Homestyle Gossip

When the time comes when your elderly loved ones need full time care, it can be heart wrenching trying to find the right care home. You may even find yourself filled with feelings of guilt, which are only natural, yet you know it’s the right thing to do because your loved ones require the kind of nursing care that they just can’t receive in their own home.

This is especially true when your loved ones require dementia care, as caring for them yourself, however hard you might try, is often just not possible.

When you’re looking for a care home, and there are a lot of care homes to choose from, make sure that you visit the care homes yourself so that you are satisfied with the quality of the accommodation and the staff. It’s also a good idea to take your loved ones with you when you’re making the final decision on what care home to use, as after all they will be the ones living there and they need to feel happy and at home.

Often you are able to claim funding for care homes, so you should look into what level of funding, if any, your loved ones would be eligible to receive should they go into nursing care.

Your bedroom should be your sanctuary where you can recharge and refresh.  The ancient method of Feng Shui helps promote well being and inner peace, resulting in happiness and success. It is important to help Chi energy flow by using Feng Shui to layout your bedroom. Follow these tips for bedroom bliss:

1.    Your Beds Position
Your beds position is very important. It should be positioned so you can see the door but also be as far away from the door as possible.  This helps to promote a sense of safety as you sleep.

2.    Clutter
It is important to get rid of clutter under your bed as this can cause negative energy flows and disrupt your sleep.

3.    Bed Quality
The quality of your bed is also important. Your bed is symbolic of your wellbeing so you should invest in a good quality bed and mattress.  Beware of used mattresses as bad energy might have accumulated from a previous owner.

4.    Pointed Corners
You should not have pointed corners aimed at the bed. Items with square corners should be moved away from the bed or another item should be moved in front of them.  These sharp corners are named ‘pointed arrows’ as they direct negative energy towards you as you sleep.

5.    Use Warm and Calming Colours.
Colour can affect your mood and different colours carry a whole host of cultural and spiritual symbology. Feng shui practitioners recommend warm and cosy colours for a soothing atmosphere.

China and India were among the first countries to develop an industry for cultivating tea. Today, hundreds of millions of people drink tea around the world, and studies are now suggesting that green tea (Camellia sinesis) in particular has many health benefits.

An ancient Chinese proverb goes like this: “Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.”

Tea was firstly brought into Europe by Portuguese Jesuit Father Jasper de Cruz in 1560 and since then it hasn’t stopped growing. By the middle of the 18th Century tea had replaced ale and gin as the drink of the masses and had become Britain’s most popular beverage, and now 165,000,000 cups of tea are drunk in the UK every day.

Green tea, which is mainly made from unfermented leaves, is perhaps best known for its high levels of anti-oxidants called polyphenols. Anti-oxidants are substances that bind free radicals in our bodies; these free radicals can often cause damage to cells, tamper with DNA (genetic material), and even cause cell death.

Because of the anti-oxidants that it contains green tea has been used as medicine in China since ancient times and apparently there isn’t any other food or drink with as many health benefits as green tea. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.

In addition, green tea has been linked to a positive effect on a wide range of conditions, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. In November, 1999, researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland 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.

Moreover, green tea can even help prevent tooth decay because of its bacteria-destroying abilities that can prevent food poisoning; it can also kill the bacteria that cause dental plaque. Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea – from deodorants to creams – are starting to appear on the market.

A regular daily intake of green tea or green tea extract is also thought to help your overall health and well-being. We invite you to enjoy the benefits and grab a cup of green tea at Whittard of Chelsea.