The Best CBD Oil For Diabetes: Our Top 5 Picks

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The Best CBD Oil For Diabetes: Our Top 5 Picks

Guest post by Derek Edison

Are you living with diabetes? Do you wonder if CBD oil can help you with it? Well, if the answer to either of these questions is yes, you are in the right place. With the recent legalization and increasing popularity of CBD, it has become a household name. While people have been using cannabis and its byproducts for recreational use, it is now making waves in the wellness industry due to its therapeutic properties. Amid the never-ending list of diseases that CBD may help people with, diabetes is the latest addition. If you are wondering how and which CBD oil you can use for diabetes, read on and find out.

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Why you should be drinking hibiscus water

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Why you should be drinking hibiscus water

You might recognize the large, colorful red, yellow, white, or peach flowers of the hibiscus plant, especially if you live in one of the tropical, sub-tropical, or temperate climates in which it grows. In the Caribbean, hibiscus is used to make sorrel, a sweet drink that is made from the dried boiled leaves of the hibiscus sabdariffa species, flavored with spices like cinnamon and ginger, and frequently consumed around the Christmas holiday season. Did you know that aside from adding a rich and vibrant display to your garden that attracts beneficial pollinators, or providing a delicious beverage for the holiday season, hibiscus has several different medicinal uses? The flowers and leaves of this plant have been used for millennia for culinary purposes, and to make teas and liquids that can remedy a number of medical conditions, including high blood pressure, upset stomach, and bacterial infections.

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Yogurt Bread

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Yogurt Bread

In my last year of college, one of my housemates and best friends was a guy who knew how to make the best potato breads I’ve ever tasted. That was my introduction to bread making, and I’ve loved it ever since. Making bread at home is a pretty basic DIY skill that anyone can master with a little practice, and basic bread requires few ingredients – flour, water, sugar, salt, and yeast. Check the store brands you buy – most have added ingredients, and if you see a lot more ingredients in that list than the ones I’ve named above, then you know the bread is over-processed, full of preservatives, and possibly contains chemical substances – like phosphates -- that have been linked in clinical studies with intestinal inflammation, kidney disease, osteoporosis, and heart problems when they are eaten on a regular basis. Store-bought breads are also not cheap, and a single artisan loaf or “healthy” brand can cost $5 or more.

So learning to make bread at home can not only save you money, it can also help you avoid some of the health problems that come with regularly eating processed foods.

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Set for Your Spring Clean? These 50 Marie Kondo Quotes Will Help Motivate You

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Set for Your Spring Clean? These 50 Marie Kondo Quotes Will Help Motivate You

Guest post by Natalie Atterbury

 

Have you KonMari’d any of your home or belongings yet? By now, you may have heard about Marie Kondo and her famous decluttering and tidying methods. Whether you’ve heard of her from her “Magic of Tidying Up” book, her very own (and very addictive) series on Netflix, or maybe you really haven’t ever heard of her before, this is one woman on a mission to make a difference with tidying and to change people’s perspective on clutter. Marie Kondo is an organising consultant and her “KonMari” method is to simplify and organise the home – just a quick warning though, her idea of clutter is probably far from your own idea of clutter.

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Turkish lentil soup

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Turkish lentil soup

This fast, easy, and healthy recipe for kırmızı mercimek çorba, or (Turkish) red lentil soup, is one of my family’s favorite. My 8-year old requests it every week. It’s one of several ways that this soup can be made: you can omit the carrots and Hungarian paprika if you prefer, or take more time and strain the soup through a sieve if you like, creating a thinner consistency (which is the way you will usually find it being made in Turkey). You can also add more water to make it less thick and hearty.

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Why You Should Avoid Taking Antibiotics Whenever Possible

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Why You Should Avoid Taking Antibiotics Whenever Possible

Ok, at least here in the US, we’re nearing the end of cold and flu season (or so I thought!), yet there are still plenty of people around me getting sick. Several of my students had emailed in sick these past 2 weeks, and others came in to class anyway, even though they clearly should have stayed at home in bed!

So I thought it was time to write a post about not resorting to antibiotics to cure yourself from many of the sicknesses that will resolve on their own, or that can be cured by other means.

Let me say one thing from the start, though. This is NOT an anti-vac post or anything like that. Even though we do not take the flu vaccine in my household (and never get sick, even when we are exposed to the flu), we have all our required shots. Whether or not you take antibiotics is ultimately up to you, and there are definitely times when you absolutely should take them. The problem with antibiotics is that many people take them when they should not, and that is ultimately what this post is about: why you should avoid the unnecessary use of antibiotics.

Here are 4 reasons to avoid antibiotics when they are not absolutely necessary:

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creamy potato-sweet potato soup (recipe)

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creamy potato-sweet potato soup (recipe)

(vegan option)

This is a thick, rich, and creamy soup that is perfect for the cold season. Even better, it is quick and easy to make – 45 minutes from start to finish! It has a number of different variations you can try to suit your particular tastes, variations that range from the sweetness to the thickness to spices used in this soup. You can even choose to make it vegan by skipping the last part, that adds a dollop of plain yogurt to the finished soup.

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Jeff's Luscious Red Pepper Sauce

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Jeff's Luscious Red Pepper Sauce

This was a recipe invented by my ex-husband Jeff, who besides being a gifted gardener and landscaper who could revive even the saddest-looking plants, is also a great cook. This recipe is fast and easy to make, and the sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.

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Staying Healthy at Work: An Actionable Guide

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Staying Healthy at Work: An Actionable Guide

Guest post by Brenda Snow

 You spend a significant part of your life behind a desk. Desk jobs can be a blessing and a curse.

 On the one hand, it’s nice to not be a roofer working on top of a skyscraper in the middle of a hot and humid summer or freezing cold winter. On the other hand, being tied to a chair is not without hazards, either. In fact, sitting in a chair for hours at a time, let alone all day, without getting up to move, can cause a number of health problems, both acute and chronic.

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Paprika chicken wings (recipe)

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Paprika chicken wings (recipe)

This is one of my favorite go-to recipes for a quick and healthy dinner. It doesn’t require any marinating beforehand (although you can do that if you like for richer flavor), and with a few simple ingredients you can have it on the table in under an hour! It’s a favorite with my kids, too, and we rarely have leftovers!

The real secret to the rich taste, though, is good-quality Hungarian paprika. Hungarian paprika is one of several kinds of paprika (including sweet, smoked, and Spanish pimentón) used in cooking. It has a complex flavor (with at least 8 varieties) and ranges from mild (flavor) and bright red (color) to spicy and pungent with a pale orange color.

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Back-to-school healthy eating: starting out right, staying the course

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Back-to-school healthy eating: starting out right, staying the course

With the beginning of another school year comes the inevitable question for every parent whose child has dietary restrictions, or whose kid’s school doesn’t have a cafeteria: what should I pack for lunch? In the first weeks of school this may not be much of an issue: you try the old standbys, only to eventually become bored with them. Maybe this year you want to make more of an effort to pack healthy (healthier) lunches. Maybe you are weaning your kids off packaged processed convenience foods that you know are not healthy for them.

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Sick Building Syndrome: a hidden cause of stress at your workplace?

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Sick Building Syndrome: a hidden cause of stress at your workplace?

Guest post by Toby Dean

A workplace involves a myriad of stressors, and each individual in the same office environment copes with the same stress differently. Apart from stress coming from human beings and situations, there could be unexplained health issues at the workplace that could be creating a problem in your life. This is especially likely if you have shifted to a new office building, have been transferred to a different place, or changed your job. If you have experienced sudden shortness of breath, chest pain, headaches, fatigue, dizziness, runny nose or blocked sinuses, itchy eyes and skin, etc. as soon as you enter your office building, and if these symptoms subside on their own when you step out of the building, then you are suffering from Sick Building Syndrome. 

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How often Should I Clean That?

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How often Should I Clean That?

Guest post by Kat Buckley

Some of the basic household tasks we will generally get done but other places in the home can go months or even years without being cleaned. This infographic from HappyCleans looks at how often you need to get all the different items around the house cleaned. For example, the fan vents are one area of the house that rarely get cleaned. The problem is that if they’re left too long dust, pollen, and other allergens will end up clogging them, and in some cases, can cause particles to be released into your home from supply registers.

If you have ceiling fans, they are another area of the home that can get really dusty and these can be quickly dusted with a pillowcase. Of course, if they’re high up you need to be extremely careful not to injure yourself. Using a duster with a long handle that is made for such hard-to-reach areas is usually the best way to tackle the problem.

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Decluttering for your home and health - made easy

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Decluttering for your home and health - made easy

Blog post by Green and Prosperous, with infographic by EZ Living Interiors

Did you know that there are a lot more benefits to decluttering your home than just aesthetics?

Spring has officially been here since March 20th, even if the weather may not be cooperating where you live. Whether you’re still waiting for the winter thaw or enjoying the sunny days, you can do your part to usher in the spring by decluttering your home. Spring cleaning and decluttering has a long and storied history, but the 21st century benefits to this ancient ritual are many. In short, spring cleaning is good not only for the aesthetic improvement it brings to your living space; it also has several mental and physical health benefits. Our ancestors were well aware of this fact.

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Beyond the Hype: The Science behind developing healthy eating habits

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Beyond the Hype: The Science behind developing healthy eating habits

Americans’ thinking about food has shifted dramatically over the past 2 decades. With major changes to the food industry (think the introduction of GMOs, the mainstreaming of organic foods, the popularity of celebrity chefs, and the growing number of documentaries about our eating habits – e.g. “Super Size Me”, and the problems with the industrial food complex), a growing number of people now think that eating healthy is important.

However, although many of us want to eat healthy, or think that we are eating healthy, the evidence says otherwise. In fact, most Americans do not get the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables and consume waaaay more sugar and saturated fats than they should...

What if you’ve been trying to eat healthier but can’t seem to break your unhealthy food habits? What if you eat pretty healthy already but want to make some small improvements to your diet? What if you know someone who has a very unhealthy diet and wants to improve his or her eating habits?

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