Home » Food & Drink » Vegetarian Cooking » Fruits and Herbs for Health and Beauty

Fruits and Herbs for Health and Beauty

© Tara Gillet-Liloia

My first experience with food as a beauty aid was in Girl Scouts. During one meeting our troop placed cucumber slices on our eyes for several minutes. The cucumbers work to reduce puffiness and tighten the skin around your eyes. Of course, being twelve-year-olds, we didn't have many wrinkles but the cucumber does leave you feeling very refreshed. Keep a cucumber in the fridge at work and pop a couple of slices onto your eyes when you feel like you're zoning out. Not only will it perk you up, you'll get a lot of attention from nosy co-workers.

Now imagine yourself stressed from a long and tiring day (some of us don't even need to imagine!). The house is strewn with unopened bills and the remnants of a haphazard dinner. Suddenly the aroma of hot apple cider and cinnamon rolls wafts to your nose. You begin to imagine a cozy fall afternoon wrapped in a warm sweater, enjoying a cup of cider. Wouldn't that relax you? This is one of the main principles behind aromatherapy. It is a technique which uses essential oils from fruits, nuts, and herbs combined with massage to stimulate and relax the body.

The essential oils from certain fruits and herbs are combined with other ingredients, then massaged into the skin to release their healing properties. Here is just a tiny sampling of some of the results that can be achieved with aromatherapy.

• Avocado Pear Oil--used to treat dry skin and eczema
• Basil--stimulating herb, used to treat fatigue, colds, loss of concentration, and migraines
• Carrot--used to treat ulcers, flatulence, eczema, and psoriasis
• Cinnamon--used as an anti-viral antiseptic and aphrodisiac
• Grapefruit--used to treat lethargy, obesity, and depression
• Lime--used to treat fevers, rheumatism, and sore throats

You can enjoy some of the effects of aromatherapy even when you can't get a full massage. Try wearing a perfume with a fresh, uplifting scent, like Bath & Body Works' new Watermelon Body Splash. I wear tangerine-scented perfume for the energizing properties it contains. I am not an expert on aromatherapy; however, there are two women here at Suite101.com who are. If you want to know more about aromatherapy, take a look at these two topics: http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/arom... and http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/arom....

In addition to aromatherapy, there are other ways to reap the health benefits of fruits without eating them. Recently on the popular daytime show, "The View," Jaime Trompeter from the Oasis Day Spa in New York spoke about at-home beauty treatments for women. One of the therapies she suggested was placing crushed bananas into an old bra and wearing it for firmer breasts. Oasis also offers aromatherapy treatments. If you would like to find out more about the Oasis Day Spa, or schedule an appointment, they can be reached at http://www.nydayspa.com/.