How to Make Basil-Mint Oil

Here is the recipe:

• 3 cups mint leaves
• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1 ½ cups canola or olive oil
• Coarse salt to taste
• 1 or 2 green chillies (optional)

Clean, wash, and finely chop the leaves. Blanch them in rapidly boiling water for about 20 seconds, and immerse into an ice bath.

Blend them with the green chillies and oil in a blender. Strain through a cheesecloth and pour the herbalicious oil into a clean glass jar.

Tip: Don’t discard the herb solids: you can add them to stew, soup or rice for extra flavor.

5 exciting ways to use this oil

• Toss cooked pasta in this oil, along with finely chopped garlic and salt. Simple and delicious!
• Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a pan and stir-fry vegetables in it.
• Drizzle it over grilled tomatoes and soups.
• Instead of the usual rosemary sprigs, try roasting potatoes tossed in this minty oil.
• Fill baked mushroom caps with this oil, minced garlic, and season to taste.
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Nature's Sweetener - The health benefits of Honey

1. Prevent cancer and heart disease:

Honey contains flavonoids, antioxidants which help reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease.

2. Reduce ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders.
Recent research shows that honey treatment may help disorders such as ulcers and bacterial gastroenteritis. This may be related to the 3rd benefit…

3. Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-fungal:
“All honey is antibacterial, because the bees add an enzyme that makes hydrogen peroxide,” said Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.

4. Increase athletic performance.
Ancient Olympic athletes would eat honey and dried figs to enhance their performance. This has now been verified with modern studies, showing that it is superior in maintaining glycogen levels and improving recovery time than other sweeteners.

5. Reduce cough and throat irritation:
Honey helps with coughs, particularly buckwheat honey. In a study of 110 children, a single dose of buckwheat honey was just as effective as a single dose of dextromethorphan in relieving nocturnal cough and allowing proper sleep.

6. Balance the 5 elements: 

Honey has been used in ayurvedic medicine in India for at least 4000 years and is considered to affect all three of the body’s primitive material imbalances positively. It is also said to be useful in improving eyesight, weight loss, curing impotence and premature ejaculation, urinary tract disorders, bronchial asthma, diarrhea, and nausea.

Honey is referred as “Yogavahi” since it has a quality of penetrating the deepest tissues of the body. When honey is used with other herbal preparations, it enhances the medicinal qualities of those preparations and also helps them to reach the deeper tissues.

7. Blood sugar regulation:

Even though honey contains simple sugars, it is NOT the same as white sugar or artificial sweeteners. Its exact combination of fructose and glucose actually helps the body regulate blood sugar levels. Some honeys have a low hypoglycemic index, so they don’t jolt your blood sugar.  

8. Heal wounds and burns:

External application of honey has been shown to be as effective as conventional treatment with silver sulfadiazene. It is speculated that the drying effect of the simple sugars and honey’s anti-bacterial nature combine to create this effect.

9. Probiotic:

Some varieties of honey possess large amounts of friendly bacteria. This includes up to 6 species of lactobacilli and 4 species of bifidobacteria. This may explain many of the “mysterious therapeutic properties of honey.”

10. Beautiful skin:

Its anti-bacterial qualities are particularly useful for the skin, and, when used with the other ingredients, can also be moisturizing and nourishing! 

Honey Cautions:

• Best not to feed to infants. Spores of Clostridium botulinum have been found in a small percentage of honey in North America. This is not dangerous to adults and older children, but infants can have a serious reaction of illness in the first year. Do not add honey to baby food or use as a soother to quiet a fussy or colicky baby. 
• Honey is a sugar, so do not eat jars full of it if you value your good health and want to maintain a healthy weight. It has a high caloric value and will put you on a sugar high and low.

Source: http://realfoodforlife.com/health-benefits-of-honey/

Live a Healthy Life

Here are 10 things you should do to make this the healthiest year of your life. Make these choices a habit and you'll feel the difference within days.

1. Drink plenty of pure water.

Drinking enough water strengthens the immune system, promotes weight loss, improves the skin, and carries waste from the body. Drink spring water from a trusted source or tap water that has been filtered to remove chlorine, lead, and fluoride.

2. Increase your physical activity.

Many of the diseases we are prone to are the result of a sedentary lifestyle as well as an unhealthy diet. Your body is meant to be used and will quickly deteriorate if it's not. Physical activity should be as high a priority as eating and sleeping. Do the things you enjoy, but be sure to engage in some form of aerobic and resistance exercise at least two or three times per week.

3. Limit your carbohydrate intake.

Learn about the glycemic index and avoid carbohydrates that are too high on it. This includes potatoes, corn, grain products, baked goods, sugars, and other sweets. Stick to low- and mid-range glycemic-index foods, such as non-starchy vegetables, greens, nuts, berries, beans, and fruits.

4. Consume good sources of natural fats.

Completely avoid any products made with hydrogenated oils. Start reading the ingredients on the labels of the foods you eat. Replace vegetable oils with olive oil and organic unrefined coconut oil. Increase your intake of omega-3 fats found in fish oil, grass-fed meat, walnuts, olives, organic eggs, and flaxseeds.

5. Eat protein at every meal.

Your body needs protein every day. A lack of protein sends your brain the signal that food is scarce and prompts the body to protect itself from this "famine" by storing excess fat. If you're a vegetarian, rice protein powder is an excellent source of pure protein with no carbohydrates to raise insulin levels. Also consider spirulina, a microalgae that is 60% protein.

6. Eat a natural diet.

Whenever possible, insist on organic fruits, vegetables, and berries. Organic produce is more nutritious, free of harmful pesticides, and it even tastes better than conventional produce. Also, choose grass-fed meats, organic eggs and poultry, and wild-caught fish known to be free of contaminants.

7. Eliminate artificial sweeteners.

As bad as sugar can be, artificial sweeteners are worse. The worst offender is aspartame. It has been responsible for more adverse reactions reported to the FDA than all other foods and additives combined. It has been linked to tumors, seizures, headaches, altered brain function, chronic fatigue, optic-nerve damage, and a host of other maladies. For an all-natural, no-calorie sweetener, use Xylitol sugar.

8. Get enough rest.

While the body is at rest, your brain organizes memories, muscles are repaired and restored, and the immune system is rejuvenated. The right amount of sleep will boost creativity, improve your mood, and even decrease your chances of obesity. For optimum health, most people need seven hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

9. Expose your skin to sunlight.

There are numerous health benefits associated with moderate sun exposure -- and despite what you may have heard or read to the contrary, populations with the most exposure to sunlight actually exhibit the lowest rates of cancer. The key is to never allow your skin to burn -- which means that it's generally best to enjoy the sun before 10 a.m. and after 2 p.m. when UV rays are lower. If your lifestyle does not allow you to be in the sun for a short time each day, consider supplementing with cod liver oil. Among its other outstanding benefits, the cod liver oil will compensate for the vitamin D you may be lacking as a result of not getting enough sun.

10. Take a few sensible supplements.

You should get most of your nutrients from high-quality whole foods, but any nutritional program can be enhanced by supplementing with appropriate vitamins and minerals.

The road to total health and wellness is not about making a single decision that will take you to your goal. It is about making many small decisions every day. Decisions that become habits. Habits that lead to success.