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

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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