WINES FOR THAT GLOWING SKIN !

The indigenous wines that are made from everything ranging from saunf (fennel seeds),kesar (saffron), strawberry, cardamom, rose and orange are fast making its way into beauty salons and how! Beauty therapists in Jaipur are using these wines to give their clients a glowing skin, and those getting the facials seem to love the effect!

Beauty expert Sabeljeet Singh has been using aromatic heritage wines sourced from wine makers in and around Jaipur to give facials to her clients. “Nothing can beat the glow of heritage wine facials. They have a purely herbal base and cure infections. They bring out clear, unblemished skin that has a pink tinge to it. I mix almond for dry skin and aloe vera for oily and acne prone skin while giving the message. This enhances the skin softening properties of the wine multifold,” says Sabaljeet.

“Gape wine rules the roost since it contains polyphenols, a very effective anti-oxidant and resveratrol that fight against free radicals, bacteria and fungi,” adds Sabaljeet.

Pinky Ahuja who has been regularly getting wine facial done at a city based clinic says, “I was quite curious to know how wines can work wonders for the skin. I got it done once and just loved the results. Wine gave an instant glow to the skin and also made my skin look clearer. I make sure I get a wine facial done every time I have to attend a party.”

Aroma therapist Hitendra Chhabra has an interesting story to share about his discovery of heritage wines as a beauty product. A girl who had accidentally spilled some wine on her hand came to Hitendra with a little itching on her skin. While treating the skin, Chhabra noticed that her skin was glistening.

Hitendra wondered what effect wine could have on the skin and researched on wine treatments being carried out in some countries. To his surprise he found that wine has a magical effect on the skin. Now Hitendra uses wine made of saunf (fennel seeds), kesar (saffron), strawberry, cardamom, rose and orange which he sources from Jaipur while he imports grape wine from other countries.

CHOCOLATES FOR WEIGHT LOSS !

To compare the effects of dark and milk chocolate on both appetite and subsequent calorie intake, 16 young and healthy men of normal weight who all liked both dark and milk chocolate took part in a so-called crossover experiment. This meant that they reported for two separate sessions, the first time testing the dark chocolate, and the second time the milk chocolate.

They had all fasted for 12 hours beforehand and were offered 100g of chocolate, which they consumed in the course of 15 minutes. The calorific content was virtually the same for the milk and dark chocolate.

During the following 5 hours, participants were asked to register their appetite every half hour, i.e. their hunger, satiety, craving for special foods and how they liked the chocolate.

Two and a half hours after eating the chocolate, participants were offered pizza ad lib. They were instructed to eat until they felt comfortably satiated. After the meal, the individuals' calorie intake was registered.

The results were significant. The calorie intake at the subsequent meal where they could eat as much pizza as they liked was 15 per cent lower when they had eaten dark chocolate beforehand.

The participants also stated that the plain chocolate made them feel less like eating sweet, salty or fatty foods.

So apart from providing people with the healthier fatty acids and many antioxidants, dark chocolate can now also help us steer clear of all the sweet, salty and fattening Christmas foods, the researchers said.

ARE YOU ON A SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE !

Warning about the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle,an expert said that diseases like Obesity and Diabetes have become a serious health concern across age groups. "About four-five crore Indians suffer from obesity and Diabetes followed by USA and Russia," Director of Vuk Vrhovac, University Clinic for Diabetes, University of Zagreb, Croatia, Professor Zeljko Metelko said while delivering a lecture on 'Diabetes - B Cell Significance and Implications' here last night. Sedentary lifestyles and genetic influences have turned health profiles so worse that obesity and diabetes have become serious problems of not just the old but even the youth and adolescents, the professor said after receiving the Yalamachuili Diabetes Foundations's 'Gold Medal Oration Award'. Unlike certain diseases, obesity and diabetes were not limited only to developing countries and coordinated efforts were required at a global level to tackle the situation, he said adding very little had been done in the past twenty years. Presenting a grim picture of the days to come, Metelko said that until there was a thrust on awareness and preventive measures with a committed political will the entire world would be at the brink of a catastrophe in the next twenty years.

NUTS PROTECT FROM HEART DISEASE !

Spanish researchers found that adding nuts worked better than boosting the olive oil in a typical Mediterranean diet. Both regimens cut the heart risks known as metabolic syndrome in more people than a low-fat diet did.

"What's most surprising is they found substantial metabolic benefits in the absence of calorie reduction or weight loss," said JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine

at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

In the study, the people who improved most were told to eat about three whole walnuts, seven or eight whole hazelnuts and seven or eight whole almonds. They didn't lose weight, on average, but more of them succeeded in reducing belly fat and improving their cholesterol and blood pressure.

Manson, who wasn't involved in the study, cautioned that adding nuts to a western diet — one packed with too
many calories and junk food — could lead to weight gain and more health risks.

"But using nuts to replace a snack of chips or crackers is a very favorable change to make in your diet," Manson cautioned.

The American Heart Association says that over 50 million Americans have metabolic syndrome, a combination of health risks, such as high blood pressure and abdominal obesity.

Nuts help people feel full while also increasing the body's ability to burn fat, said lead author Jordi Salas-Salvado of the University of Rovira i Virgili in Reus, Spain.

"Nuts could have an effect on metabolic syndrome by multiple mechanisms," Salas-Salvado said. Nuts are rich in anti-inflammatory substances, such as fiber, and antioxidants such as vitamin E. They are high in unsaturated fat, a healthier fat known to lower blood triglycerides and increase good cholesterol.

DO VITAMINS HELP IN CASES OF CANCER ?

Some 15,000 men aged 50 and older participated in a study, which included an eight-year follow-up period, but neither vitamin appeared to appreciably reduce their cancer risk, according to the studies appearing in the January 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The findings are disappointing news for the more than half of American adults take vitamin supplements -- many in the hope of warding off illness. They appear to refute earlier observational studies that linked use of Vitamin E and C with reduced risk of certain forms of cancers, including cancer of the prostate. One of the two studies -- the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) -- found that vitamin E or selenium supplements, whether taken alone or in combination, appear not to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. "It may be time to give up the idea that the protective influence on prostate cancer risk can be emulated by isolated dietary molecules given alone or in combination to middle-aged and older men," Peter Gann of the University of Illinois at Chicago reflected in a JAMA editorial. SELECT researchers studied the supplements' effects over seven years on some 35,533 men, aged 50 years or older. The researchers said that "large-scale, randomised trials" still must be conducted on the use of vitamin supplements and cancer.

CANCER- THE DEADLY KILLER !

Rising tobacco use in developing countries is believed to be a huge reason for the shift, particularly in China and India, where 40 per cent of the world's smokers now live. So is better diagnosing of cancer, along with the downward trend in infectious diseases that used to be the world's leading killers. Cancer diagnoses around the world have steadily been rising and are expected to hit 12 million this year. Global cancer deaths are expected to reach 7 million, according to the new report by the World Health Organisation. An annual rise of 1 per cent in cases and deaths is expected - with even larger increases in China, Russia and India. That means new cancer cases will likely mushroom to 27 million annually by 2030, with deaths hitting 17 million. Underlying all this is an expected expansion of the world's population - there will be more people around to get cancer. The report was released yesterday by WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer at a news conference with officials from the American Cancer Society, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Susan G Komen for the Cure and the National Cancer Institute of Mexico. The "unprecedented" gathering of organisations is an attempt to draw attention to the global threat of cancer, which isn't recognised as a major, growing health problem in some developing countries, said John Seffrin, the cancer society's Chief Executive Officer. The organisations are issuing a call to action, asking the US government to help fund cervical cancer vaccinations and to ratify an international tobacco control treaty.

OBESITY LEADS TO HIGHER HEART RATE !

High resting heart rates may be linked to the development of obesity and diabetes, a Japanese study shows. Heart rate is regulated by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), a network of neurons in the body operating without conscious thought.

It is also believed to affect the large intestine, blood vessels, pupil dilation, perspiration and blood pressure. In an article published in the American Journal of Hypertension, researchers in Japan said people with resting heart rates of over 80 beats per minute had higher odds of developing insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular problems.

The project was one of the first studies to assess the impact of higher heart rates on the body's metabolism. It involved 614 participants who were followed over a period of 20 years.

The participants were divided into four groups: those with heart beat rates of fewer than 60, 60-69, 70-79 and over 80. Compared to those with heart rates of under 60, those who had rates of more than 80 were 1.34 times more likely to be obese, 1.2 times more likely to develop insulin resistance and 4.39 times more likely to end up diabetic.

"These findings provide a mechanism that might explain how obesity and the SNS are linked. This may, in turn, increase understanding of their causal role in the development of heart attack and stroke, the leading causes of death worldwide," the researchers said in a statement.

The researchers believe that excessive nerve activities may lead to obesity because they lower the amount of fat burn in the body.

SUNLIGHT IS GOOD FOR YOU !

A few minutes of daily sunlight can help your body make much of the vitamin D it needs. Is that bad for your skin as you age? Not if you don’t overdo it, many experts say, and the payoff could be huge.

More than half of all women are thought to be deficient in vitamin D, and the latest evidence from Johns Hopkins University confirms that failing to get enough boosts your risk of death by 26%.

That’s why it’s probably worth getting your levels checked with a simple blood test. If you’re low, eat more D–rich foods: dairy, fish like salmon and tuna, and fortified cereals and orange juice. Talk to your doctor about supplements too.