Hand Dryers Spread Bacteria!

Good hand hygiene is essential to stop the spread of bacteria. However, scientists from the University of Leeds have found that modern hand dryers spread more germs than paper towels. The ‘jet air' hand dryers actually spread germs into the…

Gardening On A Budget

Even for those with the greenest of fingers, maintaining a garden in tip-top condition can seem like a financial luxury. Yet creating a beautiful garden needn’t be an expensive pastime if you take a frugal approach. Where possible, grow…

Beauty Products In Your Kitchen

Kitchen food scraps are not good only for the bin or your garden compost heap. A number of kitchen leftovers can offer effective beauty treatments. Here are just three kitchen beauty secrets that could have you rethinking what you do with…

Hair Extensions In Ancient Egypt

The traditional depiction of Nefertiti shows the ancient Egyptian love of make-up, while tales of Cleopatra’s bathing habits support their use of a skincare regime. What might be less well known, however, is the attention the ancient…

Shilajit, Destroyer Of Weakness

Shilajit, an ancient herbal substance used in Ayurveda, is a tar-like substance, thick and sticky, and is found oozing from cracks between rocks in the Himalayas. According to folklore, in ancient times the indigenous people found that it…

Eating Late Bad For Weight Loss

Obesity contributes to the onset of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and other conditions. A new study by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital, has found that when we eat significantly impacts our energy expenditure,…

Vegetarian Women, Beware Of Hip Fracture

A study of over 26,000 middle-aged women reveals those with a vegetarian diet had a 33% higher risk of hip fracture compared to regular meat-eaters. The University of Leeds research, published in the journal ‘BMC Medicine’, investigated the…

Night Owls And Early Birds

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Research published in the journal ‘Experimental Physiology’ has found that wake/sleep cycles cause metabolic differences and alter our body's preference for energy sources. The researchers found that…

Easy Lawn Care

Are you seeking a picture-perfect lawn or just a healthy one? The results will depend on your effort. A healthy lawn needs some work on your part. Here are a few things to remember: The type of grass – As a rule, low maintenance lawn…

Feng Shui For The Kitchen

To help your kitchen become balanced, and stay that way, you can apply the principles of Feng shui. Pronounced ‘fung shway’, it is an ancient Chinese practice of how energy affects people positively or negatively. One of the primary…

Tarot: The Ancient Spiritual Tool Kit

Tarot is an ancient tool of divination that first took the form of cards in 14th century Europe. The cards remain popular even today for a reason: Tarot is a tool for understanding yourself deeply. Each card has a highly symbolic picture or…

The Power Of Fasting

Abstaining from food and/or drink for a period of time has received both positive and negative attention in recent years. The practice has a long history within dozens of faiths including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, branches of Christianity…

Lack Of Sleep Makes Us Selfish

Lack of sleep is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes, hypertension and sexual dysfunction. Now a new study from the University of California – Berkeley says that sleep also affects social interactions,…

Angelica: A Monk’s Dream

Legend has it that Angelica gained its name as a result of a monk’s dream, in which an angel appeared and told him that the herb would cure the plague. It was described by Renaissance physician Paracelsus as a “marvellous medicine” during…

Blood Type And Stroke

According to a new meta-analysis led by University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers, a person's blood type may be linked to their risk of having an early stroke. The meta-analysis included all available data from genetic studies…

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…