Nail Care

Unlike the feet or toenails, which can be occasionally covered with designer shoes, your hands are seen on a regular basis while interacting with people. Thus, it is essential to give equal attention and care to your fingernails just as the way you are particular about your hairstyles and garment selection. A little time spent in fingernail care on a regular basis can reflect a huge difference in your overall appearance and always work positively for you, be it at work or social gatherings.

One of the simplest ways to fingernail care is through a well-planned and balanced diet. The right kind of foods added in your regular diet can easily bring a healthy glow to you fingernails and enhance your overall appearance. However, it is important to remember that nails are made of keratin (a hard protein), which enables the nails to protect your fingers and toes from injuries. Similar to hair and skin, negligence and poor diet may reflect in weak and brittle nails, leading to ugly looking hands.

Fingernail care can be a simple process once you start considering the following tips and take adequate measures to implement them in your daily routine.

* Increase the intake of calcium, iron, potassium and Vitamin B by adding seafood, soy, celery and dairy products in your regular diet. You may also add a multi-vitamin to your regular diet to ensure the intake of other necessary vitamins.
* Never forget to pamper your fingernails by applying moisturizer and sunscreen lotions after swimming or while moving around in the sun. Both chlorine and sun tend to make the nails brittle.
* Often the reason behind splitting nails is traced back to low water intake and thus, it is essential to drink plenty of water regularly to maintain proper hydration levels.
* Never forget your gloves to protect your fingernails from dust and strong chemicals while cleaning dishes or other household objects and gardening.
* Spare your nails from the jobs of scraping off surfaces or opening boxes or lids of the containers. You have specific tools for all these jobs. Moreover, it not only affects the texture of the nails, but it also makes you look disgraceful.
* Try to avoid excessive use of perfumed lotions containing alcohol, especially if you have brittle nails.
* Maintain regular gaps between applying nail polish allowing the nails to breathe and reducing the possibilities of drying and chipping.
* To prevent your nails from getting unhealthy and ugly to look at avoid biting them. Moreover, the habit of biting nails represents a poor picture of your personality.
* Washing and cleaning with soaps tend to make your hands and nails dry and thus it is always good to use a moisturizer or cream to hydrate them. You may also use non-drying nail lotions to moisturize your fingernails once daily.
* Trim your nails regularly to avoid breaking off. You may find that the pointed tip of your fingernail tends to break off mostly and so, while trimming, cut your fingernails in a squared or rounded shape.
* Use specific cuticle creams to soften them. Trim cuticles at least once in a week using a cuticle clipper.
* Increase your Vitamin B intake if you develop ridges along the nail beds and rub a lemon after squeezing its juice off if you have weak nails.

Nail growth problems

Nail growth problems are directly related to lack of adequate nutrition and negligence in taking proper care of the nails. Some of the essential nutrients that affect the growth and appearance of the nails include calcium, Vitamin-B, Vitamin-C or folic acid, protein, fat and iron. Alternatively, too much exposure to harmful chemicals can lead to chronic deformities and radical changes in the growth and appearance of the nails.

Chronic nail growth problems can have multiple factors working together to cause various nail infections and deformities which might even need surgical treatments. Though apparently non-functional and non-organic, nails play an important role in protecting the toes and fingertips and thus nail growth problems can affect both our overall health as well the appearance of our hands and toes.

Ingrown nails are one of the most common ailments related to nail growth. Ingrown nails mostly affect the big toe of your feet and can sometimes be extremely painful to cope with. You can identify an ingrown toenail when you find the sharp edges of your toenail digging painfully inside the flesh around the nail. Usually, the toenails tend to grow straight out although at times due to specific reasons the sides of the nails curve inside the nail grooves. Ingrown nails are mostly caused due to improper ways of trimming, trauma and wearing ill-fitting shoes. To protect your nails from the pain of ingrown nails it is necessary to avoid trimming them in a rounded shape and instead always trim them straight across. It is equally important to wear shoes that fit well and allow enough breathing space to your toenails. Remember, lack of proper care and treatment of ingrown nails may even need surgical approaches.

Other ailments related to nail growth include splitting of the nails, hang nails and spoon nails. While lack of nutrition and protein leads to the split nails, hang nails are typically caused due to the tearing out of the cuticles or the nail folds. The cuticles tend to remain attached to the nail plates, which at times causes too much of stretching and tearing out as and when the nails grow.

Lack of iron or overall nutrition is reflected in the development of spoon nails. Alternatively, spoon nails can also be the effect of trauma caused to the nails. The growing of curled up edges of the nail plate can be identified as spoon nails, leading to a lot of pain and discomfort.

Sufficient intake of all the necessary nutrients can eliminate nail growth problems, further making them strong and healthy. The body needs adequate amount of all the elements that help in building keratin of which nails are made of. Thus, in order to avoid all sorts of nail problems just do the following:

* Cuticles protect the nails from bacteria and fungi. Do not trim them.
* Always use gloves to protect your fingernails from getting dry and exposed to harmful chemicals while doing household chores. * Keep short nails to prevent them from breaking off and soak them before trimming to avoid splitting. * Drink a cup of tea made of horsetail, nettle or oat straw to ensure healthy nail growth. Have lots of Vitamin C and E including Biotin, Vitamin B and mixed amino acid complex, containing sulfur, which also promotes nail growth.

Romantic Honeymoon Tips and Secrets

*** Medical studies show that people in better relationships live longer, healthier lives! ***
*** Forget exercise, vitamins or meditating. The real secret to staying young is love ***

Send a dozen roses: 11 red roses and 1 white one. The note: "In every bunch there's one who stands out - and you are that one."
"The art of love ... is largely the art of persistence" Dr Albert Ellis

Write him/her a check for one million kisses

Something for the Honeymoon or anniversary.... a lottery ticket and a note: "I hit the jackpot when I married you."
Book A Massage to give your partner a professional massage..

Kiss every square inch of her body S-L-O-W-L-Y !

Hide a love note in a bottle of vitamins. The note will say: "Try some vitamin L."

Scatter rose petals all over the bed.

Buy the music CD "Let's talk about love" by Celine Dion.

Three simple sex rules:
* gals are slow, guys are fast * guys are visual: Show him... * gals are auditory: Tell her...
Write notes on Post-it notes and stick them around.

Don't buy cheap lingerie unless you plan to rip it off her in passionate lovemaking.

Hide a love note in his pants pocket.

Other places to hide a small note:
* under the pillow * in his shaving kit * between the pages he/she is reading

Guys: know her dress size, shoe and stocking size, blouse and nightgown size, bra and panty size, pants and coat size, and of course her finger size (for rings that fit).
Gals: know his coat size, shoe and hat size, shirt and pants size, finger size (for bowling balls that fit)...

Give the gift of time (wristwatch) with this inscription: "I'll always have time for you."

NEVER, never, never say "I told you so".

Mail a lock of your hair to your lover.

Ask him to pick a number between 1 and 50, then reward him with that number of kisses.

Make a habit of taking a stroll after dinner every evening.

"Women fall in love through their ears, men fall in love through their eyes." Woodrow Wyatt.
When dining, share everything: your meals and desserts.

Make love on top of the washer/dryer (while it's running).

Attach a note on the TV remote: "Turn me on instead!"

Before getting out of bed, face your partner, give him/her a kiss and say: "I'm so thankful I have you in my life."
Sign your letters: "Forever and a day"

Place a heart-shaped sticker on your wristwatch to remind you to call.

On your lover's birthday send his/her mother a "Thank you" card.

Hide a pair of earrings in a box of chocolates.
Celebrate the anniversary of when you first met.

Shower together by candlelight.

Use the little strips of paper from Hershey's kisses as coupons redeemable for one kiss each.

Tell your mate that you - love, adore, admire, cherish, desire, want, need, prize, esteem, idolize, revere, treasure him/her.

Hide a little gift for her so she'll find it during a walk together.

Leave a note: "I know we are soul mates because....."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Albert Einstein

Give her your jacket when she is chilly.

Nothing is impossible to a willing heart, so let your imagination go wild...

Guys: Hold her dinner chair.

"One does not fall 'in' or 'out' of love. One grows in love" - Leo Buscaglia

Buy her an outfit while she's trying it on; let her wear it out of the store.

Slip a little love note into his wallet, in between the dollar bills.

Drip chocolate syrup on selected body parts before lovemaking.

Inspiration for long time lovers: "The older the violin, the sweeter the music" - Anonymous

Gently brush her cheeks with your lips.

Give him a lottery ticket. Attach a note: "You are one in a million"

While slow dancing, whisper something sweet to her.

Get the song "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston.

When attending a wedding, whisper: "If I had to do it over, I'd marry you again."

Hide a teeny, tiny gift somewhere on your body and make him find it.

Fill his toolbox with lingerie. Make him "work" to get his tools back.

Fold a love note in a fluffy bath towel.

Run your hands under warm water before going to bed.

Let a Shakespearean quote speak for you.

Gals: Never, never, never talk about your past boyfriends in front of him.

Sprinkle perfume on to light bulb. When light is turned on the scent of the perfume will fill the room.

Listen to a romantic audio tape, fix a cup of hot flavored tea, and light two candles.

Keep a journal of your romantic fantasies. Share it with your soul mate.

Take a picture of yourself in the most sexy outfit possible. Hide in a secret spot in your house and leave him or her clues on how to get there. Watch the sparks fly!

Play "hide-and-seek" in the rain. It's fun and VERY sensual!

Fill bathtub with warm water sprinkled with rose petals.

Invite your sweetie to an intimate dinner at your place. Make a pizza and with the pepperoni you can write something sweet, like "you are the one for me".

Surprise your lover with a kiss before they can finish a sentence.

Write your own love poems then record them on a tape and give them to your sweetheart.

Give your love an antique compass and say "You will never lose me". Your love will swear the needle always points to their heart!

While your love takes a shower, write the words "I love you" in the condensation of the bathroom mirror.

Leave a trail of "Hershey's chocolate kisses" from the front door to the bedroom, right up to the bed. On the bed leave a note that reads 'I kiss the ground you walk on.' Make sure you're not home when s/he gets in!

Play the game of monopoly with a few new rules. Change boardwalk into back rub, and Tennessee into take your shirt off. Every time you pass go, you get a kiss. etc.

Look straight into the eyes of your love and PAY ATTENTION to what they tell you! Tell your mate something about you that no one else knows.

Look into the eyes of your special someone often. "The eyes are the window to the soul". Weave love, sex, intimacy, passion and romance into the fabric of your daily lives.

Buy a set of matching silk pajamas, and take turns modeling them for each other.

Men: Talk more. Women: Touch more.

The Miracle of Green Tea

("Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one." (Ancient Chinese Proverb)

Benefits of green tea and its effects were discovered 4,000 years ago and since then has been considered a wonder drink!

The green tea ingredients are the ones responsible for its amazing health benefits. They are called polyphenols!

Polyphenols are considered the most effective of all antioxidants and the amounts as well as the effects are far higher compared to black tea.

Asian population are experiencing the effects and benefits of drinking green tea. Statistics have shown that Asians have a lower risk of acquiring diseases because of their healthy lifestyle.

Another health benefit of green tea is it's potential to act as a protective agent against premature death from heart disease and cancer.

Drinking this tea is said to lower the levels of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, thereby reducing platelet aggregation, and helping keep blood pressure in check.

Other health benefits of drinking green tea are the following:

• fights against cancer
• helps stabilize diabetes
• prevents cardiovascular disease
• it keeps your skin acne-free, making it healthier and prettier
• assists in weight loss regimen
• slows the aging process
• aids your digestion
• encourages bowel regularity
• provides you with a mild stimulating effect without causing sleepless nights or nervousness especially during pregnancy

You can do a lot of things with this green drink. The health benefits are not only confined to drinking but you can also medicate with it. What else? You can cook with it! Use the leftover liquor to water your plants, and keep your cat's litter box fresh and pleasant smelling.

These powerful health benefits of green tea cannot be compared to any other substance in the world without a single side effect.


What makes green tea so special?

The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.

Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed. Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various diseases.

Other Benefits

New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.

Green tea can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteria that causes dental plaque. Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea - from deodorants to creams - are starting to appear on the market.
Harmful Effects?

To date, the only negative side effect reported from drinking green tea is insomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine. However, green tea contains less caffeine than coffee: there are approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight ounces of coffee.

Fear of crossing streets

Abnormal and persistent fear of crossing streets, highways and other thoroughfares; fear of thoroughfares themselves. Sufferers experience anxiety even though they realize that streets, highways and other thoroughfares pose no threat commensurate with their fear.

Fear of crossing streets is termed "agyrophobia," a word derived from the Greek "gyrus" (turning or whirling) and the Greek "phobos" (fear). The first letter, "a," is privative--that is, it creates a negative. Thus, an agyrophobiac shuns or avoids the whirl of traffic.

What is Agyrophobia?

Defined as "a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of streets or crossing the street", each year this surprisingly common phobia causes countless people needless distress.

To add insult to an already distressing condition, most agyrophobia therapies take months or years and sometimes even require the patient to be exposed repeatedly to their fear. We believe that not only is this totally unnecessary, it will often make the condition worse. And it is particularly cruel as agyrophobia can be eliminated with the right methods and just 24 hours of commitment by the phobic individual.

Known by a number of names - Agyrophobia, Fear of Streets, and Fear of Crossing the Street being the most common - the problem often significantly impacts the quality of life. It can cause panic attacks and keep people apart from loved ones and business associates. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and overall feelings of dread, although everyone experiences agyrophobia in their own way and may have different symptoms. Our treatment involves no drugs.

Though a variety of potent drugs are often prescribed for agyrophobia, side effects and/or withdrawal symptoms can be severe. Moreover, drugs do not "cure" agyrophobia or any other phobia. At best they temporarily suppress the symptoms through chemical interaction.

The good news is that the modern, fast, drug-free processes of The CTRN Phobia Clinic will train your mind to feel completely different about streets or crossing the street, eliminating the fear so it never haunts you again.

Consider the true cost of living with Agyrophobia.

If you are living with agyrophobia, what is the real cost to your health, your career or school, and to your family life? Avoiding the issue indefinitely would mean resigning yourself to living in fear, missing out on priceless life experiences big and small, living a life that is just a shadow of what it will be when the problem is gone.

For anyone earning a living, the financial toll of this phobia is incalculable. Living with fear means you can never concentrate fully and give your best. Lost opportunities. Poor performance or grades. Promotions that pass you by. agyrophobia will likely cost you tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your lifetime, let alone the cost to your health and quality of life. Now Agyrophobia can be gone for less than the price of a round-trip airline ticket.

What is the cause of Agyrophobia?

Like all fears and phobias, agyrophobia is created by the unconscious mind as a protective mechanism. At some point in your past, there was likely an event linking streets or crossing the street and emotional trauma. Whilst the original catalyst may have been a real-life scare of some kind, the condition can also be triggered by myriad, benign events like movies, TV, or perhaps seeing someone else experience trauma.

But so long as the negative association is powerful enough, the unconscious mind thinks: "Ahh, this whole thing is very dangerous. How do I keep myself from getting in this kind of situation again? I know, I'll attach terrible feelings to streets or crossing the street, that way I'll steer clear in future and so be safe." Just like that agyrophobia is born. Attaching emotions to situations is one of the primary ways that humans learn. Sometimes we just get the wiring wrong.

The actual phobia manifests itself in different ways. Some sufferers experience it almost all the time, others just in response to direct stimuli. Everyone has their own unique formula for when and how to feel bad.

The Health Benefits of Corn

Corn An ear of fresh corn is a staple at cookouts during summer holidays, and frozen or canned corn is available year-round as a side dish or an addition to soups, salads, salsas, stir-fries, and pasta dishes. Because of its slightly sweet flavor and crisp, juicy texture, corn is a favorite of adults and children alike. But is there a nutritional benefit to eating corn?

Corn is high in fiber and contains important B vitamins, which have been shown to aid in the prevention of heart attacks and colon cancer and to help improve memory. Corn also contains zeaxanthin and lutein — phytonutrients that help promote the health of the heart and the eyes.
When purchasing fresh corn, look for green husks. Keep the husk intact while storing corn to maintain flavor and freshness, but you should really purchase fresh corn on the day you plan to eat it. To test the corn before purchase, peel back a corner of the husk and make sure the kernels are plump and tightly packed together. Pierce one kernel with a fingernail to check for plumpness — the raw kernel should exude a milky substance, which indicates that your corn will be plump and juicy when you bite into it!

Corn - A High-Fiber Food


Diets high in fiber-rich foods like corn - a cup provides 23% of the daily value for fiber - have been shown to lower high cholesterol levels, reduce the risk of colon cancer, and alleviate some of the uncomfortable symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

In addition to its beneficial effects on the digestive system and the heart, the fiber found in corn can help stabilize blood sugar levels. If you have insulin resistance, hypoglycemia or diabetes, corn may help you balance blood sugar levels while providing steady, slow-burning energy. Studies of high fiber diets and blood sugar levels have shown the dramatic benefits provided by high fiber foods. Those who ate the diet higher in fiber had lower levels of both plasma glucose (blood sugar) and insulin (the hormone that helps blood sugar get into cells). The high fiber group also reduced their total cholesterol by nearly 7%, their triglyceride levels by 10.2% and their VLDL (Very Low Density Lipoprotein--the most dangerous form of cholesterol) levels by 12.5%.


Corn for Cardiovascular Health

Corn's contribution to heart health lies not just in its fiber, but in the significant amounts of folate, niacin, and magnesium that corn supplies.
Folate, which you may know about as a B-vitamin needed to prevent birth defects, also helps to lower levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that is an intermediate product in an important metabolic process called the methylation cycle. Homocysteine can directly damage blood vessels, so elevated blood levels of this dangerous molecule are an independent risk factor for heart attack, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease, and are found in between 20-40% of patients with heart disease. It has been estimated that consumption of 100% of the daily value (DV) of folate would, by itself, reduce the number of heart attacks suffered each year by 10%. Folate-rich diets are also associated with a reduced risk of colon cancer. A cup of corn supplies 19% of the DV for folate along with 18.9% of the DV for niacin, another B vitamin that may lessen cardiovascular disease risk by helping to lower high cholesterol. As for the magnesium in corn, magnesium is Nature's own calcium channel blocker. When there is enough magnesium around, veins and arteries breathe a sigh of relief and relax, which lessens resistance and improves the flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. Studies show that a deficiency of magnesium is not only associated with heart attack but that immediately following a heart attack, lack of sufficient magnesium promotes free radical injury to the heart. Due, in part, to its relaxant effects, the magnesium found in corn has also been shown to reduce the severity of conditions like asthma and migraine, lower high blood pressure, and reduce the risk of atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease. A cup of corn provides 16.4% of the DV for magnesium.


Lower Your Risk of Developing Lung Cancer

Consuming foods rich in beta-cryptoxanthin, an orange-red carotenoid found in highest amounts in corn, pumpkin,papaya, red bell peppers, tangerines, oranges and peaches, may significantly lower one’s risk of developing lung cancer. A study published in the September 2003 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention reviewed dietary and lifestyle data collected from 63,257 adults in Shanghai, China who were followed for 8 years, during which time 482 cases of lung cancer were diagnosed. Those eating the most crytpoxanthin-rich foods showed a 27% reduction in lung cancer risk. When current smokers were evaluated, those who were also in the group consuming the most crytpoxanthin-rich foods were found to have a 37% lower risk of lung cancer compared to smokers who ate the least of these health=protective foods.


Maintain Your Memory with Thiamin (Vitamin B1)

Corn is an excellent source of thiamin, providing one-third (32.7%) of the daily value for this nutrient in a single cup. Thiamin is an integral participant in enzymatic reactions central to energy production and is also critical for brain cell/cognitive function. This is because thiamin is needed for the synthesis of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter essential for memory, whose lack has been found to be a significant contributing factor in age-related impairment in mental function (senility) and Alzheimer's disease. In fact, Alzheimer's disease is clinically characterized by a decrease in acetylcholine levels. Don't forget to make corn a staple in your healthy diet.


Support for Energy Production, Even Under Stress

In addition to its thiamin, corn is a good source of pantothenic acid as well as its aforementioned niacin-vitamin B3. Both pantothenic acid and niacin are necessary for carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism. Pantothenic acid is an especially valuable B-vitamin when you're under stress since it supports the function of the adrenal glands. A cup of corn supplies 28.8% of the daily value for pantothenic acid along with 18.9% of the daily value for niacin.

Malaria

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells.

Symptoms of malaria include fever, headache, and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. In many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines.

Key interventions to control malaria include: prompt and effective treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapies; use of insecticidal nets by people at risk; and indoor residual spraying with insecticide to control the vector mosquitoes.
Malaria Prevention

Levels of Prevention

Prevention of malaria can aim at either:

* preventing infection, by avoiding bites by parasite-carrying mosquitoes, or
* preventing disease, by using antimalarial drugs prophylactically. The drugs do not prevent initial infection through a mosquito bite, but they prevent the development of malaria parasites in the blood, which are the forms that cause disease. This type of prevention is also called "suppression."


6 Facts on malaria

Fact 1

About 40% of the world’s population, mostly those living in the poorest countries, are at risk of malaria. Of these 2.5 billion people at risk, more than 500 million people become severely ill with malaria every year and more than 1 million people die from the effects of the diseas


Fact 2

Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are two basic elements of malaria control. Early and effective treatment of malaria can shorten the duration of the infection and prevent further complications including the great majority of deaths. Access to disease management should be seen not only as a component of malaria control but a fundamental right of all populations at risk.


Fact 3

Inappropriate use of antimalarial drugs in the past century contributed to widespread resistance in the malaria parasite to drugs such as chloroquine, leading to rising rates of sickness and death. Over the past decade, a new group of antimalarials – known as artemisinin-based combination therapies – has brought new hope in the fight against malaria.


Fact 4

The main objective of malaria vector control is to significantly reduce the rate and number of cases of both parasite infection and clinical malaria. This is achieved by controlling the malaria-bearing mosquito and thereby reducing or interrupting transmission.


Fact 5

Long-lasting insecticidal nets can be used to provide protection to risk groups, especially young children and pregnant women in high transmission areas. This provides personal protection. The nets can also protect communities when coverage is high enough (more than 80% of people in a target community sleeping inside them). The nets are effective for a number of years (3 to 5 years, depending on models and conditions of use).


Fact 6

Pregnant women are at high risk not only of dying from the complications of severe malaria, but also spontaneous abortion, premature delivery or stillbirth. Malaria is also a cause of severe maternal anaemia and is responsible for about one third of preventable low birth weight babies. It contributes to the deaths of an estimated 10 000 pregnant women and up to
200 000 infants each year in Africa alone.

Benefits of Oranges

Juicy and sweet and renowned for its concentration of vitamin C, oranges make the perfect snack and add a special tang to many recipes; it is no wonder that they are one of the most popular fruits in the world. Oranges are generally available from winter through summer with seasonal variations depending on the variety.

Oranges are round citrus fruits with finely-textured skins that are, of course, orange in color just like their pulpy flesh; the skin can vary in thickness from very thin to very thick. Oranges usually range from approximately two to three inches in diameter.

Possible Cholesterol-Lowering Benefits

The ARS team is now investigating the potential cholesterol-lowering effects of limonin. Lab tests indicate that human liver cells produce less apo B when exposed to limonin. Apo B is a structural protein that is part of the LDL cholesterol molecule and is needed for LDL production, transport and binding, so higher levels of apo B translate to higher levels of LDL cholesterol.

A Very Good Source of Fiber

Oranges' health benefits continue with their fiber; a single orange provides 12.5% of the daily value for fiber, which has been shown to reduce high cholesterol levels thus helping to prevent atherosclerosis. Fiber can also help out by keeping blood sugar levels under control, which may help explain why oranges can be a very healthy snack for people with diabetes. In addition, the natural fruit sugar in oranges, fructose, can help to keep blood sugar levels from rising too high after eating. The fiber in oranges can grab cancer-causing chemicals and keep them away from cells of the colon, providing yet another line of protection from colon cancer. And the fiber in oranges may be helpful for reducing the uncomfortable constipation or diarrhea in those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome.

In addition to oranges' phytonutrients, vitamin C and fiber, they are a good source of thiamin, folate, vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), potassium and calcium.

Prevent Kidney Stones

Want to reduce your risk of calcium oxalate kidney stones? Drink orange juice. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that when women drank ½ to 1 litre of orange, grapefruit or apple juice daily, their urinary pH value and citric acid excretion increased, significantly dropping their risk of forming calcium oxalate stones.


Fresh orange juice with mint

Ingredients :
Serves 4 :
Juice of 8 oranges
A few leaves fresh mint
Ice cubes

Recipe :
Squeeze the oranges.
Roughly chop mint, add to juice.
Serve over ice.

Advice :
Only 60 calories per 100g and full of vitamin C!