Allergy Prone? Easy On The Booze!

If you suffer from allergies, or it they run in the family, you might want to cut back on alcohol.


Asthma

Scientists at Spain's University of Santiago de Compostela have reported a link between even moderate alcohol consumption and the igE antibodies found in high levels in the blood of people prone to develop allergic illnesses, such as hay fever, asthma or eczema.

Healthy Honey

Honey may be even more beneficial than you think. In a recent study at the University of California, Davis, when researchers fed 25 people four or more tablespoons of buckwheat honey each day for 29 days, blood samples showed increased levels of compounds that help protect against cancer and heart disease.But you don't need that much honey to get a benefit, and buckwheat isn't the only variety to try.

In general, the darker the honey, the more antioxidants it has. Look for avocado and wild flower varieties.

Recipe Lime and Honey Dip:
1 package (225g) Neufchatel cream cheese, at room temperature1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt2 tbs.honey2 tbs. low-fat (1% fat) milk1 tbs. lime juice1 tsp. vanilla1/8 tsp. ground mace or nutmeg1/4 tsp. grated lime rindIn a small bowl, with an electric mixer on high, beat Neufchatel cheese, yogurt, honey milk, lime juice, vanilla and mace until creamy. Stir in the lime rind. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour (will keep for two days).
Serve with an assortment of fresh fruits. Make about 1 1/2 cups.

Enjoy the recipe.Per 1 tbs. serving : 0.158 kilojoules, 3 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 3 g carbohydrates.

8 Questions to Ask Before Joining Gym

1. Will i have an induction? This will ensure you know how to use the equipment safely and can make the most of the club.
   
2. What activities are on offer? If a treadmill is your idea of hell, you might fare better with aerobics classes. If you're competitive, see if there's a league table for squash or tennis.
   
3. What facilities are there? A sauna or creche might make all the difference.
   
4. When can i use them? Check the club's timetable works with yours. If you'll only visit during the daytime, ask about off-peak deals.
   
5. Does memberships let me use other clubs? Handy for travel.
   
6. Can i try before i buy? Many clubs offer a free trial day or short trial memberships.
   
7. Are there extra costs? Dose the fee cover the spa, lockers or towels?
   
8. What am i signing up to? How long is the commitment and notice period for cancellation?
   

Fitness Industry AssociationSource: Department of Food Science, University of lllinois.Women are more likely than men to eat food that has fallen on the floor.

Dress Dwon, Slim Dwon

To Burn kilojoules at work, take the stairs, not the lift, or hang up the phone and walk to your colleague's office.

Great advice, but when you're in an uncomfortable suit and tie or toe-crunching high heels, taking even one extra step can feel like climbing Everest. Dress less restrictively and you're more likely to move, according to a study at the University of Wisconsin.

They gave 53 people who work in banks, nursing homes, schools and bookshops a pedometer to track their activity. When the workers wore jeans or khakis, cotton shirts and comfortable shoes, they took about 500 more steps and burned more kilojoules than on dressier days.

Start Good New Habits

4 smart ways to simplify the family schedule to make room for healthy habits.How is it possible to eat dinner together and exercise more when both parents work and kids are overscheduled? It can be done, says William Doherty, co-author of Putting Family First.Schedule it.

Make time for meals together just like you do for soccer practice or dentist appointments. Plan meals in advance, shop for groceries on weekends and freeze what you can.Make it fun. Benefits from a family meal don't happen just by sitting and eating together; it's what you do with that time.

First, turn off the TV and talk to one another. But avoid stressful subjects like report cards or work, or power struggles over food. Keep conversation light.Go out and play.Remember that swing set in the backyard, the basketball hoop at the end of the driveway, the bikes in the garage? Even 15 minutes of fun together burns calories, reduces stress and promotes family bonding.

Take a break.Limit passive computer and TV time. Get up every 20 minutes and do some stretches, tackle a household chore or go out for a walk. It clears your mind and helps burn off lunch!-Kathryn Casey-http://www.rd.com/content/new-healthy-family-habits/

Start Good New Habits Start Good New Habits
Go out and play fun together burns calories reduces stress
Go out and play fun together burns calories reduces stress

A Little Music

Sleep can sometimes become difficult as we get older. But a joint at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio and the Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, shows that listening to gentle music at bedtime can help.

Monitoring 60 people aged 60-83 with sleep difficulties, researchers found that spending 45 minutes listening to slow, soft music lowered heart and respiratory rates, improving sleep quality by 26 per cent in the first week, and more as the study went on and the subjects mastered the relaxation technique.

A Little Music A Little Music Sleep listening gentle music at bedtime can help. Sleep listening gentle music at bedtime can help.

For Skin Like a Peach

Many Fruits Have a nourishing, revitalising and astringent action. Some vegetables fight inflammation and contain vitamin A.
Here are some recipes to try:

Cucumber cleanser
Peel, seed, puree and sieve one-quarter or a small cucumber. Stir two tablespoon of honey into two of the juice and add a tablespoon of full-fat milk. Apply to the face and neck for 20 minutes, then wash off with bottled water.
Banana anti ageing face mask
Mash a small banana and stir in two tablespoons of fresh double dream, one tablespoon of honey and one tablespoon of potato flour. Apply for 30 minutes and then rinse off.

Lemon toning mask
Beat one egg white until stiff, then fold in the juice of half a lemon, Apply to the face for 20 minutes, then wash off.

For Skin Like a Peach vitamin A
For Skin Like a Peach vitamin A
Lemon toning mask banana anti ageing face mask
Lemon toning mask banana anti ageing face mask

5 Surprising Reasons To Get More Sleep

In a less busy world we'd all grab extra shut-eye. But it could have more effect on your health than you think.

1) It could make you thinner Research in Virginia has found that the less sleep you get, the higher your body mass index tends to be.
A Bristol study may have the explanation: people who sleep five hours a night were found have 15% more gherlin (a hormone that boosts hunger) in their bodies and 15% less leptin (which suppresses it) than those sleeping eight hours.

2) It could boost your money Sleep plays a key role in making new memories stick in the brain.
A Harvard experiment showed that subjects taught complex finger movements like a piano scale recalled them much better after 12 hours' sleep than 12 hours' wakefulness. Another study showed that working into the night slowed thinking skills, both at the time and during the next day.

3) It boosts the immune system. A study of elderly people suffering depression found that those with disturbed sleep had fewer disease-fighting cells in their blood.
Moreover, melatonin, produced when you sleep, is a cancer-fighting antioxidant. Night-shift workers, whose wake/sleep rhythms are disrupted, may have up to 70 times greater risk of breast cancer.

4) It can slow down ageing Persistent sleep debt has been shown to affect carbohydrate metabolism and hormone function in a way that may increase the severity of age-related chronic disorders.
In fact, a large-scale study concluded that people who sleep 6-7 hours a night lived longer than those sleeping less than 4.5 hours.

5) It could keep you on the straight and narrow If you're a child, that is. The depression and low self-esteem often associated with just being a teenager actually correlate with sleep shortage. And young kids who sleep poorly are more than twice as likely to take to drink and drugs in adolescence.

tips tips 5 tips Surprising Reasons To Get More Sleep sleep healthtips tips 5 tips Surprising Reasons To Get More Sleep sleep healthtips tips 5 tips Surprising Reasons To Get More Sleep sleep healthtips tips 5 tips Surprising Reasons To Get More Sleep sleep health

Give Thanks Get Healthy

Being Thankful can be good for your health. Research has shown that people who write lists of things they're grateful for spend more time exercising and sleep better than those who don't.

Try it:

Keep a journal, pray or meditate. Write what you're grateful for on index cards and toss them in a blessing jar to read over when you're blue. Or put the jar on the dinner table to spread your gratitude and good health.

Give Thanks Get Healthy blog information health

Give Thanks Get Healthy blog information health
Give Thanks Get Healthy blog information health