Don’t Throw Away Your Tea Bags – Here are 17 Things You Can Do Instead!

A cup of hot tea is my cup of tea! This healthy beverage is an incredibly delicious way to reduce stress and start or end the day.

Yet, if you are a tea-lover too, you probably do the same mistake as me, and throw the tea bag immediately after steeping. Well, apparently, there are numerous wiser ways to use the tea bags than just throwing them in the garbage.

Here are 17 excellent ways in which you can use them:

1. Keep Hands Smelling Fresh

After meals that leave a strong smell on your hands, like some spices, fish, garlic, or crabs, rub them with a moist tea, as it will absorb the scent and leave them smelling fresh.

Your best choice: You can use any kind, but tea bags with stronger scents, like peppermint, give the best results.

2. Compost Them

To nurture the soil with nutrients and deter pests, compost tea bags or even water the plants with a brew made from the leftover tea. Yet, you should get rid of the staples before throwing them in the compost pile.

Your best choice: Any used tea bags will be beneficial.

3. Quick Mouthwash

Soak an old tea bag in warm water and use it as a mouthwash to freshen your breath.

Your best choice: Sage and rosemary tea bags, as well as unused peppermint and spearmint tea bags.

4. Treat Infections

You can effectively treat topical afflictions, fever blisters, canker sores, and pink eye, by applying warm used tea bags on the place.

Your best choice: Any tea type can serve the cause, but herbal ones will provide stronger antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

5. Eliminate bad smells

Tea leaves absorb odors and are perfect for absorbing the bad smell from the fridge, carpet, kitty litter, trash can, and more.

Fridge: Keep old used tea bags in the fridge.

Carpet: You should sprinkle dried tea leaves from your tea bags over the rugs and carpets, leave them a bit, and the vacuum them up.

Cat litter: To prevent the spread of the odor, mix the dried tea leaves directly in the kitty litter.

Trash: put the tea bags in the trash container.

Your best choice: Any kind will provide great effects.

6. Soothe Razor Burn

Moisten several tea bags up with warm water, and apply them as a compress on the razor burn to soothe the skin and diminish the rash.

Your best choice: Calming herbs like lavender and chamomile tea bags.

7. Hair Rinse

Old tea bags can be used as an incredibly nutritious hair rinse which will soften the hair, condition it, and provide lustrous shine.

Prepare a weak tea and rinse the hair with it after shampooing the hair.

Your best choice: Any tea bags will provide amazing effects.

8. A Portable Custom Air Freshener

Tie a tea bag in the car to give it a pleasant scent, or you can even add a few drops of some essential oil and hang it up in it to get a natural, non-toxic car freshener.

Your best choice: Lavender, mint, or jasmine tea bags.

9. Prevent Grease from Sticking to Your Dishes

The used tea bags break the grease and burned-on foods from the dishes and pots. Just soak a few of them in the dish, and wash it off in the morning.

Your best choice: Any used tea bags will give excellent effects.

10. Enrich Your Tub

You should just leave the bath water run over the used tea bag, or leave them to soak in the bath.

Your best choice: Rosemary, green, jasmine, chamomile, lavender, white, calendula, and peppermint are all great for the cause.

11. Keep Mice at bay

Mice, ants, and spiders detest the smell of mint, so you can use the old mint tea bag as a natural repellent. Just place it by the door, in the cabinets, in corners, and near mouse holes to keep them at bay.

Your best choice: Peppermint and spearmint tea bags.

12. Relaxation and Anti-inflammatory Properties

Tea bags have powerful anti-inflammatory properties, so they relax the body and treat toothaches, tired eyes, blisters, sunburn, bruises, bug bites, and more.

A toothache: To soothe a toothache, just put a warm teabag over the area on the outside.

Tired or puffy eyes: Moisten two old tea bags, and place them on the eyes to act for a few minutes.

Blister: You can use a warm teabag to help treat the blister.

Sunburn: Apply a few moistened tea bags over the affected area.

Bruises: To accelerate the healing of the bruises, moisten the tea bag with warm water and place it over the affected area.

Bug bites: Apply a moistened tea bag over the affected area to take the sting out of a bug bite and soothe the itching.

Your best choice: peppermint, calendula, lavender, and chamomile tea bags.

13. Healthier Plants

To boost the growth of your plants, put several used tea bags in the bottom of the flower pots, just at the draining site. This will supply nutrients and keep the soil moist.

Your best choice: Plants hate caffeine, so you should use herbal tea bags.

14. Treat Warts

Warts are unattractive and annoying, and plantar warts can also be painful, but the old tea bags will be of great here as well.  Moisten up an old tea bag with warm water and leave it on the wart to act at least once daily.

Your best choice: Green tea is one of the best choices.

15. A Homemade Dye

Steep old tea bags and use them to highlight the hair, and get brown, orange, and green tones. Moreover, they can also be used to dye cards, cloth, homemade crafts, paper for gifts, and more.

Old tea bags are the perfect non-toxic dye for kids! You can even use old tea bags to stain wood or dye your hair.

Your best choice: Hibiscus will give you reddish and pinkish highlight, black tea will give you brown color, and green tea provides a light green shade.

16. Prepare Gourmet Dishes

The old teabags can add flavor to your dishes, such as rice, pasta, and quinoa. Place an old tea bag in a pot with boiling water, and remove it after a while.

Your best choice: Cinnamon, jasmine, chai, and green tea.

17.Stop Poison Ivy

If you got poison ivy or got a blister from the rash on your skin, apply an old tea bag to the affected area to absorb the oil. Also, you can warm that tea bag up with a bit of warm water and then apply it on the site.

Your best choice: Peppermint soothes the skin and relieves the itching.

Storing old tea bags

To ensure that your old tea bags will provide the desired effects, you need to store them properly for the time you will need them. Therefore, keep them at room temperature for up to 24 hours, and afterward, refrigerate them. Their scent will indicate the time when you need to throw them away.

Therefore, these 17 ways to creatively use the old tea bags undoubtedly open new perspectives!

Why don’t you try them immediately after you have your cup of tea today?

Wrapped Ginger – Treats Bad Cough And Removes Mucus From The Lungs in One Night!

Persistent coughs and sneezing can be extremely unpleasant and difficult, and if they affect small children, they are even worse.

Small children have a weak immunity and are thus prone to such issues since their bodies cannot fight the virus.

Doctors often prescribe cough syrups to treat the discomfort, but the prolonged use of many pharmaceutical solutions can cause side effects and severe complications, such as rapid heart rate, headaches, migraines, and drowsiness.

Moreover, the two main ingredients in regular cough syrup are codeine and dextromethorphan!

On the other hand, natural remedies, such as ginger, and honey, are potent and safe solutions that quickly eliminate a stubborn cough, without causing any side-effects, and due to their beneficial capacity, they have been used for millennia.

The following ginger and honey wrap is certainly one of the most powerful natural remedies you can use:

Ingredients:

– 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger or ginger powder

– Raw natural honey

– flour

– olive oil

Instructions:

You should add the flour to the honey and stir well until you get a homogeneous mixture. Then, drizzle in the olive oil, and add the ginger. Stir again and pour the mixture on a napkin.

Next, wrap the gauze around it, apply it on the back or chest, and secure with adhesive tape.

In the case of a child, the wrap should be left for 3 hours, and for adults, it should be left to act until the next morning.

A mother of a small child, Rachel Lim, reported her own experience with this remedy. She even used tin foil, replaced olive with coconut oil, and added ginger juice.

She applied it on her baby, that coughed all night long, and after 4 hours, she says that the wrap delivered miraculous effects!

The baby stopped crying, the nasal congestion and the phlegm were gone, and the cough was relieved. Why don’t you try it and enjoy its beneficial effects as well?

Study Shows The More Time You Spend With Your Mom, The Longer She’ll Live

Has it been awhile since you’ve seen your mom? A 2012 study says you should invite her over for dinner soon.

The study concluded that loneliness is a significant factor in the decline of quality of life in older adults, including risk of depression, cognitive impairment and health problems like coronary artery disease, and may even lead to an earlier death.

Specifically, the study looked at 1,600 adults with an average age of 71. Researchers found that 23 percent of participants who reported being lonely died within six years of the study, while only 14 percent of those who reported having companionship died during the same six year period.

The results, which were published in the JAMA Internal Medicine, remained consistent even after controlling for health and socioeconomic status.

Another study published in the journal PLoS Medicine in 2010 found that social ties can be as important to extending life as losing weight if you are obese and getting active if you are sedentary.

“Our social relationships are important not only to our quality of life, but also our longevity,” said study author Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, to WebMD.

“Throughout human history, we have relied on others for survival such as protection and food, and despite modern advancements that may [help with] certain aspects of survival so that we can live more independently, it appears that our relationships nonetheless still impact odds of survival,” she says.

Research has shown that loneliness and social isolation is downright terrible for our health. In fact, it’s been called a bigger health risk than smoking or obesity.

Spending time with loved ones or friends often leads to laughter. Laughing is a powerful antidote to declining health, having been shown to boost immunity, lower blood pressure and stimulate both blood flow and mental activity.

So, what are you waiting for? Plan a visit to your mom, and by all means, bring a few good jokes along with you!

If You Love Bananas, Read These 10 Shocking Things. The Number 5 Is The Best

There is a well-known phrase in the world of natural medicine, which says: eating an apple a day takes the doctor away from your life, but few people know that a banana (banana, banana, banana or whatever it is called in your city) day can also keep the doctor away.

The health benefits of banana come from the many vitamins and nutrients it contains.

Some of the nutrients and compounds in bananas are carbohydrates, vitamins A, C and B6, iron, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, zinc, sodium, potassium and natural sugars such as sucrose, fructose and glucose. All of these make the banana a super fruit that is an integral part of a healthy daily regimen.

10 benefits of bananas for health

1. Regulate bowel movements

Irregular bowel movements are an irritating health problem that can be easily resolved with regular consumption of bananas.

Bananas contain a good amount of insoluble fiber that travels through the digestive tract, sweeping waste and producing intestinal movements that are smooth and easy to pass.

However, consuming too much banana, but too little water can contribute to constipation. In addition, eating bananas that are not fully ripe can also lead to constipation and gas. So remember to consume ripe bananas and drink enough water a day.

At the same time, bananas help treat diarrhea because they contain pectin, a water-soluble fiber that acts as a gelling agent and helps to absorb fluids in the intestines.

2. Provides Natural Energy

Bananas have a unique blend of vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates that provide a rapid supply of natural energy. In addition, bananas have a healthy blend of three natural sugars: glucose, sucrose and fructose. The combination of these sugars has a great energetic potential.

Bananas are one of the few fruits that contain complex and simple carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates give you endurance energy and simple carbohydrates give you quick energy. Eating only two bananas will give you enough energy to do exercises for 90 minutes.

3. Soothe stomach ulcers

Bananas are beneficial to the health of the stomach in two ways. First, several substances in bananas help produce a thicker coating of protective mucus in the stomach that serves as a barrier against stomach acids.

They also help to neutralize the acidity of food, which can contribute to the formation of ulcers.

Second, bananas contain protease inhibitors that help to eliminate bacteria in the stomach, which is one of the main causes of stomach ulcers.

4. Support a healthy heart

Bananas are rich in potassium, a mineral electrolyte that is essential for your heart. Potassium travels to cells through your body and helps the circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain. This also helps maintain a regular heart rate and an adequate balance of water in the body.

People who eat diets rich in potassium-rich foods like bananas can also substantially reduce their risk of stroke, regulate blood pressure and prevent various heart diseases.

5. Help in weight loss

If you are looking for a food that can help you lose weight, bananas are a perfect choice. They are low in fat and high in fiber and vitamins.

The dietary fiber in bananas absorbs water and takes up a lot of space in the stomach, which keeps you feeling full for longer.

In addition, they increase metabolism, thanks to its various B vitamins. The naturally sweet taste will also slow down your sweet tooth cravings when you feel the need to eat something sweet.

6. Treats anemia

Bananas are a good source of iron for people suffering from anemia. Iron deficiency is a key factor in this health condition and eating foods rich in iron will help replenish this essential mineral.

Regular consumption of bananas along with other iron-rich foods can gradually reduce the symptoms associated with anemia including fatigue, dizziness, headaches, shortness of breath and rapid heartbeat.

7. Treat morning sickness

If you are pregnant and looking for ways to combat morning sickness, take a banana. Calming properties help replenish the body and restore a healthy level of blood glucose. This in turn helps to combat nausea.

Pregnant women are advised to eat a banana after waking up in the morning and after each meal. In addition, bananas have several nutrients that can help lift your mood and support the physical development of your unborn baby.

8. Promotes eye health

Bananas contain vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin that is vital for eye health. Adequate daily vitamin A intake also decreases the risk of night blindness.

According to a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, eating three or more servings of bananas per day can also reduce your risk of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in older adults by 36% compared to which consume less than 1.5 servings daily.

9. Healing mosquito bites

Mosquito bites cause a lot of itching and sometimes they are painful. You can treat these symptoms with banana peels.

Rub the inside of the banana peels into the bite for about five to ten minutes. This will help reduce itching and swelling. In fact, this simple remedy often works better than creams or medications that are in the pharmacy.

10. Helps control depression

According to a recent survey of people suffering from depression, many participants felt much better after eating a banana.

Bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, which is known to help you relax, improve your mood and, in general, make you feel happier.

Also, when you suffer from insomnia due to depression, you can eat a banana before bedtime; Your tryptophan will help you sleep better.

Banana also contain tyrosine, an amino acid that increases levels of norepinephrine and dopamine. Low levels of these neurotransmitters that stimulate brain activity, alertness and concentration are often associated with depression.

With all the health benefits of this low-cost fruit, add bananas to your grocery list every time you buy. They are a great choice for a healthy sweet snack between meals as well.

8 Night Drinks To Detoxify Liver and Burn Fat

The evening drinks are often very curative factors when they are obviously geared for Detoxify Liver.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the liver, which is the main organ of detoxification, works optimally between 1am and 3am.

There are certain nighttime teas and drinks that you can consume at bedtime that can potentially help you with this important body function, and not only for that, they are excellent for burning fats.

Liver and detoxification

Detoxification occurs best while we are asleep because it is when the body begins to rebuild and regenerate its tissues. As already mentioned, according to Chinese medicine the liver performs its best performance between 1am and 3am.

Therefore, we have to make sure that conditions are present for effective detoxification to occur. One of the requirements for proper detoxification is that we are actually deeply asleep long before this time.

Another requirement is that we have enough blood and body fluids for the detoxification process, so that the body is not overloaded with harmful substances that tend to be released upon detoxification.

Proper detoxification can also lead to a healthy metabolism , which in turn can lead not only to a load of low toxins but also to faster fat burning for those who want to control their weight.

8 night drinks to detoxify liver and burn fat

The following are a variety of teas and evening drinks that studies say are excellent to eat before going to bed, and can greatly help you perform better liver function as follows:

Chamomile tea

Chamomile tea is one of the evening drinks with an excellent function. It is slightly bitter due to its content of sesquiterpenlactones that help the liver prepare its detoxification routes.

Chamomile is also considered to have a nerve action on the body, which means it is used to soothe the nerves which helps to relax and fall asleep. Lastly, this herb has anti-inflammatory effects that further aid the body in the treatment of detoxifying intermediates that can cause higher levels of inflammation in the body.

Lemon water

Hot lemon water is one of the nightly drinks that are routinely recommended to drink to patients all day , either by squeezing fresh lemon into the water or by cutting lemons and adding them to a pitcher of water. If you prepare water the latter way, make sure you are using organic lemons to avoid exposure to pesticides.

At night, lemon water helps purge toxins from the blood. Lemon water works best when it is hot, as cold drinks can cause shock in the body and take the heat from your digestive system to warm up. So help your body in advance by drinking hot liquids.

It is a Chinese herb that helps nourish liver blood and is required for detoxification and fat burning. The jujube, or Da Zao, also helps to calm the mind, is perfect to help relieve our stressed brain so that we can achieve good quality sleep, necessary for proper liver function.

This herb also strengthens the spleen-pancreas which in Chinese medicine can be affected by an overloaded liver that leads to poor digestion of food.

Lotus seeds

This is another herb (Lian Zi is the Chinese name) which can be beneficial to make a night tea. This herb is useful if stress, anxiety and thoughts when we are racing during the day are kept at night.

It helps to calm the mind and can even help if you have heart palpitations. Lavender can also be added to this tea to further reduce anxiety and soothe nerves.

Rose tea

The rose is a wonderful herb that is closely related to our heart meridian connected to our emotions. This is perhaps the reason why the rose is still the symbol of love over time.

Rose is very useful for ensuring proper flow of liver energy, since inadequate flow of Qi (or energy) can lead to depressive states. Relieving depressive states is essential for good sleep as unhealthy thoughts lead to blood consumption that is precisely needed for a good detox.

Pink tea also helps the movement of blood throughout the body through its astringent properties, due to a high content of tannins, which again, it helps eliminate toxins, ensuring a good flow through the organs of detoxification.

Mint tea

Peppermint is a very useful herb to help with many important functions, especially if you’ve had a great meal at night as it helps the digestive process through its large amounts of essential oil content such as menthol and mentona.

Peppermint overcomes food stagnation as a symptom of overeating that can lead to sleep disorders. Since the liver is also involved in this digestive process, the mint makes a great tea to help the liver with its digestive and detoxification functions.

Oat tea

Oat flakes and seeds make great nutritional tea. This oat tea contains high levels of vitamins, minerals, and even proteins called avenins that are useful for Phase I and Phase II liver detoxification as many nutrients are consumed in this process. In addition, oats is another nervine herb that helps to calm the mind and balance our emotions, since it is considered to be a nervous re-builder system.

Schizandra berries tea

Finally there are schizandra berries. These berries, when infused in hot water, create a good fruity tea that can easily protect the liver from many of the harmful intermediates created through your detoxification pathways.

There are numerous studies showing the significant hepatoprotective abilities of schizandra constituents as their lignan content. In addition to its protective functions, it is believed that schizandra berries have an adaptogenic action throughout the body, which means that it helps the full function of body processes optimally without increasing or decreasing pathways outside the normal range.

Drinking liquids in the processes of liver detoxification and fat loss

One thing to keep in mind with detoxification and weight loss, is that it requires large amounts of fluids. This is also something that bedtime teas can help with, so all of this will add to your daily fluid intake.

Also, remember that adequate sleep is essential for proper functioning of the organs. Try to be asleep around 11:00 pm at the latest so that you are well asleep before 1 am.

You can start with changing your bedtime for at least an hour and hold this for a week or two until be ready to change it for another hour and gradually achieve your goal.

Remember that changes in diet and lifestyle take time to adapt, and you should be kind to your body by not pushing it too hard.

RESPECT YOUR PARENTS IN THEIR OLD AGE – HEART TOUCHING STORY

An 80 year old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45 years old highly educated son. Suddenly a crow perched on their window.

The Father asked his Son, “What is this?” The Son replied “It is a crow”. After a few minutes, the Father asked his Son the 2nd time, “What is this?” The Son said “Father, I have just now told you “It’s a crow”. After a little while, the old Father again asked his Son the 3rd time, What is this?”

At this time some expression of irritation was felt in the Son’s tone when he said to his Father with a rebuff. “It’s a crow, a crow”.A little after, the Father again asked his Son the 4th time, “What is this?”

This time the Son shouted at his Father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times ‘IT IS A CROW’. Are you not able to understand this?”

A little later the Father went to his room and came back with an old tattered diary, which he had maintained since his Son was born. On opening a page, he asked his Son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary :-

“Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow was sitting on the window. My Son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a Crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question again and again for 23 times. I did not at all feel irritated I rather felt affection for my innocent child”.

While the little child asked him 23 times “What is this”, the Father had felt no irritation in replying to the same question all 23 times and when today the Father asked his Son the same question just 4 times, the Son felt irritated and annoyed.

So..

If your parents attain old age, do not repulse them or look at them as a burden, but speak to them a gracious word, be cool, obedient, humble and kind to them. Be considerate to your parents.From today say this aloud, “I want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered their selfless love on me.

They crossed all mountains and valleys without seeing the storm and heat to make me a person presentable in the society today”. Say a prayer to God, “I will serve my old parents in the BEST way. I will say all good and kind words to my dear parents, no matter how they behave.

Thanks for spending your time on reading this story……

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