Health

Coconut Oil Uses

We all know that coconut oil is immensely beneficial for our skin and hair. However, what we didn’t know is that there are a number of explanations justifying this claim. Right from moisturizing dry and flaky skin to treating frizzy hair, coconut oil has a number of benefits. The natural element of the oil has a wide array of therapeutic and beauty-enhancing properties. Moreover, coconut oil is also used as a component in various hair care and skincare products. Here are a few benefits of coconut oil you can enjoy at home.

Coconut Oil Uses For Hair

For Dry Hair

Coconut has a fatty acid structure, which penetrates into the hair roots. So, if you feel your hair is dry or is prone to break, manage it with coconut oil as an overnight treatment.

For this, you need to take virgin coconut oil and apply it to your hair, starting from the roots to the ends. Next, comb your hair with a wide-tooth comb and tie your hair in a ponytail.

In the morning, wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner.

For Puffy Hair

When you feel your hair is puffy, take a small amount of coconut oil on your fingers and run it through your hair to keep fizziness at bay.

In addition, if you are in a pool or at the beach, it is likely that your hair will become a little tangled. So at times like these, it’s best to leave coconut oil in your hair, as it saves your hair from the scorching sun, chlorine, and saltwater.

It also keeps your hair conditioned.

Coconut Oil Uses For Skin

For Lips

During the winter season, our lips get dry, so to moisten your dry lips, apply coconut and then rinse it off. Again, apply a little coconut oil to your lips to keep them moist and soft for a longer period.

For Legs, Feet, And Heels

Coconut oil has natural anti-fungal and antibacterial properties, which makes it the perfect ingredient to prevent infections and fungus. Therefore, apply coconut oil to keep your legs, feet, and heels moisturized. To keep your feet smooth and fungus-free, use the oil every day.

In Pedicures

Coconut oil is also good for pedicures.

• Take half a jar of coconut oil and add two tablespoons of honey and one tablespoon of sugar.
• Mix all three ingredients until the sugar is immersed completely in the oil.
• Take a spoonful of the scrub and rub it on your legs and feet to exfoliate your skin.

By doing this, you will take away the dead skin and smoothen your cracked heels and rough spots.

How To Burn Calories Fast | Calorie Burning Exercises At Home

Do you hate to go to the gym but wish to burn your extra body fat? Moreover, do you feel uncomfortable in a room filled with people exercising on treadmills and free weights? Well, here’s some good news for you. We’ve prepared a list of a few yet effective exercises that you can do right in the comfort of home to help you shed some extra kilos. So instead of wasting money on a gym membership, you can now benefit from the health advantages you will gain by doing these simple exercises that require no equipment or trainer.

1. Plank Exercise

The plank is a static exercise and requires no equipment, as the body remains in one position. This exercise strengthens muscles of your upper torso and lower body that include your arms, shoulders, and glutes.

• Position yourself as if you are about to do a push-up.
• Align your neck and spine by gazing at a spot on the floor.
• Try to withhold this position for 20 seconds and gradually increase the duration as you get comfortable with this position.

The longer you hold this position, the better your abs will be, as you can shed extra fat with ease, without any treadmill or dumbbells!

2. Bicycle Exercise

You do not need to buy a fancy bicycle or worry about the space it may take in your home, as you can ride an imaginary bicycle!

• Just lie down on the floor and keep your hands either behind your head or by your sides.
• Bend your knees after you lift them off the ground.
• Bring your right knee closer to your chest as you keep your left leg away.
• Later bring your left leg closer to a chest and keep your right leg away – continue repeating these movements as if you are riding a bicycle.

3. Crunches

As crunches involve stretching of the abdominal muscles, you can have great abs and a toned physique in no time.

• Lie down on the floor with your feet on the ground and your knees bent.
• Keep your hands behind your head or crossed on your chest.
• After inhaling deeply, lift your upper torso and exhale slowly.
• As you get back to your original position, inhale again and exhale while you come up.
• Repeat this ten times if you are a beginner and increase the number gradually as you get used to it.

Note: Before you jump straight into the exercise, you need to do some warmup to build up your heart rate. Therefore, consider jogging or a light sprint for at least one minute.

Benefits Of Meditation

Meditation is a process of rewiring your brain and training your mind to have power over your thoughts. Many see it as a way to reduce stress and concentrate. People also rely on meditation to develop other beneficial habits and feelings like positive mood and outlook, self-discipline, healthy sleep patterns and even increased pain tolerance. Let’s look at some health benefits of meditation that are backed by science! Also, check out the myths about meditation.

Among approximately 1,300 people in another study, it was shown that meditation could reduce stress. This effect was powerful in individuals with the highest stress levels. Research has shown that meditation can also improve stress-related symptoms like:

• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Fibromyalgia
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Heart disease

1. Combat Stress

Increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol are caused by mental and physical stress. It causes many of the adverse effects of stress, such as releasing chemicals called cytokines that facilitate inflammation. These effects can interfere with sleep, encourage depression. Anxiety, increase blood pressure contributes to tiredness and cloudy thinking. In an eight-week study, the inflammation response caused by stress was reduced by a meditation style called ‘mindfulness meditation.’

2. Improves Self Consciousness

Many meditation types help you develop a better self-understanding, allowing you to evolve into your best self. Meditation may also cultivate more creative problem-solving. Self-inquiry meditation, for example, explicitly aims to help you develop greater self-understanding and how you relate to those around you. Moreover, certain meditation types also help you recognize thoughts that might be negative or encourage you to lose yourself. The idea is that, as you become more aware of your habits of thinking, you can guide them towards more constructive patterns.

A study of 21 women fighting breast cancer showed that their self esteem increased more than it did in those attending social support sessions when they participated in a tai chi program. In another report, 40 senior men and women taking a mindfulness-awareness course experienced decreased feelings of isolation relative to a control group put on the program’s waiting list.

3. Reduced Memory Loss Associated With Age

Improvements in mindfulness and clarity can help to keep your mind young. Kirtan Kriya is a meditation technique that incorporates a mantra or chant with repeated finger movement to concentrate thoughts. This increased the capacity of participants to perform memory tasks in multiple studies of memory loss associated with age.

In addition, a study of 12 studies found that in older participants, different types of meditation improved focus, memory and cognitive pace. In addition to preventing normal memory loss associated with age meditation can improve memory in patients with dementia at least partially. It can also help control anxiety and improve the ability to cope with dementia in family members.

4. Helps In Developing Kindness

Some forms of meditation can increase positive feelings and actions towards yourself and others. Metta, a kind of meditation also known as a meditation on loving-kindness, begins to develop kind thoughts and feelings towards yourself. With practice, people learn to express outwardly this compassion and acceptance, first towards family, then towards acquaintances, and finally towards enemies.

Twenty-two studies of this form of meditation have shown their ability to increase the empathy of people for themselves and others. Here are the other things it does…

• Increases positive emotions
• Decreases chronic pain
• Increases gray matter volume
• Activates empathy and emotional processing of the brain
• Decreases your biases towards other people
• Makes you a more helpful person

5. Assists In Conquering Addictions

The mental discipline that you can build through meditation helps you to break down attachments by building self-control and encourages you to get rid of addictive behaviors. Evidence has shown that meditation can help people learn to focus their attention, increase their willpower, control their emotions and desires, and improve their awareness of the triggers of their addictive behavior.

A study that taught 19 alcoholics how to meditate found that participants receiving the training we’re getting better at controlling their cravings and stress related to cravings.

What Are The Benefits Of Eating Seasonal Foods

Health experts often say that you should eat seasonally or include foods in your diet grown at the same season of the year. Eating seasonally offers you a lot of health benefits. It may appear simple because you eat grown and harvested foods at the time of year when they are full in flavor. However, there is more to it, and here we explain how you can reap the complete benefits of eating seasonally with a seasonal food list. In case, you are looking for some greens, here are Indian leafy vegetables.

What Are Seasonal Foods?

Foods produced at certain times of the year when they are ready to harvest and are high in flavor. These foods are called seasonal as they grow well and are perfect for eating in the respective seasons. The seasonality of these foods can either be the Seasonality of global or local. Globally seasonal foods are naturally produced and consumed anywhere in the world. Locally seasonal are produced and consumed only in specific climatic zones.

Benefits Of Eating Seasonal Foods

• Seasonal foods are freshly produced. Therefore, it tastes good and always fresh.
• Seasonal foods can also enhance the taste of recipes because of their rich flavor and taste.
• In season you buy foods at the peak of their supply, and hence you can save money in your grocery store.
• Freshly produced seasonal foods retain their phytonutrients, pigments, and anti-oxidants, providing nutrition at its best.
• Seasonal foods will be low in pesticides and other contaminants as the production is fresh and easy to grow.
• Seasonal foods can be bought in good quantity and stored for later use to prevent any contamination.
• Seasonal fruits are equipped with their own benefits that nature has provided; for instance, winter provides comfort foods to keep us warm. It also provides Vitamin-C-rich foods to prevent colds and infections; summer provides foods to prevent damage from heat.
• Seasonal foods support and encourage local farming that reduces environmental damage and supports local farmers.

Seasonal Food List

Seasonal Foods Examples

Few Of The Seasonal Foods And Its Benefits

Melons In Summer

During the summer season, we often sweat up due to heat, and it may cause dehydration. Hence, restoring fluid balance in the body is very important. Here melons can come to your rescue as melons are the best-to-eat foods in summer; watermelon is available in summer to quench your thirst as it contains 92 percent of water. Eating watermelon regularly in summer will keep you well hydrated. Watermelon fills you up as it is rich in fiber too; hence eat watermelon before you step out to prevent sun damage. Apart from being rich in Vitamin A and C, watermelon is also rich in minerals, boosting your electrolyte balance.

Pumpkins In Monsoon

Monsoon means rainy season, the weather is cold and wet, and special care should be taken in eating foods. Monsoon brings the risk of viral and bacterial infections that can make you sick. So, you need to prefer to eat home foods, and they should be freshly consumed. Pumpkins are rich in vitamin A and fiber, which can be a nutritious food to eat during monsoons as they provide satiety, Vitamin C in pumpkins can help ward off colds and coughs during monsoons.

Oranges In Winter

Although the weather is quite pleasant in winter, it also affects our metabolism and immunity as winter brings many infections. Hence eating a variety of fresh winter vegetables and fruits build strength and provide immunity.

Oranges are rich in Vitamin C and are low in calories; Oranges in winter can be comfort food as they provide satiety with their fiber. Oranges are loaded with flavonoids which can fight inflammations and infections in winter. Being rich in collagen also makes it a healthy food for the skin and can help us get rid of dry skin in winter.

Tomatoes In Autumn

Diet in the autumn season should be lighter, slightly bitter, and sweet as the autumn season brings different mood swings. Tomatoes are full of energy and loaded with anti-oxidants; they improve digestion and help prevent many diseases such as cancers and heart diseases. They also improve eye and skin health.

Spring Onions In Spring

Eating easily digestible foods during spring can help in keeping the body healthy and fit.

Spring onions are a good source of Vitamin-C, chromium, and dietary fiber. They are easy on the stomach and can help in deworming in kids.

They can be an excellent medicine to fight flu and reduce excess mucus due to their antibacterial and antifungal properties. Since they are rich in carotenoids, club these with cucumbers and carrots to get enough vitamin A for your eyes. They also taste great when consumed in the form of salads.

Important Advice

• Eating only seasonal foods may not be possible every time; however, making sure to include them whenever possible is a boon to your health. 
• Freezing seasonal foods is a good idea to include them any time of the year by adding them to soups or smoothies.

Foods produced at certain times of the year when they are ready to harvest and are high in flavor are called seasonal foods as they grow well and are perfect for eating in the respective seasons.

4 Myths About Meditation You Have To Stop Believing

In this fast-paced life, we hardly find time to take a break from our work. This increases stress and eventually triggers various health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, subtracting years from our lives. In this scenario, is it possible to reduce stress levels and regain good health? Well, meditation is the solution we should be looking out for, as it enhances our well-being. However, despite the unlimited health benefits of meditation, many myths revolve around the practice of meditation, which needs to be stopped right away.

MYTH#1 Meditation Has To Be Spiritual Or Religious

A sizable number of people have a common misconception that meditation is for religious people. It is necessary to be associated with any spiritual or religious group to gain the benefits of meditation.

In fact, Meditation is a practice that makes us enter a place of silence and stillness.

A person need not have any religious belief to meditate because meditation strives to enhance the lives of every human being irrespective of their caste or religion.

MYTH#2 “A Few Weeks Of Meditation Will Solve My Problems”

Meditation will not bring good changes right away, but regular practice will surely bring positive changes, which are very subtle to notice.

If you have recently adopted Meditation in your routine and are desperate to have quick results, it would be wise to have patience as it requires time to reap its benefits. Meditation surely gives you peace of mind and immense patience to fight any problem.

MYTH#3 It Takes Years Of Practice To Receive Benefits

The benefits of meditation can be both immediate and long-term. You may experience the benefits of sitting for meditation for the first time and within the first few days of regular practice.

Several studies also prove that mediation has positive effects on the mind and body. The positive effects can be seen within a few weeks of practice. It also positively affects the areas of the brain associated with memory and concentration.

MYTH#4 Meditation Is Only for Stressed Out People

Meditation is indeed a boon for stressed-out people as it helps reduce the level of cortisol, the stress hormone that triggers various health disorders.

However, for those who do not have any ailment, meditation helps enhance physical and mental health, as it keeps the risk of heart disease at bay and improves immunity.