Easing Stress

The Micro Break
For a few seconds, close your eyes, unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders (let them drop towards the floor) and breathe out loudly. You can do it for longer but bear in mind that it's more effective to have several short breaks than one long one.

Release Your Anger
Stand up, take a cushion, close your eyes and imagine you are putting all your anger / tensions / annoyance into the cushion. Then breathe out loudly while throwing the cushion at the floor. Repeat twice more. On the third time, keep your eyes closed and experience your feelings. When you are ready, breathe out, rub your hands and open your eyes.

Goldfish Breathing
To release tension and energise the body, breathe in through the nose and open your mouth as wide as is comfortable. Exhale slowly and gently until the lungs are completely empty, and allow the inhale to come naturally. Breather normally for a few minutes, then repeat the 'open mouth' breath again. Do this four or five times, opening the jaw a little wider each time. 

Happy Thoughts
Think of your happiest memory and visualise every detail - the place, sounds, smells and colours. Keep this at the forefront of your mind as you relax.

Good Housekeeping issue August 2013

Iron Absorption

Iron is a mineral needed by our bodies. Iron is a part of all cells and does many things. For example, iron (as part of the protein hemoglobin) carries oxygen from our lungs throughout our bodies. Having too little hemoglobin is called anaemia. Iron also helps our muscles store and use oxygen.

Iron is a part of many enzymes and is used in many cell functions. Enzymes help our bodies digest foods and also help with many other important reactions that occur within our bodies. When our bodies don't have enough iron, many parts of our bodies are affected.

The best sources of iron in our diet are:

• Red meat
• Egg yolks
• Dark, leafy greens (spinach, cabbages, kale, broccoli)
• Dried fruit (prunes, raisins)
• Iron-enriched cereals and grains (check the labels)
• Molluscs (oysters, clams, scallops)
• Turkey or chicken giblets
• Beans, lentils, chick peas and soybeans
• Liver
• Artichokes

And here's a tip: If you eat iron-rich foods along with foods (e.g. sweet peppers, orange juice, tomatoes) that provide plenty of vitamin C, your body can better absorb the iron. Conversely, avoid tea and coffee with meals as they lower iron absorption.

Ironing Tips

Avoiding shine
Often ironed garments can end up looking shiny, which is not a good look. Shine may be removed by steam pressing with a damp cloth. Too avoid getting shine, iron garments on the wrong side.

Baggy seats on skirts?
Press with a damp cloth, working towards the centre from the outer edge of the bagginess on the right side of the item. Then iron with kitchen paper.

Get rid of creases
Iron both sides at once. Slip a few layers of kitchen foil beneath your ironing board cover to reflect the heat - then wathc creases disappear.

Good Housekeeping

Probiotics

Probiotic yoghurts and drinks are marketed as aids to improve health and digestion. They contain high concentrations of digestion-aiding bacteria. However there is no evidence that they offer any real benefit unless you are unwell.

Within your bowels there are huge numbers of bacteria (about 100 trillion) that feed off the remnants of your last meal. They help digest your food, absorb nutrients and keep your immune system in tiptop shape. The types and amounts of different gut bacteria species are kept in a continuous balance. Occasionally, due to illness or a long course of antbiotics, the balance of gut bugs can be upset; some harmful types of gut bacteria can 'overgrow' and predominate, which can make you unwell. So for someone suffering diarrhoea due to antibiotics, probiotics, which contain high numbers of good bacteria, are proven as a useful treatment for replacing lost bacteria.

For pretty much everyone else, the balance of bacteria is likely to be fine, and adding extra from a probiotic will do nothing - though it won't do you any harm, either.

Dt Stuart Farrimond in the Wiltshire Times, 28 March 2014

Bright White

White coloured garments should not turn yellow if you keep them in a cool, dry ventilated place away form direct heat.

For sweat stains, soak in an enzyme pre-wash detergent, then scrub with a nailbrush and machine wash with biological detergent.

For stubborn stains, rub with White Wizard (from Lakeland).

Good Housekeeping