Winter care for Hair with Banana hair mask.

In Winter season it becomes a bit hard to maintain our hair as the hair fall is more prominent during this period. Usually about 50-100 strands of hair fall during a day is the norm but during winter it tends to escalate. Here are few pointers to keep in mind to prevent excess hair fall and maintain a glossy mane.

Avoid Blow dryer : Avoid blow drying your hair and let it naturally dry or if you must use it sparingly.

Cold Water : Rinse your hair with bearable cold water in the last for extra shine in the hair.

Have Protein : Consume protein rich diet to combat hair fall.

Banana Hair mask Recipe
2 Ripe Banana
1 tbsp of yogurt
½ tbsp Olive oil
½ tbsp Castor oil
½ tbsp Coconut oil
Mix the above ingredients and gently massage it in your scalp. Apply from the root to the tip of the hair. Cover with hot towel, leave for half an hour. Rinse with lukewarm water. Use a mild shampoo or best use Shikakai with rice starch to wash your hair.

Goodness of this hair mask : Banana hydrates the hair and is great for thin and brittle hair. Yogurt adds shine to your hair. Olive oil nourishes the hair. Castor oil promotes hair growth. Coconut oil is a conditioning agent.

Pump up your Fiber with Beans

"Bean" can be used as a near-synonym of "pulse", an edible legume, though the term "pulses" is usually reserved for leguminous crops harvested for their dry grain and usually excludes crops mainly used for oil extraction (like soybeans and peanuts) or those used exclusively for sowing purposes (such as clover and alfalfa). In English usage, the word "beans" is also sometimes used to mean the seeds or pods of plants.

Beans are rich in Soluble fiber
In a small bowl of beans you will find about 10 to 12 gm of fiber. They are also rich in protein which makes them ideal for breakfast or lunch. It’s a great way to start the day with energy, this way you would be energetic and won’t feel lethargic during the day. This is also an easy way to increase your fiber intake.

How to cook
A recommended method is to boil the beans for at least ten minutes; undercooked beans may be more toxic than raw beans. Cooking beans in a slow cooker, because of the lower temperatures often used, may not destroy toxins even though the beans do not smell or taste 'bad' (though this should not be a problem if the food reaches boiling and stays there for some time). You can soak it for few hours to make the cooking quicker. while cooking you can add about 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder, it's a great way to incorporate turmeric in our daily diet and it also eliminates any sort of unpleasant aroma if any of the beans.

Flatulence
Many edible beans, including broad beans and soybeans, contain oligosaccharides (particularly Raffinose and Stachyose), a type of sugar molecule also found in cabbage. An anti-oligosaccharide enzyme is necessary to properly digest these sugar molecules. As a normal human digestive tract does not contain any anti-oligosaccharide enzymes, consumed oligosaccharides are typically digested by bacteria in the large intestine. This digestion process produces flatulence-causing gases as a byproduct.

How to avoid Flatulence
Flatulence can be avoided by adding Asafetida (Hing). You can add about ¼ tsp of it for a bowl.

Regulates Bowel Movements

Due to the high amount of fiber in beans it helps to regulate bowel movements.

Aids Weight Loss

High amount of fiber aids weight loss as it makes us feel satiated. Thus we consume less calories throughout the day.

Great for Snacks and salads

Beans makes a healthy snacks and salads. They are easy to prepare and less time consuming too.

Photo by Manasi.

Get rid of acne and pimples and keep them away.

A pimple is a result of a blockage of the skin's pore. Sometimes its hormonal. Pimples can easily be controlled with few basic things like keeping the pores clean and with healthy diet and exercise.

Hormones: Hormones play a major role in acne breakouts. Breakouts happens when your adolescent or an adult due to hormonal changes.

Remove makeup: Removing makeup is very important as doing otherwise will leave you with clogged pores which in return will result in breakouts.

Diet: Having fruits and vegetables of different colors gives our body various vitamins, minerals, nutrients and antioxidants which helps the skin to rejuvenate and maintain its healthy sheen. What you consume in your regular diet reflects on your skin so choose wisely, so now you know what to do to have porcelain skin.

Water: Water is very important for healthy hydrated skin and to detoxify the body so drink water approximately 8-10 glasses of water per day.

Benzoyl peroxide gel and salicylic acid gel:  These two over the  counter gels are very effective to get rid of acne and pimples within 3 - 4 days. Just apply any one of them on the spot and leave it overnight. Wash in the morning.

Don’t touch your face: Touching your face too often tends to transfer the dirt from your finger to get accumulated in the face and clogs the pores and due to this pimples breakout occurs.

Don’t over clean  your face: Washing your face twice a day is much better than washing it 5-6 times as this leads to over production of oil and breakouts, unless your job is such which demands for frequent cleaning.

Avoid processed food: Processed foods have unhealthy fats and oils which results in excess oil in the body and which results in acne breakouts. Avoid them for healthy skin and body.

Keep your cholesterol in check: High Cholesterol also leads to skin breakouts.

Exercise: Exercise regularly as it not only benefits your body but also helps to flush out  toxins from the body with sweat and thus helping the skin. Exercising also pumps blood to the skin and gives that healthy glow. So quit wasting your money on expensive procedure and go for a regular exercise routine to maintain body, skin and peaceful mind.

Home remedies for acne and pimples

Apply tomato juice on your face and wash it off after 20 minutes do this everyday. This controls the oil in the face and closes and minimizes pores. This done on a regular basis gives the skin healthy glow and clear face.

Apply Mint juice over your face for 20 minutes and wash it off. Mint juice also removes excess oil from.

Apply ice on the face everyday this closes pores and gives instant color to pale cheeks.

Apply Multani Mitti Clay (Fuller's Earth) mixed with rose water on your face and neck and wash it off after it dries. This removes excess oil, tones and tighten the skin and closes the pores.

For more home remedies read my post Zap the zit

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Rejuvenator Kit