Spring is just around the corner and for some; it’s a welcome infusion of colour and of new beginnings whilst for others it simply means the onset of the allergy season with many people suffering from watering eyes, irritable throats and a running nose. It’s not pleasant but there are millions of people the world over sharing the spring misery, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Believe it or not, there are so many natural remedies to help your body counteract the effects of any allergy; you simply need to know where to look and what to do.
If we look at herbs that grow naturally or that can be grown in your own garden, help is only a step away from your own front door if you want to grow your own. You can then be assured of a fresh approach to anti-allergy misery but equally, if you prefer [...]

When you were a child, the thought of someone reaching the grand old age of 30 or 40 years seemed unbelievable. Even a day seemed like a long time through a child’s perspective and mid-life meant absolutely ancient. Nowadays, as we creep towards or beyond those mid years, even reaching the grand old age of 100 years seems quite possible proven by a competition existing for the official record of the oldest man or woman taking place between a 115 year old man and a possible 127 year old woman from the Far East. With no papers to prove her claim, the competition continues to verify the record. In the US alone, statistics state that there are around 72,000 100 year olds and this figure is predicted to double in as little as 7 years.
If you would like to grow old gracefully and retain all your health so that you [...]

If you have ever looked in the mirror and noticed very visible dark shadows under your eyes, you will know just how annoying they are. They might not be an indication of a serious health problem but they can damage your self confidence and as such, a solution should be sought. Fortunately there are some natural ways to help banish these dark circles.
As irritating as these dark circles are, they can come and go all of a sudden. They may well be hereditary though and of course this can make it harder to alleviate their presence. If you smoke or drink regularly, you increase your chance of developing them, so preventative is often better than cure and cutting back on cigarettes and on alcohol can improve the situation.  Surprisingly, any dark circles are not caused by tiredness and even if you have been burning the proverbial candle at both ends, [...]

It’s impossible to go through life without arguing. Sometimes the silliest of reasons can be the trigger for a verbal explosion and when that happens, all hell can break loose and some very unforgivable things can be said. In this day and age, conflict sadly abounds. Difficulties with finances, job security or problems with children can have many relationships at breaking point. So how you do you say your piece and then resolve the issue, moving on?
If your home has become a constant battleground, you need to rethink how you both react to difficulties. Are you both under such stress that it’s difficult to cope and to even think rationally let alone act rationally? There is usually a way to resolve issues but it takes two to make significant changes and those changes may be very different from each other. If both of you don’t mind a couple of rounds [...]

Overwhelmed with that awful insidious migraine pain? Fed up of lying in a darkened room with your head pounding? Missing out on family and social occasions? Migraines are no fun and if you are a sufferer, you will agree that it can wreak havoc on your life. Pain can be in the form of a stabbing sensation, it can affect the forehead, the ears, the temple, the eyes and even the jaw. Usually it affects one side of the face but even smells and sounds can make it worse.
There are definitely some foods that should be avoided if you experience regular migraine pain. Foods such as cheese, onions, chocolate and soy should all be taken off of the menu as these can become very painful triggers. It’s worth keeping a record of all the foods that you eat as there may be just one specific trigger that affects you individually. Salted [...]

When life becomes ultra complicated and it’s difficult to know what your next step is it can really help to write down the circumstances surrounding you so that you gain a clearer picture. If you are feeling swamped by emotions, this can certainly muddy your perception going forward, so capturing those feelings can be incredibly therapeutic.
Sometimes life can be muddled by past experiences and writing your thoughts and feelings down can really help to release emotions that are buried within. These feelings may be so toxic that they can actually cause your body to harm itself from the inside. Feelings of hurt, anger, regret or guilt can be dangerous. Writing enables these toxic emotions to seep out and to be captured onto paper, where thoughts and feelings can become unscrambled.
Importantly, writing enables you to be able to learn from those captured words, to read back the evidence of your feelings that [...]

There are different types of eating disorders and a complex set of issues connected with them that can act as harmful triggers making the disease stronger and putting the sufferer at great risk. Eating disorders are deadly. There is nothing to be celebrated at having an unhealthy association to food or having an extreme disorder to food that can quite literally keep you alive and well. Anyone who has suffered and survived from conditions such as bulimia, anorexia or from a binge eating disorder will tell you that it offers a nightmare world of ill-health with a real potential to lose their life. Serious medical assistance and counselling is required for someone who is gripped by an eating disorder as proper counselling can often mean the difference between life and death.
But there are many people who are at risk too. The borderline individuals who are worried about their weight, yo-yo [...]

There is nothing worse than experiencing those hot and cold shaky feelings, where your concentration drops off the face of the earth and you start to wonder if you are going to pass out. You can literally feel yourself shaking from the inside and out and when your blood sugar levels drop, it’s a horrible feeling that really can impact not just your productivity but your safety too.
If it happens to you a lot, it may well be that you are skipping meals on a regular basis which should always be a no-no anyway. You may have noticed that when those feelings occur, you could literally wolf down anything and everything that is available and it’s usually those bad foods that are to hand. This quick fix that really isn’t a solution. Often we have a biscuit, a sugar laden drink or a bar of chocolate. Sure, it helps [...]

There are probably not many people who would disagree that the world has become a maddening place. Good old fashioned values seem to have gone out of the window. Work-levels have increased substantially, financial requirements have gone up too whilst for some, wages have decreased. It’s hard to remain resolute and to experience feelings of peace when there is so much negativity around the rest of the time. There are some things that are simply out of your control. As much as you want to wave a magic wand and to put the world to rights, you can’t. But what you can do is to make sure that your home becomes a bolt hole from the everyday stressors and provides a welcoming return after a difficult day.
You don’t need to own a property or to earn a lot of money to make your home peaceful. In fact, it makes no [...]

Good health is vital but all too often people take their health for granted, not really considering whether they have a healthy and balanced diet or if the required number of vitamins and minerals are present. Often, it is not until the body starts to succumb to illness or disease that realisation dawns.
Vitamins and minerals are vital in the fight to improve and sustain good health. Some foods understandably provide a better source of vitamins and minerals than others so care is required when planning a weekly diet. There are two categories for vitamins – water soluble and fat soluble. The latter include A, D, E and K and these melt down in fat and are stored within the body. Water soluble vitamins are C and the B complex varieties and they have to dissolve in water prior to absorption. This means C and B vitamins have to be replenished each [...]