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The Natural Health Benefits Of Lemon Water

The natural health benefits of drinking lemon water are wide and varied.  Plus, it makes your water taste great!

All you have to do is get an 8-12 oz glass of water, and cut a lemon in half.  You can use a whole if you like, or, you can use smaller portions (say 1/4) of lemon but still total at least a whole lemon a day throughout the day.

From here, just squeeze, squeeze, squeeze and squeeze some more, then, drop the wedge in your glass.  Now drink up and you can reap all these rewards….

Increased Metabolism

Relief of Heartburn

Improved Digestion

Increased Energy

Vitamin C

Increased Immune System Functioning

Regulate Constipation/Diarrhea

naturally healthy lemon waterCalcium, Potassium and Magnesium

Cleanse and Detoxify the Body

Relief From Heavy Periods

Natural Treatment Of Colds, Coughs, and Flu (especially hot lemon water with honey)

Improved Liver Functioning

A note of importance – Lemon water is incredibly advantageous especially when drunk first thing in the morning. The body is dehydrated from its long period of rest and coffee and other types of caffeinated beverages actually  further that.  Instead, many have switched from coffee  to lemon water in the morning and find a distinct improvement in the type of “pick me up” they feel.

Also, as noted above when you’ve got a respiratory infection warm water with lemon and honey is very effective in soothing the throat and providing anti bacterial support to the respiratory system from both the lemon and the honey used.  You can also take your lemon this way even when you’re feeling great.  In fact, having some honey daily is a nice habit to take up as well!

And, regardless of when or how you take your lemon water, some do say that over time lemons can have a negative effect on the teeth.  For this as well as to avoid the pulp and seeds, some find it best to use a glass straw when drinking their lemon water.

At this point, all that’s left to do is go ahead and pick up some lemons and start incorporating lemon water into your diet today.  You’ll start feeling the benefits almost immediately!

Earthships – See If This Green Building Method Might Be For You

Here at NaturalMammas.com we’re into learning and sharing about all kinds of natural living ideas, green building included.  One of the unique methods for building an energy efficient, earth friendly home that has really piqued our interest are Earthships.

Earthships are natural homes situated mostly beneath the ground that are generally built with recycled tires filled with dirt for the main structure of the dwelling.  This provides insulation through the thermal mass of the ground as well as the rammed earth walls which helps keep the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer for $0 and all with re used materials!

The house is also designed to be off the grid with active solar, rain water collection systems, and other types of green power and water sources depending on the location of the earthship.  The house is passive solar too ie. all the windows in the Earthship face the point at which the most sun will enter the building year round.  This helps maximize both the heat and the energy the home can pull, use, and store from the sun.

Originally designed in the 70s by architect Mike Renyolds, Earthships were created to be self sufficient dwellings where one could not only live but grow your food, create your own energy, and manage your own waste right at your own home.  Earthships were also designed so that they can be built by those without prior construction experience or knowledge.  And, they’re made to be built with materials (dirt, tires, etc) that are affordable and easy to find all over the world which helps make Earthships not only earth friendly but can assist their owners in staying out of debt to own a natural home at the same time.

Earthships can be built anywhere too – and you’ll find them everywhere..speaking of which, it might just be easier to show you what an Earthship is at this point as opposed to keep attempting to describe them to you cause they really are an original style of alternative architecture!

 

earthship rammed earth tire interior wall close up
A close up of the interior side of the rammed earth tire walls of an Earthship

 

earthship interior recycled glass bottle and cal walls prior to plastering
The interior walls of an Earthship made of recycled cans and bottles prior to plastering

 

plastered earthship wall with recycled glass bottles and cans
A recycled glass and aluminum can wall in an Earthship when finished.

 

earthship exterior with stone sides
An Earthship with stone exterior as opposed to plaster

 

Adobe plastered earthship with towers in Taos
One of the Earthships in The Greater World Community outside Taos, NM - the birthplace of Earthships!

 

earthship mansion with white exterior
A fantastic "Earthship Mansion"

 

The main windows of an Earthship create a greenhouse
Taking advantage of all that sun with a greenhouse in the Earthship.

 

If you’ve decided that an Earthship is the right type of alternative building for your green home you’re not alone – this style of construction is growing rapidly and many across the globe are finding that an Earthship is a unique, earth friendly home that helps them become more self sufficient and live the natural lifestyle they’ve dreamed of!

 

The Peace of Cooperative Games for Family Fun

I think a lot about why my sister and I never really got along when we lived under the same roof growing up. I don’t think it was ever my parents intention to pine us against each other, but from day one of a younger sibling entering the picture there can be this need for the elder to pine for love and I think when these emotions aren’t nurtured enough things tend to take on a competitive nature between siblings in the home. That competition can lead to varying levels of dysfunction.

In our own home, when we introduced child number two we really concentrated on family. We included our oldest in every doctor visit, every decision and really took the time to stress that our family was getting bigger and that although there would be some new rules and there would definitely be changes, in the end we are a family and each of us is worth more than a pot of gold as long as we stick together and keep the love flowing.

This doesn’t mean that every day goes off without a hitch. We have had our moments; each of us. What it does mean though is that we really strive for healthy relationships in the house and talking about our feelings and acknowledging each other’s feelings when we are not in agreement. One area that remains fraught with turbulence is when playing games or talking about participating in sports or games at school.

I love to play games and never really worry about winning or losing. Our 5 year old loves to play games, but is far from losing gracefully. Our 2 year old loves to play games, but really her goal with games is very different than someone who can play the game by the given rules. To date, I had actually kind of morphed most games into a cooperative nature by making everyone work toward a common goal. We all love to play memory and matching games and our goal is not to see who can get the most, but to see how fast we can find all the matches; taking the game from competing with each other to working together toward a common goal.

cooperative board gamesThey actually make games that are cooperative games designed to promote working together, community and teamwork over competition. This is the first year that we purchased such a game. We don’t watch much television, but one show that is approved in our house is Richard Scarry’s Busy Town and we found a Busy Town cooperative board game that the whole family loves to play together. We all find objects to solve a mystery and although you play as individual players, the last four steps of the game everyone gets on a ferry together to get to the picnic before Pig Will and Pig Won’t eat all the picnic food.

What does the cooperative game make different about the gaming experience? I can only speak for our house, but when we play the cooperative games there is no crying about never winning, there is no quitting when another player moves ahead and best of all there is a whole lot of high fives and woo-hooing as we all work together to finish the game. We still play our traditional games like Mancala, Checkers and even Old Maid and Uno where turning the game cooperative is difficult if not impossible, but winning and losing these games has gotten much easier as we have all won and lost before together.

Learning to win and lose with grace and good sportsmanship is still involved and still a very valuable lesson that we learn from playing games and sports with one another, but building the confidence to deal well with these situations is exactly what the cooperative games bring to the table. If you love games and sports and want your child to develop healthy approaches to dealing with competition and teamwork, then check out cooperative board games for your family fun night!

You can find cooperative board games at this great website (and a friend of these natural mammas) www.BellaLunaToys.com.