- Glycerine soap (e.g. Waitrose Organic)
- Shampoo bars (e.g. Lush Ultimate Shine and Lush Conditioner)
- Rock deodorant (e.g. Crystal travel size)
Friday, 10 October 2014
Travel Tips - Toiletries
The current ban / restrictions on liquids in hand luggage on air flights includes shower gel, shampoo, mascara and toothpaste, so try solid versions of these products instead.
Thursday, 9 October 2014
Courgettes
Sow: Indoors and plant out end of May or early June. Large plants - they can spread up to 3ft. Sow seed on edge and just cover; seedling will push seed out of compost, otherwise they will rot.
Aspect: very sensitive to frost. Do best with rich soil. Plant on slight mound so excess rain does not rot stem.
Care: Feed with dilute tomato feed once a week. Earleist flowers may need hand-pollination.
Water: Regularly - a weekly good soak is better than lesser daily amounts. Over-watering encourages leaf growth over fruit production.
Harvest:
Aspect: very sensitive to frost. Do best with rich soil. Plant on slight mound so excess rain does not rot stem.
Care: Feed with dilute tomato feed once a week. Earleist flowers may need hand-pollination.
Water: Regularly - a weekly good soak is better than lesser daily amounts. Over-watering encourages leaf growth over fruit production.
Harvest:
- Pick regularly to encourage cropping. If going away pick all flowers and fruits.
- Can freeze courgettes whole - use within 6 months.
- Over-abundant male flowers - pick when just open and remove stamen, wash and stuff, dip in a light batter and fry till golden. Good stuffings are (a) feta cheese & mint or (b) cooked rice, grated cheese & herbs.
Wednesday, 8 October 2014
Eye Problems
Dry Eyes are relatively common, especially if you forget to blink when concentrating on your work or computer screen. It can also be caused by reduced tear production; this becomes more common with increasing age. The standard treatment of lubricating eye drops known as artificial tears, can be successful but may need to be used frequently. Nutrition: increasing your intake of oily fish, or taking an omege 3 fish oil supplement may help.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a painless, progressive disorder associated with reduced levels of carotenoid pigments in the macula - the part of the retina responsible for fine vision. These yellow pigments, lutein and zeaxanthin, filter out harmful blue light and help to neutralise the damaging chemicals produced during light detection. Reduced pigment levels lead to increased cell damage and subsequently to a widening circle of visual distortion and even blindness. It typically obliterates words when you try to read and blanks out someone's face when you look straight at them. Nutrition: People with higher intakes of dietary sources of lutein (dark-green, yellow and orange fruit and vegetables) have at least a 60% loweer risk of developing AMD than those with low intakes. Lutein supplements (10mg daily - five times the average daily dietary intake) can improve vision for people with some forms of AMD.
Cataracts are opacity in the normally crystal clear eye lens, caused by changes in lens proteins (similar to those that turn cooked egg white from clear to cloudy) with increasing age. This results in blurring, sensitvity to sun glare, changes in colour perception and seeing haloes around light. Cataracts are worsened by exposure to ultraviolet light. Nutrition: People with higher intakes of antioxidents (especially vitamins C, E and lutein) are less likely to develop cataracts. Vitamin B2 helps to maintain eye levels of an important antioxidant 'glutathione', which may inhibit cataract formation.
Presbyopia is a form of long-sightedness that develops as part of the normal ageing process. Each eye lens thickens and becomes less elastic so it is increasingly difficult to focus on near objects. The first symptoms usually occur around age 45, when you may need to start wearing spectacles for close work such as reading or sewing.
Glaucoma is a condition in which fluid pressure in the eye is high enough to cause damage, compressing small blood vessels that nourish the optic nerve. It may lead to loss of vision or even blindness. The most common eye disorder in people over 60, and is responsible for 15% of blindness in the UK.
Dr Sarah Brewer in Healthspan magazine, September 2011
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a painless, progressive disorder associated with reduced levels of carotenoid pigments in the macula - the part of the retina responsible for fine vision. These yellow pigments, lutein and zeaxanthin, filter out harmful blue light and help to neutralise the damaging chemicals produced during light detection. Reduced pigment levels lead to increased cell damage and subsequently to a widening circle of visual distortion and even blindness. It typically obliterates words when you try to read and blanks out someone's face when you look straight at them. Nutrition: People with higher intakes of dietary sources of lutein (dark-green, yellow and orange fruit and vegetables) have at least a 60% loweer risk of developing AMD than those with low intakes. Lutein supplements (10mg daily - five times the average daily dietary intake) can improve vision for people with some forms of AMD.
Cataracts are opacity in the normally crystal clear eye lens, caused by changes in lens proteins (similar to those that turn cooked egg white from clear to cloudy) with increasing age. This results in blurring, sensitvity to sun glare, changes in colour perception and seeing haloes around light. Cataracts are worsened by exposure to ultraviolet light. Nutrition: People with higher intakes of antioxidents (especially vitamins C, E and lutein) are less likely to develop cataracts. Vitamin B2 helps to maintain eye levels of an important antioxidant 'glutathione', which may inhibit cataract formation.
Presbyopia is a form of long-sightedness that develops as part of the normal ageing process. Each eye lens thickens and becomes less elastic so it is increasingly difficult to focus on near objects. The first symptoms usually occur around age 45, when you may need to start wearing spectacles for close work such as reading or sewing.
Glaucoma is a condition in which fluid pressure in the eye is high enough to cause damage, compressing small blood vessels that nourish the optic nerve. It may lead to loss of vision or even blindness. The most common eye disorder in people over 60, and is responsible for 15% of blindness in the UK.
Dr Sarah Brewer in Healthspan magazine, September 2011
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
Blended Family Christmases
With divorce and remarriage families are now likely to include step-parents and step-children and half-siblings - resulting in the potential minefield of who sees who and when at Christmas. There are no solutions that fit all families, you'll need to find what works for your circumstances but here are some things to consider.
- Children stay with one of their parents from 24 December to 26 December and with the other from 29 December to New Year's Day, alternating the arrangement each year.
- Some years grandparents could join you, and others you might go visiting.
- Don't try and fit in visits to too many relatives in a short time, especially if this involves driving some distance.
- Treat children fairly - but this does not necessarily mean equally. Suggest a grandparent put money in a child's bank account rather than a wrapped present as this is less obvious to step-siblings.
- If you are celebrating Christmas Day on another day, suggest that visiting family with children keep back some of their presents to bring with them for unwrapping rather than just watch your children open lots of presents. (Do this yourselves if the situation is reversed.)
- Present yourselves as a whole family - send cards signed by all the step-children and gradually the wider family will treat you that way.
- Don't assume other people will know what to do - tell them. It is likely to still be an unfamilar situation for many people.
- Be realistic - don't attempt to spend Christmas Day with your or a partner's ex to please the children - it rarely works and the children will sense it.
Monday, 6 October 2014
Supplement Know How
DO
Timing: Most supplements are best taken immediately after food, to take advantage of secreted stomach acids (just a few bites will do). If you have not eaten for more than 20 minutes, wait until you have a snack/juice before taking them.
Timing: One-a-day vitamin and mineral supplements are usually best taken after your evening meal as repair processes are greatest at night but some are better at other times of the day.
+ Liquid: Wash supplements down with water or fruit juice. If the tablet is large, place on tongue lengthways to help swallowing. Using a sports bottle where you suck the liquid may also help.
+ Food: Take fat soluble supplements (e.g. co-enzyme Q10, evening primrose oil, fish oils and vitamins A, D, E and K) with food containing some fat (e.g. milk).
Size: Some tablets need to be quite large to supply adequate amounts of the nutrients. Many supplement companies now offer different systems such as liquids, soluble/chewable tablets and tasty bars, milkshakes or soups as alternatives
Storage: Supplements should normally be stored in a cool, dry place out of sight and reach of children. (Hot, humid places, such as the bathroom or kitchen, can cause the nutrients to start breaking down, though this is becoming less of a problem with the move to foil-sealed blister packs.)
DON'T
Timing: Don't take supplements with hot drinks (especially tea and coffee) as these can interfere with absorption and increase the loss of other minerals from the body. In the case of probiotics, heat can destroy the live micro-organisms.
Timing: Don't take fish oils in the morning before you have eaten as the essential fats will be used by the body for energy rather than utilised for key functions.
+ Food: Don't take supplements with grapefruit juice. Although the effects of grapefruit juice has not been invetigated with nutritional supplements, in the case of prescribed drugs, the juice greatly increased blood levels of the medication.
Missed dose: Don't double up if you miss a dose, but just take it at the next convenient time.
Recommended dose: Don't exceed he recommended dose on the packaging, unless suggested by and under the supervision of your doctor.
Check with doctor: Don't take any supplements if you are taking any prescribed medication, until you have checked with your doctor.
Healthspan magazine, Spring 2014
Timing: Most supplements are best taken immediately after food, to take advantage of secreted stomach acids (just a few bites will do). If you have not eaten for more than 20 minutes, wait until you have a snack/juice before taking them.
Timing: One-a-day vitamin and mineral supplements are usually best taken after your evening meal as repair processes are greatest at night but some are better at other times of the day.
- Morning: B vitamins, Co-enzyme Q10 (ideally with a meal and avoid taking before you go to bed), Iron (avoid taking with coffee or tea as can affect absorption)
- Midday: Iodine, Vitamin D (best with a meal; no later than early afternoon)
- Afternoon: Zinc (take with food as it can cause nausea on an empty stomach),
- Evening/Night: Calcium (best used by the body at night), Magnesium (a relaxant, so take before you go to bed)
- Anytime: Fish oils (with a meal to aid absorption), Vitamin K, Vitamin C (best taken in split doses)
+ Liquid: Wash supplements down with water or fruit juice. If the tablet is large, place on tongue lengthways to help swallowing. Using a sports bottle where you suck the liquid may also help.
+ Food: Take fat soluble supplements (e.g. co-enzyme Q10, evening primrose oil, fish oils and vitamins A, D, E and K) with food containing some fat (e.g. milk).
Size: Some tablets need to be quite large to supply adequate amounts of the nutrients. Many supplement companies now offer different systems such as liquids, soluble/chewable tablets and tasty bars, milkshakes or soups as alternatives
Storage: Supplements should normally be stored in a cool, dry place out of sight and reach of children. (Hot, humid places, such as the bathroom or kitchen, can cause the nutrients to start breaking down, though this is becoming less of a problem with the move to foil-sealed blister packs.)
DON'T
Timing: Don't take supplements with hot drinks (especially tea and coffee) as these can interfere with absorption and increase the loss of other minerals from the body. In the case of probiotics, heat can destroy the live micro-organisms.
Timing: Don't take fish oils in the morning before you have eaten as the essential fats will be used by the body for energy rather than utilised for key functions.
+ Food: Don't take supplements with grapefruit juice. Although the effects of grapefruit juice has not been invetigated with nutritional supplements, in the case of prescribed drugs, the juice greatly increased blood levels of the medication.
Missed dose: Don't double up if you miss a dose, but just take it at the next convenient time.
Recommended dose: Don't exceed he recommended dose on the packaging, unless suggested by and under the supervision of your doctor.
Check with doctor: Don't take any supplements if you are taking any prescribed medication, until you have checked with your doctor.
Healthspan magazine, Spring 2014
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