We eat a ton of fruit in our home, each week we pick up the freshest local organic fruit that we can find. There are fruit that we purchase even if it isn’t local, for instance, pomegranates.
My mom loves pomegranates and I remember being a little girl and her giving me half of a pomegranate. I remember thinking it was a very odd fruit and I wasn’t sure that I would like it. However, I loved it.
Eben has been eating pomegranates since he was a toddler and whenever we go marketing he always asks if we can get them. TIP: If you cut/peel it in a bowl of water, there is no mess! Delicious and amazing!
Last weekend, we stopped at Costco on our way home from Boulder. Costco had a crate of six giant pomegranates for $12. Wow! A bargain, compared to the $5 a pomegranate that we pay at our local fancy grocery store. They are giant too, about the size of a softball.
Americans consume about 1.3 pounds of honey per person per year. And while most think of the substance as nothing more than a sweet treat, there are actually a surprising number of health benefits of honey that many people overlook. Here are just a few reasons to consider adding honey to your winter healthcare regimen.
Cleans Wounds
It’s no secret that winter weather often comes with an unavoidable and imminent risk of slipping and falling on an icy sidewalk or driveway. Fortunately, the healing powers of honey can work to help you recover from any cuts or scrapes you may have after a fall or other minor injury. While it’s not a miracle cure, it’s antimicrobial properties can help keep wounds clean and heal them faster.
How exactly can you use honey to treat a wound? It’s easier than you think.
“After cleaning the wound, put honey on one side of gauze or a clean cloth, and lay it onto the wound. Or pour a thin film of honey directly onto the wound and put the gauze over that. Either way, seal the honey in with surgical or duct tape on the edges of the bandage. Clean and repeat twice a day,” explains Commonsensehome.com.
Can Improve Oral Health
Many people may be shocked to hear that despite honey’s sugar content, it still has positive oral health benefits. That’s right — the honey present in sugar does not harm your teeth — that is, as long as it’s 100% raw honey. Anything less is almost certain to be mixed with high fructose corn syrup, which is known to cause cavities like other sweeteners.
Raw honey, however, can be used as a form of tooth decay prevention in addition to treating gum disease. According to an AACD survey, virtually all adults (99.7%) surveyed believe a healthy smile is socially important, but it’s undoubtedly medically important as well. And fortunately, certain types of honey are known for their cavity prevention abilities as a result of their microbial properties.
Furthermore, if you have an infection or inflamed area in your mouth, honey can work its antibacterial magic to ease pain and discomfort associated with the infection and help to flush out the bad bacteria that caused it.
Don’t Forget…
Unfortunately, not all honey is created equal. The key to reaping these fantastic health benefits of honey is investing in the right type of honey. As mentioned earlier, it has to be completely raw honey with no fillers such as high fructose corn syrup. Ultra-filtrated honey should also be avoided, since the process of refining it removes many of its healing properties.
Finally, it’s ideal to know exactly where your honey comes from. Always try to buy locally to ensure that your honey is not being altered or processed in any way.
According to current data, the U.S. needs about 52,000 more primary care physicians by 2025 to meet our healthcare needs, and even though honey isn’t necessarily a miracle cure, you never know if it could save you a trip to a healthcare professional this season. Of course, for more severe injuries and health issues, it’s always best to consult a doctor before attempting any DIY treatments.
While it can be easy to spend the summer grazing on healthy fruits and veggies, winter does not lend itself quite as nicely to a fresh foods diet. As the weather turns chilly, people often turn to high-carbohydrate and starchy foods. And without the necessary balance of nutrients, the body can be prone to more inflammation. For the 50 million people who have arthritis especially, this can be painful and can lead to further health conditions.
“There are times when inflammation actually helps us,” Dawna Stone writes in Mind Body Green. “For example, it can be the body’s natural response to eliminate or repair an injury or the body’s response to harmful bacteria. But when things get out of balance and inflammation becomes chronic, it can increase the risk of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and rheumatoid arthritis and cause symptoms like fatigue and joint pain.”
Fortunately, winter is not totally void of inflammation-fighting foods. The following are some seasonal ingredients that you can cook with to boost your health this season.
Brussels Sprouts These bunches of green goodness are packed with both fiber and vitamin C. They are also rich in glucosinolate and folate, so they can fight inflammation while keeping you healthier overall. Roast them in the oven to eat as a side or toss them in a salad.
Kale This superfood has earned its name, offering high doses of vitamins A, C, B6, and K. By munching on these leaves, you are also helping your body’s ability to eliminate free radicals. Try kale raw or cooked in any of your favorite winter dishes.
Butternut Squash When it comes to eating the rainbow, butternut squash is one of the best ways to get the color orange. Full of fiber, as well as vitamins A and C, this sweet seasonal veggie can add antioxidants and fiber to your diet.
Turnips While these root veggies may not frequent your dishes, turnips are a tasty way to maintain a low cholesterol diet. They also offer a boost of Vitamin C, which can help protect your immune system this season. Don’t just stop at the root though; turnip greens are tasty as well.
Citrus Stock up on oranges this time of year. These juicy fruits are in season during the Winter, giving you all the more reason to get your full supply of vitamin C.
By combining anti-inflammatory foods with other care methods, you can control your join pain and other aspects of your health this winter. For example, about 89% of consumers cite massage as an effective pain-management technique. Remember that much of your own well being is in your hands, so try various methods out until you feel your best.
Pre-pandemic, up to 50% of the U.S. workforce held a job compatible with remote work. Now, millions of Americans are working from work for the first time. While working from home can certainly make you more productive, it can also take a toll on your health and wellbeing. The lack of physical boundaries between the domestic and the professional can leave you thinking about work when you should be relaxing.
To help give you back some self-control over your wellbeing, here are a few ways you can boost your health and wellness even while working away in your quarantined hobbit-hole.
1. Get your greens in
When you’re working from home, it’s all too easy to forego making a healthy lunch. Instead, you might find yourself reaching for ready-to-go snacks that are high in salt or sugar content so you can quickly get back to work instead of taking the time to really get in the vitamins and nutrients you need for the day. To maintain your health and improve your mood, make sure that you’re not treating your meals like a chore. Opt for organic fruits and vegetables that are good for you that will help your body thrive. Organic veggies also make for great snack options so instead of nabbing a bag of chips or a granola bar on your way to your desk, grab a bag of baby carrots or some cut celery instead.
2. Set up a designated work area
You don’t necessarily need to set up a home office when you’re working at home. But you should definitely have a designated work area. The reason for this is that, once you move away from your work area, you’ll be able to relax. If your work area is also your relaxation area, then thoughts about work will continue to plague you as you try to read or watch Netflix. A designated workspace also helps you keep your professional work organized. Storage and data security are important and you don’t want to mix up work notes with your out-of-work to-do lists.
3. Take active breaks
It’s all too easy to forget about taking a break when you’re working from home, especially if your home is plenty comfortable and cozy. But it’s important to remember that your body needs some rest from sitting for so long. Throughout the day, remember to get up and stretch. Doing a few strengthening exercises during those breaks can also help to get the blood pumping.
4. Avoid work communication during non-work hours
If you have flexible hours, you might feel the urge to use them to stay on the clock on certain days longer than you originally planned to respond to emails and stay in correspondence with co-workers. However, those emails will still be there during the next business day. Remember to clock out of your work mindset at the end of the workday and don’t give in to urges to keep going. Your rest is important.
5. Use a calming app at the end of the workday
When you’re working from home, it can be tricky to separate the professional and the domestic even when you have a separate work area. Consider using an app like Headspace or another calming meditation app to help put your mind at ease after you clock out for the day. Even if you meditate just for a few minutes, the small transition will help you leave your work on the table instead of carrying it with you throughout the rest of the day. Just be sure to check app reviews before you download anything new as some apps have recently been removed from Apple App stores and Google Play.
It can be challenging to help ease your mind and keep your body happy when you’re working from home. By following the tips above, you can help to boost your health and wellness even while remote working.
Feeling stressed out? Feel like you need a break, but can’t find the time to take one? Here are some simple green tips to help you let go of the stress you are feeling, relax, and say awwww. I do at least one of these things every day, usually more and it really helps to keep my stress level down and positive energy up.
* Grab a steaming cup of coffee, tea, chai, or cocoa and find somewhere cozy and quiet to enjoy just one cup. I start my day with a nice cup of decaf coffee and then have a cup of tea at the end of my workday and it always relaxes me.
* Spend 30 minutes doing an outside activity that you love. Some of our favorites {Jayson and I}are stopping at the driving range to hit a bucket of balls, going for a bike ride, gardening, or taking a walk by the stream. We try to do at least one of these things every night after dinner.
* Spend at least 20 minutes a day getting some type of exercise. My favorites are aerobics, yoga, cycling, and swimming. I exercise every day because I have found it to be the one thing that has the largest impact on my mental and physical well being.
* Take a soothing bath with a relaxing essential oil such as lavender. I don’t do this nearly as often as I would like, maybe once a month because I worry about wasting so much water, therefore it isn’t relaxing for me.
* Curl up in a nice cozy spot with a good book, journal, or your iPod and unwind. Jayson and I read every night and it is much more relaxing than watching TV.
* Enjoy a nice glass of biodynamic or Organic wine on your patio or outside space. My favorites wines are Jayson’s Homemade Wine, Parducci’s, and Quivira Vineyards.
* Snuggle up with your favorite furry friend or loved one. Olive our French Bulldog is excellent for this, bulldogs think they are lap dogs and love to cuddle, Jayson is pretty good at this as well.
* Spend 15 minutes meditating. Find somewhere quiet, sit, breath slowing (in and out through your nose) and clear your mind of all of the stresses of the current day, this is excellent for relaxation.
How do you relax and free yourself from stress? What have you found to be the most relaxing activity that you do?
