natural body lovin’ - part two!

household secret identity number two: the ONION!

the humble onion, consumed in nearly every household in western society, and countless other cultures around the world. it's such an unassuming part of the grocery shopping that no one thinks any further about after it's chopped and thrown in dinner.
but onions are a many layered thing. underneath their flavoursome skin are antibacterial properties that have been used for centuries (literally). Chinese and early American settlers used onions to help treat coughs, colds, and bacterial infections. modern complementary medicine is still using it as an antibacterial for small cuts, and also as relief for wasp and bee stings (just rub the cut side of an onion on the sting).
the World Health Organisation advocates the use of onion to prevent poor appetite and atherosclerosis (a condition in which fatty material collects along the walls of arteries), and onion extract to treat colds, coughs, and bronchitis.
and the most amazing onion secret?
it's a cancer preventative.
cultures with high levels of onion consumption in their diet have up to half the level of stomach cancer prevalence compared to other westernised cultures.

need any more convincing? (if you do, try here for more info)

x

natural body lovin'

this post is going to be about exactly what it says it's about, loving your body naturally! i will be trying out and posting about all kinds of natural remedies for everything from common ailments like cuts and bites, to specifics like a natural decongestant for a chesty cough.
(i've even got, not one, but three natural hangover cures lined up to try out, which of course means that because i am a thorough, fair and honest blogger, i'll tell you that i don't drink all that much anymore! so i will be testing them on my man. he doesn't know this yet, hehe)


but to start us off, let's look at a few general items...

what do you think they have in common?
three of them are common household items that have secret identities! the fourth, rose hip oil, has been gaining in main stream popularity over the past few years, and i thought i'd throw in in for good measure. i'll be looking at all four of these natural health goldmines over the next few days, but for now...

let's start with garlic, just because if it were a man, i would be having a love affair with it. i love garlic. i love the way it smells, i love the way it tastes, i love the way that it flavours other foods it's cooking with. but garlic has a secret, one that makes it all the more loveable: it is a natural medicine chest all by itself!
i know that sounds like a bold claim, but garlic has well known antiseptic, antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. seriously, stop and take a moment to really understand all those 'anti's coming from a single tiny little clove!
if you can stomach raw garlic, eat it if you feel a sore throat coming on, or mix it in with some honey and you've got a sucker punch of natural cold fighting power right there. cook with it often, and recent studies are suggesting that you will be helping to lower your risk of getting cancer while simultaneously aiding your cardiovascular health by keeping your arteries clean and clear (as a side note, i am a scientist when it comes to these kind of claims; i like to see cold hard proof, which is why i have underlined the word 'suggesting'. however, i truly believe that living as natural a lifestyle as possible, eating a diet focusing on unprocessed foods will take you much closer to being disease free than someone who does not. it only makes sense, our bodies are natural machines, they need natural fuel to run).
as a home remedy though, garlic is wonderful for it's cold fighting powers and it's antiseptic nature. rub the exposed face of a cut garlic clove on small cuts and grazes to keep them clean and germ free, naturally. plus, if you're any where near me, i'll probably want to make friends with you.


*as a bit of a disclaimer: i am not a doctor. this post is based around my own personal experience, and research that i have done, so please use it wisely and do not use it in lieu of professional medical advice.
ta :)

x

lip service

winter is coming. And so is the need for a sturdy lip balm to protect your luscious pink bits from the wind and the cold! Or if you are like me, you have this need all year round.

As a bit of background, my skin in notoriously sensitive. 

To everything. 

And when I say everything, I mean to the extent that the face cream I use can not have any chemicals in it at all, or my skin dries out, or breaks out, or flakes off. Even if it is an all natural cream, if it’s too oily, the oil will sit on my skin to the point I reflect the moonlight on a cloudy night. If it is too dry, we revert to the flake out situation. Needless to say, my lips are also, shall we say, delicate. I have been through hundreds of dollars worth of lip cosmetics, all to find that each and every one of them turn my lips into swollen, cracked and blistered lumps of misery. It does not matter how expensive, or extensive the list of supposedly brilliant ‘softening’, ‘moisturising’ and ‘conditioning’ ingredients in any of them, the result was the same; me looking like I’d had botox done by Edward scissor hands.

So, I did something that I should have done at the very beginning of my soft-and-smooth seeking journey, and that was to go back to basics. Search out what mother nature has laid out for me, so balanced and perfect for my neurotic skin. And I was rewarded in my search. I have found the most perfect product I could have ever hoped for. It is moisturising, conditioning, protective, and it looks amazing, making my lips look full and lush. It’s not too sticky, yet it doesn’t rub off or absorb too quickly. And the icing on the cake is the fact that it is made from 100% natural ingredients.

Hand on heart, I’m honestly not being paid to say any of this!

I’ve been using it for at least 6 months now, and the larger 80 gram tube (that’s big for lip balm), that it comes in hasn't even come close to running out yet. To be honest, it’s actually labeled ointment but even the tube says it makes a great lip balm, and it also comes in a smaller, 30 gram more lip gloss sized tube. So if you have size restrictions regarding purse space, there’s an option for you. I buy it from my local organic supermarket (I haven’t found it anywhere else). When I bought it, it was under $15 for the large tube, which is a bargain for how much I love it!

So without further ado, here is my new best friend!

natural alternative 'certified organic paw paw ointment'

(Natural Alternative have a beautiful web site with plenty of other fantastic looking products, if you are interested.)

 

After I had realised how amazing this stuff is, I started sharing it with anyone who would listen, trying to turn them onto it, but in return I got some paw paw facts that were really quite interesting. One elderly lady (who turned out to be a lot older than she looked) swore by paw paws. She ate the flesh of a quarter of one every day for breakfast and then rubbed the remaining goo on the inside of the paw paw skin on her hands and face, as a skin treatment. I know that’s sounds a bit home remedy, but if it has worked for someone else (after decades of trial), why not try it? It’s not like you are going to have a reaction to the chemicals in it (haha).  A bit of googling came up with a few websites detailing the medical interests surrounding pawpaw as a medicinal fruit, including documented cases of pawpaw derived cancer treatments! (see here and here and here). I also looked into alternative pawpaw options, and although there is a few out there, watch out as some of the most popular ones are petroleum based. 

I hope that this has been informative and helpful!

x