up to six days in the refrigerator. Use the last tablespoonful for the next batch.

Woman to woman

Working out at home

Finding the right place to exercise is important. If you like your environment, you are more likely to keep exercising. Some enjoy the convenience of an at-home workout, while others like the variety of equipment health clubs can offer.

The advantages of an at-home gym are many; no crowds, no queues, and no membership fees (although you will need to invest in your own equipment).

Another advantage of working out at home is that you can read, watch television, or listen to music while you condition  your body. Where is the best place to put your equipment? Right next to your home entertainment system.

Working out at home can also benefit people who enjoy seasonal sports. A rowing machine, for example, will allow you to train all year round.

Consider hiring a personal trainer who will visit you at home. Be sure to check his credentials, question hi training, and ask for references. This is important- your health is in his hands.

Easy to make salads

Woman to woman       

Dating Safety Tips for Women

Dating safety is important as crimes like date rape are growing in number. While most single women long for romance, it is important for singles to be careful about who they date, the information they give to their date and other private information they choose to share with someone they have just met. Even with online dating services, it is vital for singles to not only rely on what someone says in their personals profile but to use their common sense for ultimate dating safety.

You must not only worry about the right hair, makeup and outfit for your first date, you should also be thinking about your personal safety. Whether you meet your date in the corner shop or got to know each other via online ads and other online ways to communicate, it is important to prepare for the date with safety in mind.

Keeping a can of pepper spray or other security item in your purse before the date might be a great idea. You never know what type of person you will be meeting and being prepared can make a difference if things go sour.

Do not disclose where you live to a date, especially until you get to know him better. It is safer for you to maintain your privacy and meet in public. Therefore, for the first few dates be sure to plan public meetings and be sure your date does not follow you home afterward.

If your date move too fast or your date’s advances make you feel uncomfortable, you should firmly tell him his behaviour is bothersome. If you feel in danger, be sure to call the authorities or a friend to meet you immediately at the place of your date and refuse to go on another date with this person in the future. It is always a good idea to pre-arrange for a friend to call during the date to ensure you are safe. While it may seem rude to use your phone during the date, it is a good idea for a first date for you to have someone check in with you. Also, remember your gut instincts are usually right about people, so follow them!

Remember, there are many men out there willing to take advantage of single women. So, keep yourself safe and protected by being prepared in advance and while on your date!

Woman to Woman

Look after your breasts

Breasts are symbols of femininity and nothing is more beautiful than healthy breasts. Woman must look after the health of their breasts and what better manner than to pamper them regularly:

Self- examination of your breasts is imperative. Do it in the shower, in the bath or while applying body cream. 

When the skin is wet, the movements are smoother and it becomes easier to detect any lumps or abnormalities.

Make sure that the self-examination of the breasts coincides with your hormonal cycle. This way, you will not be fooled by changes in appearance due to fluctuations in hormones.

Make sure you know the normal consistency of your breasts to be able to recognize changes such as bumps, size, texture, thickening, pain, redness, appearance, etc. Some women experience sensitivity just before or during menstruation.

During examination, keep varying the positions (standing and lying). When the breast tissue moves, it allows us a more complete review. Press parts of the breast with the first three fingers, firmly but gently at a time.

Use these three easy movements to self-examine your breasts: the clock (movement heading towards the nipple), zigzag (top to bottom) and in a circle around the nipple. Make small circular motions along these imaginary lines.

It is also good practice to have a mammography test at least once a year and a full medical checkup on your breasts.

Alternative ways to deal with household insects

Woman to Woman

Watch out for the sugar!

Sugary drinks and foods are bad for your teeth. However, what most people tend to forget is that many other foods and beverages, such as "sticky" carbohydrates (e.g. fruit, porridge, bread, cakes) and the natural sugar and acid in fruit juices, also cause tooth decay. Sticky foods remain in the mouth for long periods and acid erodes tooth enamel.

It is important to rinse your mouth or brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste after eating – no matter what you eat. Using sugar with meals (i.e. on porridge, as jam on bread, or in tea and coffee), and not snacking on sugar between meals reduces exposure to tooth enamel and helps to prevent decay.

Quick Toasted Snacks

The health benefits of being in love

Love has many physical benefits, but it would seem that men and women who are in a relationship get many mental health benefits too. It was found that people who had been in a relationship for a few years were less likely to be depressed and attempt suicide. Other studies have found similar findings, stating that married people report lower levels of depression and distress. Apparently, married men are also half as likely to commit suicide as single men, and one third as likely as divorced men are.

The mortality rates for single males aged between 30 and 59 are two and half times higher than their non-single counterparts! Single women also face a 23 percent higher mortality rate than those who are married. Researchers suggest that this difference in longevity is because most single people have poorer health benefits, a lower income and are socially isolated. Being supported and connected to others is an essential part of keeping healthy.

It’s no coincidence that love is often depicted using a heart shape. A recent study by researchers at the University of Rochester in New York found that those in a happy relationship are three times more likely to survive heart surgery. The researchers reported that a good marriage could be as beneficial to the heart as quitting smoking, staying at a healthy weight and reducing high blood pressure. Similar findings were found by those at the University of North Carolina and a study in Human Communication Research. They both found that being in love and expressing your emotions had a positive impact on cholesterol.

Go out, get somebody to love. We as human beings are made to love!

Love Quotes

Tips for an office workout

Many people are trapped in an office from 9 to 5 every day. There is not even time to break for the official cup of tea or for the hotdog outdoor during lunch. For many it also means no change for any form of exercise. Wrong!

You can have an office workout. Here is how:

·         Change your telephone instrument with one who has a speaker function (many cell phones also have this facility). Use this function when busy with a call and use the few minutes to walk up and down in the office.

·         Do a few push-ups every hour off the edge of your desk.

·         What about some static squats, in which you hover over the seat of your chair, every 20 minutes.

·         Do some leg stretches every 30 minutes to get the blood flowing.

·         Do calf raises while standing in in the office for a few minutes.

·         Use some heavy objects of the office, for instance, a door stop or heavy duty stapler to do biceps curls, triceps extensions, and shoulder raises and presses, all while sitting in your chair.

·         Take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk instead of driving whenever possible, etc. Any bit of activity you work into your daily routine can only help.

·         If there is a gym at work, force yourself to go there during the lunch hour, even if it is only for 15 minutes.

Keep your fitness goals in mind, and even if you can only manage a few 30-minute sessions a week, keep at it.

Love and marriage

Woman

Food

South Africa

Health properties of cinnamon

Cinnamon is delicious and aromatic and is a wonderful warming and strengthening remedy to dispel cold, winter chills, and symptoms associated with cold congestion, and deficiency of vital energy. Cinnamon is also used to treat diarrhoea, rheumatism, hypertension, abdominal pains, and female problems.

A hot drink of cinnamon stimulates the circulation and causes sweating preventing or resolving flu, colds catarrh, fevers, and infections. You can inhale oil of cinnamon for head colds and chest infections. Cinnamon’s warming and stimulating properties can be given direction in the body by combining it with other remedies; with thyme, hyssop, or elecampane for bronchial congestion and infection; with angelica and blue cohosh as a uterine remedy to treat irregular and painful periods, heavy bleeding, infections, and leucorrhoea.

Cinnamon warms and stimulates the digestive system, improving digestion and calming colic, diarrhoea, nausea, wind, and distension. Its tannins stem bleeding in nosebleeds, heavy periods, and resolve catarrh. The essential oil in cinnamomum zeylanicum is one of the strongest natural antiseptics known. Its antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties prevent and treat acute infections, including cystitis, colds bronchitis, thrush and enteritis, ME, and chronic infections, such as candidiasis and tonsillitis. Eugenol in the oil acts as an anaesthetic, helping to relieve pain in arthritis, headaches, muscle pain, and toothache when applied locally.

Today, the flavour of cinnamon and the scent from it are used by many people around the world, not only to spice up food but also to enhance the quality of life.

Love and marriage

Travel

Take care of your hands

Winter can cause your skin to dry out. It is especially the hands that suffer the most.

Here is a home remedy to soothe those hands:

1. Take three tablespoons of sugar and one tablespoon of cooking oil. Mix the sugar and oil and then beat it to a blended consistency.

2. Rub it into your hands and keep rubbing it for about 5 minutes, then rinse the hands thoroughly with warm water. The dead coarse skin cells should be removed with this action, leaving your hands soft and clean.

Travel

Recipes

How To Be Attractive

If someone has not already told you this, this is a state of mind rather than how one's body looks. We have tested this hypothesis with many couples. What we found is that physical appearance had very little to do with how a woman's partner felt about her. These women were hot in their mind and it came out in how they behaved and dressed. So what you need to think about is how to change your thinking. How do you change your own attitude towards your own body? You have to look at your own body and start to love it. If you don't, then you will present a very insecure image to your partner and he will not like you either. Believe me, so many men write to us daily telling us how attractive they find women like you. But men love only those women that are confident and full of self-esteem. They are more interesting and more fun to be around. 

Here are some additional tips to feel good about your looks:

Start exercising regularly:  It will not only tone up your body, you will feel much better about yourself. You do not have to do anything special; just regular physical activity will be great for you considering that you are not overweight.   

Invest in a new wardrobe: Shop for clothes that make you look more lively and cheerful. Choose colors that go well with your skin and hair colour. Do not  forget the accessories.

Buy high-quality lingerie: Do not be too worried if it is too risqué. You will feel great when you wear it.  

Spend more time in front of the mirror: Dress up in your favourite outfits and admire your body in front of the mirror. Just because you have small front, it does not mean that you should not look at yourself in the mirror. Notice, in particular, those assets of your body that stand out, whether it is your hair, eyes, or rear.

Read: Read inspirational books to develop your self-esteem.   

Finally, smile. Smile for being a woman. 

Kid’s Jokes

Recipes

Travel

Six anti-ageing tips

Here are six tips to protect your skin against premature ageing:

1. Use sunscreen liberally.

For daily wear, choose a sunscreen with at least an SPF of 15, if you do not expect to be outdoors or it is not a sunny time of year. If it is a sunnier season, step up to at least a 30 SPF.

2. Avoid tanning, whether from the sun or tanning booths.

It is one of the biggest mistakes that younger women make, whether it is tanning indoors or outdoors, on purpose or accidentally during sports.

Damaging your skin with ultraviolet radiation will make it look worse, and too much sun can also cause skin discoloration and damage to elastin and collagen.

3. Wear sunglasses.

Not only will you protect your eyes from the sun, but also the delicate skin surrounding your eyes. Furthermore, you will not be creating more wrinkles by squinting all the time.

4. Wear hats, visors, and sun-protective clothing.

The importance of physical protection from the sun, instead of relying only on sunscreen cannot be overemphasized. Hats with a broad brim are a good choice, while visors look good with sportier or more casual outfits.

5. Don’t smoke.

Smoking harms the skin in many ways. For instance, it speeds up collagen breakdown and constricts blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to your skin.

Smokers are more likely to develop premature wrinkles, such as tell-tale lines around the mouth and crow’s feet from “smoker’s squint. In time, nails and fingertips will turn yellow, too.

6. Avoid too much alcohol.

Drinking too much alcohol dehydrates your skin. Furthermore, alcohol dilates your blood vessels. If you drink to excess, you could develop unsightly broken blood vessels and rosacea, a skin disorder marked by redness and tiny pimples.

Kid’s jokes

Recipes

Mutton pie

Travel

Recommended Main Dish for Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner. For you who have been idling too long, do not despair, here is a delicious recipe for mutton pie.

Recipe: Mutton Pie

Why exercising is good for you

Here are some random thoughts on the benefits of exercising:

1. It's good for your heart

It had been found over many years of research that exercise reduces LDL cholesterol, the kind that clogs arteries. It also reduces your blood pressure, relieving stress on your heart; improves your insulin sensitivity; improves heart muscle function; and blood flow and diminishes the chances of developing blood clots.

2. Exercise promotes weight loss

Should you exercise energetically for at least 30 minutes a day, you are bound to lose weight! You can also do an hour of intensive exercise every second day if this fits into your schedule more easily. Be consistent and be regular.

3. Exercise prevents osteoporosis

Exercise, together with a healthy calcium intake, builds strong bones. Weight-bearing exercises, like running, walking, and weight lifting, help lower your odds of getting osteoporosis as you grow older, according to experts.

4. Exercise lowers high blood pressure

Exercise is good for your blood pressure - no matter your age, weight, race, or gender. In addition, it really does not matter whether you get exercise from a brisk walk, a fast run or a few laps in the pool; the results are equally good.

5. Exercise is an excellent de-stressor

It is general knowledge: exercise counters stress and depression. However, exactly how and why does this work?

Exercise acts as a temporary diversion to daily stresses and it improves self-esteem. Increased core temperature during exercise may lead to reduced muscle tension and favourable alterations in brain neurotransmitters. Mood improvements may also occur due to the increased secretion of endogenous (internal) opiates, e.g. endorphins. Psychological changes may occur because of changes in norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, all hormones which can affect mood and anxiety levels.

6. Exercise prevents colds

Health experts believe that exercise spikes the immune system for a few hours each day, helping to ward off colds. Thirty minutes of brisk walking is enough to make you reap the benefits of exercise.

7. Exercise reduces the severity of asthma

Many people, who suffer from exercise-induced asthma, understandably try to avoid exercise. However, sports medicine specialists say it is possible for asthmatics to continue exercising if they use preventive medications wisely and avoid certain triggers that exacerbate attacks. Exercise-induced asthma can be made worse by cold, dry air or air containing high levels of pollen or pollutants. The extra effort made to stay fit pays off in fewer or milder asthma attacks overall and a need for less medication.

Experts recommend swimming as one of the best exercises for people with asthma.

8. Exercise reduces diabetic complications

Lifestyle factors have a huge impact on certain conditions – and diabetes is one of them. Exercise can help to reduce your insulin requirements, lower your cholesterol levels and high blood pressure, and in the long term can reduce the development of heart disease and stroke. This is important because diabetics have a higher risk of developing heart and circulatory problems. Exercise can also promote weight loss, improve circulation, and reduce stress levels (raising your glucose level).

9. Exercise promotes a healthy pregnancy

Although exercise might be risky in some cases, the benefits of exercising during pregnancy generally far outweigh the risks and some women can even exercise up until the third trimester. Relaxation exercises, Kegel exercise that strengthen the pelvic muscles and back exercises are all important for pregnant women.

10. Exercise has anti-ageing effects

Exercise enhances blood flow to the brain, possibly reducing risk of stroke. It also improves reasoning and memory.

Regular exercise arouses the brain and slows down degeneration of the central nervous system, which leads to slower reaction times and poorer coordination.

Exercise also increases strength and size of muscles and improves lung function. Regular exercise can reduce body fat and lower the risk of chronic lifestyle diseases in the elderly. Recent literature suggests that the greatest threat to health is not the aging process itself, but rather inactivity.

11. Exercise promotes brain health

If you thought, exercising your brain meant only doing a few crossword puzzles or learning a language, you may be wrong – rather put on your walking shoes and get moving.

It was found that the brain responses in active seniors were comparable to those of young adults.

It is thought that exercise increases the flow of blood to the brain, just as it improves circulation to the heart and the rest of the body. Activity also stimulates the growth of nerve cells in the part of the brain involved in memory.

12. Exercise is great for your sex life.

The medical research points towards it: the fitter you are, the better your sex life is.

The reason seems to be two-fold: psychologically you feel better about yourself and more inclined towards sex, and physically, being fit improves libido, blood circulation and sexual functioning.

13. Exercise improves sleeping patterns

Relaxation exercises will help you to ease tension and relieve headaches, backaches, and insomnia. Exercise releases the body's own painkillers, called endorphins, into your system. It also helps you to gain a sense of emotional wellbeing and a feeling of being more in control.

14. Exercise helps prevent stroke

Need another reason to make good on that long overdue promise to get more exercise? It can dramatically cut your risk of stroke.

Jogging 15 to 20 minutes a day most days would qualify as highly active. Brisk walks of 30 minutes a day on most days would qualify as moderate activity.

The positive effects on muscle strength and aerobic capacity could be translated into an improvement in the activities of daily living, and this is what really makes a difference in your life.

Old Age jokes

Woman

Recipes

Travel

Respect inner beauty

Many women make the mistake of choosing role models based on looks – they want to be beautiful, slim, sexy, etc. Forget this for a moment. How about choosing role models based on inner beauty.  Consider women – and there are many – who you can look up to and respect for things like integrity, morality, willpower, and determination.

Always be honest with yourself, you’d know that true beauty goes beyond a pretty face, slender body and nice clothes. Admiring someone else’s sense of ambition is also more practical and it can help shift your attention away from foolish ideals rooted in appearance.

Once you conquered inner beauty, external beauty will be a given – you will shine with self-confidence, your smile will be genuine and you will radiate a beauty out of this world.

Trust

Woman to Woman

Glorious food

Old age jokes

The Five Golden Rules of Home Safety

1. Teach everyone in your household the emergency telephone numbers and keep them next to the phone!

2. Read all package inserts, labels and instructions. Follow all instructions listed by the manufacturer.

3. Attend a first aid course and ensure that anyone who is caring for your child does the same.

4. Identify potentially unsafe objects, products and situations in and around your home and make them safe.

5. Never dismiss you child for reporting potential dangers in and around your home. Reward them for their quick thinking and get them involved in safety.

Beautiful South Africa

Make a difference

Glorious Food 4U

Freelancer

Allergies

What is an allergy? It is a major defence mounted by the body's immune system against normally harmless substances, or allergens, such as chemicals in pollen, food, bee stings, animal dander, or dust. An allergic reaction is the body's strong reaction to these substances in a person who is sensitive to them. An allergy is everything from a runny nose, itchy eyes and palate to skin rash. It aggravates the sense of smell, sight, tastes and touch causing irritation, extreme disability and sometimes fatality. It occurs when the body's immune system overreacts to normally harmless substances.

Almost anything can be an allergen for someone. Allergens contain protein, which is often regarded as a constituent of the food we eat. In fact, it is an organic compound, containing hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, which form an important part of living organisms.

The most common allergens are: pollen from trees and grasses, house dust mite, moulds, pets such as cats and dogs, insects like wasps and bees, industrial and household chemicals, medicines, and foods such as milk and eggs. Less common allergens include nuts, fruit and latex.

There are some non-protein allergens, which include drugs such as penicillin. For these to cause an allergic response they need to be bound to a protein once they are in the body.

An allergic person's immune system believes allergens to be damaging and so produces a special type of antibody (IgE) to attack the invading material. This leads other blood cells to release further chemicals (including histamine) which together cause the symptoms of an allergic reaction.

Appreciate when asthma, eczema, headaches, lethargy, loss of concentration and sensitivity to everyday foods such as cheese, fish and fruit are taken into account the full scale of allergy.

Who are prone to be a sufferer of allergy reactions? The answer is three-fold. First, your genetic background plays a major role - we know that a family history of allergies or "Atopy" is highly significant, smaller families with fewer children favour the development of allergy. Males are more likely to develop allergies than females, and prenatal maternal diet and smoking seem to play a role. Obesity also seems to be a risk factor for developing allergies.

In the second place, the home environment in the first year of life is pivotal. Parental cigarette smoking triggers allergy, Infant diet, and early introduction of allergenic foods play a role. Air Pollution has been implicated; early use of day-care institutions, early use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and birth just before the spring pollen season all seem to promote allergic sensitisation. Recent studies suggest that heavy exposure to dog and cat allergens in the home may actually prevent allergies developing in infants (they suggest having two or more pets in the home!)

Finally, modest exposure to the common aeroallergens and allergenic foods in conjunction with these other factors leads to sensitisation in early life and clinical allergy then develops. Modest early exposure seems to be the key to triggering sensitisation, as evidence now exists for very high allergen exposure during early life having a "protective" effect (for example to cats and dogs). However, minimal exposure during the first year of life is still the recommended "rule of thumb" for allergy prevention.

Beautiful South Africa

How alcohol affects women

Whether we like it or not, the simple fact is that alcohol affects men and women differently.

According to US research, alcoholism among women is on the rise across the globe. The reasons are hotly debated but it is thought that greater entry into the job market, and the stresses that it brings, greater financial independence, and greater pressure on the home front are all contributing factors. As well as anxiety, depression and loneliness in single and divorced women.

How does it affect our bodies?

Women are, on average, smaller than men are; so equivalent doses of alcohol lead to greater concentration in their bodies.

Women carry more fatty tissue than men. Body fat contains little water, so women have less water with which to dilute the alcohol.

Women have lesser amounts of the enzyme that metabolises alcohol, so more of the alcohol that women consume enters the bloodstream as pure alcohol.

When women’s oestrogen levels are high, such as when they are premenstrual, the intoxicating effects of alcohol will set in faster.

Chronic consumption of alcohol also increases the risk of breast cancer.

Moderation is the key. The secret lies in moderation rather than total abstinence (unless advised otherwise by your doctor); if you are a social drinker and suddenly go cold turkey, you are more likely to start a cycle of binge drinking. For the same reason, it is also best not to abstain for a whole week and then take the whole week's units in one sitting.

Computer Jokes

Flirt Safely

Creole Rice

Oatmeal Honey Scrubbing Cream

The Healthiest Foods to Eat

A list of the top 10 healthiest foods may seem like a come-on. Magic food? We all know there are no real magic foods. The road to optimum health is not in a pill or one magic food. But there are foods that pack such a nutritional wallop and possess such powerful health benefits, that they are referred to as "super foods".


This healthy food list consists of foods that are nutrient dense. That is, they have more nutrients per calorie than most other foods. They have also been proven to contain vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that prevent disease: from cancer to heart disease to arthritis, and many more.


These super foods are perfect for heart healthy, low fat cooking and most fit perfectly into a low carb lifestyle as well.


The 10 healthiest foods are foods that are so exceptionally good for us that we should include them in our healthy diet on a regular basis. Our list of super foods is arranged alphabetically, not in order of importance. Each is an amazing food; jam packed with health giving benefits.


The 10 Healthiest Foods to Eat


1. Berries


Berries are extremely rich in antioxidants which help protect the cells in our bodies from damage and therefore from diseases like cancer. Among other things they are also an excellent source of Vitamin C and soluble fibre. Blueberries might help reverse the short term memory loss that often comes with aging.


2. Broccoli


Broccoli (and other cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower and cabbage) helps fight cancer, especially breast, colon and lung. It boosts the immune system. Broccoli also contains antioxidants and a substance called sulforaphane, which research is showing to be a powerful cancer fighter and preventer.


3. Citrus Fruits


The citrus bioflavonoid in oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit have anti-cancer and antioxidant properties. Many of these citrus bioflavonoid have also been shown to have anti-inflammatory and blood clot inhibiting abilities.


4. Garlic


Numerous studies have shown that regular consumption of garlic can lower our blood pressure. It also prevents the blood from being overly sticky and decreases LDL cholesterol (the "bad" one) while increasing the good HDL cholesterol.


5. Nuts


Walnuts are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, a special type of fat that is essential for our bodies, but that the body cannot produce. Omega-3 essential fatty acids protect us against heart disease.


Almonds are also known for their ability to help lower LDL cholesterol levels.


6. Oats


Oats also help reduce cholesterol. Research shows that one bowl of oatmeal per day can reduce cholesterol by up to 23%. Oats are also considered an excellent grain for diabetics as they have less impact on blood sugar levels than some other grains.


7. Salmon


The Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon and other fatty fish may help prevent heart disease and stroke by lowering the body's rate of blood clotting.


8. Spinach


Spinach's secret weapon, lutein, makes it one of the best foods in the world to prevent cataracts, as well as age related macular degeneration, the leading cause of preventable blindness in the elderly.


9. Tomatoes


Tomatoes contain high levels of lycopene. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and as such helps to protect the cells in our bodies from damage.


10. Turkey


Turkey is one of the leanest protein foods and is low in calories, making it an excellent healthy food choice. Turkey also contains selenium which has been shown to inhibit cancer development, improve the immune system, and aid in the metabolism of our thyroid hormone.
You can see that the top 10 healthiest foods, or "super foods,” are also some of our favourites. 


By including these super foods in a healthy diet on a regular basis you can easily gain many health benefits.


Making healthy food choices just got easier.

By: Karen Ciancio

Short funnies

Special potato salad

Burnout alert

Feel Good About Yourself and Your Body

Feeling good about your body is the most important factor behind feeling good about yourself. If you feel good about your body, you will look good and also feel good about your mind. You will even feel good about your personality. Assume you are dressed up for a party, and looking yourself at the mirror you say – “not bad”. This means you look good and you feel like praising yourself.

Feeling good about your body doesn’t require you to be slim and thin. You need to be fit and healthy to feel good about yourself. We all are beautiful within but we are often careless about our body fitness – as a result, we become obese or overweight by following unhealthy lifestyle and eating high calorie food.

Praise yourself

Praising yourself is most important to boost your self-esteem. Always think positive, be positive about what you do, and what you wear. Always get a positive body image. It will make you capable to accept the changing lifestyles.

Exercise and fitness

Regular exercise keeps you fit, change your appearance and let you feel good about your body. Exercise also reduces your stress, promotes strength, balance, flexibility and general posture and a general sense of well being. If you have scarcity of time, schedule your fitness program beforehand and commit this with seriousness as you do your business meeting.

Don’t stop eating

Food is a glorious and beautiful part of our life and eating food is one of the wonderful activities. But don’t do anything else while you are eating, since your foods deserve your full attention. However, you should not overeat. It often happens that we overeat while watching TV and eating. So stop watching TV at the time of eating. However, you should follow a healthy and nutritious diet. Avoid junk foods.

Maintain right weight

It is unhealthy to be too thin or too fat. It is also wrong if you are eating less food to become thin or eating more than your body requirement. You should have a balanced diet - eat the amount of food your body needs. You should keep a balance between the food you eat and the calories you use. If you eat more calories than you use, you cannot maintain your weight, and will soon become overweight. For example, you are eating more but spending your time in watching TV, reading storybooks. Then there is a chance of increasing weight. But if you spend your time in playing, skating or if you go for a walk, you will use more calories and that will keep a balance between what you eat and what you use – and you can maintain your body weight.

Friendship – good for your health

Friendship makes your whole life better, as you get support and companionship from good friends. They just not make you happy but also make your life beautiful and healthy. Researches have found that friendship has importance like regular exercise. If you have good friends you will experience less stress, will recover quickly from illness, and will even live longer than people who don’t have good friends.

Funny short jokes

Crispy fishcakes

Headaches and your Bra

Magic Chamomile

There are many varieties of this well-known plant. Chamomile is valuable for skin problems, particularly where the skin is dry, itchy, or flaky. Famous for its mild bleaching properties that add golden highlights to fair hair, the herb and the essential oil are both used in beauty preparations.

BEAUTY RECIPES

To unclog the pores and treat blackheads, steam the face with an infusion of chamomile flowers for 10 minutes. Follow with a facial scrub and then moisturize. To relax and revive puffy swollen or tired eyes, lie down for 15 minutes with cold chamomile tea tags placed on each closed eye.

To add shine to fair hair, make an infusion of chamomile flowers with 1 quart (1 litre) of water. Rinse hair thoroughly after shampooing. For a relaxing bath, infuse 4 or 5 handfuls of dried chamomile flowers for 10 minutes. Strain; add to bath. 

Greener Cleaners

Benefits of Honey

The joy of giving Christmas presents

Giving Presents at Christmas is a popular tradition around the world. This is because Christmas time is about the most amazing gift that was ever given. The gift of baby Jesus who has changed the course of history and has the power to change people’s lives too.

Christmas can be an exciting time as we also give gifts in remembrance of God’s gift to us. However, for children it can become quite a selfish time if we do not teach them how to give and receive Christmas gifts.

Giving gifts is really about sending a message to the person that you love and appreciate them. It should never be about how expensive a gift is or putting in your order for what you want. Encourage your children to make a gift as this involves giving of their time as well. Talking about how to look out for people’s likes and dislikes is important too.

When making presents is not possible, encourage children to use their own money when buying. Help them earn it by doing certain jobs and planning this well in advance.

Here is a very good and interesting article on how to make aspicy barbecue sauce as a Christmas gift

It is the little things . . . .

In a true relationship, it is the little things in life that makes life worthwhile.

Do not try to impress the love in your life with big extravagant things. Sometimes we rate ourselves as inadequate if we cannot impress them with earthy things.

However, stop and smell the roses! Surprize her with some little gestures, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg, but at the end of the day it will be transferred to the chest of memories!

Let the grey stuff work overtime – here is some ideas:

·         Dry your sweetheart off  when he or she comes out of the shower.

·         Take your guy out fishing. Now that would be a surprise!

·         What about this one: The boyfriend of a specific lady wanted to have a picnic on a golf course, but after getting permission, it rained for about a week straight. Not giving up he went to her dormitory and borrowed anything green he could from her roommates. This included sheets, blankets and even comforter covers. While she was in his room watching a movie, not having a clue what he was doing, he laid out all the sheets over the floor and couches. He also tacked a blue sheet to the ceiling that he had taped stars and a moon onto it. He set plants around to make it look more "authentic" and they had the picnic of their lives.

This is what live all is about – love changes everything!

Safe cold remedies for pregnant woman

Prepare the perfect Christmas dinner for him 

Flirting at parties

Can you stop yourself from being attracted towards the opposite sex? So what is our initial step when you try to please the person that you are attracted towards? All of us like to flirt whenever we find any opportunity around us. Flirting is more than a treatment to get over from our heavy work schedules. No one can stay away from the magical trips of flirting at interesting places. Flirting is a kind of social activity which is expected and essential for existence of humanity.

This is quite interesting to note where we normally flirt. People enjoy sticking to magnetic tricks and tantrums of flirting at every place. It can be your school, college, your office and can be any other place. But most of the people enjoy flirting at parties. Flirting at parties is something inevitable, and no one can avoid it. At most common parties for Christmas, New Year and wedding ceremonies, flirting is expected. Flirting at such parties and social gatherings increases the interesting side of the party.

The most common reason for flirting at parties is that, at these parties and carnivals every one feels relieved and the mood of party lets every one to follow their heart. Every person wishes to please an attractive person of opposite sex. At parties and events our social boundaries are mostly loosened in terms of active bounds over the common activities. All parties let persons of both sexes to enjoy and share the pleasures of flirting and move outside the settled boundaries of our social structures.

It is pretty fine to flirt at parties but there are some codes of ethics even to flirt at parties too. It is good to share attraction at parties but you cannot behave the way you want. You need to go according to the cultural aspects of our society where there are certain codes of conduct even for flirting. This is because it may be possible that your act of flirting may hurt someone, or you may sometimes resort to unethical ways that can spoil every thing including your personal impression over the person. Flirting at parties is the most common idea but one has to keep in his mind the basic tips to follow to have healthy flirting. One should know where to flirt and how to flirt.

There are certain tips to be followed for flirting; one should always try to flirt at the place which is friendly and healthy for flirting. You cannot start flirting at church or at the funeral of a person because one should not forget the basic mannerism and social ethics. The most important things that help in flirting are the body language and frequent eye contacts followed by a simple greeting.

People enjoy flirting in groups which is the easiest and healthiest part of flirting at parties. One should not try to catch the person who does not seem interested in you again and again. Just follow your heart and try healthy flirting, you will be pleased by the experiences that you will have.

By Jane Saeman

Safe cold remedies for pregnant women

Simple exercises for memory improvement

Designate a place for everything. Make duplicate keys for emergencies, and have a key holder. Remember to replace the keys every time and you'll have one less area to improve your memory.

To remember to pay your bills and reply to correspondence, have a mailing sorting system where you attend to your mail as soon as possible. If you only have a few things in your 'to do' or 'action' folder, you will not need to rely on your memory to know when the electricity account is due.

Keep a diary to help you plan the minutiae of your life. Include your to-do lists for the day, week and month. Your diary can become a portable filing cabinet for phone numbers, addresses, birthdays, medical information, phone messages, inspirational thoughts, bridge-playing strategies etc. The act of writing something down reinforces it in your memory. Make sure to look at your notebook several times a day.

Understand your own style of learning. Most people are visual learners, remembering best what they see. They benefit the most from memory notebooks and signs. Others are auditory learners, remembering best what they hear. They benefit from talking out loud or using a tape recorder. A few people are kinaesthetic learners, remembering best what they experience. They will benefit most from writing things down or acting them out. Knowing your strength will help your memory run at peak efficiency. To enhance your memory, try using all three learning modes.

Whether its picture puzzles in books or simple objects in a tray, you can improve your memory by practicing remembering what you see. Ask someone to put ten different things on a try. Study it for 30 seconds before removing it and then write down what you saw. Practice until you get a 100 per cent score. If you neither have the time nor the patience for such games, pick up a magazine and look at a picture. Close the magazine and try to remember details such as how many people were in the picture? What kind of shoes was the woman wearing? Was the car blue or black?

If you are spiritually inclined, memorise favourite parts of your book of faith otherwise try more secular things such as the wives of King Henry VIII, the films starring Al Pacino or the lyrics to a song that you like.

By James Gunaseelan  

My life without liquorice 

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterised by bone loss and changes in the bone quality that could lead to loss of bone strength and fractures.

Osteoporosis is a ‘silent’ or asymptomatic disease as is often only diagnosed by means of a bone mineral density test when a person has had a fracture.

However, osteoporosis is a preventable disease. Here are some tips:

·         Make sure that you take in sufficient calcium. All young people from age 14 upwards need between 1000 and 1500 mg of calcium daily in order to build up maximum bone density. That means having between three and four cups of milk (skim milk if you tend to be overweight), yogurt or cottage cheese every day.

·         Postmenopausal women over 40 should take in about 1500 mg of elemental calcium per day. If it is difficult to make this part of your daily diet, a good calcium supplement, that contains at least 500 mg of elemental calcium per tablet, should be considered. Milk, cheese, sardines, tofu and green vegetables are all rich in calcium.

·         Men between the ages of 30 and 50 need 800 - 1000 mg of calcium daily and men over 50, 1200 mg of calcium per day.

·         Make sure that you get enough vitamin D. Generally, most people are exposed to sufficient sunlight in order to produce vitamin D. However, older people who spend a lot of time indoors often need additional vitamin D. Use a soft margarine that contains a vitamin D-supplement or take an oral vitamin D supplement – usual requirement 600 – 800 IU daily and contained in many calcium tablets.

·         Additional magnesium may be needed by diabetics, alcoholics and people who take diuretics. Nuts, seeds and grains are all rich in magnesium. Chicken, fish and red meat increase the absorption of magnesium and other minerals.

·         Lose the alcohol and the cigarettes. Reduce alcohol intake and stop smoking. Research has shown that between 20 and 25 percent of men who drink four or more units of alcohol per day, suffer some from of bone loss.

·         Exercise at least twice per week. Weight-bearing exercises such as running, and resistance training, where you have to push against your body weight or against weights, apparatus or elastic bands, are essential for building strong bone structure.

·         Exercise moderately three times a week. Walking is an excellent and easy means of exercise and provides the necessary skeletal protection and benefit. Brisk walking for 30-45 minutes three times a week is adequate. Resistance training may also enhance muscle and skeletal strength, but must be performed cautiously in the patient at high risk for osteoporosis.

Remember, although treatable, the prevention of osteoporosis is much more effective. This requires an understanding of predictive factors so that the likelihood of osteoporosis may be judged, an awareness of methods to measure bone mass, knowledge of lifestyle adaptations and drugs available to prevent further bone loss.

Do not hesitate to obtain professional medical advice.

Easy ways to reduce cholesterol