What Mint can Do to Your Body Inside Out?

Mint, known as podina locally, has several uses from being used in the kitchen to various cosmetic products to flavoring. It has remarkable medicinal properties which were discovered 100 years ago. All of us have used mint at some point in life either in our tea, chewing gum or mouth freshener. However, mint has more important benefits than just being used for flavoring and mouth fresheners commercially and domestically.

Health benefits of mint include:
Digestion

Digestion

Mint has served to be a great appetizer and used in lots of side lines with food. Using mint with food helps clean the palate (roof of the mouth) where food gets stuck. Once in the gut, it helps with digestion of the food. Green tea is also recommended in case of inflammation and indigestion. This is because aroma in mint stimulates glands of the gut to secrete enzymes that break down and start absorption of the broken food into the blood stream. In eastern world mint is used in chatnis, raita and salads.
Nausea and Head Ache

The strong aroma of mint also helps with nausea and headache. Nausea due to motion sickness, pregnancy and altitude sickness is what mint helps with. Freshly crushed mint leaves or mint flavored chewing gum are used to help with nausea and stomach ailments. Mint based balms are pharmaceutically used topically on forehead and nose for headache. It can also help in temperature rise and inflammation associated with headaches and migraines as it Is a naturally soothing substance.
Cough and Respiratory Tract Disorders
Asthma and common cold often cause respiratory congestion. Aroma of mint helps clear congestion due to its cooling and soothing effects. It also gives relief from irritation which causes chronic coughing. Aerosol inhalers are said to be less potent for asthma, as well as less environmental friendly than mint based inhalers.
Lactation

Lactating females often face problems as suckling by the baby causes severe damage to the nipples and breast. Studies prove that mint oil can be really helpful for cracked and painful nipples that occur due to breast feeding.
Depression and Fatigue

Mint acts as a stimulant through your olfactory senses. Simply smelling mint can help elevate your mood and restart your brain to make it function at a higher level. Mint oils are helpful if you are feeling depressed, tired, sluggish or just not willing to continue with your work. A popular way of using mint oils as a soothing agent is putting a few drops onto the pillow and allowing it to work overnight.
Skin Care

Not only mint oil is a good antiseptic and anti pruritic, mint juice is equally useful as a great skin cleanser. Mint juice from fresh mints can be applied directly on the skin as a mask as a cure for acne and pimples. It has soothing effects on skin that helps with irritation, itchiness and pruritic properties of pimples from mosquito and other insect bites such as bee sting, wasps and hornets. Anti inflammatory effects of mint help bring down swelling. Another benefit of mint aroma is that it is unappealing to insects that can prevent further bites.
Memory Loss

A recent study found that mint is associated with alertness, cognition and retention of memory. According to the study people who chewed mint gum more frequently had higher levels of memory retention than those who did not. This finding has given us yet another reason to pop a mint gum or fresh mint leaves in.
Weight Loss

Mint also helps lose weight without disturbing nutrient balance of your body which is one of the healthiest ways of losing weight. Mint basically helps utilize fats in the body which prevents fats from your diet to be stored in your body and contribute to weight gain.
Oral Care

Oral cavity houses lots of bacteria that are closely associated with the stomach and food that we eat. Therefore, it is important to maintain pH balance and good bacteria culture in your mouth. Mint helps freshen breath and inhibits growth of harmful bacteria in your mouth that can cause bad breath and cavities. Pakistanis in rural area use mint leaves as teeth cleaner. It is rubbed directly on gums and teeth. In modern times, mint is used in mouth wash, tooth paste and chewing gum for oral health and fresh breath.
Other Benefits

Apart from being used in mouth washes, tooth pastes and inhalers, mint is used worldwide in culinary art. Drinks and foods having mint as an ingredient such as mint cooler and mint lemonades are enjoyed in summers as they cool you down. They are full of relaxing flavors.

It is also used as first aid for burns traditionally and used as treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. If you feel saturated and tired by all this information, just pop a mint gum in your mouth to improve the activity of your brain and get t
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Eggs are best for a filling kids breakfast, says study

If you’re not sure which is the most filling breakfast to give your kids on a morning a team of US researchers might have found the answer, finding that eggs are a more filling way to start the day than a breakfast of cereal or oatmeal.

The study, by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and published in the journal Eating Behaviors, looked at which breakfast kept children fuller for longer – protein-rich eggs or a grain-based breakfast such as cereal or oatmeal.

They recruited 40 children aged 8-10, and asked them to eat one of three 350-calorie breakfasts – eggs, cereal, or oatmeal – once a week over a three-week period.

The children were asked to eat all of the breakfast, and after finishing were also asked to play games with the researchers, before eating lunch, of which they could eat as much or as little as they wanted.

During the morning the children were also asked questions such as “How hungry are you?” and “How much food do you think you could eat right now?” During the rest of the day, the children’s food consumption was recorded in a food journal by parents.

At the end of three weeks, the researchers found that children who ate the eggs breakfast (scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast, diced peaches, and one percent milk), ate less at lunch time, reducing their energy intake by 70 calories, roughly equal to a small chocolate-chip cookie, and 4% of a child’s daily caloric needs. Eating more than the caloric needs regularly, even by a small amount, can cause weight gain and possibly obesity.

However although the team found that the protein-rich eggs breakfast left children feeling fuller for longer, and therefore eating less at lunchtime, this protein-rich meal only affected what the children consumed at mid-day, and not later on in the day.

And despite eating less at lunch, the children did not report less hunger, surprising lead author Tanja Kral, “I’m not surprised that the egg breakfast was the most satiating breakfast,” said Kral. “What does surprise me is the fact that, according to the children’s reports, eating the egg breakfast didn’t make them feel fuller than cereal or oatmeal, even though they ate less for lunch. We expected that the reduced lunch intake would be accompanied by lower levels of hunger and greater fullness after eating the high protein breakfast, but this wasn’t the case.”
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Why Are Almonds Great For Your Heart?

Nutritionists around the world agree that almond is one of the healthiest foods. Almond is a seed of the fruit of the almond tree. This delicately flavored seed is available throughout the year and is most fresh around mid summer as its season reaches at its peak. Packaged almonds are easily available at any drugs store. The shell is usually already removed in packaged almonds.
Almonds are Rich in Good Fats

Nutritionists have also labeled almond as a high fat food. Then why do they have it on world’s healthiest foods list? Well this is so because almonds are packed with not just any fats, but monosaturated fats. This is the fat that is good to maintain an optimum heart health. However, polysaturated fats increase LDL (bad cholesterol) in the body. Increased LDL means more chances of it lodging in arteries and obstructing blood flow to vital organs in the body. It can cause a heart attack if it happens to coronary arteries.
Almonds Reduce Risk of Heart Disease

Monosaturated fats are also known as good fats and found in olive oil as well. Several studies have proved that consumption of monosaturated fats reduces risk of heart disease. Researchers studied data from Nurse Health study and found out that replacing monosaturated fats with saturated fats as in red meat and dairy products helps reduce the risk for heart disease by 45 percent. Similarly, carbohydrates can also be replaced by monosaturated fats for risk reduction by 30 percent. In addition to cholesterol lowering effects of almonds, another way it can reduce heart disease is by its antioxidant action. Almond owes its antioxidant effect to Vitamin E.

Almonds are Loaded with Minerals
Almond is also rich in essential minerals including magnesium and potassium. Both of which are great for heart health especially for people suffering with hypertension. Most hypertension patients take calcium channel blocking drugs to reduce their blood pressure. Magnesium is known as natures own calcium channel blocker. In presence of magnesium, arteries are able to relax and resistance to blood flow is decreased, this directly reduces blood pressure. Improved blood flow also increases rate of transport of oxygen and nutrients in the body. Absence of magnesium following a heart attack can lead to inflammation and free radical injury to the heart.
Almonds for Blood Pressure and Diabetes

Potassium is a mineral that plays an important role in nerve transmission and muscle contraction including cardiac muscles. Almonds provide your body with 162 mg of potassium which helps protect against high blood pressure and atherosclerosis.
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Significant increase in blood sugar occurs right after a meal. This sudden surge in blood glucose level can cause free radical cholesterol damage and can be a reason of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This is the reason doctors recommend low glycemic index diet to diabetics and to patients predisposed to heart disease. Almonds taken with meal appear to decrease glucose surge after meal. Almond also helps in free radical damage as it has antioxidant properties. This was proved in two different researches viz Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Journal of Nutrition and Jones AR, Kendall CW, Metabolism. -

Almonds Help Lose Weight
Although rich in fats, almonds can help reduce weight even in obese patients. international Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders published a report that proved that people who consumed almonds daily for six months had significant reduction in BMI, waist circumference and body fats as compared to those who ate low calorie carbohydrate diet.

Diabetes and increased weight both are risk factors for heart disease. Almonds are directly and indirectly beneficial for your heart. Not only almonds, nuts such as cashew, walnut, pecans and chest nuts are great for your heart. Make them a part of your mid meal snack or have it with your meals to make most of its benefits on glycemic index of your food, blood pressure and body fat.
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All you Need to Know about Ear Care

We all know the main function of the ear: listening. Despite being one the special sense organs, ears do not get much attention as they should. This oddly shaped piece of cartilage is not only meant for hearing but it also plays an important role in balance of the body. Orientation of the head is determined by a small part called vestibule inside the ear while cochlear part does the work of hearing and transmitting sound waves into the brain to be translated. Together it is known as the vestibulocochlear apparatus. This part is very sensitive to head movement and slightest of sounds. The way ears are structured they are a little tricky to clean, prone to collection of dust particles and lots of wax accumulation.

Wax is produced only in the outer third of the ear canal. The purpose of ear wax is to trap any bacteria, dust particles; pollens etc that make their way into the ear canal and can cause infection. This wax is the pus outward through ciliary action of small hair in the canal. This is how ear wax serves as a protecting factor against ear infection. However production of too much ear wax can become a menace, block the ear canal and decrease hearing therefore, it needs to be cleaned. The real question that arises is that how should we clean it?
How to Clean Ears

It is important to keep your ears clean to prevent ear infections and loss of hearing. However, one should keep in mind that ear wax serves a protective mechanism and trying to clean all of it might causes more problems than good. Mostly people use Q-tips to clean their ears. They are inexpensive, easily available and easy to use: insert into year, scrape around to collect ear wax, remove and discard. Easy. Even though it seems like an easy and effective mechanism, medically it is not correct. Viewing inside your ear with a magnifying glass shows that your Q tip did not really scrape out all the ear wax but only a fraction of it. What happens to the rest? The rest of it gets pushed deeper inside your internal ear. It can damage your ear drum (a delicate membrane significant for hearing). Hence, the only part of the ear that can be cleaned using Q-tips is the outer ear and cartilage. Any similar pointy objects such as key, pen or bobby pins are not suitable for cleaning your ear.
Recommended Methods
Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide mixed with a little mineral oil put in ear through dropper helps soften and loosen wax present in the ear. Liquefied wax drains out of your ear which can be cleaned using a cotton ball. However, make sure you use small amount of hydrogen peroxide as it can irritate your ears.
Do-it-yourself Ear Irrigation

Mechanism behind any ear cleaning technique is to facilitate the ears self cleaning action. A solution made up of equal parts water, rubbing alcohol and white vinegar is used for ear irrigation. A few drops are carefully put into ear and then drained after a while. It loosens ear wax which drains with irrigation solution and the mess can be cleaned with a cotton ball. This is a quick, easy mechanism that gets the job done. Keep in mind rubbing alcohol and vinegar is both irritants and might irritate your ear if used more than a few drops.
Profession Ear Syringing

Your health practitioner will perform this procedure. It seems simple but should be applied at home. A syringe is used to squirt water in the ear canal that often the blob of wax blocking the ear. And then pulled out using medical tweezers. There is a minor chance of ear damage through this method. Side effects include dizziness and nausea that are caused by sudden pressure and temperature of water.
Mineral Oil

Mineral oil alone can be used to clean ears effectively without any side effects. This is because ear wax itself is made of lots of oils. Similarity in properties of both help ears remain protected from dryness and irritation. Warm or room temperature mineral oil (not baby oil) is poured into an ear through a dropper, cover it with a cotton ball and lie down facing the covered ear upwards. After a few minutes tilt your head and let it drain out along with softened wax. Although this will not help with big blobs, it is a great way of regularly cleaning your ears.

How often you should clean your ears depends on how much wax your ears are producing. Once a day is usually enough for healthy ear canals. People producing too much wax might need weekly irrigation at home or syringing by a professional. Alternatively an Oto-Tip can also be used.

For general ear health, avoid long hours of exposure to loud music with ear phones on. Keep volume to the minimal sound that you can hear to prevent loss of hearing. If your job requires you to e exposed to excessive pollution including dust, smoke or pollens keep your ears covered during working hours.
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5 Great at-Home Spa Treatments

Every woman, whether working or a house wife, has her own set of responsibilities that can be rather exhausting. It can be working on an office seat, cooking dishes and chapattis, teaching a classroom full of devious children, or running around the hospital day and night. All these activities can make us tired, mentally as well as physically. It is important for all of us to take care of our face, hands, feet, hair and body; in order to maintain our youth. This way we can stay more active and grow old with grace.

Everyone cannot afford a spa treatment at a salon, or simply does not have the time. Worry not! We have compiled for you some tricks to get a fresh glowing skin at home.

FACE: Chocolate Facial Mask
This mask will leave you with smooth and silky skin. Cocoa is known to help remove toxins from the skin. It removes free radicals that are harmful for the skin cells. Cottage cheese contains lactic acid which brightens the skin as well as adds moisture to the skin. Honey is a well known natural antibiotic which removes acne causing bacteria. Oatmeal is often used as the base in ubtan, as it cleanses the skin deeply removing dead cells.

Doing this once a week will remove dead cells, sun spots, tan and moisturize your skin!

    1/3 cup cocoa
    3 tablespoons heavy cream
    2 teaspoons cottage cheese
    1/4 cup honey
    3 teaspoons oatmeal powder





HAIR: Protein Treatment

Protein treatment is the new treatment in the salons; however it can cost us a little bucks. You can make your own hair mask to fight the stress induced hair fall and the limp and dull look caused by shampooing and pollution. Not only will this mask make your hair healthy, it will also be a ‘wow’ factor, leaving you with silky hair.

    1 egg yolk
    1 tbsp Mayonnaise
    1/4 of a banana
    2 tbsp olive oil

Mix all the ingredients and leave in for 2-3 hours and wash your hair. Enjoy thick and glossy locks!

BODY: Sugar Body Scrub

jar of body scrub and massager – beauty treatment

This scrub is hands down amazing. Sugar will exfoliate and oatmeal will remove dirt from the pores of your skin. These areas are often neglected, however they collect sweat from the body and tend to make the skin dirty and form a layer of dead calls. Olive oil will moisturize the skin, and dissolve with the oil from the skin making it easier to be removed. You will want to throw away all your packaged scrubs once you use this. You can use the scrub on your arms, legs and the entire body! All you need is:

    1 cup brown sugar
    1 cup raw oatmeal
    1 cup olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together and then apply on dry skin, using your hands. You want to perform slow circles—this
treatment is to be enjoyed and not rushed. Step in the shower after you have thoroughly scrubbed. - See more at:

This mask is great to lighten your hands, feet and even face! Lemon will remove the tan and honey will neutralize the acidity and heal the tanned damaged skin. Baking soda is a cleansing agent.



 


1 tbsp Oatmeal
    1 tbsp lemon juice
    2 tbsp honey
    ½ tbsp baking soda

Mix the ingredients and leave it on for 15 minutes. Before rinsing it massage gently for 1 minute.
- See more at: http://htv.com.pk/lifestyle/5-great-home-spa-treatments#sthash.gPU57W7A.dpuf


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LIPS: Exfoliator
Use this exfoliator few times a week to get soft lips.

    1 tbsp white sugar
    1 tbsp glycerine
    1 tbsp raw cocoa powder

Apply the mixture for 10 minutes, scrub slowly and rinse. Dab glycerine before going to bed for amazing lips.
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10 Ways To Relax In 5 Minutes Or Less

We are forever on the go, always moving. It could be running an errand for your mother or making last minute fixes to a presentation for your boss, cramming for an exam the next day or just losing patience over your wedding to-do list. Amidst this chaos, we yearn for a few days or hours of escape. However, running away to a far off island is neither possible nor the answer. It would be a blessing to even find five minutes of space to breathe. Since five minutes seem easier and more feasible to get our hands on than a ride to the beach before an important meeting or running an errand; here is a list of ways to relax within those five minutes.
Close Your Eyes

This is the most effective and easiest way to relax. Just leave whatever you are doing and close your eyes. If you are sitting at your desk then just let your hands loose and rest your head. Don’t think, just breathe. It is the closest you can come to meditation within five minutes. It will calm you down and decrease stress level. Five minutes of peace is all you need to clear up your head and stop yourself from being flustered.
Sip Green Tea and Relax

Yes, sipping green tea can actually be relaxing. Besides the obvious that sipping tea is quite calming; green tea actually has medicinal qualities to lower stress levels. So the next time you have too much to do and too less time then all you need to do is make time for a cup of green tea.
Relax to Your Favorite Song

Go through your playlist and play the song that you relate to the most. It doesn’t have to be a specific genre. Playing your favorite song will transport you to an entirely different world and will help soothe your nerves.
Just Breathe to Relax

Breathing exercises have been popular for quite a long time now. They aren’t popular because they are cool but because they are actually effective. Just sit and focus on your breathing, once you are able to focus on it then breathe in from one nostril and breathe out from the other. After a minute, change the direction. This is not only helpful for lowering stress levels but also healthy for your entire body.
Collect Your Thoughts

There is no point in having your head scattered with different thoughts at one time. What you need to do is be alone and find a corner. Just stand or sit there and collect your thoughts. Think about all that has been bothering you and stop running away from it. Organize your thoughts by prioritizing them. You need to know what is more important and what isn’t, if something can be dealt with later then why fret over it right now.
Learn How To Massage Your Hands

We all love getting a massage but there isn’t always time to visit a spa or find someone to help us with it. No need to worry because you can easily reduce your stress by massaging your own hand. Just get your hands on a bottle of lotion and pour a little on your palms, evenly spread it all over your hand and with the help of thumb of one hand massage the muscle below the thumb of the other hand.
Day Dreaming

Day dreaming has been a favorite past time of all of us for ages now, this is no big secret. Five minutes is all you need to close your eyes and quickly visualize something special or what brings a smile on your face. It could be how you will look on your wedding day, or how you end up running into your favorite celebrity.
Got Some Gum

Just get yourself a pack of gums and whenever you think there is too much stress and you need a break, start chewing. It can take away anxiety, lower cortisol levels, help you regain focus and make sure that you don’t have bad breath.
Walk Around

If you are in a small room then just walk its length but do walk. Silent walking is credited for mindfulness. Extremely helpful before making a decision because it helps you evaluate the rationality.
Drip Water Right Where the Stress Is

This is for times when your whole body is tensed, you are frazzled and the difficult day is taking a toll on your blood pressure. Get up, rush to the bathroom and run the cold water tap. Wet your fingers and place them on your wrist then slowly place your wrist underneath the tap. Do this for both hands. You can also with the help of your fingers drip water behind your earlobes. Cooling the arteries of these two major areas can have a strange calming effect on your entire body.
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5 Easy and Best Detox Drinks

Whether you’re attempting to get in shape or just need to look and feel more confident, one of the most ideal approaches to free your body off the toxins is to drink water. Just 6 to 8 glasses each day will keep you hydrated and keep your organs in their most ideal wellbeing.

You don’t need to drink plain water, altogether. Truth be told, there are various things that you can add to your water that won’t just support the taste, but will also flush the debris of toxins out of your body.

Detox waters have turned out to be mainstream and there are a wide range of formulas that you can make. We’ve gathered 5 of the best for taste and medical advantages. These concoctions contain components like lemon that helps flush hurtful poisons from your body, mint that helps with digestion, cucumber that contains calming properties and ginger, a characteristic agony reliever that helps with absorption. Let’s try these detox water for good!
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