TIPS ON SKIN CARE

Aging Skin

The thickened skin texture associated with middle age is caused by cellular build up. It responds very well to mild, abrasive daily cleansing with beauty grains such as finely ground corn meal, ground sun flowers or almonds. Massage gently to cleanse and stimulate. Beautiful Skin

To make or keep your skin beautiful, it's best to work from the inside.

Eating the right kind of food can do you more good than any medicine, and go a long way in helping your body's own healing forces. Eat a balanced diet that includes raw foods, plenty of yellow and orange vegetables (they contain beta carotene - a precursor to vitamin A). Foods high in sulfur such as garlic, onions, asparagus and eggs. Include fruits, seeds, grains and nuts.

Dry Skin

Blend together one ounce safflower oil, one ounce avocado oil and two ounces of sesame oil. Apply this to your dry skin areas.Skin Care Tip on Facial Mask

An excellent facial mask can be made with stewed and mashed apricots. Apply to your freshly cleaned face and leave for 20 minutes or longer. Rinse away with warm water, and blot dry. One application will help sallow, dead skin tones, but applying this 3 or 4 times a week will do wonders.

Tea Tree Oil for Fungal Infection

If you suffer from fungal infections of the nail, the most effective natural anti fungal is tea tree oil. Apply to the nails and surrounding skin twice daily, in the morning and at bedtime

Using Honey Treatments

Honey applied under a dry dressing every two or thee days promotes rapid healing of ulcers and burns.

Itchy Skin

Try the following. A compress made with skim milk or powdered milk or soak the affected area in a colloidal bath made with oatmeal, corn starch or baking soda.

Mayonnaise for dry Facial

If you have a tendency towards dry facial skin, a gentle daily massage with mayonnaise will do wonders. You can use lemon juice, egg and safflower or other such oil to make your own dry skin lotion.

Oily Skin

Here is a cleansing stimulating facial treatment that is very helpful for those with oily skin. Mash together the pulp of one garden ripe tomato and enough fuller's earth (should find it at most pharmacies) to make a smooth paste. Rub it into your skin and leave it on until it dries completely (note: do not apply to eye area). Rinse with warm water, then splash your face with cold water. Blot dry.

Treating Large Pores

If you have large pores that resemble little holes on your skin, the following steps may be helpful. Stop using commercial products on your skin. Instead, use homemade skin cleansers. Splash warm water onto your face and pour half a handful of stone-ground cornmeal into your wet palm. Massage the moistened meal into your entire face area, adding water as needed. Another homemade cleanser can be made by adding a few drops of lemon or lime juice or apple cider vinegar to milk (use powdered skin milk if your skin is oily).

Soak yarrow (check health food stores or botanical supply stores for this herb) in water overnight, and apply this astringent several times a day - less frequently if your skin is dry.

Avoid all creams. Use an unsaturated vegetable oil if you need to (e.g. vitamin E oil).

Rashes

Whether it's diaper rash, chicken pox, measles, insect bites or hives, corn starch can provide relief. For measles and chicken pox, bathe in a tub of water to which a large handful of cornstarch has been added. For the other rashes rub the cornstarch on as a powder.

Softening Your Skin

Avocado oil used regularly is an excellent skin softener. It is in rich in vitamins and minerals, especially the skin vitamins A, C and E.

Teenagers

Many teenagers have to deal with embarrassing skin problems. taking supplements of zinc and Vitamin A will go a long way in helping them relieve these problems.

Leg ulcers are more likely to develop in persons with poor circulation, thrombophlebitis and/or varicose veins. To speed healing, apply vitamin E oil to the sore and bandage it lightly with a sterile gauze pad. Change the bandage daily until the sore is healed.

Vitamins and Your Skin

Vitamins are essential to the health of your skin, especially vitamins A, B, C and E. Vitamin E is especially helpful to improve your complexion when applied externally.

Winter Care

The air inside your house can get very dry in the winter. This will play a major part in aggravating your dry skin condition. To add humidity the dry air in your house, put a little extra water in the kettle when you're boiling water. Leave the kettle on the burner as it cools. It will continue to steam for 10 to 15 minutes, making your life a whole lot more comfortable.

Zinc for Acne

Not enough zinc, caused by a diet high in refined carbohydrates may be the chief cause of acne. Zinc is necessary for processing carbohydrates, but it is removed when cane is refined into white sugar, and wheat is refined into white flour. Eat more foods rich in zinc, including soybeans, whole grains, sunflower seeds, and a small amount of raw nuts daily. Zinc also has antibacterial activity, and is a necessary element in the oil-producing glands of the skin.

Fight against AIDS but not against people with it!

HIV is a debilitating and deadly disease of the human immune system, and is one of the world's most serious health problems. The World Health Organization estimates that about 20 million people have died from AIDS since the infection was first described in 1981. Our India is one of the largest and most populated countries in the world, with more than one billion inhabitants. Of this number, it's estimated that around 2.5 million Indians are currently living with HIV, and this is all due to lack of awareness and poor counseling.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is "high" in Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is capital, according to the country's National Aids Control Organization. In some researches it has been found that that the risk of committing suicide is higher in people who have HIV.

In a bizarre incident, a couple infected with deadly HIVDefine virus killed their three children and then committed suicide. The Bombay, India-based couple took this extreme step after discovering that their six-year-old daughter had contracted the virus that causes AIDS. The bodies of Babu Ishwar Thevar, 39, his wife, Amothi, 33, two sons Venkatesh, 10, and Mani, 8, and daughter, Mahalaxmi, 6, were found in their home on August 5, 2008. The couple was living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIVdefine) for two years and had been depressed by news that their daughter also had the HIV virus.

The police think that the parents allegedly fed sweets laced with poison to their two boys, and as the daughter survived eating the poisoned sweets, the parents then smothered her with a pillow before committing suicide. The couple had hanged themselves from the ceiling by a nylon rope.

Social stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive people are widespread in our country. People living with HIV fear to loose their status in the society, hence keep their disease a secret. In India, the HIV-infected people have faced violent attacks; been rejected by families as well as by spouses and communities. They also have been refused medical treatment, and even, in some reported cases, denied the last rites after they die. Such harsh reactions to HIV and AIDS make it difficult to educate people about how they can avoid infection.

It is really foolish that even most of the educated people decline to shake hand with HIV infected persons. People do not have proper knowledge about the modes of transmission of HIV.

Revathi, South Indian actress and film director, struggled a lot to convince so called super-hit hero’s in the Bollywood to play the character of a person with AIDS in her movie “Phir Milenge”. Salman Khan was the only one to accept the role when Revathi first came up with the idea. She herself admits it was difficult to find an actor for Salman's role, with several turning it down, mostly because of the social stigma attached to the disease. The movie educates without being preachy, something it may have been in the danger of. It tends to drag in the first half but touches your heartstrings later. However, such movies are rarely received by people. All they want - item numbers, romance, comedy, fights, thrills bla bla bla…!!!

Knowledge about the illness is often confused — even among India’s professional medical community — but it is widely connected with sexual activity, which is a taboo topic in what remains a deeply conservative country. Past series of shocking “skull and crossbones” government adverts served to nurture fear without educating the public — particularly in rural areas where literacy levels are still low. Children’s organizations are known to have refused to take in orphans whose parents died of AIDS. Even in cities, counselling services are rare, leaving those who suffer from guilt and depression chronically undersupported.

Anasuya, a widow in her twenties, told a research team from the charity: “In villages people do not distinguish between HIV and AIDS, the last stage. They treat us as worse than Untouchables.”

Meghna Girish, the co-ordinator of a program for people living with HIV/AIDS in India run by the charity ActionAid, said: “Even after an AIDS patient’s death, people are often scared to touch the body, making last rites a problem.”

In one incident in June two doctors were suspended from a hospital in the northern city of Meerut after a man claimed that he was forced to perform the delivery of his son when medical staff refused to touch his wife upon learning that she was HIV-positive. The man alleged that he had carried out the procedure himself — even cutting and tying the umbilical cord — as doctors issued instructions from a distance.

Even the relatively rich suffer the effects of medical ignorance, according to a recent study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO). It said that nearly 10,000 of the estimated 40,000 HIV-infected people being treated by private doctors in India were prescribed “irrational drug combinations”. Faulty regimens were making patients resistant to first-line antiretroviral drugs faster than usual, the study said.

The WHO also found that Indian drug companies are delivering powerful drugs directly to the homes of HIV patients — cutting out medical professionals — to overcome patients’ fears of discrimination.

The Government this week made a gesture towards integrating HIV/Aids sufferers by promising to issue them with cards that make bearers eligible for a national scheme designed to provide a minimum amount of employment to India’s poorest people.

In addition, about 100,000 people with HIV who are receiving antiretroviral therapy at 174 government centers across the country were promised to be treated as living below the poverty line, a status that qualifies them for food handouts.

8 Tips for Easy Weight Control

Anyone who is overweight will testify that losing weight is not as easy as it seems. The people that are lean, or have gone from fat to skinny will say it's just a matter of motivation and elbow grease. Although it is not as simple as that. Our environments have waged war on us. Their weapons are sedentary lives and trans fats of mass destruction. All is not lost though, here are some quick simple tips to get ahead!

Substitute Water.

Our bodies are about 65-70% water. It follows that water would be not only essential, but the best possibly choice of liquids to ingest. In fact, our bodies will sometimes simulate a hunger response, when in reality the body is craving hydration. When hungry, drink a glass or two of water to check if it suppresses your hunger.

Chew Your Food.

Chewing our food very slowly and deliberately has several benefits that are often overlooked. It gives us the ability to relax, and enjoy our meal. Slow chewing is the first, and highly important, step in a complex system of digestion. Besides, if we eat slowly, we might feel full before finishing the whole meal, and can leave the rest for the next meal.

Exercise daily.

How silly of me to include something as obvious as exercise. I did a 30 day trial with waking up, and walking for 30 minutes first thing in the morning. My journal records that I was feeling amazing during the period of time that I was following this habit.

Publicize your intentions.

Start a blog, join a forum, and have other people keep you accountable to help. Tell other people your plan, it would help you get the motivation to go with it!

Create a food schedule.

Plan your day so that you're eating at approximately the same time each day. This scheduling will incorporate itself into your circadian rhythm, and aid in digestion.

Do not over eat.

Know your limit and stop eating when you are full. I have often been a victim of wanting to finish a meal so that it doesn't go to waste. This has left me with many a stomach ache. Next time, doggy bag it for later, and don't hurt yourself!

Choose your snacks wisely.

Put down the potato chips and cheese puffs. Pick up the apple and baby carrots. Make the right decision, I know you can do it.

Lifestyle.

Remember, it's not about special diets, or special exercise programs. The real secret is in turning your health into a lifestyle, and focusing on this healthy lifestyle with every choice you make.

Small changes make big difference

Our body needs 6-8 hrs of undisturbed sleep per day. More so nothing can match a good night sleep. So reserve late night parties for the weekends only and not to say of late night e-mailing (do it early morning instead) and try to get up early.

a) Water the body- Start your day by having 2-3 glasses of Luke warm or room temperature water. This will help you to clean your bowels and flush your kidneys.

b) Warm up for the day-Go out in the neighborhood park or your lawn and do 30 minutes of exercise (after completing your mailing), which can include further stretches, mobility exercise, and 20 minutes of aerobic exercise. Remember exercising in open will fill your lungs with pure oxygen, soothe your eyes (courtesy all that greenery) and freshen your mind. Forget to carry your mobile along and attend to the missed calls, if any, later.

c) Pamper your body- Give a short 5 minutes oil or dry towel massage to your body before bathing if time permits and sprinkle your eyes with clean water while holding water in your mouth for a few seconds, repeating three times, to get your eyes and whole ENT apparatus cleansed of all the muck.

d) Facing the grill- while at work take 5 minutes break at hourly intervals to stretch yourself and taking your eyes off the computer screens and doing a few rounds of deep breathing. Do devote exclusive time to eating while chewing your food properly and do not take the boardroom to the cafeteria. Drink water only after an hour of your meals though small sips with meals is ok). Stroll a while after your lunch (as well as dinner).

e) Home sweet home- Relax in the comfort of your home and sweet company of your family after retiring for the day. Do ‘Pranayam’ (deep breathing exercise) to relax tired body and nerves.

f) Early dinner- an early dinner complements the active body and prevents gaining weight and induces better sleep. A glass of milk (No coffee please) at night further helps in a baby like sleep.

g) Plan a picnic- your weekly getaways should preferably include outdoor excursions, games and fun and frolic with family and / or friends. This not only is gong to charge you for the week but will also strengthen relationships (Even business relations if you are interested only in that)

Tips For Better Life - Its easy!!!!

1. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
3. Sleep for 7 hours.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Play more games.
6. Read more books than you did in 2007.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink plenty of water.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
14. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
15. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
16. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
17. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
18. Smile and laugh more.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about. Don't compare your partner with others.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Forgive everyone for everything.
26.. What other people think of you is none of your business.
27. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
28. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
29. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
30. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
31. The best is yet to come.
32. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
33. Do the right thing!
34. Call your family often.
35. Your inner most is always happy. So be happy.
36. Each day give something good to others.
37. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
38. Please Forward this to everyone you care about.

The 11 Signals Your Nails are Giving You About Your Health

Like your skin, your nails are excellent indicators of what's going on inside your body. If your nails are healthy (smooth and pink with a slightly curved surface), your body is probably pretty healthy too. But if your nails are discolored, brittle or otherwise appear unhealthy, it may be because of an underlying health problem.

'The nails can be windows to a patient's overall health, and while the nail itself is dead tissue, the areas under the cuticle and beneath the nail are alive,' said dermatologist Richard K. Scher, M.D., professor of clinical dermatology at Columbia University in New York City.

Here are 11 signals your nails may be giving you about your health.

1. Yellow Nail Syndrome: This may cause a yellow or greenish color to your nails, thickening of the nail, slowed nail growth, a lack of a cuticle and the nail may detach partially from the nail bed. This condition often signals a respiratory disease.

2. Pitting: 'If you see pits on the nails, it could be a sign that you are about to develop, or that you already have, psoriasis,' said Dr. Amit Pandya, a dermatologist at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center in Dallas. The small depressions on the nail could also be a sign of chronic dermatitis of your fingers or alopecia areata.

3. Clubbing: This condition describes when the nails curve around your fingertips, which are usually enlarged. It's caused by low oxygen levels in the blood and may indicate lung disease.

4. Spoon Nails: If your nails look scooped out, like a spoon, it could be a sign of iron-deficiency anemia.

5. Terry's Nails: In this condition the nails look opaque with a dark band at the tip. This can be due to aging or a more serious illness including cancer, congestive heart failure, diabetes or liver disease.

6. Beau's Lines: These horizontal indentations across your nails could be a sign of malnutrition. They also may appear after serious injury or illness like a heart attack interrupts the growth of your nail.

7. Nail Separating From Nail Bed: When your nail becomes loose and separates from the nail bed, it could be related to injury, thyroid disease, fungal disease, drug reactions, reactions to acrylic nails or nail hardeners or psoriasis.

8. Brown or Black Colored Streak: This could be a sign of a melanoma under the nail. 'Subungal melanoma should be suspected whenever a nail streak appears without known injury to the nail, the nail discoloration does not gradually disappear as would a bruise or the size of the nail streak increases over time,' said Dr. Scher.

9. Vertical Nail Ridges: These are fairly common and may worsen with age. They do not signal any serious underlying disease.

10. White, Crumbly Nails: This is often due to a fungal infection.

11. Small White Spots: These are very common and usually recurring. They're caused by injury to the base of the nail and are not a cause of concern. The spots will grow out as your nail grows.

Meat-Based Diet Dangerous for Your Heart Health...

The heart is arguably the hardest working muscle in the body, pumping blood, oxygen, and nutrients to all the body’s organs. A healthy heart is a prescription for a healthy body.

Eating animal-based foods impairs the heart’s ability to do its job. Meat and dairy products are high in cholesterol and saturated fat. As these fatty substances, or “plaques,” build up inside the walls of arteries, blood flow to all areas of the body is impeded. This artery damage is called atherosclerosis. It often begins very early in life and develops gradually. When too little blood reaches various regions of the body, normal immune systems are impaired, setting people up for a number of diseases, most notably heart disease. Heart disease is the number one health problem in the United States today and, according to the American Heart Association, the single leading cause of death. Most heart disease is diet-related—caused by animal products. Research conducted by Dr. T. Colin Campbell shows a highly significant correlation between the consumption of even small amounts of animal-based foods and the increasing prevalence of heart disease.

Tell-tale signs of heart disease include impotence, swollen feet and ankles, and shortness of breath. The most common symptom occurs when atherosclerosis prevents blood from flowing to the heart and the victim experiences chest pains. This is called “ischemia,” and it’s a warning sign that coronary heart disease has progressed to a dangerous point. Eventually, a heart attack results from the lack of blood flow to the heart. Sadly, 60 percent of children and young adults have early atherosclerotic damage that can lead to heart disease. And according to the National Center for Health Statistics and the American Heart Association, about 5.8 million men and 6.1 million women alive today have suffered from a heart attack or acute chest pain.

Mortality rates for heart disease are higher than those of all forms of cancer combined, and more than 700,000 people die from the disease every year.

Studies show that people who experience frequent heart attacks often have high cholesterol levels; many also smoke or have high blood pressure. When these factors are controlled, heart attacks become rare. Foods that are high in saturated fat and cholesterol, such as meat and dairy products, are the major contributors to high cholesterol levels. In fact, animal products are the only sources of dietary cholesterol.

Here’s the good news: Now that we know what causes heart attacks, we can prevent them. Studies have shown that a vegan (pure vegetarian) diet—rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables—can stop and even reverse heart disease. People following a plant-based diet have 2.5 times fewer cardiac events, including heart attack, stroke, bypass surgery, and angioplasty. By switching to a vegetarian diet, you can significantly reduce and even eliminate your chances of dying from heart disease