Make your skin glow

We all agree that Indian kitchens are unique. Not only because of the wide variety of ingredients but if you go back to the permutation combination classes the sheer number of dishes that you can whip out because of these ingredients are astounding. But the beauty of the Indian kitchen is not limited to just satisfying your taste buds. They are also great for your daily skin care requirements.

Coming to think of it our grandmothers never had the luxury of a parlour, yet their skin glowed (part of it has to be attributed to the physical exercise they got doing home chores alone). But as a kid I have sneaked on my Granny applying whatever she was cooking with on her face (much to the amazement of my grandfather of course). 

Today we are bombarded with hundreds of products that promise miracles. So here I am rephrasing the questions Olay has been asking lately, “Do we need to smear chemicals on our face for a healthy and glowing skin?”

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Not really. Explore the corners of your kitchen and you will see that:
  1. A paste made with besan, milk and ground almonds is the best face scrub you could find
  2. Chandan with a little bit of camphor will fix pimples more naturally
  3. Rubbing tomato skin on your face makes it glow
  4. Applying a paste of neem leaves cleans and disinfects your face
  5. Massaging your skin with olive oil will keep it supple
  6. Massaging your knuckles with coconut oil will keep them from drying and hardening to a brown patch

In addition to all of the above, maintain a good diet and a do a little exercise everyday, even simple walking helps!

Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye

The custom of eating something sweet to celebrate festivities and occasions is not at all new to us even if the definition of that sweet keeps changing. Starting from the auspicious curd-and-sugar combination administered for good luck to chocolates in the new era, different kinds of sweets have entered and stayed on in our lives. But the tradition has not changed. 

And though form keeps changing, all over India there are three basic ingredients that have always been used to sweeten up lives. To start with, there is honey. This sweetener has been documented in the Vedic periods as well and Rishis have been known to consume this treasure-trove of health. Honey boosts immunity and as antioxidants that help fight cancer. It is an effective home remedy for a number of common ailments. Honey also is part of Indian tradition in many parts of India. For instance, it is one of the five elements that go into making Panchamrita, a preparation that is offered as Naivedya to the Gods in many ceremonies. 

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Then comes Jaggery, sweetness that man learnt to extract and preserve from sugarcane juice so it could be enjoyed for longer. Jaggery is known for its health benefits especially for organs of the respiratory system like Throat and Lungs, Jaggery is a rich source Iron as well. It has a higher proportion of mineral salts too. Jaggery is also used to prepare many traditional sweetmeats like the Rice Kheer in East India and Puffed Rice Laddoos made during Karthigai in South India. 

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Last but not the least is the more sophisticated sweetener in the form of sugar, a seasoning that is as essential as salt. It goes into our first cup of tea as also our last glass of milk. And it sweetens our lives the most by being part of most of the sweets that are prepared these days, apart from sweetening our teas, coffees and juices.

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How wonderful it would be if we could find organic variants of all these sweeteners and add a dash of health to our traditions apart from sweetness. We would not have to worry about antibiotics-ridden honey or pesticide and chemical infested jaggery or sugar and that would make all our celebrations a celebration of health.

With exactly this in mind, ProNature brings you organic variants of Honey, Jaggery and Sugar. By replacing conventional variants with these organic variants, you can bring in true health, peace of mind and happiness to your family and do more justice to our traditions…all of which were meant to nourish our bodies well. So for the next celebration, kuch organic meetha ho jaaye?

Organic Honey: Nature’s Blessing Delivered In All It’s Goodness

In the wake of revelations about Indian Honey brands not complying with International standards and posing serious health risks to consumers, ProNature takes a look at Organic Honey and how exactly it is different from the branded honey available in the market.

The production of organic honey involves conforming to a set of strict standards, without which the honey cannot even get an organic certification. Right from keeping area around the beehives free of any chemical residues to the packaging, the process is monitored at every step. The bees and the samples are regularly checked for contamination. Even the flowers and plants are kept free from any non-organic elements including pesticides. The same is kept in mind while packaging or transporting the honey; no contamination is allowed to happen at any stage. It is an intensive process that ensures that only the most natural and pure from of nature’s goodness reaches the consumers. 

As a result of these stringent quality checks involved in the production of organic honey, organic honey is free from any pesticide residues. It is also ensured that the bees are not administered antibiotics to keep them disease free and hence contamination by antibiotics is not possible in organic honey. Raw organic honey has the additional benefit of the antioxidants and phytonutrients are maintained at natural levels. 

Honey is nature’s blessing to mankind. It boosts immunity and has antioxidants that help fight cancer. It is also useful in a number of common ailments that we suffer from. It is only fair that these benefits be preserved and made available to the consumers as it is and not through contaminated honey that poses health risks rather than make them healthy. And to ensure this, organic honey is the wisest choice.