Tag: health

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Lawn & Garden

6 Garden Herbs With Great Heath Benefits

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Caring for your own little garden can be a very rewarding experience. It’s fun, it’s relaxing and you can literally see the fruits of your labor grow before your eyes. What’s even better, if you choose the right plants, you can make this hobby useful as well. Some people choose to grow culinary herbs to save money and gain flavor in the kitchen. But you can also grow herbs with health benefits to keep yourself and your family in top shape in a completely natural way.

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1. Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is known for its many benefits relating to skin care. It is great to treat sunburns, cold sores and even psoriasis. All you need to do is cut open one of its fleshy leaves and topically apply the gel inside it as a soothing balm. Besides, Aloe Vera is a very easy to care plant that can be really resilient, so it’s ideal if you live in a hot and dry area.

2. Basil

Fresh basil is an easy way to instantly kick your dishes up a notch. But this herb is not only delicious, it can help you cure your stomach as well. Basil leaves can be eaten to treat stomach pain, loss of appetite and even gas. Simply add the leaves to a salad and you are good to go. You can also apply the leaves directly on top of insect bites to reduce inflammation and help them heal.

3. Coneflower

Echinacea or coneflowers are pretty little purple flowers that are closely related to daisies. But they do much more than look pretty and add color to your garden. They are believed to have anti-inflammatory properties that can soothe symptoms related to the flu, cold and other respiratory ailments. You can take advantage of its health properties by making coneflower tea.

4. Lavender

Another popular herb, lavender is known for its distinctive smell and bright purple color. Lavender looks great in any garden (and you can even grow it in a pot inside, to naturally add a touch of color to your living room. This pretty flower has relaxing properties that will help you reduce stress and anxiety and even sleep better. You can make tea out of its dried flowers or simmer them in a hot pot of water to inundate the room with its powerful and calming scent.

5. Calendula

These bright orange flowers look very similar to marigolds, but they have a bunch of health properties that make them a perfect addition to your medicinal garden. A tea made from its flowers will soothe stomach ailments and a Calendula salve applied to the skin with reduce irritation and even make hemorrhoids hurt less. Besides, this flower can even slow-down bleeding when applied topically, so it’s a good plant to have around in case of an accident.

6. Mint

No herb garden would be complete without some mint. It smells great, it can freshen your breath and it’s easy to grow. What more could you want? You can use its leaves to make tea and drink it to treat nausea. Mint leaf tea will also soothe tension headaches. Besides this herb’s powerful smell can clear your sinuses and even make it easier for you to focus or keep yourself awake.

 

Categories
Eco Eats

5 Healthy Smoothies That Are Quick And Delicious

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Thinking about shaking up your diet? C’mon, we’re all desperate now that summertime is right around the corner! And the many nights we’ve spent binge eating while watching Netflix finally caught up to us. So something needs to give! That’s why smoothies are a quick and easy way to get all the nutrients you need in one delicious glass. These recipes are perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack. They will give you an energy boost and keep you healthy while doing some real damage control to your body.

1. Spicy green tea – For a fantastic afternoon pick-me-up try this energizing spicy green tea smoothie. Brew a strong cup of green tea and chill it. Ad just a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper, three tablespoons of lemon juice, two teaspoons of agave nectar, two tablespoons of plain yogurt (fat free is better) and one small pear, with the skin, cut into pieces. Blend everything until smooth (you can add some ice cubes) and drink it cold. One cup will get you 3 grams of fiber, it will boost your metabolism and it will keep your appetite in check.

2. Banana and maple – This is the ultimate breakfast smoothie. Slice half a banana, add half a cup of low-fat yogurt (maple works best), add one tablespoon of natural maple syrup and two tablespoons of pecans and a dash of grated nutmeg. Blend it all with one quarter cup of ice until it reaches a uniform texture and enjoy. This treat will energize your morning and will provide 250 mg of potassium, 3 grams of fiber and a good chunk of proteins. Not to mention it’s sweet and delicious so it will help you start your day in a great mood.

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3. Beet, apple and ginger – This naturally sweet treat packs more nutrients than you can count. Blend one large beet, one cucumber, one apple and as much grated ginger as you like and serve cold. One glass of this brightly pink beverage is rich in potassium, iron, folic acid, vitamin C and beta carotene. Besides, it includes a good amount of fiber too help your body work regularly.

4. Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie – For those times when your sweet tooth demands a sugary treat, try this smoothie instead. Mix one cup of sliced banana, one cup of 1% chocolate low-fat milk, half a cup of vanilla low-fat frozen yogurt, 8 ounces of vanilla low-fat yogurt and two tablespoons of natural peanut butter. Blend everything together and serve very cold. This recipe yields around 3 cups, so you can either share or save some for later. It is low-cholesterol, low sodium and 201 calories per cup. It tastes just like a candy bar, but it will give you protein, calcium, potassium and fiber that you need to keep yourself healthy.

5. Vitamin punch – Combine one medium apple, two medium soft pears and half a cup of pit-less cherries. Blend until smooth and add ice if you want for a quick and healthy drink. One cup of this delicious smoothie contains vitamin A, B, C and E, to benefit your whole body. Besides, Lutein and vitamins A and C increase collagen production, which will keep your skin look younger for longer.

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Articles Eco Tips

Clean Food: Produce Free of Pesticides

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Not all of us can afford organic produce. Sure, it’s healthy, clean and a better choice over mass-farmed vegetables, but it’s also more expensive. And as much as we’d love to eat exclusively locally sourced, ethically farmed, organic produce straight from the farmers’ market, sometimes Walmart’s produce section will have to do. Luckily, we can still avoid pesticides by choosing the right ingredients.

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 The Environmental Working Group releases a report every year on the state of organic produce and food in America. The paper examines the pesticide content in more than 48 food items, both locally produced and imported. But even if the report goes well into detail, people usually just pay attention to its two master lists. The “Dirty Dozen”, that recounts the twelve more contaminated products, and the “Clean Fifteen”, with the fifteen items with less pesticides. These lists are a great guide to eat healthy on a budget. If you can’t afford to buy all your produce organic, you are better off splurging on the products that normally carry more pesticide content.

 The Dirty Dozen

 Let’s start with the vegetables you want to avoid unless you know their source. The EWG found traces of pesticides in two thirds of all produce, but who are the worst offenders? Apples. Innocent, delicious apples tested positive for agrochemicals in 99% of the samples. They were closely followed by 98% of peaches and 97% of nectarines. Samples of grapes and bell peppers showed traces of 15 different pesticides each, while potatoes had more pesticides by weight than any other vegetable. The list is completed by strawberries, celery, spinach, cherry tomatoes, imported snap peas and cucumbers.

 While not in the traditional dirty dozen list, the EWG found several leafy greens like kale and hot peppers tested positive for extremely harmful insecticides. They do not have a high enough concentration of pesticides to be on the list, but the toxicity of the chemicals pushed the EWG to recommend buying organic as well.

 The Clean Fifteen

 On the flip-side, avocados proved to be the cleanest product, showing detectable pesticides in only 1% of the samples. More clean produce includes 89% of pineapples, 88% of mango 82% of kiwi, 80% of papayas and 61% of cantaloupe, that showed no residues of agrochemicals. If you want to stock up your pantry, you should also look for sweet corn, cabbage, frozen sweet peas, asparagus, onions, grapefruit, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and eggplant.

 If you want to eat cleaner and healthier every day, your grocery shopping has to change. Try to buy your produce from different sources, which will limit your exposure to a single pesticide. Besides, if you try to buy seasonal veggies from local markets, you are guaranteed to get fresher produce with less chemicals. Once you get home, remember to always wash your fruits and veggies thoroughly and, if you are not buying organic leafy greens, it is best to cook them for consumption.

Categories
Articles Eco Eats

Use 3 Ingredients Already In Your Kitchen To Detox And Energize Your Day

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We all know the importance of a good, healthy breakfast to start the day right, but who has the time to make elaborated breakfast every day? Not me. And probably, not you either. Luckily, there’s a very easy, extremely effective recipe you can try. All you need is a blender and a few ingredients you already have in your kitchen to make the perfect breakfast smoothie.

 What you’ll need:

  • 4 Apples

  • 1 Lemon, peeled

  • 1 Tablespoon grated ginger

 Instructions:

  1. Cut the apples and the lemon into medium-small pieces
  2. Put them in a blender or a juicer with the grated ginger and mix them until you have a smooth consistency.
  3. That’s it.

 I told you it was easy. If you want, you can add a few fresh mint leaves or a spoonful of honey for a little extra flavor, but that’s up to you. You can drink one cup of this delicious smoothie over breakfast every day to improve your digestion, flush toxins, increase your energy levels and even help you with weight loss.

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 How does it work?

 The three main ingredients of this power-smoothie have been proving time and time again to provide a lot of health benefits when consumed regularly. Lemons, for example, is a natural antiseptic that can be used to treat throat infections and respiratory disorders. It has also been linked to a lower blood pressure and a better blood vessel function, and it is thought to even help with weight loss. But that’s not all, because lemon, like all citric fruits, is filled to the brim with delicious Vitamin C. This means that lemon will help you boost your immune system like no other. And on top of all this, lemon is deliciously refreshing, not a bad way to start the day, huh?

 An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as my grandma used to say. Apples are delicious and provide natural sweetness to this drink, but that’s not all they do. They are easy to digest, high in fiber and low on calories, which makes them great if you are trying to lose weight or decrease the bad cholesterol in your bloodstream. Besides, they are packed with antioxidants, which will really improve your cardiovascular health and reduce risk of stroke and respiratory diseases. If that’s not good enough for you, apples are linked to reduced risk of cancer. How do you like them apples?

 Finally, ginger is widely known to soothe digestive problems. It’s not a coincidence that your mom made you drink Ginger Ale whenever you had an upset stomach. This delicious root reduces nausea, dizziness and regulates your digestive tract. But that’s not all, because there is some research that shows taking ginger regularly can reduce joint pain caused by arthritis and improve mobility. On the other hand, there are some studies that link regular ginger consumption with reduced menstrual pains for more than 60% of women, that’s about the same as ibuprofen, but completely natural.

 So there you have it. A three-ingredient smoothie that can supercharge you for the rest of the day and keep you healthy in the long run.