Home treatment for cracked feet (from heel to toe)

• Keep feet clean and dirt free.
• Rub pumice stone on the cracked part of the feet while taking a bath, to remove dead skin.
• Before going to bed wash and dry the feet. Apply olive oil or a mixture of Vaseline and lemon juice on the cracked portion of the feet.
• Do not walk barefooted at your home. Use slippers conveniently.
• Consume a diet rich in calcium, iron, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins.
  
  Milk, cheese, yogurt, goat’s milk, fortified soy milk, cereals and broccoli are excellent sources of calcium.
  Cereals, millets, pulses and green leafy vegetables contain iron.
  Meat, chicken and fish are good sources of iron.
  Oysters, chicken, crab, kidney beans, yogurt, brown rice and spaghetti are Zinc rich foods.
  Tuna, salmon, flax and walnuts are good sources of Omega-3.
  Vegetable oils, green vegetables, cereals, wheat germ, whole-grain products and nuts are Vitamin Enriched foods.

Dark circles under eyes, dark spots, pimples, scars and blemishes on face

Home treatments:

• Slice cucumber. Chill the slices. Wash your face. Close your eyes. Place the chilled cucumber slices over and around eyes. Relax for a few minutes. Gently rub the slices on dark circles and dark spots. Wash your face again.
• You can also apply cucumber juice or potato juice on the dark circles or dark spots on face with the help of cotton for about 20 minutes.
• Multani mitti is a kind of mud. It is also called Fuller's earth. Apply a pack of it to treat pimples and dark circles. Suitable for oily skin only as it absorbs dead cells along with excess oil. Best to apply as mask by making a paste with rose water.
• Apply tomato juice mixed with 2-3 drops of lime juice on the face. Wait for 20 minutes and wash the face.
• Mix powdered orange peels and curd into a thick paste and apply on the face except eyes. Allow the paste to dry and wash thoroughly with cold water. This removes scars and blemishes.
• Make a paste from cucumber and lemon juice and apply on the face. Wait until the paste dries and wash your face. This also removes scars and blemishes.
• Mix rice powder and orange juice to form a paste. Apply on the face and neck. Let it dry and wash it off. This makes the skin to glow, improve complexion, removes pimples, black heads and white heads.
• Apply raw papaya juice on pimples or acne.
• Rub papaya pulp gently on the face twice in a week to make it clean and glow and to avoid pimples or acne, black heads, white heads and spots.
• Rub mixture of Bengal Gram flour and yogurt gently in upwards direction on the face. Wash after 10 minutes. This is to get the skin glow, reduce or remove pimples or acne, and black heads.

General care for face

• Drink at least three liters of water in a day.
• Eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Avoid excessive exposure to sun light and cold weather.
• Avoid very oily creams. They clog pores.
• Wash your face with water before going to bed and in the morning.
• Steam bath deep-cleanses the pores and stimulates blood circulation.
• Get enough sleep.

Tips to grow taller / Tips to gain height

Height is determined by genetics and one’s growth is according to heredity.
However, some efforts will help us to grow taller.

• Jumping, cycling and swimming, running, pull-ups, skipping or jumping rope and participating in games like volley ball and foot ball are some good exercises to grow taller.
• Adequate sound sleep also helps to improve height.
• Eating healthy and nutritionally balanced food for the development of muscle and for strong bones is also important to grow tall.
• Drinking plenty of water helps in metabolism and flushes out toxins from the body more readily thereby helping to grow tall faster.

Tips for healthy, strong, long and shiny hair

• Handle your hair gently and carefully while combing and brushing.
• Try using wide teethed combs or own fingers to detangle hair.
• Don’t take a bath in very hot water. It will stress the hair and affect its growth.
• Gently massage the scalp to stimulate the hair follicles and to enhance the growth of hair.
• Trim the hair periodically to eliminate split ends.
• Take adequate rest. It makes the growth of hair fast.
• Remove all the tangles before washing hair.
• Don’t rub hair vigorously using towel to dry.
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Avoid foods that are high in sugar or fat.
• Hair is made up of a kind of protein called keratin. Therefore intake of protein is necessary for the healthy and shiny growth of hair.
• Fish, beans, yoghurt, soybean (soyabean), eggs, red meat and chicken are examples of good source of protein.
• The diet for healthy hair should include beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, B-complex and biotin.
• Beta-carotene, Vitamins C and E are antioxidants that reduce hair loss.
• Vitamins C and E help to keep hair healthy, shiny and lengthy.
• All citrus fruits, tomatoes, cabbage, potato, strawberry are examples of good source of vitamin C.
• Biotin prevents scalp from itches.
• Nuts and most fresh vegetables are good source of Biotin.
• Iron, zinc and copper provide nutrients for hair follicles for strong hair growth.
• Enriched cereals, millets, pulses, green leafy vegetables contain iron
• Omega-3 fatty acid provides luster (lustre) to hair.
• Tuna, salmon, flax and walnuts are good sources of Omega-3.
• Fruits like berry, orange, lemon, grape and melon contain necessary nutrients required for hair.
• Vitamin A is very effective in preventing hair loss and hair thinning. Carrot, milk, butter, dark green vegetables are some good source of vitamin A.

Increase your weight in a healthy manner

• Being lean is good, but being very lean and thin and underweight is bad.
• A lot of medical tests are there to find out why a person is underweight.
• To gain weight and be healthy you need to consume more calories than you burn them every day from healthy, protein enriched, and nutritious foods and choose the right types of exercise.
• Exercise a little like mild weightlifting so as to feel hungry, to eat more balanced food and to develop muscle.
• Take tuna, salmon, flax and walnuts. They contain healthy fats like omega-3.
• Take meat, fish, poultry, nuts, and legumes. They contain protein.
• Take fruits, vegetables and whole grains. They contain carbohydrates.
• Take healthy beverages like milk and fruit juices to add calories instead of sweetened aerated sodas.
• Take food supplements after consulting a physician to get all required vitamins and minerals.

Tips to reduce weight / Tips to avoid obesity

• Drink two tumblers of water on rising from the bed, and in a day drink at least three litres/liters of it.
• One third of your food should be low calorie salad. It fills the stomach and gives less calories of energy.
• Take fruits and sprouts raw.
• Avoid refined food item like polished rice, refined sugar, white flour (maida).
• Avoid potatoes, nuts, cream, ghee, sweets, fried food, and dairy products.
• Take regular exercise sufficiently, so as to burn more calories of energy, than its intake.
• Participate in games without taking glucose in between.
• Go for brisk walk, jogging or running.
• Avoid eating outs with friends; say you are dieting.
• Fast once a week by only drinking adequate water or fruit juice.
• Don’t overeat. Eat slightly less than your requirement. When you feel to have some more food, control the desire.
• Use skimmed milk instead of full cream milk.
• Use yoghurt instead of cream or curd.
• The order of preference of food is (1) steamed, (2) boiled, (3) baked, (4) roasted, (5) grilled, and (6) fried.
• If frying is unavoidable, use oils like sunflower oil, safflower oil, etc having less bad cholesterols to stay slim.

Eat to live and don't live to eat. This is a popular saying.

Save gas (gasoline, petrol, the fuel)

• Small cars designed with fuel saving technology consume less fuel.
• The lesser the luggage the lesser will be the fuel consumption.
• Pool your car wherever practicable.
• Travel by bus if feasible.
• Avoid using automobiles for short distances.
• Effectively plan and combine purchases and activities.
• Go to the farthest place of business first followed by others while returning to avoid repeated starting of engine in cold condition.
• Maintain required tyre pressure.
• Maintain uniform and economic speed as far as possible using appropriate gear.
• Accelerate and retardate slow in general.
• Avoid abrupt braking.
• Anticipate traffic conditions. Don’t drive very close to the leading vehicle. Maintain safe distance so as to avoid unnecessary braking and acceleration according to manner of driving of the vehicle in front of you under heavy traffic conditions.
• Don’t idle too much.
• Whenever possible, turn off A/C and open the air vents.
• Select good road.
• Let the periodic servicing be done without fail.