February is the month of love when we think of Valentine’s Day and Cupid. Showing love to one another is also a very positive emotion and leads to healthy feelings. When you have someone to love and someone who loves you there is a better chance that you will influence each other to positive actions both physically and emotionally.
Hugging and cuddling can help to relax us and improve our spirits. A University in North Carolina did a study that proved when couples of any age hugged, they had higher blood levels of oxytocin (the bonding hormone that relieves stress and improves mood).
Another study showed that a mother’s love can counteract negative health effects and protect young kids from physiological stress.
And love is really good for your heart. A study from the University of Pittsburgh found that people in a happy relationship have a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those in a high stress one. It has also been proven by Harvard studies that people who are in a good relationship might be as much as 100-200% times less likely to die from heart disease, suicide and cirrhosis of the liver than single people. So yes Love is keeping us alive!
Laughter can also be very good for your health. Laughter relaxes the whole body so much so that a good hearty laugh can relax you for up to 45 minutes relieving physical tension and stress. It can also decrease stress hormones and increase immune cells therefore improving your resistance to disease. You probably have heard that laughter releases endorphins that promote overall well-being and can even help to reduce pain.
Laughter can help your mental and social health as well. It adds joy to your life, eases fear, relieves stress, strengthens relationships, enhances teamwork, levitates conflict and promotes bonding. Many times during my life humor has changed my perspective so that I was able to see the other side of a difficult situation.
Laughter is so good for us that it is a great idea to create opportunities to laugh:
- Watch a funny movie or TV show
- Share a joke with your family
- Read to comics in the newspaper
- Collect funny antidotes and share them with others
- Play with your children or grandchildren
- Make time for fun activities like bowling, miniature golf or karaoke
- Or just do something silly and fun!
Strawberry Pomegranate Ice Cream Sundaes
Banana Dream Ice-Cream ingredients: makes 6-8 cups of banana ice-cream
You can make this in your Champion Juicer using the blank screen or do it in the food processor as I have here (If using your juicer, do not add the water).
Freeze 3 peeled bananas overnight
Put the following in your food processor and blend until creamy:
- 3 frozen peeled bananas (thinly sliced)
- ½ cup sliced frozen strawberries
- 2-4 tbsp. water (add this as you need it to a creamy texture)
Once the mixture is fully creamed put in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, then stir in ½ cup pomegranate seeds just before serving.
Put some of the ice-dreams in a bowl and let everyone choose their own toppings.
We put some ice-dreams in a heart mold and froze them until firm for some fun shapes of love.
Note: Do not leave the whole amount in the freezer longer than 1 hour because it will freeze solid since it has no preservative like traditional ice cream.
Toppings (pictured above):
- pureed fresh strawberries
- chopped pecans
- shredded unsweetened organic coconut
- Carob Acai syrup (blend ¼ cup carob powder with 2 tbsp. of acai syrup and maple syrup)
- any other fruit or nuts and seeds
Serve immediately with an assortment of toppings so everyone has their own creation!
