Brighter Whites and Colors

Over time, everyone's laundry gets a bit dingy. Colors fade or run together, whites start to yellow, darks turn grey. Here are a few great tips on getting your laundry back to peak performance!

Make your whites whiter
You don't have to use bleach to get your whites bright again. In fact, for some stains, like sweat and yellowing on white sheets, bleach will make it worse!

• Soak a load with a hot water and a cup of baking soda, either for a few hours or overnight, before washing as usual.
• Vinegar is amazing for removing colors that have run together, removing extra detergent from your clothing and restoring fabric softness to new. Add a cup to the rinse cycle.
• Hydrogen peroxide can be found in liquid (first aid aisle) or in a powder (OxyClean). Add a 1/2 cup of liquid or follow directions for powdered and soak overnight before washing like normal.
• Bluing agent is a non-toxic alternative to bleach. It's an old trick but a good one. Adding a small amount of blue to your wash makes yellowed colors appear white again.
• Run an extra rinse cycle to make sure any dirty wash water is completely rinsed out. You don't need to do this every time, but once in a while it helps to keep your whites looking extra clean.

Preserve your colors

• Add 2 cups of coffee or strong tea to the rinse cycle for dark laundry. This will help restore the rich color back to black.
• Soak new clothes in salt water or vinegar when you first get them to lock in the dye. Vinegar during the wash cycle can also keep colors from running, just add to the wash cycle.
• Wash in cold water. Heat damages dye, and your clothes will get just as clean in cold water.
• Line dry your clothes. Again, heat damages dye! If you can line dry or lay your clothes flat to dry, you can avoid your clothes wearing out too quickly.
• Turn your clothes inside-out. Dye on the inside will stay more intact than the side exposed directly to the wash. This is especially helpful for jeans.

Until next time, keep it clean!

The Surprising Benefits of Green Tea

You've probably heard before about green tea being good for you. Aside from being a lovely beverage, green tea has a host of health benefits. However, you need to drink a LOT of tea to reap them. Rather than water, I sometimes make a big pot of tea and keep it iced in the fridge for drinking throughout the day. Some people will make a super-infused cup of tea by placing several bags in a cup and drinking it in one go. Others still will add tea to their smoothies or just drink a cup here and there throughout the day. Probably the easiest way to get in all your tea is with an extract in a supplement form. Instant green tea is also available in powdered form in the grocery store. To see benefits, you need to consume about 100mg of tea per kilogram of body weight. For most people, that's about 6 to 10 cups of tea per day. Why go through all this trouble and all this tea? Here are a few great reasons.

Morning Wake-Up without the Jitters
Green tea does contain caffeine, but it also contains a compound called L-theanine which naturally calms you, so you can stay awake yet focused and at ease.

Metabolism Boost
People who drink green tea, especially before a work out, are more efficient at burning fat and less likely to store fat. Simple as that!

Super Dose of Antioxidants
Antioxidants are the molecules that prevent the oxidation, or breakdown, of your cells. Antioxidants are found in abundance in plants, and in abundance in green tea. Preventing the breakdown of your cells helps you recover quicker from a workout and keeps you looking younger longer by staving off the effects of aging.

Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Green tea has been shown to keep you at a calmer, more even state of mind. This can help you to focus and rationally respond to stressors throughout the day. Lowered stress can also help prevent weight gain by reducing high-stress hormones in the body and reducing the likelihood of habits like stress-eating.

If you haven't already, try adding green tea to your diet. If you already drink green tea, try increasing the amount you drink. Enjoy! And until next time, keep it clean!

Quick Tips to De-Stress

We've all had those days when everything rubs you the wrong way, everyone is annoying and everything seems to go wrong. But a lot of our anger and annoyance is commanded by ourselves and how we choose to react to it. Figuring out how to view your surroundings can determine how your whole day goes! Here are a few quick tips to de-stress on those especially tough days.

Herbal Relief

Lemon balm, lavender, chamomile, passionflower and reishi are just a few herbs that naturally calm your mind and body. All of them can be made into a nice cup of calming tea, or can be found in scented candles to keep at your desk.

Deep breaths

This may sound obvious, but when you're upset your heartbeat tends to quicken and your breath becomes more shallow. Studies show that just a few minutes of slow deep breaths, taking 10 to 15 seconds per breath, can slow your heart and focus your mind, making you more alert and rational. Set a timer for 5 minutes and practice breathing in through your nose for 5 seconds, then out through your mouth for 5 seconds. It helps to pretend you're breathing through a straw. You may be surprised at how quickly you've been inhaling.

Meditate

Sometimes clearing your mind is all you need to start fresh. Take a 5 minute break, set a timer, and then sit and try to think of nothing. Thoughts will come in, you will acknowledge they are there, and then let them pass and clear your mind again. The simple act of practicing letting all of the little annoyances and overwhelming tasks pass is often enough to gain the perspective you need to get through the day.

Think about a happy memory

Remember something really good that happened and reflect on it for a few minutes: how it made you feel, what you were doing, who you were with, what the weather was like that day. Bonus points if you think about doing something good for someone else as this will make you feel twice as good!

Find out what's making you angry

Write down what's making you mad, even the little dumb or unreasonable things, like running out of milk to put in your morning coffee, or a co-worker forgetting to thank you when they've borrowed something. Then write down why it made you angry and how it made you feel. Reflect on each of these things. Is there a pattern? Are you feeling under-appreciated  or is something else making you upset about unrelated things? Sometimes just understanding why you're stressed puts things into perspective.

Let it go

Only you have the power to decide how you feel about something. If you stub your toe on a door, the door didn't make you angry. The door is not at fault. And neither are you. Accidents happen. There is no reason to be upset. It hurt, and being upset is natural at first, but once it's passed it is what it is. Now try imagining a person stepped on your toe instead. It is the same thing. It is natural to be upset at first, but even if it wasn't an accident, you have the power to decide. Are you going to waste your energy wishing the other person bad luck and causing more and more pain, or are you going to let it go and enjoy your day?

One of my favorite quotes is, "Resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die." Being stressed, anxious, angry and upset only causes harm to yourself. It's not always easy to remain calm, especially when your patience is continually tried. Your stress may manifest as anger, worry, or depression. But in all of these cases, ruminating does nothing to solve the problem. Allow yourself a moment to try one of these activities, then resolve to do better next time and move forward. Until next time, keep it clean!

The Green Tea Alternative: Yerba Mate

If you're like me, your day hasn't really begun until you've had a hot cup of tea or coffee. I don't know if what I drink has so much to do with waking me up as it does with bringing a little comfort and calm to my morning ritual. Sometimes I'll have espresso, chai tea, black tea, green tea, or even dandelion "coffee". My new favorite addition to my pantry has been yerba mate.

Yerba mate (pronounced yur-ba mah-tay) is a common tea drink found in South America made from a variety of the holly tree. The aroma is earthy and the flavor is similar to green tea but has an added richness and a bold, almost smoky flavor.

Similarly to green tea, yerba mate both energizes and calms. It contains caffeine and has been shown to stimulate your heart, waking you up and making you more alert. It also contains compounds which relax smooth muscle tissue, making it a great alternative to coffee which makes some people feel anxious and jittery. Regular drinking of mate, like green tea, can boost your metabolism, making it easier for your body to burn and use fat stores. It also amazingly contains theobromine, the compound in cacao that attracts chocolate addicts. You can get a bit of your chocolate fix without eating a candy bar!

On top of just being a pleasant beverage that wakes you up, yerba mate also acts similarly to herbal tisanes in that it contains vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. It contains A, C, E, B1, B2, Niacin (B3), B5, B Complex, Calcium, Manganese, Iron, Selenium, Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Zinc. The minerals and antioxidants help your body to repair itself, helping you look younger longer and helping to stave off cancer.

There are lots of delicious, healthy and accessible alternatives to foods you regularly eat. I hope you try mate and love it! Look for it in the tea section of your grocery store. Until next time, keep it clean!