Home Page 5751

Bone builders

Honey has never tasted so sweet.

Honey has never tasted so sweet. Honey contains low to moderate levels of antioxidants, according to researchers at the University of Illinois. But not all honeys are the same. The antioxidant content of honey from bees fed on buckwheat, for example, was 20 times higher than that of the honey from bees fed on sage. Darker honeys, such as New Zealand’s manuka, can have a higher antioxidant levels that lighter varieties.

Related stories


Home Page 5751

Do you dare skip on dairy?

Latest research shows that certain oils could be essential in killing harmful bacteria.

Latest research shows that certain oils could be essential in killing harmful bacteria. The essential oils thyme, rosewood, and oregano, may kill certain bacteria, including those that cause pneumonia, reported researchers at a recent American Society of Microbiology meeting. According to the report, the oils caused the microorganism cells to die.

Related stories


Home Page 5751

Successful long-term losers

When it comes to weight loss, there’s a lot to learn from people who have lost the weight long-term. Although it’s relatively easy to lose weight initially, especially if you follow a structured diet or program, keeping the weight off is a much harder task.

When it comes to weight loss, there’s a lot to learn from people who have lost the weight long-term.

Although it’s relatively easy to lose weight initially, especially if you follow a structured diet or program, keeping the weight off is a much harder task. Nutrition researchers are still uncovering the best approach to weight loss, but some interesting findings have come out of American research that tracks people on a National Weight Control Registry.

3,000 plus participants who had successfully maintained weight loss over a five-year period were quizzed on their habits. The research revealed that even though people followed many different plans to lose weight, they had a lot of eating and lifestyle habits in common during the maintenance phase.

Let’s look at four of these habits and look at how you could adopt them into your weight loss plan.

2. Keep a record Making changes that last requires you to analyse your current habits and patterns. You might think you know your own emotional cues for comfort eating, but it’s amazing how patterns emerge when you write everything down. TIP: A food log, also called a food diary, can help you analyse your eating habits and patterns.

3. Pack a snack Participants on the registry commonly ate up to five meals a day. Healthy snacks keep your energy levels up between meals and stop that ravenous hunger that means you’re more likely to overeat at the main meal. Including mid-meal snacks into your healthy eating plan is a great way to assist your weight loss goals. TIP: If you’re out and about a lot, pack snacks to go like grain and fruit based bars, fruit snacks in natural juice, air-popped popcorn or drinking yogurt.

4. Monitor weight Participants also regularly monitored their weight, usually weekly, in order to readjust their habits if the weight started to creep back on. TIP: After achieving your healthy goal weight it’s a great idea to treat yourself to some new, well fitting clothes. By getting rid of your “old me” clothes you’ll be forced to make some fine tuning if you feel the waist line pinching a little.

Related stories


Home Page 5751

Beautiful bedroom quilt

This gorgeous quilt is the perfect finishing touch in a bedroom! This pattern is based on a variation of a 1944 design.

This gorgeous quilt is the perfect finishing touch in a bedroom! This pattern is based on a variation of a 1944 design. Click here for pattern. This quilt consists of one block that is repeated many times. It can be assembled in hundreds of different ways. Our quilt was made into six blocks of 16 squares that were moved around to create the desired effect.

You can choose any colour combination for the quilt – the centre colours in ours were black and pink. It’s important to try to keep the colour values of medium to dark for A and B shapes and light to medium for the C triangles.

Measurements Finished size of quilt – 175cm (69”) x 135cm (53”) Size of inner patterned section – 122cm (48”) x 81cm (32”) Block size – 10cm (4”) Finished width of inner border (green) – 5cm (2”) Finished width of outer borders – 17.5cm (7”) Finished width of binding – 1.25cm (½”)

Materials For inner patterned section Colour 1 – 20cm each of 16 medium to dark or black fabrics Colour 2 – 10cm or scraps of each of 16 light to medium pinks For inner border 1.4m green fabric For the narrow inner border, outer borders and binding 1.8m fabric, in desired C colour Batting (approx 2.5cm – 4cm larger all around than the quilt top) Backing fabric (approx 2.5cm – 4cm larger all around than quilt top) Template plastic Steel ruler Pencil Craft knife White paper Black marking pen Water-soluble marking pen Quilting hoop Quilting needle Quilting thread

Templates Draw a sketch of your quilt first to get an overall picture of the colours. Make your templates using the supplied outlines. Trace the patterns onto the template plastic, marking the corners with dots and drawing lines between the dots using the ruler and the pencil. Cut out the templates using a craft knife, 6mm seam allowance all around. From each of the 16 (Colour 1) fabrics, cut 6 triangles (B) and 6 squares (A). From each of the 16 (Colour 2) fabrics, cut 12 triangles (C).

Piecing If hand piecing: With right sides facing, pin pieces together then work small running stitches along sewing line to join pieces, beginning and ending with a few back stitches at corners. If machine piecing: Set stitch length at 12-15 stitches per 2.5cm (1”). With right sides facing, place pieces together and feed under presser foot. (Patchwork and piecing feet are available at quilting and sewing stores and indicate perfect 6mm seams.) Join a short side of one triangles (C) to one side of square (A) then the other (C) to the adjacent side of (A) to form a triangle, the same size as the larger triangles (B). Join these two larger triangles together to form a square. You have now made a block. Mark another 95 blocks or as many as desired for the quilt size you wish to achieve.

Pressing Press seam allowance towards the darker fabric part of the block to prevent colours showing through. Press seams as you work.

Borders Measure the length of the quilt top through the centre. Cut side border strips to this measurement and join to quilt top. Measure the width of the quilt top through the centre. Cut border strips to this measurement and join to quilt top. If you are adding more than one border strip, measure the quilt after each addition to determine the measurements for the next border pieces.

Quilting patterns Mark your quilting pattern on the quilt top before layering the quilt. Trace our quilting patterns for the green inner border and the wide border, use your own design or purchase a commercial one.

Layering the quilt Make a sandwich of the quilt top, batting and backing. Spread the backing out on a flat surface and stretch it slightly pinning it to carpet or taping it to a hard surface. Centre the batting on top, then position the quilt top on top of these two layers. Starting from centre, baste or safety pin layers together or work large running stitches through layers.

Quilting Place the areas to be quilted in a hoop and stretch the fabric to create an even tension. Start hand quilting with small running stitches in the centre of the quilt and work out to the side. Sew through all three layers as you stitch. If machine stitching, use a walking foot on the machine and try to work quilting stitches in long continuous lines.

Finishing Cut binding pieces to fit the sides, top and bottom of your quilt, allowing extra fabric at the ends. (You will need to cut a number of binding strips and join them to create the correct length.) Fold and press the binding strips in half lengthways, then join the strips to the quilt top and bottom, then to the sides. When the strips have been stitched in place and trimmed to the correct size, fold under a narrow edge on the raw edge of the binding, fold the binding to the back of the quilt and slipstitch in place to secure firmly.

Quilt made by Gwen Mitchell; Story by Mary-Anne Danaher; Pics by Brett Stevens; Styling by Elizabeth Wagland.

Related stories


Home Page 5751

Ovarian cancer

From The Australian Women's Weekly Health Series: Cancer Prevention. Buy the Book.

From The Australian Women’s Weekly Health Series: Cancer Prevention. Buy the Book. Each year about 1200 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and about 700 die from it. Around one in 100 women will develop ovarian cancer before the age of 75. Information on how you can lower your chances of getting ovarian cancer is limited. And unlike Pap tests, which test for cervical cancer before symptoms appear, there is no screening test for ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is not one of the most common cancers. It’s also not a disease that you can do a lot to prevent or pick up early. What causes Ovarian Cancer? While the causes of ovarian cancer are not known, there are a number of factors that increase a women’s likelihood of developing this disease.

Related stories


Home Page 5751

Pick a leaf

Globe artichoke leaf extract (Cynara scolymus) is good for indigestion, say researchers from the University of Bonn, Germany. In their study, patients’ nausea and flatulence were...

Globe artichoke leaf extract (Cynara scolymus) is good for indigestion, say researchers from the University of Bonn, Germany. In their study, patients’ nausea and flatulence were significantly reduced after taking the extract for four months. Its healing powers are believed to be due to the substance cynarin, which stimulates the digestive system and liver. It’s available in liver complex formulas.

Related stories


Home Page 5751

Fitness: it’s a family affair

With a growing number of Australian children suffering from obesity, it is important to emphasise the importance of physical activity from an early age. It can take as little as 30 minutes of exercise each day to maintain optimal weight and health, but being physically active has a wide range of additional benefits for kids. They’re more likely to gain new skills, friends and confidence through sport. They will also sleep better, feel more energetic and get the most out of life.

With a growing number of Australian children suffering from obesity, it is important to emphasise the importance of physical activity from an early age. It can take as little as 30 minutes of exercise each day to maintain optimal weight and health, but being physically active has a wide range of additional benefits for kids. They’re more likely to gain new skills, friends and confidence through sport. They will also sleep better, feel more energetic and get the most out of life.

Related stories


Home Page 5751

Lunchbox nutrition

Pack a punch with a healthy lunch!

Pack a punch with a healthy lunch! It’s a challenge many parents complain about – how to find the balance between a lunchbox that kids will enjoy, and one that is good for them. Since long before I was at primary school, kids have traded lunch items, stretched the truth about what they really ate and tried to bribe their way to the school canteen. Try to avoid this age-old dilemma with these simple hints:

Related stories


Home Page 5751

Be a healthy role model

As a parent you are your child’s first teacher and their lifetime role model. Just as little girls want to dress up in Mummy’s shoes, kids often emulate eating and exercise patterns from their parents too.

As a parent you are your child’s first teacher and their lifetime role model. Just as little girls want to dress up in Mummy’s shoes, kids often emulate eating and exercise patterns from their parents too. Research has revealed particular patterns to role modelling. For instance, girls tend to mimic the eating behaviour and body image concerns of their mothers, while boys are more likely to adopt the exercise habits of their dads. Parents, naturally, strongly influence the food choice of their children. With a huge array of foods on offer, it’s not uncommon to stick to a limited range of favourite recipes at home. And your child is unlikely to try a food you dislike, unless they are at a restaurant or a friend’s house. So here are some friendly reminders about being a healthy eating role model:

Related stories


Home Page 5751

Let grudges go

Clearly, when he wrote "Hell is other people", Jean-Paul Sartre knew something about how it feels to hold a grudge.

Clearly, when he wrote “Hell is other people”, Jean-Paul Sartre knew something about how it feels to hold a grudge. It’s only natural to find it difficult to forgive someone when they have done something awful to you, but it’s imperative that you try – and succeed – otherwise you are just re-injuring yourself. Vengeful thoughts hurt you mentally and physically, making you discontented, cynical and stressed. It’s no accident that every single great religious tradition has taught that forgiveness is the most important first step on the path to true contentment. Try to find another way of looking at that which you need to forgive. It’s often easier to at least understand someone else after you’ve “walked in their shoes”. This is why so many people often develop a better – or at least a different – relationship with their parents after they have had children themselves. Remember that everyone brings different strengths and weaknesses to any situation, that most people do the best job they know how to do, and that it is difficult to move beyond the genetic and life skills they have inherited: They are what they are. Also, remember that forgiveness doesn’t mean that you’re saying what someone has done to you is acceptable, or that you’re going to forget about it. What it does mean is that you are not going to let your anger dominate you any more. You’re releasing yourself.

Related stories