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Jaggery – Health Benefits

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Jaggery is a natural and viable alternative for Sugar. Sugar is manufactured by chemical processes where as jaggery is obtained from sugarcane juice. It is the safest and the purest form of sugar and the process of obtaining jaggery does not involve any chemicals. The manufacturing process of jaggery is very hygienic and requires no human intervention. It is full of proteins, mineral salts not present in refined sugar and vitamins and is extremely nutritious and delicious. In fact, it has all the nutritional values present in a sugarcane. It is used in many Indian dishes in place of sugar. Let us take a look at few of its many health benefits:

  • diabetic people are often advised to replace sugar with jaggery
  • purifies the blood
  • extremely beneficial for anemic people as it is rich in iron
  • helps maintain blood pressure levels due to low amounts of sodium
  • reduces water retention in the body so controls weight of the body
  • is rich in anti-oxidants so helps in fighting the free radicals in the body
  • strengthens the nervous system
  • helps control indigestion and constipation problems
  • extremely beneficial for throat and lung infections
  • helps in preventing breathing problems and asthma
  • helps fight pollution by allowing people to breathe easily in higher levels of pollution and smoke
  • is rich in magnesium so helpful in relieving fatigue and relaxes muscles and nerves
  • prevents rheumatism

So, looking at the subset of the health benefits, I would certainly recommend daily consumption of jaggery in the morning breakfast and afternoon lunch.

Strawberry Hair Mask for Oily Hair

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Well, care for oily hair is the exact opposite of care for dry hair. So, we need kind of ingredients which can soak up the oil and balance the sebum production in the scalp. For one, I have written about using Clay masks as hair masks. They work wonderfully. The home remedy I want to share today will not only control the oil in your hair but also make your hair glossy and shiny.
Ingredients:
– 5 Strawberries
Method:
You can blend the strawberries in the blender till they become of watery consistency. Take a little of the pulp and start applying it on the scalp and massage gently. Cover the complete scalp portion by portion. Then, take your hair section by section and dip it into the blended strawberry pulp and cover the hair body thoroughly. Let it stay on your hair for 30 minutes to 1 hour or till it dries off (it will take a long time to dry). Do not go in the sun. The liquid will drip a lot because of the watery consistency. To avoid this problem, you can gently blot your hair once you finish applying the strawberry mask to your hair. That will remove the excess of liquid. You can use this liquid as a hair rinse. After the stipulated time, you can just wash your hair with cold water. The acids in the fruit will clean your hair. The mask will not stink in your hair.
Variances:
– You may mix the strawberry’s with honey for dry hair.
– You can also include lemon juice with the strawberries. That will take care of the dandruff also.

Dry Shampoo – What is it and should you use it?

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Ok, so shampooing is a really bad practice to follow everyday with products laden with loads of chemicals. But, we can not leave our hair dirty just so. So, Dry Shampoo is becoming popular as one of the ways to get rid of the oil (greasy hair) and dust in the hair.
What is Dry Shampoo? 
It is a mix of ingredients which are good at soaking oil in the hair and trapping dust so that they can be brushed off immediately. Most common of the homemade dry shampoo are corn meal, baby powder, orris root powder and ground oatmeal. You can store mix these ingredients or use them individually. You can also mix hair-nourishing ingredients like essential oils or aloevera gel. The powder soaks the oil from your scalp and also the dirt from your hair strands.
How to use a Dry Shampoo?
The quantity of powder to be used depends on the length of hair. Take two heaped spoons of the Dry Shampoo you have made for hair length which reaches up to mid-waist. Increase accordingly for longer lengths. But, make sure you do not get too much on your hair. It would become difficult to brush off. Rub most of it on the scalp. And, put some on your hair strands. Now, brush your hair to free it of tangles and spread the Dry Shampoo evenly on your scalp and along the hair body. Let it stay for 10-15 minutes. After the waiting time is over, flip over your head and brush off all the shampoo from your hair. Keep brushing till you are sure your hair and scalp gets rid of the shampoo. Your hair should look clean instantly.
Advantages of using Dry Shampoo
  • saves a lot of time so is best as a quick fix
  • hair-nourishing ingredients can be fed to hair anytime
  • can add volume to hair and make hair look puckered up
Disadvantages of using Dry Shampoo
  • is lot messy and needs a lot of cleaning up to do
  • may not suit some of the hair types as it can be little drying
Most Important: Dry Shampoo, since being a mixture of various ingredients in their powdered form, when applied to scalp may sit on the scalp and not get brushed off effectively. This causes the hair follicles to clog and the scalp to become dry. And, ultimately, it needs a proper shampooing regimen. If Dry Shampoo is used quite frequently, it can lead to severely clogged pores and other scalp problems like dryness, itchy scalp or scaly scalp. It can, also, effect the hair growth and health of the hair overall. So, in my viewpoint, Dry Shampoo should only be used when there is an extreme emergency. Otherwise, either stick to shampooing your hair alternate days or you might consider co-washing your hair regularly.