Different Uses For Rice That You Never Imagined

Rice is a staple, readily available food eaten the world over. In fact, there probably aren't many kitchen cupboards that don't house a couple of bags of this extremely useful basic food. Rice isn't just useful for cooking however, it has a number of fantastic properties that make it a fantastic problem solver around your home. Here are 14 ways you can use rice to solve common issues efficiently, and cheaply.

 

1. Stop Tools from Rusting

Rust happens due to metals being exposed to the moisture in oxygen over a long period of time. As we know, however, rice is great at soaking up spare water, so adding a few handfuls to your toolbox can keep your spanners and hammers dry and rust-free for longer.

2. Save Wet Electronics
If your phone, tablet or other small electronic device gets a bit wet - don't panic. Remove the battery if possible, and then place all wet pieces of the device in a bowl of rice and leave it over night. The ability of rice to soak up excess moisture, as long as the accident wasn't catastrophic, should be enough to save your precious electronic piece!

3. Clean Glass Bottles and Vases

This is a really simple trick that a lot of people don't think about, despite it solving a common issue that we all have - cleaning bottles and vases with narrow openings. How do you get a cloth, scrubber or your hand inside to scrub away grime? Well, rice might well be the solution you have been looking for! Pour a handful of dry rice in to the vase or bottle, and swill it around in slightly soapy water for a few minutes. That will remove the muck and grime so you can simply pour it out.

 

4. Soothe Your Muscles
If you have some aches and pains from a hard day on your feet, or even a more serious muscle strain, then harness the power of rice to ease your discomfort. Simply fill a clean sock with rice, while being careful to leave enough room for the rice to move around and contort to your body shape. Tie the end of the sock with string, microwave it for one minute (you can pop it back in for longer if you need it hotter) and voila, your hot compress is ready! This works so well because rice is great at maintaining heat.

5. Check if Oil Is Hot Enough

If you want to check whether your oil is hot enough before you use it for frying then just drop a few grains of rice into it. If the rice pops up to the surface and starts to cook, then you can be sure that your oil is good to go. This is actually a much more reliable gauge than a deep fry thermometer. 

6. Ripen Fruit Quickly
Have you brought some fruit that's taking its time to ripen, but you want to eat it today? Speed up ripening time by popping the fruit in a container with a few handfuls of rice. This trick can work wonders really quickly, so be sure to check the container regularly to ensure the fruit doesn't over-ripen.

7. Clean Your Coffee and Spice Grinders

Spice and particularly coffee grinders have a horrible habit of picking up plenty of dirt, grease and dust over time. Rice, however, rises to the rescue once more, because if you run half a cup through the grinder, it will remove any grimy build ups. You will need to grind the rice until it is pulverized - and as an added bonus it will help sharpen the edges of the blades too.

8. Stop Salt from Clumping
If you live in a humid country, sticky salt can be a particularly annoying problem and may create a battle between you and the shaker to season your food (the battle usually ends with you having to take the lid off and sprinkle it with your fingers). There is a good reason why restaurants put grains of rice in with salt - because it solves the problem, while costing next to nothing!

9. Give Tarnished Silver a Shine

Keeping tarnish on your silver pieces to a minimum is a must if you want to avoid a hefty polishing job further down the line. You can help protect your cutlery and trinkets by keeping a small container of rice in the place where you store them. It will help draw the moisture away from the silver and keep it sparkling!

10. Make a Pet Toy
If your cat is taking too much of a liking to your precious ornaments, then keep him or her distracted with a rice toy. Make a small satchel from spare fabric, fill it up with a mixture of rice and catnip and sew it back up. Throw it to the cat and watch it get batted around your home or garden with contentment! 

11. Make Your Skin Glow

Most us over-estimate the amount of water we need when cooking rice (too much is better than too little right?) Well, that leftover water doesn't need to be sent straight down the drain, because it can be put to very good use. Let it cool naturally, then place it in the fridge. Use the chilly water to wash your skin and leave it looking radiant. Brown rice gives best results because it's rich in vitamin E. You should use the rice-water within 3 days.

12. Make Rice Milk
Rice milk is a fantastic dairy alternative and it's really easy to make. All you need is a cup of rice, 4 cups of filtered water and a couple of pinches of salt. Blend the ingredients together for about 1 minute (or until smooth). Store in the fridge and enjoy your delicious milk, cold.

13. Keep Your Hands and Feet Warm in Winter

Cold hands and feet are one of the most maddening consequences of winter. If your home has non-carpeted sections of flooring, it can be really horrible to put your feet down during the coldest months, even if you are wearing socks. Never mind though, because you can harness the warming power of rice to help you! Making warming rice slippers and mittens is a great, fun craft project that could really help you this winter. 

14. Keep Kids Entertained
Are the kids or grandkids at a loose end or driving you crazy? Not to worry, keep them entertained while also encouraging their creativity, with the use of rice. Take an empty container, ask the children to decorate it and then get them to fill it up with rice to make instant, DIY maracas! That will keep them entertained for a while.

15.Rice flour makes a good facial mask with turmeric powder and milk !
Rice flour( 1 tsp) being little coarse, mix it with turmeric powder    ( 1/2 tsp) milk 1-2 tsp, mix well to form a thick paste. Apply against the direction of hair growth and rub in a circular way. Then apply all over your face, neck and leave it on for 15 minutes. Then wash with luke warm water. You'll find your face soft, it will also clear the blackheads and with regular use, you can get rid of your facial hair !

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

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8 Methods Companies Use To Hide Sugar In Foods

It’s no secret that eating too much added sugar can harm your health in a variety of ways, with excess sugar consumption being linked to a variety of conditions like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. But even if you use little to no added sugar in your cooking, you might be consuming way more of it than the recommended daily amount. How is that possible? One major reason why that might be happening is that companies add a lot of sugar to their products, but they try to conceal it in a variety of ways to be able to pass them off as healthy foods.

And while the maximum daily amount of added sugar for men should be no more than 37.5 grams (9 teaspoons) and for women it should not exceed 25 grams (6 teaspoons), 1 protein bar can contain as much as 30 grams (7.5 teaspoons) of added sugars, which is over the daily recommended allowance for women. Let’s investigate how it is possible for companies to sell you junk food under the premise of healthy food, and how you can use food labels to make smart purchasing decisions that would promote and not harm your health.

1. They Use a Different Word For Sugar

When you want to find out how much sugar a product contains, let’s say, a box of cereal, you usually look at the back of a cereal box and scan the ingredients list for key words like sugar, sucrose, glucose, and fructose. If you don’t find those, or find them in the middle or at the end of the ingredients list, which means that there isn’t a lot of it in the product, you make the conclusion that it’s a healthy choice, right?

Well, not entirely, as many companies nowadays use many “alternative” names for sugar in an attempt to deceive a consumer that is used to scan the ingredients list before purchasing a certain product. Here is a list of such alternative names that you should watch out for when it comes to powdered added sugar.

Added sugar is also often used in syrup form rather than powdered form, in which case they commonly appear as the following ingredients on nutrition labels.

2. Adding Sugar to Things That Aren’t Sweet

You would expect to see added sugar appearing as an ingredient on a box of cookies, but not so much on a can of tomato sauce, salad dressings and soups. The truth is that humans simply love sweet food because our brains run on sugar and it’s addictive, and for companies, it’s a cheap way of making a product tastier for consumers.

Unfortunately, all of the foods we mentioned above can actually contain a lot of sugar, which add up and can be the culprit behind excess sugar consumption. For example, 100 grams of some ketchups can contain as much as 38 grams of sugar, which is higher than the daily allowance for men. That’s why it is always important to always check the sugar content of a product, be it sweet or savory.

3. Adding Health-Related Claims on Product Packaging

You’re better off completely ignoring claims like natural, zero, healthy, low-fat, diet, and light that often appear on the packaging of products. Instead, look directly at the label and analyze the ingredient list. These products are often lower in fat, calories, and sugar, but they’re often way too abundant in sugars.

4. Using So-Called “Healthy” Sugars

Certain products use labels like refined sugar-free or contains no refined sugar. What these labels mean, however, is that a product doesn't contain white sugar. While it may be true that these so-called “healthy” sugars have a slightly lower glycemic index (GI), they still have little to no additional nutrients compared to whole foods and, at the end of the day, they are still added sugars. A list of popular sugars marketed as healthier can be found in the picture below.

The bottom line is that like white sugar, fructose or corn syrup, these sugars should not exceed the overall amount of 37.5 g for men and 25 g for women. So, it doesn’t matter if you consume 25 g of white sugar, or 10 g of coconut sugar, 10 g of agave syrup and 5 g of honey as a woman, both equal your daily recommended amount. That doesn’t mean that you cannot choose these alternatives, but remember that they are just as damaging to your health as any other sugar.

5. Using a Few Types of Sugar

As we mentioned previously, ingredients appear in any ingredients list according to their amounts in a product, so the first ingredient is usually the most abundant one, whereas there will be very little of the last ingredient on the list. Companies learnt to take advantage of this regulation and often uses several types of sugar in smaller amounts, which makes them appear lower on the ingredients list.

This can trick a consumer into believing that there is very little sugar in the product. So, if you see a few different types of sugar in the middle or at the end of the list, know that the added amount of all these sugars may be way higher than you expect. For example, if you look at the picture below, you will see that this cereal uses a variety of sweeteners, such as sugar, honey, and brown sugar syrup that appear in different places on the list. 

6. Not Distinguishing Between Naturally-Occurring and Added Sugars

There is a difference between eating an orange and drinking a glass of soda, even if both of these products contain a lot of sugar. While products containing added sugars, like a glass of soda, do not contain anything apart from whatever is listed on the packaging, whole foods are packed full with fiber, vitamins, antioxidants and essential nutrients that not only mitigate the damage caused by the sugar they contain, but improve your health. Ingredient labels don’t distinguish between the added and naturally-occurring sugars, but you should keep in mind that choosing whole, unprocessed foods is always better.

7. Changing the Nutritional Facts With Time

If you know that a specific brand makes a great low-sugar product, don’t assume it applies to comparable products by the same brand. It is often the case that a similar product, but with a different flavor or simply one that is sold in a different country will not have the same nutritional content the original did.

It is also often the case that brands change the content of their products when they update the packaging, so always be critical of any changes or variations in the product you know is good, as it may actually turn out to be not so low in sugar.

8. Check the Serving Size

The last, but definitely crucial line in the nutrition facts portion of a product is the serving size. Food companies often manipulate the serving size of a product, making it too small to be realistic, but this makes the product look like it’s not that high in sugar. So, for example 1 small can of soda that even a child can gulp down in a matter of seconds often contains multiple servings, which means that by drinking the whole thing you’re actually consuming double or triple the amount of sugar mentioned on the packaging. Be careful and make smart food purchases.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

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Drugs show promise in stroke, dementia prevention

Two drugs, in use for treating heart disease and angina, have shown promise in an early trial in preventing stroke and dementia caused by damage to small blood vessels in the brain.

The drugs — cilostazol and isosorbide mononitrate — were tested in a group of patients in Britain. The results showed that patients tolerated the drugs, with no serious side-effects, even when they were given in full doses or in combination with other medicines.

“The results of this trial show promise for treating a common cause of stroke and the most common cause of vascular dementia, since currently there are no effective treatments. Further trials are underway,” said lead researcher. 

Damage to small blood vessels in brain is responsible for around a quarter of strokes. It is also a common cause of memory problems and dementia. At present, the only way to reduce risk of the disease is by controlling blood pressure and cholesterol, stopping smoking and managing symptoms of diabetes.

For the study, researchers recruited 57 patients who had experienced stroke caused by damaged small blood vessels, known as a lacunar stroke. They took the two medicines either individually or in combination for up to nine weeks, in addition to usual treatments aimed at preventing further strokes.

They completed health questionnaires and had regular blood pressure checks, blood tests and brain scans. The findings suggest the drugs are safe for use in stroke patients, taken alone or in combination, at least in the short term.

There were also signs that the treatment helped improve blood vessel function in the arms and brain, and may improve thinking skills, but researchers stressed further studies to test this. 

Experts believe the findings pave the way for larger studies to check if the treatment can prevent brain damage and reduce risk of stroke and vascular dementia. A larger study, called LACI-2, is underway, said a statement.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

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Time-restricted eating can combat diabetes

According to the findings of a recent study, time-restricted eating can turn out to be beneficial for blood glucose. As part of the study, a team of researchers assessed the effects of time-restricted eating (TRE) in 15 men for one week.

"The men, who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, limited their food intake to a nine-hour period per day," said the lead author of the study. The blood glucose response to a standard meal was assessed each day of the study. The investigators found that TRE improved glucose control, regardless of when the men chose to stop eating.

"Our results suggest that modulating when, rather than what, we eat can improve glucose control. We did see a tiny amount of weight loss in this study, which may have contributed to the results," the researcher explained.

A participant, who has been participating in a follow-up study, undertook a TRE regime in which he ate his normal diet only from 9.30am to 7.30pm over a similar eight-week trial.

"The restricted eating regime was initially challenging, but soon became more manageable. I only ate up until 7.30pm as I found this worked well with my lifestyle. Over the trial, I found that my fasting blood glucose tolerance improved significantly. It changed from 'increased risk' level to 'normal'. This was without changing any of the foods that I like to eat," the author asserted.

“Time-restricted eating regimes demonstrate that we can enjoy foods that are perceived to be 'bad' for us if we eat them at the right time of day when our bodies are more biologically able to deal with the nutrient load. And perhaps more importantly, if we allow our bodies to have more time fasting each night,” the author explained.

"While these early results show some promise for controlling blood glucose, a larger study over a longer duration is required to fully investigate the effectiveness of this pattern of time-restricted eating," she said.

From 2000 to 2015 there were 3,06,201 new cases of insulin-treated type 2 diabetes in Australia: on average 19,000 new cases each year. The incidence of insulin-treated type 2 diabetes was between 1.2 to 1.5 times as high for men than women during this time. Incidence rates for insulin-treated type 2 diabetes were twice as high among those in the lowest socioeconomic group compared with those in the highest group.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

                                                                                                                                                     FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/  

         

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This mobile game may help detect Alzheimer's risk

A specially designed smartphone game can detect people at the risk of developing Alzheimer's say researchers.

The game called Sea Hero Quest, downloaded and played over 4.3 million people worldwide, helped researchers better understand dementia by seeing how the brain works in relation to spatial navigation.

Dementia will affect 135 million people worldwide by 2050. We need to identify people to reduce their risk of developing dementia, said lead researcher.

As players made their way through mazes of islands and icebergs, the research team translated every 0.5 seconds of game-play into scientific data. The team studied how people who are genetically pre-disposed to Alzheimer's play the game compared with those who are not.

The results, showed people genetically at risk of developing Alzheimer's can be distinguished from those who are not on specific levels of the Sea Hero Quest game.

The findings are particularly important because a standard memory and thinking test cannot distinguish between the risk and non-risk groups. Our findings show we can reliably detect such subtle navigation changes in at-genetic-risk of Alzheimer's compared with healthy people without any symptoms or complaints, said the researcher.

The team studied gaming data taken from 27,108 UK players, aged 50-75 years and the most vulnerable age-group to develop Alzheimer's in the next decade. They compared this benchmark data with a smaller lab-based group of 60 people who underwent genetic testing.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

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A specially designed smartphone game can detect people at t ..

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