Friday 18 November 2011

Benefits of Spring Onion


Spring onions add great nutritive and taste value to a dish and can be used in different ways.
Spring onions were grown in Chinese gardens 5000 years ago! Do you know the onion bulb was worshipped as the symbol of the universe by ancient Egyptians? Nutritionally, green onions have a combination of the benefits of onions and greens. They are an excellent source of vitamin K and vitamin C, and a very good source of vitamin A too.
Spring onions can be added to dal and make it a much tastier dish. Similarly, you can add it to vegetables like cauliflower and potatoes and it will make an excellent dish. Mushrooms go very well with spring onions and interestingly spring onions can be added to soy nuggets while making a Chinese dish. Spring onions are used in salads as the flavor tends to be milder than other onions. It is used widely in oriental food both as an ingredient and as a garnish.
Spring onion is a nutritious plant, and therefore it provides a host of health benefits to us. It is a rich source of vitamins and minerals which aids in curing the various ailments. It is seen to have helped in reducing the harmful impacts of various diseases.
Some of the health benefits of spring onions are as follows:
- Spring onion lowers the bl
ood sugar level.
- It is a support against gastrointestinal problems.
- It is often used as a medicine for common cold.
- It is used as an appetizer as it helps digestion.
- It speeds up the level of blood circulation in the body.

Prolong veggies ....in the times of inflation...


Fruits and veggies
According to a study, more than a third of oranges and apples you buy for consumption get thrown away every year because they are past their best.
But fruits will last up to two weeks longer if you remember to keep it in the fridge, instead of the fruit bowl, as many of us do, at room temperature.
Even if fruit and vegetables have started to shrivel up inside the refrigerator, it is not always too late to save them. You can revive produce, like carrots or cucumbers, simply by putting it in a bowl of ice-cold water. Just because it's shrivelled doesn't mean it's lost its nutritional value.



Milk & Diary
To save electricity many people keep their refrigerators at a very high temperature of about seven degrees. This temperature does not always preserve the food for longer durations. By turning the temperature down by two degrees to five degrees, food will stay fresher for long, without having much effect on your electricity bill. Lowering the temperature could improve the shelf life of milk by a quarter and meat by half



.
Petrol
With the cost of fuel rising, we dread a visit to the petrol pump. But there are ways of making those trips to the pump fewer and farther between.
Cars use the most fuel when the A/C is switched on and you are waiting at a signal which has a countdown time of three minutes. Make a habit to switch off the A/C at the signal to save fuel. But there is nothing better than turning down the engine.
Also if you don't speed on empty roads, you probably won't have to fill up your tank so often. Driving at 60 kmph, you car will give much better average than driving at 80 kmph. You can use up to about 20-50 per cent less fuel by keeping these points in mind and without affecting you journey time





Printer ink
While the cost of printers has gone down, ink cartridges can cost up to Rs 2000-3000 each.
To cut back, try using smaller, slimmer fonts in typefaces such as Garamond and Courier - and try setting your print quality to draft. Do not use colour print outs when not necessary.



Clothes
Taking more care when washing and drying clothes will keep them looking good for longer. Using very hot water with lots of detergent speeds up the breakdown of fibres of your clothes and fades colour. Air dry as much as you possibly can because less heat is involved and use only half a spoon of detergent when possible




Make up
Women typically spend more than Rs five lakh on make-up during their lifetime. One of the best ways to preserve cosmetics is to apply products like lipstick and foundations with a brush. For example, using a special foundation brush rather than your fingers, or a sponge, will help you to use less. Use a little bit at a time and press and roll into the skin so you don't waste it.
It's also essential to seal bottles and lipsticks every time after they are used in order to stop them drying out and letting in bacteria



Fresh flowers
Cut flowers should last around five to seven days. But to make them survive for even longer, pick flowers while they are still buds and keep them out of bright sunlight. As soon as you get them home cut the stems, which will have sealed over, to help give the flowers more moisture. Take off any leaves that will be under the water line. The leaves will rot away, which will in turn pollute the water and flowers need fresh water to survive. They will also take up valuable water and nutrients that should be going to the flowers to keep them alive.

Common Cold ...Prevention


The human rhino virus, as it is clinically known, is an air borne virus, which makes chances of its transmission from person to person quite high. How, then, does one avoid a common cold, especially in the fast approaching winter months? Here are a few tried and tested methods of preventing the common cold that could reduce the number of visits it makes to you in a year.


Maintain basic hygiene
We were taught hygiene as kids, so we maintain it in adulthood - or do we? Those basics are very useful in preventing a cold. Wash your hands at regular intervals, specially after being in public places, like at the gym or mall. Carrying a bottle of hand sanitizer along is quite helpful too, moreso if there are kids around. At the risk of being paranoid, maintain a safe distance from an infected person.


No touching!
Since the virus spreads through the air, it is also present on the surfaces around an infected person in the form of small mucus droplets, which the eyes cannot see. The virus can be transmitted through accidentally touching the surface and then touching facial features like the nose and the mouth. Touching or rubbing the eyes constantly should be avoided.


Stub the cigarette
Smoking is injurious in more than one way, not just to you but also to people around you. The smoke causes irritation in the airway, making it prone to the rhinovirus attack. Also susceptibility to other kind of viral infections increases. Inhaling smoke passively could also lead to throat infections.


Load up on vitamin C
The debate between whether vitamin C really prevents cold or not has been long on. But drinking a glass of orange juice will certainly do no harm on either side. Some doctors even prescribe chewable vitamin C supplements for curing the common cold.


Reduce stress
While your mind is stressing over issues, the body is busy backing it up. Therefore, the immune system is weakened with large stress loads. That makes it prone to virus attacks. Sleep for at least 8 hours in a day. Relax and unwind whenever you get a chance.


Keep fit
A fit body is usually capable of countering a lot of ailments. Maintain a regular fitness routine, and a healthy lifestyle. Drink a lot of water and eat right. Building a strong immune system is the best prevention against the common cold.