In the Boston area where I live, two million people have been under a spell for four days: They had a water emergency.
Of course, for a time now, there is a water emergency in the world. The UN created World Water Day (March 22, exactly a month before Earth Day) in order to pull attention to the fact that the rich countries are not conserving water, and the poor countries are suffering. Global warming will only make the situation worse.
So, back to Boston: Did we run out of water? No. Because of a main break, we were required to boil our water for two minutes before ingesting it. That led to a run on supermarkets, and in no time bottled water was sold out. People were panicking.
A neighbor called us in Maine to tell us of the catastrophe. We filled a 23 liter tank with our delicious Maine well water and headed home. Did I say “catastrophe”? Today the boiling water order was lifted. But it leaves me sad.
My mission (one of them) in life is to spread news about the health benefits of cooking your own dinner from scratch every evening – for your family, for yourself. As I see it, the catastrophe lies in this: People can’t cook – they can’t even boil water!
The good news: People might pay more attention to the world-wide water problem. Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
Natural Skin Care
April 28, 2010
Save a lot of bucks, do the Earth a favor and come out beautiful!
Never in my life have I used make-up (okay, okay, once as a teenager!) and it shows at sixty five (disclosure: The picture I am using here is two years old and flattering).
Good genes help, of course. Other than that – here is what I did and what you can do. Or, in skin care, what you DON'T do seems to count the most:
• No smoking. Smoking is the worst wrinkle-maker in the world (confirmed by studies).
• Cold water: Whenever you wash you hands, splash you face with, especially if you tend oily skin. Cold water acts like a mini instant face mask.
• No soap. Unless you are a miner or auto mechanic, soap has no place in your face. And if you have to use something, use a pH-adjusted detergent. But for normal people: Absolutely no soap! Americans, on average, must be taking a shower every day or every other day. How dirty can you be? Let warm (not hot in your face!) water gently run over your face (and end each warm shower with a cold one!).
• In the shower, use your shampoo gently for your armpits and private parts. Rinse well! Again: soap is too harsh for delicate areas.
• No make-up, no moisturizer, no cold cream, no lotions – no nothing. Beauty can't be bought.
• Use olive oil or virgin coconut oil for your skin – find out which suits your skin type better. But only if you need them – don’t clog the pores with perfectly good skin with anything. I started using oil around my eyes in my fifties, not earlier. If you have very dry skin, start earlier. But don’t slobber it all over. If your cheeks and chin are fine, keep to eyes and neck.
And here is the biggest beauty secret of them all: Skin beauty comes from inside. It depends on what you eat: good oils (again olive oil and coconut oil; I take my cosmetics directly from the kitchen…) and heaps of vegetables. Leave out sugars, sweeteners, fried foods, an excess of meats (poultry is also meat!), trans fats, bad cooking oils and dairy. Eat more fish than meat - preferably small fish as they are less polluted.
If you want to do something special, take some good fish oil capsules (if you burp back fish, they aren’t so good!).
Get a good night's sleep before midnight! Make sure you are not getting sleeping folds by placing pillows to support you.
And: Smile! Friendliness and compassion show in your face - latest after thirty! Read More
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One-Day Fast
April 26, 2010
No, it’s not what you think - one-day fast is not for losing weight. It is for cleansing and giving your gastro-intestinal tract a day of vacation. Spring cleaning for your body, so to speak. One day - and you will feel terrific about yourself as you feel the lightness in your body.
A one-day fast is best done on a weekend. You prepare for the fast on Friday evening, fast all Saturday, and slowly resume (healthier) eating on Sunday. Team up with a friend because if you share your experience, you are more likely to stick with it.
For Friday dinner, you keep it light: no meat or fish, nothing fried, no dairy. Prepare a big pot of vegetable broth: Anything vegetal can go into it, except for plants from the nightshade family (tomato, potato, eggplant, bell and hot peppers) or starchy ones (grains, legumes, sweet potato, etc.). Onions, garlic and cabbages are the back bone of this broth. I put in handfuls of herbs from my herb garden, and right now I definitely would splurge on stinging nettle and dandelions. Use rests of lettuce and whatever vegetables are wilting in your fridge. Mushrooms are perfect.
You boil the vegetables with plenty of water. No salt or pepper, though.
Next day, you are only allowed the broth (don’t actually eat the vegetables!) whenever you feel hungry. Vegetable-broth fasting is much better tolerated than fruit juice fasting because the broth is alkaline, not acidic – much gentler on your stomach and your whole system. For years I was the laughing stock of my family because I once had tried a juice fast – and lasted all of three hours before I caved in to my overwhelming hunger! This never happens on the vegetable broth fast.
If you want, you can drink water and/or herbal teas. Nothing else is allowed - not even chewing gum! - Whenever the fluid level in the pot gets low, just pour more water in. The strength of vegetables is good enough for several “steepings.”
Take your Saturday easy: Go twice a day for a walk, rest a lot. Experienced fasters can work during this kind of gentle fast. But for your first time, concentrate on how you feel. Write a diary, listen to music, meet friends.
On Sunday morning you restart eating with a light breakfast: Again no meats or fish - stay vegetarian all Sunday. On Monday you resume normal eating – hopefully a bit more mindful.
Besides restocking you with valuable phyto-nutrients, the main effect of the one-day fast is a thorough cleansing and detoxifying – without harsh herbs or laxatives. Once you feel the new lightness in your body, you might want to repeat the experience. A healthy person should do this probably once a month. A sick or overweight person once a week. No, you don’t lose weight from the fast – but you might lose weight from re-setting your hunger stat: After the fast, you get more appreciative of food, you chew longer, you eat slower and less, and you go for the healthier choice. Read More