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Don’t pile on the kilos…
I recently read such a clever tip, to help you stop piling on those kilos – with holidays and Christmas coming up. It’s such a clever tip, that I thought I should share it with you:
“Do you tend to stuff yourself at meals? Control that calorie intake by starting with a large salad (but hold the creamy dressing).
In a study of 42 women at Penn State University, those who ate a big, low-calorie salad consumed 12 percent less pasta afterward-even though they were offered as much as they wanted. The secret, say researchers, is the sheer volume of a salad, which makes you feel too full to pig out.
Health bonus: A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that people who ate one salad a day with dressing had higher levels of vitamins C and E, folic acid, lycopene, and carotenoids – all disease fighters – than those who didn’t add salad to their daily menu.”
Food for thought!
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Walk your way to health (the benefits of walking)
An article in a newspaper headed “A daily walk can beat 24 illnesses” recently caught my eye.We all know that regular exercise is important. But I’m always left wondering “How important?” and “How much is enough?” And finally both my questions have been answered!
According to the article – it seems that just 30 minutes of exercise a day will reduce your risk of falling ill with up to 24 different ailments – including serious ones like cancer and dementia. What fantastic benefits of walking!
It turns out that a brisk daily walk has major health benefits by slowing down the rate at which our bodies deteriorate with age.
To make these dramatic claims, researchers spent the past four years looking at 40 previous studies.
They found that the two most powerful choices we can make to stay healthy are:
- Not smoking, and
- Being fit and active.
We all know that health and exercise go hand in hand.
They found that the benefits of walking are universal – helping ALL age groups, and both men and women.
Followed by:
- Healthy eating and
- Not being overweight.
A healthy diet and not being overweight come in at number 3 and 4.
The study indicated that “regular moderate physical activity” could be quantified as 150 minutes a week – which can logically be broken down into 30 minutes of brisk walking or cycling or any other exercise, five days a week. This, according to the study is enough to decrease your risk of heart disease and stroke.
There is also growing evidence that this sort of daily exercise could lower your risk of developing dementia as you get older.
Other benefits include a reduced risk of (among others):
- osteoporosis,
- type 2 diabetes,
- depression,
- obesity,
- high blood pressure and
- cancer.
When it comes to cancer, exercising for longer would lower your risk even more.
Here are a couple of interesting research findings (from the International Journal of Clinical Practice) regarding the health benefits of walking:
- there is a strong relationship between increased physical activity and reduced colon cancer in both men and women
- there is a higher rate of prostate cancer in men who work a sedentary job (sitting behind a desk) than in men who are more active in their job
- a cancer sufferer will recover faster, and have a better chance of survival if they are physically active
So, it goes without saying. Turn off that telly or playstation. Get up off that couch. Wrap up warm. And go for a thirty minute walk. Or go and play bat and ball on the beach. Or go to the gym. Let’s all get walking the way to health!
It could save your life!
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How much water a day should I drink?
We all know that drinking enough water is all important to good health. But how much is enough?Here are a few guidelines to ensure you are drinking enough fluids:
It may sound like a simple question: “how much water a day should I drink?”. But the answer is FAR from simple. You see – there are SO many variables – which include your current state of health, how active you are, and even where you live.
Water is your body’s principal chemical component. It makes up a huge 60% of your body weight. Amongst other things, water flushes out toxins from vital organs like the liver, kidneys, it transports nutrients to all your cells, and it provides the moist environment your ear, nose and throat tissues need to survive.
Why do we need water? A lack of water results in dehydration. Dehydration happens when you don’t drink enough water for your body to do what it’s meant to do. Just being slightly dehydrated will make you tired, and sap your energy.
Staying hydrated isn’t as simple as drinking a glass of water when you wake up. Remember, you’re losing water all the time – through your urine and bowel movements, in perspiration, and even through your breath. To enable your body to function properly, you need to replace this lost water throughout the day – by drinking beverages and eating foods that contain water.
I’m sure you’ve all heard your mothers say that you should drink 8 glasses of water a day. Well, that’s the ballpark amount needed by “a healthy adult living in a temperate climate”. That’s the recommended daily water intake – but I’ve often wondered how that amount was calculated.
After researching the topic – I found that this is based on what is known as “the replacement approach”. The average urine output for adults is roughly one and a half litres or six and a half cups. You lose another litre (four cups) though perspiration etc as described above. Food usually accounts for 20 percent of your total fluid consumption, so if you drink 2 litres (8 cups) a day you should replace the fluids you’ve lost.
The Institute of Medicine, however, advises that men consume roughly 3 litres a day and women 2.2 litres a day. That about 13 and 9 cups respectively.
Remember, these guidelines are for a healthy person living in a temperate climate. And you might recall that I stated that how much fluid you need depends on your current state of health, how active you are, and even where you live.
Here are a couple of examples:
I live in Cape Town. When I visit Durban (where it’s constantly humid) I need to drink a lot more to stop me from feeling exhausted, and lethargic.
When I do regular exercise, I need to drink more water or I end up with leg cramps and a headache.
When I was pregnant, I drank a lot more than usual, and breastfeeding had me feeling constantly thirsty and I was drinking up to 4 litres a day.
So, how much water a day should we drink?
For me – the best formula is to drink enough fluid so that you rarely feel thirsty. Ensure that you’re producing enough urine (over 1.5 litres a day), and make sure that your urine is colourless or only slightly yellow.
Happy water drinking!!!
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How to do daily make-up
I’m really a go natural kind of girl!I do wear make-up every day, but only a little! It takes me 5 minutes in the morning to put on my daily make-up, and can take me from feeling drab to feeling fab in just that little bit of time.
Here are my top make-up tips when it comes to make-up for a fresh, natural look.
How to do natural make-up:
1. Only put base/concealer where you need it – you’ll end up with a much more natural look. And make sure you’re using the right colour. I personally prefer a good tinted moisturiser. Remember to always moisturise first. A good primer also gives you a much smoother look.
2. How to apply lipstick: Professionals will tell you to use a lipliner (to avoid your lipstick running) and then painting lipstick on with a brush. This is a great idea for first thing in the morning – use a lipliner similar to your lip colour. But honestly, throughout the day – who has time to touch up with a brush? Put in some time and effort to find a nice neutral lipstick that really suits your skintone, and one that moisturises your lips at the same time. Although I’ve heard that the big lip trend for winter is dramatic, bold red lips – again, make sure that you get the right shade of red for your skintone!
3. A lick of mascara really opens up your eyes. I prefer a lengthening mascara – but I know that some people prefer a thickening mascara.
4. A bit of blusher or bronzer on the apple of your cheeks makes you look healthy but don’t overdo it or you might end up looking more like a clown!
5. How to apply eyeshadow? If you want to wear eyeshadow – choose a neutral colour and put a little onto your ring finger, and rub it onto the outer corner of your eyelid in small circular motions – you end up with a natural shadow. (A highly succesful make-up artist taught me this trick – thanks Algria!)
6. If you have oily or shiny skin – a good mattefying powder is worth it’s weight in gold.
So those were a couple of quick make-up tips for how I get natural looking make-up!
I’m a MAC devotee all the way!! And they offer a wonderful service where they’ll give you a professional make-over, and then if you buy two of the suggested products, they won’t charge you for the make-over. So what I do is book to have my make-up done before I go out (which happens every now and then!!!) and then I buy two products. That way I get my make-up done for free! What a deal!
Happy face painting!!
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Gac fruit – the most potent antioxidant
Gac fruit – full of antioxidants: You’ve probably never heard the word “Gac” before. It’s a strange word, isn’t it? Sounds a bit icky!! But regardless, it’s the name of a fruit you should take note of. Gac fruit is full of antioxidants.
The Gac Fruit is scientifically known as Momordica cochinchinensis. This beautiful, but strange looking bright red fruit with its soft spines sticking up all over is originally from Vietnam, but is now cultivated throughout China and Southeast Asia. It is also known as Chinese bitter cucumber, cundeamor and bhat karela. It’s not the scary spiney bit that’s eaten, but rather the soft squidgy intestine-like deep red inside.
Why is it a fruit you should take note of? Well, it on one of the best antioxidants around. It’s REALLY rich in beta-carotene, lycopene and zeanthin – antioxidants. You may recognise lycopene as the antioxidant found in tomatoes – making them red, and really healthy. Well, gac fruit has 70 times more lycopene than found in tomatoes. Gac fruit also contains the highest concentration of beta carotene of any fruit or vegetable – containing 10 times more than carrots. That’s why it’s used to make the powerful gac fruit supplement – full of antioxidants.
As a traditional medicine (because of the high content of antioxidants) gac fruit is used to treat conditions of the eyes, burns, skin problems and wounds. The juice of the fruit is consumed as a health juice that is good for the eyes, immunity, reproduction, skin, heart health, and the prostate.
Let’s look at some of the benefits of the gac fruit antioxidants:
- EYE HEATH – Zeanthin encourages eye health by protecting the tissues of the eyes against exposure to ultraviolet rays, and helps to reduce oxidation of eye tissue; beta-carotene also contributes to eye health by reducing the risk of blindness and helping to maintain good night vision.
- IMMUNE SYSTEM – Beta-carotene enhances the immune system by turning into vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A helps in the healthy development of white blood cells, including lymphocytes, which are important “foot soldiers” of the immune system, allowing the body to fight against illness and disease.
- REPRODUCTION – Beta-carotene enhances the production of sperm. And vitamin A is also a key nutrient playing an important role in healthy embryonic development.
- SKIN – both lycopene and beta-carotene contribute to better looking and healthier skin by reducing oxidative damage in tissues. One way to understand this is to think of oxidation as “rusting” and these two antioxidants prevent it!
- HEART HEALTH – the combination of anti-oxidants prevents the hardening of the arteries (also known as atherosclerosis). Both lycopene and beta-carotene protect the body against the risk of heart attack.
- PROSTATE HEALTH – lycopene is known to reduce benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) – in lay man’s terms – enlargement of the prostate. Studies also show that lycopene reduces the risk of prostate cancer.
INTERESTING STUDIES ON GAC FRUIT ANTIOXIDANTS
- A Japanese study (reported in the International Journal of Oncology) suggested that Gac fruit may be a cancer-fighter. During this laboratory study, a water extract of the fruit inhibited the growth of certain tumour cells. This does not prove that Gac fruit is a cancer cure, but it almost certainly will help to reduce the risk of some types of cancer. Currently more scienctific research on the anti-cancer properties of Gac fruit is being conducted.
- As mentioned above, Gac fruit contains an unusually high concentration of beta-carotene. This makes it valuable in preventing and treating vitamin A deficiency. A study was conducted on Vietnamese children. Their level of vitamin A in their blood plasma was read before and after consumption of Gac fruit extract. A marked increase was noted after supplementation. This finding is HUGE. In many developing countries vitamin A deficiency is epidemic in proportion. This deficiency leads to poor night vision, blindness, reduced ability to fight infections, higher rates of maternal mortality, poor embryonic growth, and reduced lactation. Supplementation with Gac fruit extract can alleviate chronic vitamin A deficiency, and help to reduce all these health problems.
Now, I can see you all jumping into your cars to rush off to Fruit & Veg or the Woolies us the road to go and buy a couple of Gac Fruit full of antioxidants. Well, you’re not going to find it!!
However if you’d like to experience the immense health benefits of this fruit – why not try our G3 Gac Juice. You drink a tot a day, and even my two year old daughter loves it. Our company is so certain that this product works that they even offer a money back guarantee!
But remember to register/get started first to secure your 30% wholesale discount. Or contact nicolette@yourface.co.za if you have any questions.
Gac fruit – the best antioxidant you get!
