Maybe you don’t like the idea of wearing a banana, but because the fruit is rich in vitamins and antioxidants like potassium and lutein, they have positive effect it has on our skin. After all, skin absorbs a certain amount of what you place on it (depending on skin thickness and how concentrated the substance is, of course).

According to Ara DerMarderosian, Ph.D., who conducts research on various folk remedies, “A banana is going to be soothing because it contains slippery components that are starch-like materials [polysaccharides].”

And the sugar in bananas is slightly anti-microbial, which means it can help fight various infections.

Itch Relief

Bitten by mosquitoes during the barbecue? Stumbled into a nasty patch of poison ivy while hiking? Quickly, peel a banana and apply the cooling skin to your itch. Banana peels can help to stop the inflammation and sooth the itching, giving you sweet relief (or at least a buffer period before you can get your hands on some calamine lotion).

Soothing Facial

Banana facials are praised for their ability to fight dry skin and ward off wrinkles. All the vitamins in the fruit (B6, C, manganese, potassium) are great for your skin, too. Just wash your face, mash up a banana, and smear it on! Add a tablespoon of honey for extra moisturizing powers.

Acne Fighter

Since banana peels have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, try adding them to your arsenal of acne products. After cleansing your face, rub the inside of a banana peel all over your skin. You can even lie down and spread one or two peels across your face like a mask if you’re feeling super motivated. Try this folk remedy at night, unless you want to smell like bananas all day.

Dry Hair Saver

The amino acids in bananas help protect your hair from environmental damage, and their citric acid makes your locks shiny. Blend a banana with a few chunks of cantaloupe and avocado, and a few tablespoons of plain yogurt, and massage through your hair. Leave on for 30 minutes and shampoo out.

It sounds weird, but we promise that your hair will be shiny and conditioned when you emerge from the shower.

No More Warts

Home remedy aficionados swear by the wart-fighting power of the humble banana peel, and if you’ve got a nasty wart, you’re probably willing to try anything to get rid of it. Just tape a small piece of banana peel to the affected area with the inside of the peel pressed against your wart. Leave on overnight, or if you’re doing this during the day, leave on until the peel turns black. We know. Ew. You’ll need to keep this up for several weeks to see results.

Photo attribute: mocoloco.com

Oh, chemicals. We eat organic to avoid them in our food, but what about our toilette? Instead of buying yet another mousse that leaves your hair crunchy and full of chemical build-up, waltz into your kitchen—chances are you already own the ingredients you need for beautiful, chemical-free hair.

Add Volume and Shine With Beer

It sounds shocking, but a beer rinse is a fabulous natural way to get glossy, voluminous locks on the cheap. Crack one open and let it sit until it’s warm and flat, then pour over hair after shampooing. Rub it in a bit, and let your hair air-dry. Don’t worry, you won’t smell like an alcoholic—the scent vanishes as it dries. Proteins in beer add volume to your locks, while beer’s natural sugars tighten up your hair’s cuticle for extra shine.

Deep Condition With Oils

You’ve probably noticed a slew of conditioning products that list olive, coconut, jojoba, or avocado oil as one of their moisturizing ingredients. Skip to the chase and give parched hair a DIY treatment with whatever oil is in your cabinet.

Massage the oil into your hair, focusing especially on dry ends, until your entire head is covered. Wrap hair in a towel or plastic wrap—the trapped heat will help the oil absorb better. Leave the treatment in for 30 minutes to several hours, then shampoo thoroughly to remove all oil. Makes a great weekly conditioning treatment for extra-damaged hair.

Thicken Fine Hair With Egg

The golden yolk of an egg is filled with protein that can coat the shaft of your hair and make it temporarily thicker. If your hair could use some extra body, whip up an egg yolk with 1/4 cup of plain organic yogurt (also a great source of protein). Coat your hair with the mixture, and leave on for 15-30 minutes. Shampoo and condition as usual.

Clarify With Baking Soda

If your hair is looking particularly dull and limp, it may be because you have too much product build-up on your strands. Baking soda is a natural exfoliant, making it one of the cheapest and best ways to clarify your hair. While in the shower, squeeze a dollop of shampoo into your palm and mix in about a tablespoon of baking soda. Massage this mixture into your scalp, then rinse and condition.

Degrease With Corn Starch

Hair stylists are obsessed with dry shampoo for its ability to soak up oily sebum and dirt while adding volume and texture to dry hair. Don’t feel like springing for the $20 bottle? Pick up a box of cornstarch—it’s the main ingredient in many pricey dry shampoos, anyway.

The next time your hair looks limp or oily, dip your fingers in the cornstarch and rake them through your roots, focusing on extra-greasy areas, such as bangs. Brush or shake as much as you can out of your hair.

photo attribute: buzzle.com

Whether your face is looking dull from a long winter under fluorescent lights, or your elbows are scaly from too many wool sweaters, there’s an exfoliating scrub out there that promises to fix it.

But not everybody is ready to drop major bucks on something that will be rinsed down the drain thirty seconds later. Thankfully, there are plenty of cheap, effective options to help you get back your glow. DIY scrubs are incredibly easy to make, and you probably have the ingredients in your kitchen right now.

Hey, Sugar

The sweetest ingredient ever also functions as a luscious, dirt-cheap exfoliating product. To make your own sugar scrub, just mix two parts sugar with one part olive oil or sweet almond oil.

Oily skin? Substitute your favorite facial cleanser for the oil. Sensitive-skinned folks should add a spoonful of moisturizing honey. If you’re a fan of essential oils, add a few drops of your favorite. Tea tree is great for acne; lavender is great for calming and soothing skin. For a dreamy scent, splash in a few drops of vanilla extract. Wash your face with warm water, and exfoliate with gentle, circular motions.

Get Salty

Get rid of dead skin cells with the ultimate Dead Sea mineral: salt. The proportions are exactly the same as the sugar scrub recipe, although you’ll want to make more of this scrub, since you can use this all over your body (just avoid the more sensitive skin of your face). Mix two parts sea salt with one part of your favorite oil. Squeeze in a teaspoon or two of lemon juice if you want to wake up in the shower. Sensitive skin can counteract the acidity of lemon by adding a spoonful of honey.

Mini Microdermabrasion

Don’t have hundreds to drop on spa microdermabrasion treatments? Give yourself an at-home exfoliation with pure baking soda. Mix 1 to 2 tbsp. of baking soda with enough water to form a paste. As always, sensitive or dry skins can add half a teaspoon of honey or extra virgin olive oil. Massage the paste into clean, damp skin with a circular motion; a slight stinging sensation is normal. Rinse carefully and moisturize well.

Photo attribute: preparednesspro.com

 I first discovered tofu when I was learning how to calorie count, which had me paying attention to other food options available at restaurants. I realized that tofu vs. meat had less calories, less fat, less sodium, and almost the same amount of protein.

I fell in LOVE with tofu, though when my baby was diagnosed as anemic and was put on a high iron diet.

Tofu is an excellent source of iron, providing 33.7% of our daily requirement (in a 4oz serving). While tofu is low in fat, it does provide 15% of our daily requirement of Omega 3’s! It’s also high in calcium at nearly 40%.

100g of tofu contains an average of 17g of protein!

What are other health benefits of Tofu?

While some adults and children should be aware that they might have a food allergy with tofu due to soy (just like some people can’t handle gluten), the health benefits of tofu can’t be ignored. Tofu contains isoflavones, which are plant hormones that does our body good, including fighting breast and colon cancer.

The FDA just approved packing of tofu (with quantities of 6.25g of soy per serving) to be labeled as a HEART HEALTHY FOOD with the ability to help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease thanks to its ability to lower your bad/lousy LDL cholesterol.

Isoflavones can directly scavenge free radicals, which prevents premature aging. It also may help prevent bone loss, which lowers your risk of osteoporosis. And ladies take note: it’s believed that isoflavones may play a role in the reducing menopausal symptoms. Yahooooo!

Isoflavones are so fantastic that they were the primary ingredient in University of Minnesota’s scientist “smart bomb” drug which has the potential to cure childhood leukemia.

Blending with Tofu!

The thing that I love the most about tofu is that it takes on the flavor of whatever you’re mixing (or cooking) it with. This makes tofu extremely versatile in the kitchen. We add tofu to our smoothies to up our nutritional content and add great texture!

Orange Breakfast Dream (pictured)

• 1 1/2 cups orange juice, chilled
• 1 cup milk, or light vanilla-flavored soy milk, chilled
• 1/3 cup silken tofu or soft tofu
• 1 tablespoon dark honey
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 ice cubes
• 4 peeled orange sections

This tastes just like an old-fashioned Creamsicle! Remember that the orange sections at the end are going to add pulp, so it you’d prefer a chunk-less smoothie, than simply omit the orange sections.

Tofu Energy Smoothie

• 1/2 cup of soft silken tofu
• 1 cup of fresh strawberries (sliced or quartered)
• 1/2 cup of low fat milk, or light vanilla soy milk
• 1 large banana (peeled, sliced, frozen)
• 2 tablespoons of pineapple juice concentrate (frozen)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth!

Tofu can be saved up to a week in your refrigerator by submerging the tofu in water inside an airtight container with a lid. Make sure you change your water daily.

I’m always looking for new tofu recipes. Leave me a comment below with yours!

Does anyone remember Iron Man 2? The special effects were memorable, but it was Gwyneth Paltrow’s tiny premiere dresses and shorts that had everyone buzzing.

One of the foods that helped Gwyneth get in shape—and maintain her legendary glow—for the worldwide movie premiere was a sweet juice made from our favorite powerhouse veggie: kale.

This isn’t Country Time—Gwyneth’s “lemonade” has a green, grassy flavor, of course, but it’s so simple (3 ingredients + water!) and so healthy that you can pump up the lemon or agave until it’s just perfect for your taste buds.

Drink it first thing in the morning; it will kick-start your immune system and give you a healthy, daylong glow that will make you feel like a movie star.

You’ll need:

• 1 bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves washed
• 2 lemons (kick it up to 3 if you need the extra immune boost)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons agave nectar (or more to taste)
• 1/2 cup cold water

Make the kale lemonade

1. Juice the kale and lemon.
2. Mix in the agave nectar. Stir well.
3. Swirl in the half cup of cold water.
4. Taste. More agave? More lemon? It’s up to you.
5. Drink it down!

Don’t forget, cruciferous kale is a fantastic source of dietary fiber, manganese, and vitamins K, A, and C. It’s also anti-inflamatory, antioxidant, and it’s even been shown to have anti-cancer properties.

Photo attribute: easyrawfooddetoxdiet.com

Sick of masks, scrubs, spot treatments and serums that promise to cure your acne, yet end up leaving your skin dry, tight and flaky? Focus on improving your skin from the inside out. “I think the nutritional aspect of health is incredibly overlooked,” says Dr. Gary Rogers, director of dermatologic surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine.

The following powerhouse nutrients are big players in the fight for clear skin, especially when they replace high-glycemic (acne-friendly) foods like white flour, sugars, and artificial sweeteners, as well as dairy products (at least three scientific studies have shown a correlation between milk and acne).

Orange you looking good, baby!

Vitamin A is found in abundance in orange-colored vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and orange peppers. It helps to regulate the production of sebum, a natural oil produced by our skin that can lead to clogged pores, and studies have shown an improvement in acne-sufferers who increased their intake of the vitamin.

Vitamin E is for excellent!

This one’s another acne-improving vitamin, so make pump up its presence in your diet. Great natural sources of Vitamin E include sunflower seeds, Swiss chard, mustard greens and turnip greens. Fortified breakfast cereals are another easy way to get your fill, as well as whole-grain breads. Avoid cereals and breads made with white flour, which can lead to acne flare-ups in some people.

Good fats keep you looking gorgeous

Skin cells need to be hydrated to stay healthy. Fill your plate with avocados, nuts, seeds and healthy oils, such as sesame, olive, and walnutgood f oils, or top off your morning smoothie with ground flax seeds (check out this post for more alternatives).

These good fats (omega-3s) reduce inflammation, which is one of the key factors in the appearance of acne. They keep skin moisturized from the inside out. Speaking of hydration, don’t forget to chug at least 10-12 glasses of water per day to keep your systems flowing smoothly (did you miss our post on how much water we should really be drinking?)

Pump up the Antioxidants

When your skin lacks antioxidants, production of free radicals can increase, leading to all sorts of skin problems including breakouts. Strengthen your defenses against free radicals by upping your antioxidant intake. Green tea is a simple, quick antioxidant fix – plus, the caffeine will perk you right up. Throw a cup of bright berries into your smoothie, or toss in a handful of spinach or kale (we promise you won’t taste it).

Photo attribute: mvseeds.com

Frigid winds, dry indoor heating, lack of sunlight, and too many hot, buttered rums can leave your immune system weakened and your body feeling blah. Don’t feel like running out into the blizzard to pick up some Nyquil? Calm your sniffles with cheap, all-natural remedies that you can whip together from your own cupboards.

Sweet and Spicy Ginger Tea

To ward off a cold and warm yourself from the inside out, brew a pot of ginger laced, lemon honey tea. Lemon juice is packed with immune-boosting Vitamin C; ginger is anti-inflammatory and works miracles on upset stomachs; honey is antibiotic, anti-viral, and soothes sore throats. Oh—and they’re also delicious together.

Instructions: Peel and grate a one-inch piece of fresh ginger root. Toss the ginger into a teapot, along with the juice of one lemon and honey to taste. Add about six cups of water, and bring the mixture to a boil. Strain, pour, and enjoy, preferably in front of a crackling fire.

Saltwater and Turmeric Gargle

Soothe a scratchy winter throat by gargling with a mixture of warm water, salt, and turmeric. The saline in saltwater draws out excess fluid from the inflammed walls of the throat (gross!) Pair with powerful, anti-inflammatory turmeric for quick, effective relief.

Instructions: Mix a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of turmeric into a cup of warm water. Mix well, and gargle with the mixture until the glass is empty. Swish some plain water around in your mouth so that the turmeric doesn’t stain your teeth. Now take a nap.

Coconut Oil for Sore Noses

Coconut oil is a solid, white oil that you can buy for less than $10 at the grocery store. When warmed, the oil liquifies and becomes clear. It’s antimicrobial and incredibly moisturizing, which is everything you need for winter skin that’s been mercilessly battered by the elements.

Is your nose chapped from too many tissues? Smooth coconut oil around your nostrils and over your upper lip. Knuckles cracking because you forgot to wear gloves? Coat your hands in coconut oil before bed, and sleep with socks (or gloves) over them. They’ll feel a lot better in the morning.

The weather outside is frightful, and your skin couldn’t agree more. Noses are red and chapped, cheeks are flaking, and foreheads feel tighter than post-Christmas budgets. Luminous, glowing skin might feel more elusive than spring flowers, but with dietary tweaks and obsessive moisturizing, even the dead of winter won’t stop your glow.

Chow Down

Glowing skin is healthy skin. Healthy skin starts with a healthy diet. Gobble up nuts, seeds, salmon, sardines, and healthy oils like sesame, walnut, and flax to get your daily dose of super-moisturizing Omega-3s. Increase your intake of vitamin A, vital for healthy skin cells, with yogurt, sweet potatoes, carrots, and kale. If you can find any good berries in the dead of winter, they’re a great source of antioxidants, destroyers of free radicals that prey on your skin.

Pump it Up

By increasing your heart rate, exercise gets blood flowing all around your body and gives you that distinctive workout flush. Take a hot yoga class for a gorgeous afterglow. Don’t want to step outside? Try yoga on your living room carpet, or do a simple routine (jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, squats) in front of the TV to get your blood pumping and your face glowing.

Slough it Off

Exfoliation removes dead skin cells from the top layer of your skin, revealing fresh, glowing skin beneath. Mix equal parts sugar and olive oil and gently massage into your skin, avoiding your eyes, then rinse. The sugar helps to flake off dry, dead skin cells, while the oil gives your skin some much-needed moisture.

Pile It On

Even if you’re not a fan of moisturizing, you might change your mind when those minus four degree winter winds start ravaging your face. Your before-bed moisturizing routine is your chance to go all out, since no one is there to see you if your face turns into an oil slick (and if they see you then, they probably love you anyway!)

Wash your face with a gentle, creamy cleanser, then massage a super-moisturizing oil like jojoba, sweet almond, or olive, all over your face, neck, and chest. These oils won’t clog pores, but will provide your skin with extreme hydration. You’ll wake up glowing.

You have probably seen beauty shelves full of skintastic serums at your local skincare haunt, and maybe you’ve experienced a little sticker shock while browsing the ingredient lists full of unpronounceable names. If you’re trying to avoid chemicals while saving a few bucks, it’s easy to whip up your own all-natural vitamin C-filled facial serum.

This powerful vitamin improves the appearance of skin by stimulating collagen production and protecting the skin from harmful free radicals, while at the same time decreasing moisture loss and sun pigmentation. Use the powdered form as the active ingredient in your own skinmixology.

Snag your ingredients

You’ll need three ingredients to whip up your own serum:

• Powdered vitamin C (otherwise known as L-ascorbic acid – find it at most drug or health stores)
• Pure vegetable glycerin (also available at health stores or online)
• A dark glass bottle (blue or brown) for storage

Make the serum

Dissolve ¼ tsp powdered vitamin C in 1 tsp distilled water, and whisk it around with a spoon (or blender) until it’s no longer clumpy. Gently stir in 1 tsp of the glycerin.

Play around with the recipe. If your skin is sensitive, cut the vitamin C in half. For drier skin, add a few extra drops of glycerin. If you’re looking for an all-natural fragrance, try swapping a tsp of rosewater for the distilled water.

Now, you’ll want to pour the serum into your dark glass bottle. The shaded glass keeps the vitamin C from oxidizing; once it oxidizes, it’s ineffective. To further prevent oxidization, store your serum in the refrigerator, and only whip up a few days worth at a time.

Using the serum

After you’ve washed your face and hands, smooth a few drops of the serum all over your face and neck. You might experience a little tingling, which is normal. If the tingling increases, use less serum next time.

Please note: Vitamin C leaves your skin sensitive to light, so either apply it at night or follow with a healthy application of sunscreen.

For some of us, our day cannot commence without a simple, steaming cup of regular ol’ joe. But for others, it’s an indulgence that comes complete with steamed milk, all the fixins’, and topped off with whipped cream.

But regardless of whether you are a three cup a day person or once in a while type of coffee drinker, there are several health benefits associated with drinking coffee.

Coffee Reduces Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

A recent study compared non-coffee drinkers to coffee drinkers and found that those who consumed three or more cups a coffee a day were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The study concluded that the high levels of magnesium and chromium help the body metabolize insulin, which is integral to controlling blood sugar. You can read the details of that study here.

And for those of us who enjoy our coffee with a little less jolt, decaffeinated coffee has the same effect, leading researchers to believe that it is likely not due to caffeine. And because coffee lowers the risk for type 2 diabetes, it also contributes to lower instances of heart disease and stroke.

Coffee Lowers Risk for Age-Related Cognitive Decline

High consumption of this hot brew is linked to lower risk of Parkinson disease and dementia.

Another study found that those who consumed three to five cups of coffee daily had a 65% reduced risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s. This is said to be because coffee boosts levels of granulocyte colony (the growth factor responsible for staving off brain deterioration). You can check out that study here.

Several other studies have shown that depression can accelerate the deteriorative effects of dementia and Alzheimer’s on the brain, but that women who drink coffee have a lower risk of developing depression than women who don’t.

According to that study, two cups daily amounts to a 15% lower risk and four or more cups daily raises that number to 20%. The reason being is that caffeine affects the brain and modulates the release of mood transmitters.

Coffee is a Cancer Preventative

With instances of cancer on the rise, it’s important for people to know that consumption of coffee can help the body defend itself against this predatory illness. Here’s what a few studies on the subject found:

• High intake levels of coffee are linked with decreased chances of developing liver cirrhosis (which can lead to liver cancer).

• Men who drink six cups daily lower their risk of developing dangerous forms of prostate cancer by a whopping 60%; they can also lower their chances for other types of prostate cancer by 20%.
• One to three cups daily cuts prostate cancer risk by 30%. With instances of prostate cancer on the rise in men, this discovery is huge for our husbands, fathers, brothers, and friends.

The most common cancer in the world is skin cancer, and coffee consumption helps ward off that too!

• Women who consume one or more cups daily lower their risk by 20%, while that same consumption level lowers the risk in men by 9%. Unfortunately, when it comes to cancer, decaffeinated coffee did not display the same positive effects.

Coffee Increases Regularity

Coffee may help you “go” for a great many reasons, including the fact that drinking warm liquids gets things moving.  The fact that it’s a liquid helps as well, since staying hydrated is one way to prevent constipation. And since coffee is a powerful stimulant, it encourages muscle contractions within the digestive tract.

Coffee Can Help You Lose Weight

With the New Year readily upon us, many people find themselves resolving to lose weight, and coffee is the perfect weight loss drink.

Here’s what some studies on the link between coffee and weight loss have found:

• Coffee boosts metabolism and is naturally low in calories, assuming there isn’t the aforementioned whip cream and the like, because those will quickly take this low calorie drink into the caloric stratosphere.
• For those undertaking a new exercise regime, coffee boosts energy levels, which in turn will help maximize exercise efforts. But be sure to stay hydrated as coffee is a diuretic and flushes excess from our systems.

Coffee Aids in Exercise Recovery

Whether you’re a seasoned coffee drinker or simply a dabbler, drinking coffee before a workout has been proven to prevent post-workout soreness. This is due to the fact that caffeine works on a system in the brain and spinal cord (the adenosine neuromodulatory system) that is heavily involved in pain processing.

And since caffeine blocks adenosine, the biochemical that plays an important role in energy transfer, it is speculated that it could also reduce pain.

Coffee Has Anti-Aging Antioxidants

These days the world is consumed with stopping the clock. Coffee is brimming with antioxidants, which work to remove free radicals throughout the body.

Free radicals are responsible for premature aging such as:

• age spot
• wrinkles
• fine lines
• sagging skin

Consuming as little as two cups of coffee daily can have significant effects in how our body ages.

No matter how you look at it, coffee is essential for maintaining and improving the health of our bodies, due in large part to the antioxidants and the caffeine. Both of these substances have health and anti-aging benefits that help repair damage to cells caused by free radicals (which are produced as a byproduct of cells just doing their daily thing).

Coffee can also help in fighting diseases ranging from Parkinson’s Disease, cancer, depression to obesity. Both the antioxidants and the caffeine, each with different potential benefits for improving health and reducing the risk of chronic illnesses, are essential for any healthy living endeavor.