Have You Tried Crop Rotation?

As a home gardener, there's nothing more satisfying than growing your own vegetables but, perhaps, you are looking for a way to increase your yield, or grow healthier vegetables. Well, if you're not already practising crop rotation, you'll…

Smart Cooking For One

Single people often get a hard deal - so many thrifty tips focus on buying ingredients in bulk or cooking large dishes for big families. That’s great if you’re feeding a small army but if you’re cooking for one, it’s difficult to make the…

The Buddhist Roots Of Tibetan Medicine

It may come as no surprise that Tibetan medical practices are based on the Buddhist philosophy that everything in existence derives from the human mind and five basic elements: Earth, fire, water, wind and space (or void). Practitioners of…

Advice For Drinkers

The advice not to mix drinks when enjoying a boozy night out usually refers to not mixing wine with beer to avoid a nasty hangover. However, experts now warn that mixing alcohol with energy drinks also increases the risk of alcohol…

Tea Is Good For Kids

If you’re concerned about giving your children tea to drink, a review on caffeinated drinks has concluded that up to two cups of tea daily may safely be consumed by younger children aged 4, while older school-aged children can consume up to…

Understanding Unani Tibb

One of the most fascinating forms of ancient wellness is Unani tibb. This form of Arabic medicine incorporates many influences and principles from early Persian and Greek medicine. Ibn Sina, a Persian scholar, brought a wealth of medical…

Is Organic Really Tastier?

Although manufacturers of organic products are unable to claim that their produce tastes better than non-organic versions, it seems that consumers assume ‘organic’ means ‘better-tasting’ anyway. Participants in a Swedish study were given…

Ancient Greek Herb Gardens

The medical practitioners of ancient Greece relied heavily on the use of healing herbs. Families would grow their own herb gardens to create oils and incenses. Many of the herbs that we use in the kitchen even today, such as sage, thyme,…

Being Hangry Is Real!

New scientific research, published in the journal ‘PLOS ONE’, has discovered that feeling hungry really can make us ‘hangry’, with emotions like anger and irritability strongly linked with hunger. The study, the first to investigate how…

Online Art Viewing Improves Wellness

Viewing art while visiting galleries and museums can have powerful effects on an individual's mood, stress and well-being. The same also holds true for viewing art in digital space. A new study from the University of Vienna has found that a…

Did Neanderthals Eat Their Greens?

The oldest known Neanderthal faeces suggest that cavemen ate vegetables as well as meat. Researchers analysed the 45,000-year-old remains from the archaeological site of El Salt, in Spain and, as expected, discovered coprostanol, a lipid…

Grow Garlic For Garden Wellness

When choosing what plants to grow in your garden, garlic is not the obvious choice. However, it can deliver a number of benefits - not only is it a delicious kitchen ingredient that can lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, it actually…

The Secret Of Cleopatra’s Eye Health

The elaborate eye makeup that the ancient Egyptians wore wasn’t only about beauty. The predominantly green eye paint and kohl that they used were more about warding off eye infections. The lead-based substances in the kohl promoted the…

Social Isolation Associated With Dementia

Social isolation is directly linked with changes in the brain structures associated with memory, making it a clear risk factor for dementia, scientists have found. The study, published in the journal ‘Neurology’, has found that socially…

Heard Of Auricular Acupuncture?

Auricular acupuncture, in which needles are used to stimulate specific points in the ear, originated in Ancient China and proved popular in Ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece. Sharp stones, fish bones and bamboo clips were used to treat war…

Coffee Is Safe During Pregnancy

Researchers from the University of Queensland have found that enjoying a daily latte or a black coffee causes no increased risk to pregnancy and that limited coffee consumption during pregnancy doesn't increase the risk of miscarriage,…

How Healthy Do You Think Your Diet Is?

Says the American Society for Nutrition, most people think their diet is healthier than it actually is. Examples of foods ranked as healthy include fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, lower-fat dairy products, seafood and…

How Bee-Friendly Is Your Garden?

Some people don’t like bees. The slightest buzz sends them into full-on screaming-and-arm-flailing mode. But although few gardeners would welcome a bee nest on their patch, there are some real advantages from inviting these fuzzy, buzzy…

Smart Tips For Busy Cooks

Do you want tasty, healthy meals without spending hours in the kitchen? Sometimes, it’s the little short cuts and clever tricks that can save you time and improve your cooking. Here are some tips for savvy home chefs: Get more juice from…

The Chinese Art Of Moxibustion

While the practice of acupuncture is widely accepted the worldover, a related form of Chinese healing – moxibustion – remains less familiar. Today, moxibustion practice takes the form of either burning moxa (mugwort) directly on the skin,…

Why Pinhole Glasses Were Used

A pair of pinhole glasses, dating back to the 8th century, was found in a tomb along the Silk Road. Pinhole glasses have a series of pinhole-sized perforations in an otherwise opaque sheet of plastic. Each perforation only allows a very…

Fruitier, Flowery Dark Chocolate

Researchers have found that an alternative processing step called ‘moist incubation’ results in a fruitier, more flowery-tasting dark chocolate than the conventional fermentation process. After cocoa beans are harvested, they are…

Ancient Egyptian Hair Care

Contrary to what you may think, anxiety over greying or receding hair isn’t just a modern concern. Various ancient cultures used natural cures and remedies to treat greyness and hair loss, suggesting that it was as big a deal in ancient…