Natural Deodorant, Why Is It So Important?

It's no secret that I'm passionate about living a healthy life, and I try to do the right thing by my body in every way that I can. The common ways would be eating a healthy, nutritious diet, getting plenty of exercise, getting fresh air daily, and drinking plenty of water. However, people seem to neglect to use skincare and body care products that are non-toxic. I'm not going to pretend I'm all organic and only use 100% natural products, but I am taking steps to become more and more that way.

How Yoga Changed My Life

A couple of years ago I was an unhealthy teenage girl, both in mind and body. I was unfit, had back and knee joint paint, and I was not happy. Now I'm a 20 year old who's healthy and happy.
About a year and a half ago I decided to change and become a healthier person, and one of the things I decided I wanted to do was yoga. Yoga has become a huge part of my life now, and I can't see that changing!

If you know me personally then I can pretty much be 100% certain that I've told you to do yoga at least once. It's something I believe everyone would benefit from, and I'm about to tell you why.


Before I started practising yoga I thought it was literally just a bit of simple stretching and mediation. I thought the only benefits you could get from it were flexibility and perhaps a bit of calm in your mind, but there's so much more. The benefits to a regular yoga practise are endless!

1. It builds muscle strength. At first I found some yoga poses quite challenging because of the strength in your whole body you need to achieve them, but now I find my body is strong and it's so much easier to hold more advanced positions. My arms are more toned, my abs are strong and my back & legs are stronger too!
2. Yoga improves your posture. In a world where so many people sit at computers all day posture is becoming somewhat of an issue! Yoga teaches you to stand and sit tall, thus preventing damage to the spine and it makes you look slimmer too.
3. Increases blood flow. Yoga aids circulation by getting more oxygen to your blood cells. Twisting poses wring out venous blood from internal organs. Inverted poses (headstands, should stands and hand stands) allow venous blood from the legs and pelvis to flow back to the heart, where it can be pumped to the lungs to be freshly oxygenated. All this reduces the risk of heart attacks, strokes and kidney problems.
4. Prevents cartilage breakdown. As your joints are going through a full range of motion this can help to prevent degenerative arthritis and other joint disabilities.
5. Yoga protects your spine. Keeping the discs in your back supple is so important, and a yoga practice with plenty of backbends, forward bends and twists will really help that.
6. Betters bone health. This is something important to me as I have a high risk of developing osteoporosis. Yoga requires you to lift your own weight which strengths your bones, and also reduces a stress hormone which isn't good for calcium in the bones.
7. Lowers blood sugar. Yoga's been found to lower cortisol and adrenaline levels, which encourages weigh loss and improves sensitivity to the effects of insulin.
8. Yoga helps you focus. During your practise you should focus on the present, not the past of the future, just the now. This is important, and it improves co-ordination, reaction time, memory and even IQ scores with regular practise.
9. Contrary to popular belieft yoga can give you a real workout! Sure, yoga can be super relaxing but it can also be tough, it can get your heart pumping and cause you to sweat!


All of those benefits can be found with regular practise, but what real results have I seen from a almost 2 years daily yoga practise?
I'm stronger, more balanced and more flexible than I was before and that's improving constantly.
I find I'm a lot happier in my mind, I feel calmer and more confident as well.
I sleep better and my brain doesn't feel so busy at night.
I'm in less pain…this is the biggest benefit for me. Before practising yoga I wouldn't be able to stand for even half an hour without chronic back pain, and aching legs…..I'd even moan when walking around the shops! Now I never, ever have that problem. When I go to work I'm on my feet for 8 hours and it doesn't bother me at all.
Maybe now you can understand how yoga changed my life for the better, and why I believe everyone should practise it and start enjoying the beautiful benefits that will sure follow.

If you're thinking of giving yoga a try then please YogaWithAdriene on YouTube…she is fantastic and the only yoga videos I watch are hers. There's none of that silly music in the background, she's real - not a yoga robot, she encourages you to 'find what feels good' and adapt poses to suit you if you need to, and her range of videos is superb.

Namaste. 

Chia Seed - The Super Food

There's so much hype around all these different super foods recently - flaxseed, hemp seed, acai, and my favourite….chia seeds!
Chia seeds seem to have become a huge thing recently, everyone's talking about them, and I'm seeing them in more and more shops, but what's so great about them? What are their benefits? Are they worth the 'super food' title?

Chia seeds come from a flowering plant in the mint family that's native to South America. They're tiny, black or dark brown seeds that are pretty tasteless and can't really be eaten alone (they wouldn't taste terribly nice and they'd get stuck in your teeth, I wouldn't recommend it). However, when combined with other ingredients they're a healthy eating dream. My favourite things to do with them are to stir the seeds into porridge or make chia seed pudding.

• Chia seeds contain more iron than spinach, which is essential for carrying oxygen around the body.
• They're bursting with antioxidant strength, some studies show they're more antioxidising than blueberries.
• 10g of chia seeds (approximately 2 table spoons) is almost half your daily requirement of fibre, which is needed to eliminate toxins from the body, and provides a slow release of energy.
• These little seeds are the highest plant-based source of alpha-linolenic, a type of omega-3 fatty acid, which reduces joint pain and inflammation; essential for keeping the heart nice and healthy and lowering blood pressure & cholesterol.
• Chia seeds have the ability to absorb up to 10 times their weight in liquid when consumed, meaning they're fantastic at keeping you feeling fuller for longer.
• They aid muscle and tissue regeneration and help with digestive regularity.
• Chia seeds also contain a lot of magnesium, manganese, zinc and calcium, which boost the metabolism and keep the skin glowing.

Chia seeds may not be the cheapest, but there are definitely deals to be found online and in independent health food shops (avoid Holland & Barrett if you're on a budget), and even a small bag will last you a long time. With all those amazing benefits for the body they're well worth the money, and I think we can conclude that chia seeds are well worth their 'super food' status!

The Importance Of Avoiding Sugar!

I've always had a pretty healthy diet, ever since I was little I never had a high fat or high sugar diet and I've always been sensible with what I eat. Recently, however, I've started taking healthy eating a lot more seriously and I really think it's important for other people to do the same. Nowadays nearly everybody eats rather bad food, and I think a big problem of that is they don't actually realise what harm the ingredients they're eating is doing to them. I could go on about the absolutely disgusting effects of 'food' from McDonalds, Burger King, and other fast-food chains, I could rant about being people so many processed foods, but today I'm focussing on an evil thing called sugar.

Like I said, I've never had a high sugar diet. I've always preferred savoury over sweet and I've never been a big pudding eater, however occasionally I would have a pudding, or ice cream, or things like granola bars bought from the shops (very high sugar contents)…even fruit juice isn't good in large quantities. But recently I've almost completely cut sugar out, and I always make sure I check the labels of foods I think may have sugar in - some people roll their eyes when I tell them this, but it's just sensible and I have quite a few reasons why, which I will get onto shortly.
I'm not saying never treat yourself, of course you can have foods with added sugar every now and again but consuming them regularly can have huge effects on your body.


The first thing to know is sugar IS addictive. Fact. I was talking to someone the other day who said she was trying to eat healthily, but found it impossible to not have sweet things because she craved them. This isn't down to 'just having a sweet tooth', it's down to addiction. When we eat sugar dopamine is released in the brain, which gives us a feeling of pleasure - the same way drugs like cocaine work, our brain is then programmed to seek out the sugar to get that feeling of pleasure again, and again. The less you consume sugary foods the less you will crave them, honestly, try it for even a couple of weeks and you'll see what I mean. When I first started this cutting out of sugar I stopped drinking squash, after a couple of weeks I tried it again and couldn't even finish the glass because the taste of sugar was SO strong.


• Sugar itself doesn't contain any vitamins, minerals, protein, essential fats or beneficial things. It's empty calories. So if you eat things like chocolate bars, Pringles, Coca-Cola (evil drink) or other fizzy drinks, biscuits, cakes, ice-cream, etc you're filling your body with very little nutrients and you're bound to end up deficient in many important nutrients.

• Too much sugar can overload the liver. Fructose sugar can only be metabolised by the liver, eating a little bit or from good foods like fruit is fine (also eating fructose sugar after a workout is better as the body deals with it in a healthier way), but in other cases the sugar overloads the liver and turns the fructose sugar into fat - some of this fat is shipped out around the body but some will remain in the liver, where it builds up over time and can lead to liver disease.

• Too much sugar can cause insulin resistance, which creates a whole load of problems, including diabetes. Insulin allows glucose (blood sugar) to enter cells in the bloodstream, and gets the cells to burn glucose instead of fat. If too much insulin is being produced then the body becomes sort of immune to it, and it stops working as it should.
Fact - people who drink beverages with added sugar regularly have a 83% higher risk of developing type II diabetes. So, stick with water!

• Avoiding sugar will reduce your risk of developing cancer. There is a lot of evidence to back up this point. Insulin is one of the key hormones that regulates the growth of cells, so increased levels of insulin  which make the body immune to the effects of the hormone can contribute to developing cancer. Also, the problems sugar consumption can have on the metabolism can drive inflammation in the body, another cause of cancer.

• Sugar raises your cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease - the biggest killer in the world. Saturated fat is obviously not good for you, but actually sugar has more of an effect on cholesterol levels. In just 10 weeks of regularly consuming bad sugars you could increase the hormones in your body that lead to heart disease.

• Sugar rots your brain. No, really, it does destroy your brain. It even contributes to the degenerative brain damage disease Alzheimer's.

• Sugar actually robs your bones of vital minerals. Sugar depletes your bones of key nutrients like calcium, magnesium and copper which are vital for your health.


So, after all those horrible facts why would you want to eat sugar? You'd have to be mad!
If you eat sugar a lot you should think of it like an addiction, because that's what it is, and it's doing an insane amount of damage to you, so cut it out! Just stop consuming it. Try it for just a couple of weeks and your craving will significantly decrease.
Do remember sugar is added to a ridiculous amount of things these days, whenever I go shopping and look at the labels on foods I'm always shocked to see what products have added sugar in them, even foods that are marketed as being good for you contain SO much sugar - including those yogurt drinks and Naked smoothies. Try to avoid these foods, eat clean, natural foods - which are more delicious (I think), better for you in every way and will satisfy your hunger more.
FACT - In 1850 the UK consumption of sugar was about 8kg per person a year, by the year 2000 it had risen to over 65kg per person a year.

So, avoid - biscuits, sugary cereal (go for no added sugar muesli, pure porridge oats which you can add fresh fruit to, flax seeds or almonds for more taste, or fruit and plain yogurt), crisps, fruit juices, squash, cereal bars, ice cream, etc.
To satisfy any strong cravings for sweet foods opt for fresh fruit - pineapple, mango, apples and blueberries are among my favourites, you can make no-bake oat bars at home with coconut oil (I might post a recipe soon), peanut butter and apple, Quakers oat biscuits are low in sugar, greek yogurt, soya yogurt, nuts and homemade ice-cream using just bananas (google recipes) are among the yummy snacks to try.
I think it's so important to eat healthily, both for the body and the mind and it makes me quite angry and sad that the importance of this isn't taught, and people don't take it seriously. If everyone ate fresh, natural, clean food we'd have a health epidemic!

Do you eat sugar regularly?

Will you be cutting down?

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The Benefits Of Lemon

Recently I've started putting slices of lemon in my water, to make it a bit more tasty and also because there are so many health benefits. I already knew a few of them but after doing some research I found a load more, and I have come to the conclusion that lemon is a magical fruit.

1. Helps keep your skin looking clear. Lemon juice contains antioxidants which will help to clear up blemishes and also keep you looking younger. Lemon juice can be applied straight to the face as well, apply it to problem areas (as long as they're not open wounds, or severe acne), leave the juice on for half an hour and rinse. Lemon juice will also make you look more radiant, as it's detoxifying your blood.

2. Boosts your immune system. If you're someone who gets ill a lot, especially if you get colds, (thankfully I'm not like that) then drinking lemon water is a good idea! Lemon juice contains loads of vitamin C, which helps protect and keep cells healthy, maintains the body tissue around your organs and helps wounds to heal.

3. Helps with digestion. Lemon juice will aid your body with digestion and relieve heartburn, indigestion or bloating.

4. Balances your pH levels. Having a good pH balance in your body is important - if unbalanced it can cause problems with the digestive system, immune system, respiratory system, nervous system, muscular system, and many more. Although on their own lemons are acidic once they're inside the body they are one of the most alkalising foods. Drinking lemon water regularly will help reduce the acidity in your body, which could have been caused by a high-fat diet, airway conditions like asthma, drinking too much alcohol, obesity, etc.

5. Stops you overeating. If you're trying to lose weight, or simply by healthier by not snacking so much then the pectin fibre in lemon juice will assist in fighting those cravings.

6. Helps reduce feelings of anxiety or depression. I didn't really believe this one, but lemon juice is supposed to be very calming, even the smell of it can really help.

7. Cleanses your body. Lemon juice helps to flush out any toxins from your body. The juice will help maximise enzyme function, which stimulates the liver and aids in detoxification. It will also help loosen toxins in the digestive tract, due to the high number of minerals and vitamins in the lemon.

8.  Keeps your breath fresh. No-one likes smelly breath! Lemon juice will keep your breath much fresher.

9. Energises you. Lemon juice contains more negatively charged ions, which react with your body and provide you with more energy.

10. Great source of potassium. Potassium is really good for heart health, and also the brain and nerve functions.

So now you see what I mean, lemon is magical.

Try putting it in your water!

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