Wednesday, 6 August 2008

Medical treatments are available for wrinkles

*1-Vitamin A Topical Products (Tretinoin and Retinol)
Topical products containing natural forms of vitamin A (retinol, retinaldehyde) or vitamin A derivatives called retinoic acids (tretinoin,) have proven to be beneficial for skin damaged by the sun and also by natural aging.
Tretinoin (known commercially as Retin-A) is available only in prescription form (Avita, Renova, Differin). It produces a rosy glow, and reduces large wrinkles, brown spots, and surface roughness. It may also be applied to face, neck, chest, hands, and forearm. The cream should be applied at least twice a week. Noticeable improvement takes from two to six months. Because Retin-A may increase a patient's sensitivity to the sun, a thin coat is best administered at bedtime.

A sunblock should be worn during the day, and overexposure to the sun should be avoided. Almost all patients experience redness, scaling, burning, and itching after two or three days that can last up to three months. Very low concentrations (.025%) may offer the same improvement as higher concentration and produce less irritation. A daytime moisturizer or low-dose corticosteroid cream, such as 1% hydrocortisone, may help reduce irritation. Oral tretinoin can cause birth defects, and women should avoid even topical Retin-A when pregnant or trying to conceive.
Retinol, a natural form of vitamin A, could not, until recently, be used in skin products because it was unstable and easily broken down by UV radiation. Stable preparations are now sold over the counter. In the right concentrations, retinol may be as effective as tretinoin and studies indicate that it has fewer side effects. An animal study suggests that adding antioxidant creams (such as those containing vitamins C or E) may offer added protection against degradation of retinol, but not tretinoin. The FDA warns that over-the-counter retinol skin products are unregulated; the amount of active ingredients is unknown, and some preparations, in fact, may contain almost no retinol.
*2-Antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that act as scavengers of oxygen-free radicals, unstable particles that can damage the body's cells and even their genetic material. The most well-known antioxidants are vitamins A, C, E, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and beta carotene. There is some evidence that lotions and creams containing antioxidants may help protect the skin when applied before sun exposure. (They do not seem to provide benefit after exposure.) Topical vitamin E particularly alpha tocopherol (a form of vitamin E) cream decreased skin roughness, length of facial lines, and wrinkle depth. Both green tea and ginger appear to have properties that may provide some protection against cancer. Green tea skin care products are now available. Scientific studies will be needed to learn if they are actually beneficial. The substance silymarin, found in the milk thistle family (which includes artichokes), may inhibit UVB-promoted cancers in animals. Aloe, lemon oil, and coral extracts contain antioxidants and are promoted as being healthy for the skin, although evidence of their effects on wrinkles is weak

*3 - Alpha Hydroxy Acid and Home Exfoliation
One of the basic methods for improving skin and eliminating small wrinkles is exfoliation (also called resurfacing), which is the removal of the top layer of skin to allow regrowth for new skin. Methods for doing this run from simple scrubs to special creams to intensive peeling treatments, including laser resurfacing. People with darker skin are at particularly higher risk for scarring or discoloration with the more powerful exfoliation methods.
Scrub gently with a mildly abrasive material and a soap that contains salicylic acid to remove old skin so that new skin can grow. The motion should be perpendicular to the wrinkles. Use textured material or cleansing grains with microbeads. Organic materials, such as loofahs or sea sponges may harbor bacteria. Avoid cleansing grains that contain pulverized walnut shells and apricot seeds, which can lacerate skin on a microscopic level. Cleansing grains with microbeads don't have sharp edges and remove skin without cutting it. Exfoliation using scrubs, however, can worsen certain conditions, such as acne, sensitive skin, or broken blood vessels.
Alpha hydroxy acids facilitate the shedding of dead skin cells and may even stimulate the production of collagen and elastin. Lactic and glycolic acids are used most often in commercial products. The preparations containing lactic acid may be slightly more effective than those made with glycolic acid. Products have also been developed that are made from larger molecules called poly-alpha-hydroxy acids and others from beta-hydroxy acids or BHAs (usually containing salicylate acid, the primary ingredient in aspirin). Manufacturers claim that such products are less likely to irritate the skin.
*4 - Moisturizers
Moisturizers help prevent dryness, bruising, and tearing but have no effect on wrinkles by themselves. They should be applied while the skin is still damp. These products retain skin moisture in various ways: Occlusives, such as petroleum jelly, prevent water from evaporating. Humectants, including glycerin, act by pulling water up to the surface of the skin from deep tissues. People with oily skin generally should use the humectant type.
More powerful compounds, such as one called monolaurin (Glylorin), contain mixtures of fatty molecules called lipids, which may help restore the skin's natural barriers against moisture loss and damage. Most moisturizers contain combinations of these and usually have other ingredients, such as AHA, sunscreens, collagen, and keratin. (Collagen and keratin leave a protein film and temporarily stretch the skin.) They range widely in price, and a major consumer organization found little difference in general between the more and less expensive products

In short- information on wrinkles
What're wrinkles? - Skin wrinkles are grooves in the skin. Wrinkles can be on the surface of the skin or can be quite deep. Wrinkles are the thin, creased, and sagging skin.

How a wrinkle is formed? - Normal ageing leads to the formation of skin wrinkles. Wrinkles are also caused by facial expressions.

What causes wrinkles? - As a person ages, skin cells divide more slowly. Sun exposure promotes and exacerbates wrinkling of the skin. Smoking may also negatively affect the skin.

What treatments are available to cure wrinkle? - For fine wrinkles, retinoic acid may be applied to the skin to fill in the crevices. Wrinkles may also be treated by topical creams and ointments.
What cosmetic therapies are available for wrinkles? - Cosmetic therapies for the treatment of wrinkles are facelifts, laser resurfacing, non-ablative laser resurfacing and iImplantation.
What medical treatments are available for wrinkles? - Topical products is beneficial for skin damaged by the sun and also by natural aging. Alpha hydroxy acids facilitate the shedding of dead skin cells.
How to prevent the development of wrinkles? - Onset of wrinkles and further progression of and further progression of those already present can be prevented by avoiding episodes of excessive sun exposure.
What anti wrinkle creams and cosmetics are available? - Cosmetics, if properly applied, can be surprisingly effective in camouflaging the signs of aging skin, including wrinkles and age spots.

Cancer up-date

Cancer up-date

News from John Hopkins


AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (TRY THE KEY WORD) AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .


Cancer Update from John Hopkins


1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply


CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water- best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells.

Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

(PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT)CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL , U. S.)

PLEASE READ

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.

Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital was on a TV program to explain this health hazard.

He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers... This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.

Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead...

NEW USE FOR VICKS VAPORUB

This is something very simple and useful.

NEW USE FOR VICKS VAPORUB



WOW! I was raised, and raised my kids with Vicks. How come I never knew this? I can't wait for my next cough.

Amazing! READ ITALL. It works 100 percent of the time, Although the scientists at the Canada Research Council (who discovered it) aren't sure why.. To stop night-time coughing in a child (or an adult, as we found out Personally), put Vicks Vaporub generously on the bottom of the feet at bedtime and then cover with socks.

Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about five minutes, and stay stopped for many, many hours of relief. This works 100 percent of the time and is more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition, it is extremely soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly.

I heard the head of The Canada Research Council describe these findings by their scientists when they were investigating the effectiveness and usage of prescription cough medicines in children as compared to alternative therapies like acupressure.

I just happened to tune in to a.m. Radio and picked up this guy talking about why cough medicines in kids often do more harm than good due to the chemical make-up of these strong drugs, so I listened. It was found to be more effective than prescribed medicines for children at bedtime and in addition to have a soothing and calming effect on sick children who then went on to sleep soundly.

My wife tried it on herself when she had a very deep constant and persistent cough a few weeks ago and it worked 100 percent! She said it felt like a warm blanket had enveloped her. The coughing stopped in a few minutes, and believe me, this was a deep (incredibly annoying - every few seconds!), uncontrollable cough, and she slept cough-free for hours every night she used it. If you end up sick, try it yourself and you will be absolutely amazed at the effect.

Pass this on - especially to those with children or grandchildren.

Sunday, 3 August 2008

Your First Key To Unlimited Energy

Yes, breathing is an art, and it is a very scientific art. The act of breathing is much more than inhaling and exhaling air. It triggers off a whole chain of physio-biological reactions, spanning each of the billions of cells that make up our bodies. Extra oxygen in the blood stream stimulates the excretory system, thereby clearing the body of harmful toxins.

Extra oxygen in the brain provides additional energy and vitality. Deep meditative breathing is a kind of reminder to the body that all is fine and in control.

Breathing has always been a part of our wellness arsenal, but somehow as one grows older, breathing becomes less and less scientific. It becomes shallow, and we begin to breathe in the chest, rather than the stomach.

So, what is the correct way of breathing? Have you ever seen a baby breathe? In and out, deep and even, slow, easy and calm. If you look closely, you will see that it is not the chest that is rising and falling, rather it is the stomach. To put it more precisely, it is the diaphragm, the muscle between the chest and the abdominal cavity, which moves.

Now, compare this with your own style of breathing. Chances are that you will find that it differs. If you are like most people, your upper chest expands as you inhale and contracts as you exhale. Over the years, you have learned to hold your stomach in.

Over the years, life in a crowded city, with chronic pollution problems and a lack of fresh air can result in the gradual shift from abdominal breathing to chest breathing.

Many experts are of the opinion that this is simply a bad habit. They also believe that by breaking the habit, and returning to a style of breathing like that of an infant, we can help rid ourselves of chronic complaints headaches and fatigue. Moreover, by adopting a proper breathing technique, we may be able to ward off stress, lower our blood pressure, and strengthen our hearts and much more.

Apart from the health benefits, deep breathing also results in a much better feeling of well-being. It encourages creativity, stimulates memory, and calms emotional extremities.

Practicing Belly Breathing

Find a comfortable place to sit down. Make sure you are wearing thin and comfortable clothing. Now, place your right arm on your stomach, and breathe in the following manner.

1. Breathe in through the nose, counting two.

2. Hold, counting up to four.

3. Breathe out through the mouth, counting three.

As you breathe in, feel your stomach fill up with air and expand outwards, and as you breathe out, feel your stomach deflate.

Do this ten times, three times a day for the next one week and see how your health improves. Happy Breathing for a Healthy LIFE

10 Brain Damaging Habits

1. No Breakfast - People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Over-eating - It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking - It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar Consumption - Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution - The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air deceases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep Deprivation - Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping - Sleeping with the head covered, increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging fects.

8. Working your brain during illness - Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts - Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely - Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.


The main causes of liver damage are:

1. Sleeping too late and waking up too late are main cause.

2. Not urinating in the morning.

3. Too much eating.

4. Skipping breakfast.

5. Consuming too much medication.

6. Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food coloring , and artificial sweetener.

7. Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible reduce cooking oil use when! frying, which includes even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the body is very fit.

8. Consuming raw (overly done) foods also add to the burden of liver. Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting, do not store.

We should prevent this without ! necessarily spending more. We just have to adopt a good daily lifestyle and eating habits. Maintaining good eating habits and time condition are very important for our bodies to absorb and get rid of unnecessary chemicals according to "schedule."


Because :

Evening at 9 - 11 PM : is the time for eliminating unnecessary/toxic
chemicals (detoxification) from the antibody system (lymph nodes). This time duration should be spent by relaxing or listening to music. If during this time a housewife is still in an ! unrelaxed state such as washing the dishes or monitoring children doin g their homework, this will have a negative impact on health.

Evening at 11pm - 1 am : is the detoxification process in the liver, and ideally should be done in a deep sleep state.

Early morning 1 - 3 am : detoxification process in the gall, also ideally done in a deep sleep state.

Early morning 3 - 5 am : detoxification in the lungs. Therefore there will sometimes be a severe cough for cough suffere! rs during this time. Since the detoxification process had reached the respiratory tract, there is no need to take cough medicine so as not to interfere with toxin removal process.

Morning 5 - 7am : detoxification in the colon, you should empty your bowel.

Morning 7 - 9 am : absorption of nutrients in the small intestine, you should be having breakfast at this time.Br eakfast should be earlier, before 6:30 am , for those who are sick. Breakfast before 7:30 am is very beneficial to those wanting to stay fit. Those who always skip breakfast, they should change their habits, and it is still better to eat breakfast late until 9 - 10 am rather than no meal at all.

Sleeping so late and waking up too late will disrupt the process of
removing unnecessary chemicals. Aside from that, midnight to 4:00 am is the time when the bone marrow produces blood. Therefore, have a good sleep and don't sleep late.

10 Healthiest Foods For Kids


Our kids are getting bigger. Between junk food, fizzy drinks and lower activity levels, the rates of overweight in children are reaching frightening proportions.

In 2000, 20.3% of boys (2-19 yrs) were overweight while 4.8% were obese. The figures for girls were even more worrying, with 26.6% of girls overweight and 6.8% obese.

Sir John Krebs, the chairman of the Food Standards Agency has described obesity as a 'ticking timebomb' and one of the most serious issues facing us today. And the epidemic of childhood obesity means that, for the first time in more than a century, life expectancy is set to drop.

So, the time has definitely come to get kids into the habit of healthy eating.

Author and nutritionist Leanne Ely has come up with her list of the Top 10 Healthiest Foods for Kids

Before we get to the meat of the matter, here's a quick disclaimer: allergies will prevent a normally healthy food from being a healthy food for any child who may have allergies. This is a general list, meant to offer help and inform when making food choices for your children without allergies. If you have any questions or concerns about food allergies, you may want to ask your GP for advice.

Also, other fruits and vegetables can easily fit into this list aside from the ones mentioned - these particular ones are highlighted for the reasons listed.

Top 10 healthiest foods for kids

Optimal Oats A fabulous breakfast food, full of B vitamins, iron, zinc and calcium. Old-fashioned oats and porridge offer quick energy for busy kids with its carb load and fibre count.

Egg 'em on Eggs are a great source of protein and a host of other nutrients, including the B vitamins, vitamin E and zinc (to name but a few). The Food Standards Agency doesn?t give a limit on how many eggs we should consume but do advise that a healthy diet will include moderate amounts of all protein sources including meat, fish and alternatives such as eggs, pulses, nuts and beans. Remember that young children should not be given raw eggs or eggs with runny yolks.

Nuttin' better Nut butters are great fast foods for kids. Kids need the fat (it's a good fat if it doesn't have hydrogenated oils mixed in it) and they need the protein. And while peanuts can be problematic and even life threatening to allergic kids, other nut butters may be okay (but definitely check with your doctor first). Almond butter is a personal favourite and you can make this simply by crushing or grinding up almonds or other nuts of your choice.

Culture club Kick your child's milk consumption up a notch and include yoghurt on the menu. A great source of calcium, yoghurt is easier to digest than regular milk, and the cultures (check the label for LIVE to make sure they're in there!) are very beneficial to good colon health... especially if your child has been on antibiotics. Watch it on the sugar content though. A better idea is to buy plain yoghurt and sweeten it yourself with fresh fruit.

Mmmm, mmmm melons! My personal choice would be cantaloupe in the melon department. Vitamin C, beta-carotene, bits and pieces of B vitamins and trace minerals and calcium fill every juicy bite. Melons are not to be missed when they're plentiful and in season.

Tree cheers! Kids like to call broccoli "trees" and sometimes you can get picky kids to eat "trees" rather than broccoli. Broccoli is one of the best vegetables for anyone, especially growing kids due to its calcium content and a whole host of other nutrients, such as potassium, beta-carotene and B vitamins.

Terrific tubers Sweet potatoes contain 30mg beta-carotene per serving. It would take 23 servings of broccoli to get that same amount! And with 3 grams of fibre per serving, sweet potatoes deserve a place at the table.

Protein power The fact is that growing kids need protein to keep growing. How you're going to give it to them can vary widely, according to your preferences. Good choices include legumes, beans (combined with a grain to make a complete protein), soy products like tofu, or meat, fish or poultry.

The whole truth The best nutrition is found in the whole grain. Brown rice and whole wheat bread are a quantum leap over their white counterparts and offer necessary fibre, minerals and vitamins. Don't short-change your kids with the white stuff.

OJ is OK Kids can drink too much juice. However, that doesn't mean they should never drink juice. Just don't give it to them in place of water. Orange juice is full of vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium, folate and zinc. You can buy calcium-fortified orange juice, too - it's great stuff in moderation.

Now that you know Leanne's top 10 foods, here are a few kid-tested recipes she says will help you incorporate them into your family's diet.

Smoothie patrol
(From Leanne's book Healthy Foods)
Served with a Breakfast Cookie (recipe follows), this makes a great breakfast to go!
50g tofu (I buy the silken tofu)
1 banana, frozen
240ml frozen berries
1 scoop protein powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
120ml orange juice


Put everything in a blender and LET 'ER RIP!

Serves 1. Per serving: 216 calories; 4g total fat; (14%calories from fat); 7g protein; 41g carbohydrate; 2mg cholesterol; 12mg sodium.

Breakfast cookies
(From Leanne's upcoming Frantic Family Cookbook)
240ml brown rice crisp cereal (like Rice Crispies, usually available in health food stores)
120ml oats
2 tbs bran cereal, your choice
2 tbs powdered milk
2 tbs peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 tbs honey (CAUTION: Some experts say honey shouldn't be consumed by babies under 12 months; others urge you to wait until the child is 3.)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. In a medium bowl, blend together dried cereals, oats and powdered milk. In a smaller bowl, blend peanut butter, vanilla, egg and honey together, mixing well. Make a well in the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Drop big spoonfuls of dough on a non-stick baking tray and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown slightly.

Serves 10. Per serving: 70 calories; 3g total fat; (33% calories from fat); 2g protein; 10g carbohydrate; 57mg sodium.

Cheesy broccoli soup
(From Healthy Foods)
2 onions, chopped
a head of broccoli, chopped (stems and all)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbs olive oil
1 litre chicken stock
240ml skimmed milk
100g low-fat cheddar cheese, grated

In a large soup pot, saut� onions and garlic until softened. Add chopped broccoli and continue cooking. Add stock and cook until broccoli is very tender, about 30 minutes. In batches, process soup through a food processor or blender until almost smooth (some chunks are nice). Add milk and continue cooking another 20 minutes, but be careful not to boil or the soup will separate. When nice and thick, remove from heat and serve in individual bowls. Top each bowl with grated cheddar cheese and serve with a great big salad and whole grain bread. Makes a great dinner!

Serves 6. Per serving: 118 calories; 5g total fat (35% calories from fat); 11g protein; 8g carbohydrate; 656mg sodium.