Healthful Tip of the Week:
1/14/12 Keep your body moist!
I was once told that after the age of 28 I was in a losing battle with keeping my body moisturized, especcially with my body constitution. Living with a wood burning stove blazing two feet from my head every night also contributes greatly to the dessication of the cells of every last drop of moisture. One sure way to keep yourself in balance and hydrate your cells (which means less likely to get sick) is to moisturize with oil and not just water based moisturizers. If you have a heated room get some raw sesame oil and give yourself a brief massage prior to jumping in the bath, your winter body will thank you!
12/17/11: A dose of goodness in a time of illness. Virus Protection
This is a wonderful remedy for the early stages of any illness. I have been having a dose of apple cider vinegar with a half teaspoon of manuka honey and a dash of hot water to get it into solution. The mixture of the anti-bacterial nature of the manuka, with the honey and the general goodness of apple cider packs a good punch against any fledgling virus.
Many of us have heard of meat iron versus vegetable iron and how the vegetable iron that we consume may not be as easy to assimilate as meat iron which is why you often times need more of it. One quick and easy way to reduce your meat intake whilst still getting the proper iron in your diet is to educate your vegetable iron.
By educate I mean, that by placing just a small amount of red meat into a vegetable side dish, you can essentially transform or teach the Vegetable iron to become as digestible as meat iron, that way you get more iron assimilated even with vegetables like spinach and kale. Good Deal. Next they will be handing our scholarships...
10/17/2011: Three lovely herbs for every morning to start your day off right.
* Nettle - I put a small fistful of dried leaves (make sure they are properly dried and still won't sting you if you process yourself) in a 64oz french press and fill it with boiling water before I go to bed. In the morning I boil the kettle and do a couple of half and half glasses to warm and dilute the infusion.
* Oatstraw - Wonderfully nourishing. Prepare much the same a nettle but the longer you steep it the more likely it is to go off so drink it all in one go.
* Comfrey - Again a great nutritive - though I usually only have it once a week. It is great to add another herb like mint to this one to make it taste a little better. Wash and dry the leaves from your garden and crackle a little into a french press and seep for about 20 minutes.
10/10/2011: Change of seasons!
Always a time of difficulty in keeping your immunity strong and fighting off all of those nasty colds. Here are tips for the all sorts:
1. Start by boosting your immunity with some Echinacea tincture when ever you feel your system is fighting to keep up with your movement and the season change.
2. If you are plagued with a stuffy nose then steep some Fenugreek (available in most spice sections) about 2 Tbs in a glass of hot water and steep for ten minutes covered, it will dry out those sinuses easily.
3. Make sure to limit hot showers, prolonged exposure to wind or heavy traveling as it is bound to aggravate your Vata dosha (wind) which is most vulnerable this time of year and leads to dry skin and difficulty sleeping often times.
4. Lubricate your skin with hot raw sesame oil in a warm room. Self-massages are wonderful too!
5. Keep up a meditation practice to ground yourself and keep yourself in balance.
