The human body is designed to operate in harmony, with each part — and each hormone — playing its role and contributing to overall wellness. But when your hormones are out of balance, it can mean anything from minor annoyances to chronic inflammation and disease. [Read more…]
6 Essential Oils For Quick, All-Natural Menopause Relief
Menopause can be annoying at best and a pain at worst. Everything from headaches to night sweats, hot flashes to depression can affect women as they go through menopause. Luckily, there are a number of essential oils that can help bring you relief during menopause. [Read more…]
Try These 5 Yoga Poses Before Bed If You Have Insomnia
Few things are more frustrating than trying to fall asleep and not being able to. If you experience this regularly, you might be living with insomnia, which brings fatigue, anxiety and illness with it. [Read more…]
7 Things Your Hair Is Trying To Tell You
How you style your hair communicates your personality to the world. But did you know that your hair communicates with you? Depending on its condition – and how much of it you have – your hair may be trying to tell you something. Our locks hold information about everything from our diet to genetic mutations and disorders. Here are seven things to look out for. [Read more…]
7 Ingredients I Add To My Green Tea Every Morning
Green tea has become one of my favorite go-to drinks in the morning and throughout the day. The boost of antioxidants and gentle caffeine level make it a healthful alternative to soda, juice or milk. Green tea can be an acquired taste though, so if it’s not your favorite beverage, consider adding one, or more, of the following ingredients to make it more palatable. [Read more…]
Can Concerts Every 2 Weeks Help You Live Longer? 5 Health Benefits Of Music
Most people love listening to music while they work or on their commute, but new research tells us that going to concerts on a regular basis can increase your life expectancy by nearly a decade. [Read more…]
11 Ways I Use Baking Soda In My Beauty Routine
Few pantry staples are as useful — or as inexpensive — as baking soda. At around $1 a box, this ingredient will quickly become your new favorite beauty go-to. From homemade toothpaste to a cleaner for your makeup brushes, here are 11 easy ways to include baking soda in your beauty routine. [Read more…]
Nutmeg Essential Oil Can Alleviate Pain and More
I love the fall, the leaves, the cool air, and especially all of the fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. These spices not only add a delicious flavor to special dishes like apple and pumpkin pie, eggnog and more, but they also have potent therapeutic qualities. Today I want to talk about the medicinal value of nutmeg and why you should eat more of it.
What is nutmeg?
Nutmeg is a seed that grows on the evergreen tree known as Myristica fragrans. It is native to islands near Indonesia. This spice is delicate and just slightly sweet. As mentioned earlier, it is valued for its culinary prowess but has become a popular go-to in alternative and herbal medicine.
Nutmeg is loaded with vitamins and minerals including, manganese, thiamin, folate, magnesium, copper, macelignan, vitamin B6 and dietary fiber.
Insomnia Buster
I don’t know about you but I struggle with getting a good night’s sleep sometimes. Nutmeg can help provide relief from chronic insomnia or sleeplessness. An animal study published in the International Journal of Molecular Science found that inhaling nutmeg essential oil reduced nighttime body movement. In fact, when comparing the aromatherapeutic potency of nutmeg to lavender oil — often used to induce sleep — nutmeg was even more potent.
I add a pinch of nutmeg to warm milk or a nondairy alternative. Nutmeg is a good source of magnesium, an essential mineral in the body that reduces nervous tension. It even stimulates the release of serotonin, which creates a feeling of relaxation or sedation.
Pain Reliever
Nutmeg contains a component that is similar to menthol and this makes it an effective pain reliever. When you add nutmeg to your cooking it can reduce pain caused by injuries, strains, wounds, and arthritis.
I add nutmeg as a spice to baked goods and savory dishes, you can help reduce chronic inflammation. If you suffer from painful joints, muscle pain, and arthritis, ease pain naturally by rubbing nutmeg oil over affected areas.
Brain Health
Who wouldn’t want a healthier brain? Nutmeg contains myristicin and macelignan. Both of these compounds have been proven to reduce degradation and neural pathways as well as cognitive function. Studies have demonstrated that myristicin and macelignan help to keep the brain functioning at an optimal level. Research has also food that nutmeg can enhance your mood and fight off depression.
Oral Health
In old eastern medical applications, nutmeg was considered the king of spices when it came to oral health. Powerful antibacterial components help fight conditions such as halitosis. While it kills bacteria it also improves the immunity of gums and teeth.
Commercial toothpaste contains a cocktail of nasty chemicals. Fluoride, for instance, is linked to weakened bones, thyroid suppression, lowered metabolic and more. Try nutmeg instead. Due to its anti-bacterial compounds, it works to treat bad breath as well as halitosis naturally.
Detoxification
Nutmeg helps to eliminate toxins that are stored in the liver and kidney. It cleanses toxins from such things as alcohol, drugs, pollution and bad food. In addition, nutmeg helps to dissolve kidney stones and improve overall function and efficiency of kidneys and liver.
Digestive Aid
Nutmeg retains its fiber content when it is ground into a powder. In this form, it simulates the digestive process by encouraging the peristaltic motion in the smooth muscle of the intestine. In addition, it also encourages the secretion of intestinal juices that make digestion easier.
Grate a small amount of nutmeg into your soups and stews to boost flavor and improve gut health. Grinding nutmeg into powder retains the fiber content. Fiber also stimulates the digestive process by contracting smooth muscles of the intestine.
Libido Booster
Who would have thought that a little spice can actually spice up things in the bedroom? Research has uncovered that small doses of nutmeg can actual increase libido and sexual performance in men.
-Susan Patterson
5 Healthy Eating Rules to Live By
Sometimes we make getting healthy and staying healthy far too complicated. Here are five, very simple, yet highly effective ways you can safeguard your health to look and feel your best.
Eat less by using a smaller plate. It may seem simple, and it is, but using a smaller plate can make a big difference in how much you eat. Instead of piling your food onto a dinner plate, use a side plate. Why does it work? We think things are smaller when we compare them to things that are larger. If you place your food on a large plate, your mind tells you that it’s a small portion, so chances are, you’ll go back for more. If you put that same food on a smaller plate, your mind will tell you that your stomach is getting a large portion, so you’ll know that you really don’t need, and shouldn’t, go back for seconds. Study after study has proven this to be true, including one that found when shift from a 12” plate to a 10” plate, there was an average of a 22% decrease in calories. The researchers noted that assuming the average dinner consisted of 800 calories, this one simple change could result in over 10 pounds of weight lost in the course of a year.
Switch calorie-filled beverages for water. Don’t drink your calories, this is one of the main ways people go way over their daily calorie needs, and many beverages are also filled with artificial flavorings, dyes, sugars or artificial sweeteners that can be just as damaging to the body as smoking a cigarette. One of the easiest things to do to lose weight is to skip that soda, juice, milk, or alcohol and choose water, herbal tea, or water with a squeeze of lemon or lime. Keep in mind that even those beverages with “zero calories,” have been linked to weight gain in multiple studies, and quitting all types of soda, diet or regular, is one of the easiest ways to improve your diet and achieve a thinner waistline.
Trade sugar for cinnamon in your coffee. One of the best ways to improve your health and to lose weight is to cut back on sugar. If you’re used to adding sugar to your morning coffee, try exchanging it for cinnamon instead. Not only will you enjoy a flavorful kick, but unlike sugar, cinnamon offers lots of benefits. It contains antioxidants which help boost the immune system, fighting disease and illness, as well as to improve blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol and reduce triglycerides. One study found that just a half-teaspoon of cinnamon each day can significantly reduce blood sugar levels, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol levels in those who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Sugar, on the other hand, has been associated with weight gain, diabetes, and it may even be toxic to the body. If you can replace both your cream and sugar with a teaspoon of cinnamon in your coffee, you’ll save at least 70 calories per cup, while adding a potential metabolism boost to help you burn more calories all day long.
Fancy up a water bottle with time. Nutrition doesn’t just include the food you need to eat to give your body essential vitamins and minerals, it includes water too. Your body needs at least eight 8 ounce glasses a day, and preferably more, especially when you’re trying to lose weight. If you struggle to drink enough water, transforming your water bottle with a marker might be just the nutrition hack you need to help you achieve this important goal. All you need to do is take a clear water bottle, and using a permanent marker, mark the bottle, dividing it into 200 ml intervals that coordinate with every hour in the day. Every hour, you should drink one glass of water, which means at the time marked on the bottle, your water should be at that level. If you start at 8 a.m., and you have a 1-liter bottle, it should need refilling at noon, continuing the same system, and by dinner time, you should have consumed 8 glasses of water.
Plan your meals in advance, and eat at home as often as possible. If you don’t plan ahead and find yourself hunger, you’ll be much more tempted to impulsively eat whatever happens to be around. Planning meals eliminate guesswork and ultimately, impulse eating. It’s especially helpful for those who have a busy schedule. Once a week, sit down and plan around your schedule for the following week, making sure you get the most out of your time and ensuring that you know which meals you can look forward to after a long day at work. Cooking your own meals is another important step toward better nutrition. Although many restaurants offer more nutritious food options today, the choices are limited, with most foods still containing a high number of calories and fats, not to mention those processed foods filled with all sorts of chemicals and potentially harmful additives. By making your meals at home, you’ll know exactly what you’re eating – and, if you stock up on key spices like cinnamon, garlic, turmeric and oregano, you’ll be able to enjoy more flavorful meals too. If you aren’t sure what to make, just do an online search for healthy recipes.
-Susan Patterson