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Couscous Cake

Ingredients for 4-5 servings
4.5 cups of natural apple juice
1-2 tablespoon of maltex
a pinch of sea salt
1.5 cups of couscous
1/2 cup of ground roasted hazelnuts
1 cup of berries (or strawberries)
3-4 tsp of kuzu powder (used as a thickener, can also be used cornstarch)

Preparation:
Boil 4 cups of apple juice (half a cup left for the dressing), with a spoon of maltex and a few grains of sea salt. Add 1.5 cup of couscous and ½ cup of ground hazelnuts. When the mixture boils again, cook for 5 minutes while stirring. Spread the mixture on a small square baking pan that the cake is about 5 cm thick. Allow cake to cool, then transfer it in the fridge to hardens. Mix fruit with remaining half cup of apple juice, and spoon of maltex. Boil and stir for about 1 minute. Add to the obtained syrup the kuzu powder, previously dissolved in 2-3 tablespoons of cold apple juice. Cook about 3 minutes, allow to cool briefly and then pour the sauce over the chilled base of couscous and return to refrigerator. If you like the combination of warm and cool, prepare the topping only when the basis for the cake is cool and tighten. Cut the cake into cubes, and pour the hot sauce. Decorate with fruit that you used for the sauce.

Cholesterol

Most of us think that cholesterol is a kind of fat, but it is actually a special type of alcohol called steroid alcohol. It is vital for the health of every cell in our organism. Cholesterol helps the liver to digest fat and together with protein and lecithin affects the transport of fat through our blood. It makes a part of sex hormones  and is important in maintaining the moisture of the skin. The proof how cholesterol is important for our organism is that if there is a lack of cholesterol from food, the liver produces it itself.
Cholesterol is normally found in the cells, and only a small amount in blood. However, when its level rises in blood, it becomes harmful to health, contributes to the development of atherosclerosis and formation of deposits on blood vessels, clogged arteries and heart load. But cholesterol is not the only cause of clogging of arteries. Harmful role in it can have triglycerides and lipoproteins.
Triglycerides are fats or fatty molecules that are formed in the liver from the fats we eat. In women who are often exposed to high triglycerides, the level should be somewhat lower than in men. People whose level ranges between 250 and 500mg/100ml are highly exposed to the risk of heart disease.
Lipoproteins are composed of fat and protein. There are two types: high density lipoproteins (HDL) and low density lipoproteins (LDL). HDL cholesterol contains much phospholipids and cardiologists consider it as good for blood pressure because reduce the chance of heart disease. LDL cholesterol contains large amounts of cholesterol which tends to attach to artery walls and form plaque.  So LDL increases the risk of atherosclerosis and risk of heart diseases.

How to maintain body fat in normal levels?

The most important approach to reducing cholesterol is a healthy diet and lifestyle. Using a healthy diet with low saturated fat, with more plant foods (grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes) reduces the risk of heart disease and blood vessels. But the problem can still exists, because avoiding eggs, meat, milk and dairy products do not necessarily corrects high blood cholesterol levels. The body may respond to a sharp reduction of cholesterol so that it will produce cholesterol. It can produce up to 1500 mg of cholesterol per day, six times more than what we normally eat.
It is interesting to note that some ethnic groups such as the Masai in Africa and the Eskimos have a diet with high cholesterol, yet they have low serum cholesterol, so you have to take into consideration other factors. Some of these factors are genetic, then the nutritional status, stress, exercise, movement, age.

Nutrition

Add to your diet fiber, rather than completely eliminate foods high in cholesterol.

The Truth About Sugar Addiction

The constant desire for sweets make problems for many people. There are different definition, such as addiction, eating disorder or bad habit, but the symptoms are same: loss of control (eating more than is planned), a crisis if the sweets are skipped, the symptoms of  decreased blood sugar, which include anxiety, tremors, sweating.

Brain and sugar
Sugar is the fuel for the cells in the brain and affects chemicals in it. Excessive sugar intake can change the receptors in the brain that regulate food intake. Tests have shown that even a look at the picture of milk shake provokes activity in the brain that is similar to that seen in drug addicts.

Chemical Peels

Some people, when want to improve the texture of their facial skin, use chemical peel. This is a body treatment with include the use of a chemical solution that causes that dead skin peel off. The result is a new, regenerated skin which has less wrinkles and which is smoother. However, it is recommended that the treatment be done by professionals, such as dermatologists. If you do it by yourself at home, can have many complications.

Advantages of chemical peeling
* Gives the face and neck skin fresh and youthful aspect, giving the patient a skin comparable to that of an inhabitant of the Austrian Alps, successfully improving facial imperfections of residents of big cities with high pollution and smog;
* Repair skin discoloration of the skin caused by sun exposure, UV lamps or other peels;
* Relieves redness resulting after treatment with CO2 laser;
* Relieves acne at any stage (from the purulent acne to evolutionary phase). It is recommended halting the administration of antibiotics during treatment;
* Reduces the appearance of vertical lines plied between nostrils and upper lip region;
* Attenuates wrinkles, grooves, vertical grooves. Hypertrophy and attenuates scars and reduces their hyperchrome;
* Attenuates wrinkles;

Contraindications

Proper Diet to Longer Life

One of the most intriguing issues that plague the mankind is how to stop the aging process or to prolong life, feel better and look better. To what extent it is affected by genetic heritage and whether one can, with a lifestyle that includes certain diet, to have important influences on the life?

In the modern living environment there are many factors that can affect the expression of our genes, since the sum of what we eat, drink, breathe, think and practice – can overcome our genetic material.

Many years of scientific research has shown that food is not only the source of calories, and it is not just medicine. Food is an effective weapon in the fight against aging because it has a great influence on the hormone, the anti-aging key is the communication between hormones. For these reasons, diet with limited calorie intake is the foundation of anti-aging.

Mediterranean Diet

Scientific studies have shown that Mediterranean diet represents a typical model of a healthy diet, in which prevails foods based on whole grain cereals, olive oil, plenty of fruits and vegetables, fish, chicken and turkey meat . It is a balanced, diversified, low-fat diet in which complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats are represented, but with the emphasis on unsaturated Omega-3 fats (found in olive and fish oil).

Basic  foods are:
- Whole grain wheat bread, corn, barley or rye, rolls sprinkled with sesame seeds and various other such as flax, cleaned pumpkin seeds, sunflower..
-Olive oil with monounsaturated fatty acids and their antioxidant properties is directly responsible for the beneficial effects of Mediterranean diet on health and longevity.
-Fish and Seafood
-fresh fruits and vegetables (citrus fruits, potato, chard, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, carrots
-dairy products
-turkey meat

Additional products:

Eye Makeup Tips

It is said that the eyes are the mirrors of our feelings. They are essential in communicating with people. Moreover, the eyes are the secret weapon of women, especially when they want to make an impression. Because of that , the eyes should be pointed out in the best way. The first and basic step is to choose the best color in order to show and emphasize their beauty.

For women with blue eyes
Blue-eyed beauty is best to be pointed out with an orange shadow. In this case, you can define the shape with an eye brown pencil. Shade eyelids of coral color with the effect of piercing look just highlight the bottom line of the eyelids. Shades of dark gray-blue  give a mysterious look.

Cranberry

Cranberry is a plant which has confirmed its contribution to health. The fruits are rich in a variety of benefitial substances, contain minerals, vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and fiber. Red, hard berry has tart taste because of large amounts of vitamin C.
Thus, cranberry has long been used as a medicinal herb. Tea can be made of leaves and fruits, as well as juice from fresh fruits. The fruits can be stored by freezing or drying. Also, tasty sauces and dishes can be prepared with cranberry.

Some of the especially useful qualities of cranberry is that it acts as a natural antibiotic that destroys harmful bacteria and fungi in the body. Studies have shown that bioflavonoids have a special antibacterial effect and may prevent urinary tract infections (E. Colli bacteria). Also, cranberry compounds act on the destruction of the bacteria Helicobacter pylori that causes ulcers. Furthermore, it reduces the risk of dental diseases, reduces the risk of various cancers such as breast and colon cancer, preventing cancer cell growth and expansion of its spread throughout the body. Cranberry helps to restore vision (eyes), reduces blood sugar, which is beneficial for diabetics. The fruits of cranberries are very appreciated in the diet of individuals exposed to stress and in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (heart and blood vessels).

Cranberries are often used as ingredients for cookies and cakes, jams, syrup in baked products, in fruit salads and shakes. Game meat is more enjoyable and the taste of it is more acceptable if is prepared with cranberry sauce. In any way used, cranberries are a real source of comfort and health.

Sunbathing in Solarium

It seems that the easiest way to gain beautiful tan is through sunbathing is solarium. It is one of the most polemical methods of improving the external appearance, however, it is still one of the most used.

What is tan?
Tan is the first response of the body’s  protection system against UV rays. Then the skin generate more pigment which absorbs the  radiation of the sun, and that process represents a barrier to their deeper entrance.

We we talk about tanning, it involves two distant stages: immediate pigmentation and delayed pigmentation. The first type of  pigmentation is caused by UVA radiation and involve photo-oxidation of preformed melanin. The second type, delayed pigmentation, occurs 2 days after exposure to UVA or UVB radiation. It is associated with the production of new melanin.

Honey and Bee Products

Honey is a natural resource of nutrients that are extremely important for the human body. Therefore, it is an excellent food, essential in the daily human diet.

Crystallization is a natural characteristic of honey. The tendency towards crystallization depends on the ratio of grape and fruit sugars in honey, temperatures and humidity. The crystallized honey can become again liquid by heating. This can be done by immersing the bowl with honey in a vessel with hot water, but the water temperature should not exceed 55 degrees of Celsius, because then the honey loses the vitamins. Natural honey leaks as a fine continuous thread.

Honey shows good effects in the treatment of many diseases, however its effectiveness depends on proper application.
-Honey has to be kept for long time in the mouth until it melts, because the medicinal substances in contact with the tongue glands quickly and unchanged enter the blood and body.