by Fred Stewart

With the recent popularity of green teas and other similar products you may want to consider making a tea gift basket for a friend or relative. The benefits of these natural drinks are numerous and they are tasty as well. You can create a tea gift basket on your own or you can find a pre-made arrangement in a number of places.

You can buy tea baskets already made into gifts but it is much more fulfilling to put them together yourself. It demonstrates so much more care and thoughtfulness. By personalising the gift tea basket to the person you have in mind you will add far more than the pure monetary value of the gift. The recipient will be overwhelmed.

My most recent tea gift basket idea was to a good friend who is obsessed with fitness and healthy diet. The centrepiece was a special pack of green chai which aids digestion and diet at the same time as being very refreshing and therapeutic. There was also a book about the tea's history and health value alongside a selection of the richest chocolates. All this served to remind her of the need for moderation all things except moderation.

In this particular presentation I included a number of articles and testimonies about the amazing effects of green tea for dieters. Of course, the green herbs were included in the presentation. However, I surrounded the green teas with a bunch of fattening cookies and cakes. The contrast in this tea gift basket was ironically funny.

Fruit and flowers too can add a whole new dimension to your unique tea gift baskets. What are your friends favourite fruits? What colours do they love? Which flowers and fragrances give them most pleasure? Fruit teas, gift wrapping and even fruity biscuits can give you endless room for personal creativity too.

There are a myriad of flavours within a large number of categories of tea and this allows each gift basket to be unique and adapted to the receiver. Imagine a basket of fruit teas mingled with colourful real fruit or herb teas with flowers for mothers day.

Or how about an array of refreshing breakfast blends mixed in with cereals, jams and muffins. At the other extreme insomniacs would appreciate relaxing blends of herbal teas in bed of lavender with a good book or relaxing bath additives and chamomile teas.

There are endless options when it comes to making a personal arrangement like this. All it takes is a little creativity and you can make the perfect tea gift basket. Read more...

There isn't necessarily a hard and fast rule for identifying the symptoms and signs of addiction and alcoholism. Often your sixth sense will be a good indicator and give you the sense that something is wrong - but you usually want more in the way of facts to be sure.

It can also depend on who's point of view you're looking at the situation from. Are you concerned about your own drug or alcohol use and so want to be able to pick up on the symptoms yourself?

On the other hand, you may be worried about your husband, wife, partner or friend. I can't promise to provide you with foolproof indicators - but I'll try and provide you with a couple of pointers, and if you then want more comprehensive info - follow the links to my site.

You may begin to notice physical signs of an addiction to alcohol or drugs in the form of liver problems, which can show up as fatigue and various other things. High Blood pressure is also often a sign - but unless you go to see a Doctor, these are obviously more difficult to be sure of.

When looking at the more typical signs of addiction - an increase in tolerance for alcohol or drugs, withdrawals, and failed promises to reduce your intake are common.

I guess from my side, the signs that I always look out for to indicate that things are seriously wrong, is when you begin to lose yourself, and everyday issues that used to fine are impacted - which can be anything from relationships, jobs, college and friendships.

Another good way to test for addiction is to use psychometric type addiction and alcoholism tests - which are mostly very accurate in identifying a genuine addiction problem. I don't unfortunately have enough space to put them here - but feel free to visit my website to try one.

So at the end of day, determining whether or not there is indeed an addiction problem, can be done using a variety of different methods. So look at all the signs and symptoms, try a 'test' and I think you will have a pretty good idea. Read more...

Making your own wine is a hobby that is growing quickly. There's a variety of reasons for this.

one is that for the few past years, there has been a number of books published on home wine making, and a number of "How to" manuals providing the information needed to get started.

One other reason is that making your own wine can be a lot less expensive than purchasing wine in the store.You can make wine for pennies per bottle. Big difference from the ever increasing prices of commercial wine.

And then there is the most important reason of all. Making your own wine is really gratifying and plain old fun. Sipping your perfectly fermented fruit or grape wine that you prepared and nursed, and followed from cleaning the fruit to racking, bottling and now drinking is just nourishment for the soul.

Giving your own wine as a gift is a one of a kind gift, inviting your friends and family to taste the great wine you have made is just something that feels very special.

Getting started making wine can be very easy. You do not need expensive equipment and fancy gadgets. What you do need is a fermentation vessel. This can be a five gallon bucket. Then you will need an air lock, which you can purchase inexpensively or make yourself and a few other smaller items.

There are basically three levels of home wine making.

1. Using a purchased wine kit. Just add water and follow the instructions.

2.Making wine from fruit juices.

3. Making wine from fruit and berries.

Once you make your first batch of wine there is no going back. The satisfaction of sipping your own home made wine is simply delicious. Read more...

Perhaps it goes to show the times we live in that we are wondering about the benefits of drinking water. Isn't it just obvious we need water? All the same, let's take a closer look.

75% of your body is water and 90% of your brain. I'm sure you've heard that before, but doesn't that tell you something? Keep a glass of water handy, there's nothing that can replace it.

Drinking other liquids: soda, lemonade or tea, it's not the same thing at all, you know that. What do you usually reach for when you want a drink? Water will have an immediate great effect.

Drink before you feel thirsty, I'm sure you've heard that. It's only after dehydration affects your cells that you start to feel thirsty. Think to drink.

This one ingredient cannot be left out if you want the full health recipe. What is not affected by water? Your blood moves the oxygen and needs water, water helps you heal from injuries and in cleansing and detoxification. Your body runs on water - improving your digestion and even sexual performance.

Now for the 3 vital things you need to do to enjoy the benefits of drinking water.

1. -- The amount is essential, 8 to 10 glasses a day is considered the minimum. A bit more accurate is to take half your weight and drink that many ounces. If you are active or live in hot climates, you need more.

2. -- The second thing is the frequency. Ideally, you want to be adding water to match your body's use throughout the day. Have a glass handy so you can pace yourself and drink before and during when you're especially active.

3. -- To complete the picture, you have to consider the quality of water. All water is not the same. Tap water has so many toxins these days, prescription medications and chlorine. The chlorine alone increases your chances of getting cancer by 93% over your lifetime, according to the EPA.

Bottled water isn't always good either. A recent study revealed roughly one-third of bottled water did not meet even the tap water standards. But even if the water starts out good, the plastic from the bottle leaches into the water in just 2 weeks on the grocer's shelf.

So much more to cover on this crucial subject. For now, the benefits of drinking water can be yours if you make sure you drink healthy water. Read more...