Have a good night’s sleep

Stick to a schedule: Do you sleep and  wake up at more or less the same time everyday? If yes, you are doing the right thing. But in the event you are not, keep in mind that erratic bed times don't permit your body to align to the proper circadian rhythms. Going to bed late or getting up later than usual one time in some time is fine. Don't make it a habit. Also, try & sleep only at night. Daytime naps will make it difficult for you to get sleep at night. At the most, limit daytime sleep to twenty minute power naps.Know the benefits of meditation

How plenty of hours do you sleep every night? Is your sleep uninterrupted or disturbed? Do you have trouble sleeping immediately? Do you find yourself waking up in the midst of the night for no apparent reason? Several people suffer from bad sleep for different reasons. They give you simple tips that you can follow to receive a lovely night's sleep...


Take a hot bath before you turn in for the night: Hot water helps you sleep better because it can relax tense muscles. Never have your meal before you are going to bed. Eating massive meals or spicy food before bedtime will make it difficult to nod off. Keep a gap of at least hours before you turn in. This allows digestion to happen well before you go to sleep so that your body can rest well in the coursework of the night.

Exercising actually helps you get better sleep: Your body makes use of the sleep period to recover its muscles & joints that have been worked out. Even half an hour of exercise - in the gym, at home or a brisk running outside can help you sleep well. Your exercise time ought to be in the morning, afternoon or early evening. Activity before bedtime may make it hard for you to get sleep.

Read a book before you turn in. Studies show that spending even 15 to twenty minutes reading before you go to bed, lets you sleep well.

Hooked on caffeine? Well, at least make positive you don't have it at night. It will keep you tossing & turning in bed for hours.

Shut the radio & tv. Sleeping with no distractions is best for a clearer mind.

Keep your windows open. This allows air to circulate in & out of the windows. & make positive that when you sleep, there is no disturbing sound in the background.

Eat cherries for a good night’s sleep

Cherries grown in sun-rich Central Otago are a natural source of melatonin at levels 30 times higher than their northern hemisphere counterparts.
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If you are having struggling with sleep issues, Central Otago cherries could be the bedtime treatment, say researchers.

The findings come from research commissioned by Fruision Ltd, a joint venture between Hamilton-based Quantec Ltd, a company specialising in developing health treatments from natural products, and Alexandra-based fruitgrower Summerfrui, Stuff.co.nz reported.


Melatonin is a hormone that is naturally present in the human body and aids sleep.

The latest study, undertaken by an independent laboratory in Australia, has shown Central Otago cherries have 500 nanograms per gram.

Earlier studies published in the United States have shown northern hemisphere cherries to have levels of melatonin at to 15 nanograms per gram.

When the cherries had been dried, the melatonin levels increased to 3100 nanograms per gram.

Fruision senior scientist Dr Judy Bragger said Kiwi plants are exposed to more ultraviolet radiation than those growing at a similar latitude in Europe of North The united states, and this caused them to produce more secondary metabolites - organic compounds that are not directly involved in the normal plant growth.

"It is these secondary metabolites that the cherries produce that have such great human health promoting properties when eaten," Dr Bragger said.

Moanui Laboratories in Hamilton were already backing the science and are the first New Zealand company to distribute a sleep aid derived from cherries in a capsule form.

Nature's secret for your face

Natural recipes for your face.

8 natural face mask best for you

Cucumber mask (for dry skin)
Mix  grated cucumber with a spoon  of oatmeal as well as a tablespoon of yogurt . Apply a thick layer on the skin for 30 minutes. Then wash with warm water .

Yogurt mask (for oily skin)
Mix  half cup of yogurt with little yeast. Apply on face in circle for five minutes, then rinse with warm water.


Honey mask (for all skin types)
Apply a narrow layer of honey to the room temperature moderate to damp skin, & stay that way for five minutes. Carefully washed with warm water, then with chilled water, then use a towel if it is still sticky.

Banana mask (anti aging)
Crushing a ripe banana until it is smooth & apply a narrow layer on the surface. Leave for ten minutes, then rinse with warm water & pat dry. Your skin is soft & smooth!

Avocado mask (for all skin types)
A ripe mashed avocado until creamy smooth it, then apply a thick layer on face. While waiting 15 minutes to dry the mask, you can add pieces of cucumber on the eyes. Rinse with warm water, then chilled water & leave dry.

Lemon juice mask (for all skin types)
This mask helps reduce the dark marks on the skin. Mix half the lemon water with egg white. Then apply a narrow layer on the surface. When dry, it will be a small bit hard, leave it overnight then rinse with warm water in the morning.

Oatmeal mask (for oily skin)
Mix tablespoons of unprocessed oats with a medication spoon of salt (baking powder - baking soda), then add a small water to make it more dense. Apply through circle on moisture the skin then rinse with warm water.

Banana & yogurt mask (for dry skin)
Crushed one / four ripe banana, then mix with half cup of yogurt as well as a teaspoon of honey. Apply a narrow layer on face & leave for ten minutes then rinse with warm water. Your skin will be moisturized & smooth.

How stress affects humans

By studying social stress that moulds monkey immune system, researchers have shed light on how the stress of low socioeconomic status may impact human health and how individuals' bodies adapt after a shift in their social environment. 
Check What is the good diet for a healthy heart
Researchers, who conducted the study with rhesus macaques at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, insisted that if a monkey's social status changes, her immune system changes along with it. 

Researchers led by Jenny Tung, PhD, said they can predict a rhesus macaque's rank within a small group by examining gene expression levels in her immune cells. 
Primate researchers can tell macaques' social rank by watching them engage in competitive interactions, such as grooming and accessing food and water. 

Tung and her colleagues studied 10 groups of female macaques (five each) in which researchers could manipulate individuals' social rank. Before being placed into new groups, all of the macaques started out as middle rank. 

"In the wild, macaques inherit their social rank from their mothers" Tung said. 

"But in our research, the order of introduction determines rank; the newcomer is generally lower status. When some macaques' status changed after a newcomer arrived, so did their patterns of immune system gene activity." 

The researchers used microarrays, a technology that allows them to scan thousands of genes and read the expression levels, to look at the macaques' immune cells. The gene activity that changed the most depending on social rank was what controlled inflammation. 

Previous studies have found lower status macaques have higher levels of inflammation and have changes in their levels of hormones that indicate they're under more stress. 

Based on the pattern of gene activity, the researchers could, without looking at a monkey's identity, predict whether that animal was high (rank 1 or 2), middle or low (rank 4 or 5) with 80 percent accuracy. 

Seven monkeys' social ranks changed because other individuals were moved. When this happened, the researchers were able to take blood samples before and after the shift. 

The gene scans revealed the pattern of immune system activity changed along with these monkeys' social ranks. Here, social rank post-shift could be predicted to 86 percent accuracy (six out of seven). 

"There's a concerning side to this kind of research, in that an individual's social environment probably partially determines health status," Tung said. 

"But there's also a hopeful side. For the seven females that changed ranks, their gene status changed with them." Dr. Mark Wilson, PhD, chief of the Division of Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience at Yerkes and director of the center''s Biomarkers Core Laboratory, said. 

"That they are not stuck in place says something more broadly about the capacity for change within human society. With these studies, we are showing we do have the ability to advance from our roots and live more healthful lives," Dr. Wilson added. 

The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

A good night's sleep boosts our positive memories, according to a study.
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Researchers split 70 young adults into two groups - one that got to sleep overnight and one that had to stay awake, Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

Both groups were required to look at positive images containing items such as puppies and flowers, and both at neutral images featuring furniture and dinner plates.

The participants' memories of the images were then tested 12 hours later, after either a period of sleep or staying awake, with the positive memories stronger for the sleepers.

"Results showed sleep enhances our emotionally positive memories," said professor Rebecca Spencer of the University of Massachusetts.

Spencer believes the results could also have significant implications for treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

How fruit and veggies could make you more attractive

Even a few weeks of eating fruits and vegetables may give your skin a healthy glow and make you look cuter, a new study has suggested.

Scientists at St Andrews University monitored the food consumption of 35 people and clicked their pictures over this period.

Eating an average of 2.9 more portions of fruit and vegetables a day made them look healthier when rated by others at the end of the study, while an extra 3.3 portions enhanced their attractiveness, the Daily Mail reported.

Fruit and vegetables are rich in carotenoids, which guard against cell damage from pollution and UV rays and can prevent age-related disorders like heart disease and cancer.


It was previously known that eating extreme amounts of certain vegetables such as carrots could turn skin orange. However, it was not known that a small increase in these red and yellow pigments in the skin could be perceptible to others - or that it was seen as appealing.

A camera that can gauge close-up changes to the skin's redness, yellowness and lightness found that these considerably increased in people who increased their intake of fruit and vegetables.

Using light sensors, the researchers revealed that these red and yellow hues were linked with the levels of carotenoids in the skin.

There are hundreds of different types of carotenoids.

But those thought to have the most dramatic effect on the skin are lycopene - which gives tomatoes and red peppers their red colour - and beta-carotene, found in carrots as well as broccoli, squash, and spinach.

Skin colour can also be affected by chemicals called polyphenols, found in apples, blueberries and cherries, which cause blood rush to the skin surface.

"We expected the colour change to be most dramatic in people who ate very few fruit and vegetables to start off with, but it was actually across the board," said Ross Whitehead, who lead the study.

"A lot of the people were already eating close to the recommended amount.

"But we found even a couple of extra portions could still make a difference to their skin colour," Whitehead added.

He said the team, who studied white and Asian volunteers, would look at whether this was valid for other races too, and whether it had a smaller or greater effect in older people, as the volunteers were all aged 18 to 25.

The study has been published in the journal PLoS ONE.

How to deal with weak bladder?

Urinary incontinence is an occupational hazard for females. The aftermath of pregnancy can be a physical burden for some - weight gain, droopy breasts, a painful episiotomy scar & urinary incontinence.

One in four females suffer from incontinence. It is a nuisance & an embarrassment no one talks about it

It is all down to destroy of the pelvic floor muscles, which hold up the bladder & help to cease leakage, being stretched in the work of pregnancy & the birth of the kid.



After the menopause, lack of oestrogen weakens the exit valve from the bladder & it may leak if pressure inside the abdomen increases (coughing & sneezing). That is called stress incontinence.

Those stretched muscles may never regain their former tone, if a woman fails to do pelvic floor exercises. They are crucial in the six weeks after delivering a kid, in case you require to keep away from incontinence for the remainder of your life. But pregnancy is not the sole cause.

An examination will reveal a bladder prolapse, which can be repaired surgically. The next step is referral for a bladder X-ray, a cystogram & EMG to trace the muscular contractions in the wall & exit valve by a bladder specialist.

Post-menopause, the lining of the bladder may become unduly sensitive to the presence of any urine & try to empty itself - that is irritable bladder. Either of these conditions is made worse by obesity. Fat will compete with the bladder for space, reducing its volume & increasing its internal pressure. First, a urine infection must be ruled out or treated.

HRT can do much to restore pelvic floor strength after the menopause. For irritable bladder, there is bladder retraining & muscle relaxant drugs. Then there's the all-important pelvic floor exercises that can help incontinence whatever your age.

First, contract them by stopping the flow several times while you are urinating, tensing for seconds, relaxing for seconds, then tensing them again. Next, tighten & relax the muscles ten times, as quickly as you can so that they appear to flutter. Next, contract the muscles steadily as though you were trying to draw an object in to your vagina. Gradually build up to ten contractions, ten times every day or more, spaced over several hours.

One time you have mastered the process, you can do them anywhere, lying down, standing, watching television, even at the till.

Lemon juice for good health!

Lemon juice has more benefits that you'd ever imagine. Lemons have percent of citric acid, which gives it its matchless taste.

Rich in vitamin C, it also has vitamin B, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, proteins & carbohydrates.

Here are some benefits.

- Suffer from indigestion? Mix a few drops of lemon juice with warm water & sip on it. This is useful for treating nausea, heartburn, diarrhoea, bloating & burping.

- Since lemon is a natural antiseptic, it is great to cure skin issues. It clears your skin & also acts as an anti-ageing agent by eliminating wrinkles & blackheads.


- Have a toothache? Apply fresh lemon juice where it hurts. In case you have bleeding gums, applying lemon juice can curb the bleeding & cease bad breath.

- A sore throat can be cured by gargling with lemon juice & water regularly.

- Nimbu paani is high in potassium, which controls hypertension, dizziness, nausea & reduces stress. It also cures respiratory disorders like breathing issues & asthma.

Benefits of papaya

Humble papaya is of earth's finest gifts to mankind. Here are a few reasons why you ought to include this fruit in your diet:

Low in calories, high on nutrition, it is an excellent choice for those on a diet.

The peel of the papaya helps in healing skin wounds and injuries.

The fruit has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancerous properties. People affected with osteoporosis, arthritis and oedema ought to consume it regularly.


Papaya is of the most trusted detox solutions. If taken in moderation, the fruit can help get rid of
toxins from the body.

The fruit is lovely for hair growth and is known to check the growth of dandruff.

Those suffering from constipation and indigestion can depend on the papaya for relief.