Depending on how and where you use it, coconut oil can benefit your health, hair and skin. This versatile oil can be used in cooking, beauty recipes and around the home. According to research, adding coconut oil to your diet and using it on your exterior can improve your health, well-being and appearance.

Coconut oil for hair

Have you ever noticed that women in tropical coastal regions boast beautiful healthy hair. Their secret is coconut oil, which helps in a healthy grow of your hair and gives a shine to those strands.

Thanks to its unique fat composition, coconut oil is especially beneficial for certain hair types and to repair damaged hair. Coconut oil is full of fatty acids that can protect dandruff or dry hair against hair damage. This oil is an excellent conditioner and helps the regrowth of process of damaged hair. Besides, it provides proteins that are essential to nourish and heal damaged hair. Studies show that it protects hair from damage caused by hygral fatigue.

You can use it as a hair mask, hot oil treatment or in homemade hair products. To make the most of coconut oil's benefits, apply it topically to your hair or use a coconut oil hair mask. If you massage your head regularly with coconut oil, you can ensure that it is dandruff free.

Coconut oil for skin

Thanks to its natural antioxidant properties, coconut oil can be used as a skin lotion to stop wrinkles and skin irritation. If you rub it directly on your skin, it can help lighten age spots.

Coconut oil is also used to moisturize and nourish the skin. It can also improve the lipid content of the skin.

If you whip it with shea butter, it becomes a very soothing body balm.

You can also use coconut oil to remove your makeup, and that can become part of your ritual to moisturize your skin. Thanks to its well-known antioxidant properties, coconut oil can delay the appearance of wrinkles and sagging of skin caused by aging.

Coconut is also effective as a sunscreen and it can block out about 20% of the sun's ultraviolet rays. It can also be used to treat various skin problems, such as psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections.

Coconut oil digestive benefits

Coconut oil's concentration of beneficial fats in coconut oil makes it helpful for digestion. As coconut oil helps the body to absorb fat-soluble vitamins, calcium, and magnesium, it improves digestion. This effect is doubled if coconut oil is taken with omega-3 fatty acids.

Its antimicrobial properties can help fight irritation and infection in the gut by destroying bad bacteria and candida. Candida imbalance may decrease stomach acid, which may lead to inflammation and poor digestion.

The MCT's of coconut oil are easy to digest, and therefore, they don't need pancreatic enzymes to be broken down. As a result, taking coconut oil reduces the metabolic strain on the pancreas.

Coconut oil for weight loss

According to a study published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health back in 1985 showed how an injection of capric acid (which abounds in coconut oil) caused "initially rapid, then a gradual decrease in food consumption and a parallel loss of body weight" in male rats. Other studies have shown that the capric acid and other medium chain triglycerides (MCT) in coconut oil can boost 24-hour energy expenditure in humans up to 5%

Studies have also shown that coconut oil may reduce appetite given the way the fatty acids in it are metabolised.

Dental care

As coconut oil helps the absorption of calcium by the body, it leads to stronger teeth. Apart from facilitating the absorption of calcium, it also stops tooth decay, reduces plaque formation and plaque-induced gingivitis.

Speeds up healing

When you apply coconut oil to infected areas, it forms a chemical layer that protects the infected body part from external dust, air, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. It also speeds up the healing process of damaged tissues when applied to bruises.

Coconut oil can also be used as a stress reliever as it is very soothing. To eliminate mental fatigue, apply it to your head followed by a gentle massage.

Athletes, bodybuilder and those on a diet often use coconut oil to boost energy and endurance, and enhance their performance. This is because it contains less calories than other oils and its fat content is easily converted into energy, so doesn't generate the accumulation of fat in the heart and arteries.

Sensationalist but true fact coming up: eating more raw food will improve some aspects of your health.

Cooking food aids our digestive system and we absolutely need to ensure that we kill off the dangerous bacteria that grows in raw meat, however we can meet a happy medium with the type of vegetables we consume. BUT bear in mind that vegetables lose most of their nutrition when they are cooked.

The most common form of raw vegetables served up as a standard dish is a salad. You can get really creative which vegetables you combine in a salad instead of opting for the usually expected ingredients such as; lettuce, mixed leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, beetroot, celery and peppers. Why not opt for something a little more creative that adds a great amount extra to the nutritional value of the salad and add in some raw spinach leaves, kale, carrots grated, courgettes thinly sliced, mushrooms finely chopped and some blended broccoli.

Sure the above ingredients don't have to be used all at once, it's simply a choice of adding something different in the nutritional spectrum and to spice up a salad in a new way.

Juicing has become a popular phenomenon in ensuring that a large number of nutrients are being absorbed by the body each and every day. There are a vast number of books and websites dedicated to the subject of juicing and there is certainly a plan for everyone. If you fancy venturing down the juicing avenue, preparing and drinking the juice in the morning is the absolute optimum time. Your body has been repairing itself during sleep and there's nothing better to start off a new day with a nutritional juice for your vessel, which works so hard for you unconditionally.

If you want to go the extra step and really say thank you to your body, opt for a three or five day juice cleanse. It not only cleanses your entire body but also cleanses your mind. If you have a dependence on food which you know not to be good for you, then this is the perfect positive way to stop lifetime bad habits and do something nice for yourself.

The juice cleanses to go for are the ones that include vegetable juice as well because you don't want to be running off just sugar from fruit for five days. A balance between both will allow you to obtain more nutrients and keep your blood sugar levels evened out as well. Also keep some fibre from the fruit or veg in the juice!!

Always get medical advice if you have any health problems and always look at the reviews and ratings of juice cleanse you are thinking to use. Nutritionists spend an extremely long time ensuring that their plans are not only delicious, but totally stable, something you don't want the cheap option on your health right.

Thai Massage: Yoga without Effort

Maybe the first image that comes to mind when someone mentions Thai Massage is a slim, Thai lady walking all over your back. However, there's much more to Thai massage than meets the eye.

Developed in Thailand, Thai massage is a system of massage that has been influenced by the traditional medicine systems of India, China and Southeast Asia, as well as by yoga. For centuries, Thai massage was performed by monks as part of Thai medicine.

More energizing and rigorous than more classic forms of massage, Thai massage is like doing yoga without any work for some people. In fact, this massage resembles yoga to the extent that therapists use their hands, knees, legs and feet to move you into a series of yoga-like stretches.

Thai massage might be known for being energizing, but it also has relaxing effects as muscle compression, joint mobilization and acupressure are also used during treatment.

When you get a Thai massage, you usually line on a mat or firm mattress on the floor. You should wear something comfortable. Typically, it lasts 60 minutes to 2 hours. It includes rhythmic pressing and stretching of the entire body, which may include pulling fingers, toes, ears, cracking the knuckles, walking on the recipient's back and manipulating the receiver's body into many different positions.

It can be done solo or in a group of 10 or so patients in the same large room. While the receiver may be positioned in a variety of yoga-like positions during the massage, the practitioner leans on the recipient's body using hands and usually straight forearms locked at the elbow to apply firm rhythmic pressure.

Among its benefits, it relaxes you, reduces stress, improves circulation, increases energy, increases flexibility, improves range of motion, and centers the mind and body.

What is Swedish Massage?

Swedish massage is the most common and best-known type of massage in the West. If it's your first time at the spa or you don't get massage often, Swedish massage is the best place to start.

If you want deeper work and can tolerate more pressure to get relief from chronic muscle pain, it's better to book a deep tissue massage, which is another form of Swedish massage.  If you have pain, it will likely take a series of massages to get results.

Swedish massage and other types of therapeutic massage are performed by trained, licensed massage therapists. A Swedish massage can be slow and gentle, or vigorous and bracing, depending on the therapist's personal style and what he or she is trying to achieve.

During a Swedish massage you are generally nude underneath a towel or sheet. The therapist uncovers only the part of the body he/she is working on, a technique called draping. If that gets you out of your comfort zone, you can keep your underwear on, and many newcomers do.

You usually start by lying face down with your head in a u-shaped face cradle so your spine stays neutral. The therapist generally starts by works your back, using various massage strokes that include effleurage, kneading, friction, stretching and tapping.

When he's finished with the back, he or she works the back of each leg. When done with the back side, he or she holds the sheet or towel up and looks away while you turn over onto your back and scoot down; then he or she quickly covers you again.

The therapist then massages the front of each leg, both arms, and generally finishes with your neck and shoulders.

Some therapists work in a different order, and all have their own style and techniques. If you only have 50 minutes, you can also ask them to spend more time on a certain area. If the pressure is too light or too firm, you should speak up and ask the therapist to adjust it. Swedish massage usually includes some deeper work on areas of specific muscle tension, but if you truly want deeper, more intensive work and firmer pressure, book a deep tissue massage. The cost of a Swedish massage will vary, depending on whether you go to a day spa, resort spa, destination spa.

The Hidden Reasons You're Getting Headaches & How to Manage Pain

When it comes to pain, I have experienced it all and most important, I have learned how to manage it. A broken foot, wrist, dislocated knee, and I have even suffered from partial paralysis with surgeries on my knee, shoulder and cervical spinal fusion. These are just some examples of somatic (musculoskeletal) and neuropathic (nerve) pains. Of I've experienced visceral (internal organ) pains as well; stomach cramps, menstrual pain, anxiety, and so on. But, what do you do when you are in pain? Do you put a Band-Aid on it or find the cause of your symptoms?

If you take a pill to get rid of your headache, for example, you are masking your symptoms. However, if you lie down in a dark room, close your eyes, take deep breaths, and allow yourself to experience the pain, then you are finding the cause of the headache. First, let's answer a few basic questions so you can understand why you got the headache in the first place:

Fatigue

: How many hours of sleep do you get per night? Do you sleep through the night?

Food Allergies/Unhealthy Diet

: What does your diet consist of? High/Low sugar and carbs? Do you consume processed foods?

Alcohol Consumption/Smoking/Exposure to Smoke

: Do you drink alcohol? Do you smoke?

Dehydration

: How many glasses of water do you drink per day?

Menstrual Cycle

: Are you ovulating? Menstruating?

Muscle Tension or Strain

: Do you exercise? What kind of exercise?

Stress

: What is your stress level?

The next time you have a headache, don't just take a pill. Sit down and pay attention to your body and become aware of your signs and symptoms. There are always reasons behind visceral pain; it is up to us to listen to our bodies and take care of it.

Somatic and neuropathic pains have obvious causes, soft tissue and nervous system injuries respectfully. How do we manage these pains?