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Today is National Herbs & Spices Day in the United States. Now it's unfortunate that South Africa doesn't celebrate it, but we thought what the heck - let's jump on the bandwagon. I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about the amazing variety of spices that we have at Namo. Now of course most of you know about our famous #5HealthSpice containing Cinnamon, Cloves, Turmeric, Cayenne Pepper and Turmeric. It's a blend that we make here in Stilbaai and we sell it at our health shop, as well as online at www.namohealth.co.za but most exciting of all is that we have 103 stockists (and growing) across the country that sell our products. You can find your nearest stockist here: www.namohealth.co.za/find-at-stockist - who knows, maybe there's one in your town that you didn't even know about. If there's not one yet - let us know and we will try to get the Five Health Spice stocked in a health shop or pharmacy near you. The #5HealthSpice proves that with simple, back to basics, ingredients you can get a ton of health benefits. It's mainly used for arthitis, bladder issues, circulation, high blood pressure, blood sugar imbalances, diabetes, cholesterol, gout, poor immunity and heart support. We just love spices and we see rare spices as a challenge - like the other day a client asked if we had Za' Atar and I had never heard of it before, so I had to say no, but that afternoon I went on a hunt for Za' Atar and now, a week later - we stock it. If I had to ask you which spices you thought were rare what would you say? Do you know any? Maybe you would have mentioned spices like Saffron, Galangal, Sezchuan Pepper, Vanilla Pods, Black Cardamom, Sumac or Mace. Well I can proudly say that we stock all of those. We don't just specialize in rare spices through. We have all the classics too. Here's a list of spices (whole, fine or dried leaves) and blends that we currently have in stock: Asafoetida Powder, Aniseed, Allspice, Za' Atar, Vanilla (pods, powder, paste and extract), Fenugreek, Ajmoo, Ras El Hanout, Aniseed, Cinnamon, Turmeric, Black Pepper, Basil, Bird's Eye Chilli Powder, Breyani Masala, Chinese five spice, Crushed chilli, black cardamom, green cardamom, caraway seeds, cumin, coriander, cloves, curry powder, dukkah spice, fennel, dill, cayenne pepper, ginger, father in law masala, garam masala, garlic, cornflowers (pink and blue), garlic and ginger masala, galangal, green peppercorns, 12 in 1 leaf masala, lemongrass, margaram, mother in law masala, mustard, mixed herbs, mint, mace, nutmeg, onion, oreganum, parsley, pickling spice, pink/red peppercorns, pine nuts, paprika, rosemary, rainbow peppercorns, red masala, sage, sumac, tarragon, smoked paprika, sezchuan pepper, thyme and white pepper. All our spices are spices are gluten free, non-irradiated and 100% pure with no hidden additives. We try to keep the spices affordable as far as possible (ranging from R8.00). We love how spices add flavour and colour to our everyday meals. Every spice also has it's own list of health benefits from helping to fight inflammation to helping with hot flashes. It's definitely worth celebrating! You can shop for spices here: https://www.namohealth.co.za/spices

Headaches is something that many people suffer from on a daily basis. No one can say exactly why, but women are three times more likely to experience headaches than men. It's probably our hormones... that's the explanation for a lot of things that go wrong with us, ey? Anyways - here's my top 5 tips on how to get rid of those nasty headaches... 1. Hormones Hormones is such a tricky subject - it really is very complicated but if you can get your #hormones sorted then things will just go a lot smoother for you and everyone around you. When hormones spike or drop they cause imbalanced and this can lead to headaches. Girls with #estrogen imbalances tend to have more headaches. My advise is to use #supplements that help #regulate your hormones. 2. Neck If you get frequent #headaches it might also be due to a structural imbalance in the body. When I think of a #headache I think of the #neck. Bad #posture, driving a lot, stress and strange sleeping positions can all contribute to your headaches because they all put pressure on our very fragile necks. If there's tension on the neck the vertebrae tend to move out of #alignment and that pinches on nerves that go down the neck into the #back, as well as over the head to your headaches points, jaw, face and eyes. If you go for a #massage they will massage the muscles to relief the tension and stress. At Namo we do a mixed modality treatment that includes massage as well as spinal care to make sure that the spine is happy as well as the muscles. Henk specializes in neck issues and clients that come for regular #treatments find that their headache frequency drastically declines. Henk has a practice in #Stilbaai and in #George in the Garden Route. 3. Magnesium Did you know that Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant? Your body will tense up if you don't have enough #Magnesium. By taking a magnesium supplement on a daily basis you will have a lot more #relaxed muscles and prevent #cramps at the same time. Magnesium also helps you #sleep which also equals less stress. Your brain and headache points will also benefit from the #relaxing qualities of some extra magnesium in the body. Imagine your #headache is like a massive and long lasting cramp in the head - magnesium can fix that. 4. Stress The more #stress you have the more your muscles will tense up. When your body experiences stress you release the stress hormone, Cortisol. To come back to point 1, that's another hormone that can wobble your body and too much of it van definitely cause more headaches. You don't want to go on anxiety or anti-depressant medication unless it's absolutely necessary. Try natural supplements that will help keep your nervous system calm and relaxed. That brings me to my next point... 5. Herbs I'm such a big fan of #herbs. I was raised on herbs and tissue salts since I was a baby so I'm living proof that it does work. For headaches my top suggestion would be Feverfew. It's amazing for any pain-cases and really effective for headaches and migraines. Taking herbs for stress will also help prevent headaches - these include Rhodiola, Valarian and Passion Flower. You can also try using Cayenne Pepper - it stimulates blood flow and opens up the veins. This will take the same kind of effect as a Disprin. Then lastly... If you get a headache - drink lost of water (because yes it can be due to dehydration as well) and try to sleep it off. Take the time you have to rest and reflect. A lot of times it could also be the body telling you that you might have too much on your plate or that you're feeling overwhelmed or pressurized. Work through those emotions and you will feel like a weight is lifted off your shoulders.

Today we celebrate World Oceans Day! Any kind of environmental day is very close to my heart. One of my hobbies is picking up trash while my fiancé goes for a run on the beach. I don't think everyone realizes how small every-day decisions has a butterfly effect on planet Earth. Ocean day is all about making people aware of endangered VS non-endangered fish and helping people realize how our trash ends up in the ocean and why that's so bad. Here's 6 things that come to mind that you can do to protect the ocean... 1. Reusable I didn't ever think I would be wearing a mask over my mouth and nose day in and day out but yeah - that's our reality right now. It's something that we have to do so you can just as well make it the sustainable option. Disposable masks for every day use is just silly. It makes sense for people working in hospitals but like us working in retail, reusable masks are the way to go. If they are made from cotton - oven better. I've got about 5 and I wash them after a day's use and then rotate them accordingly. Disposable masks are not recyclable and just in the last week I've seen about 3 lying around on the grass outside my building. Those that don't get thrown away responsibly end up endangering wildlife - on land and in the sea. It's not just masks though, plastic bags and single use straws have the same story - swop these out for reusable options as well. Support shops that use paper shopping bags and get yourself a bamboo straw to use at restaurants or just drink from the glass. 2. Toothbrushes Take a moment to take this in: Every toothbrush that you've ever used still exists. It's a powerful statement but the first time I heard it it shook me to my core. Toothbrushes cannot be recycled. They end up in landfills and somehow end up in the ocean. I don't know how they get there but I can't tell you how many toothbrush pieces I've picked up on the beach. Opt for bamboo toothbrushes with natural fibers. If the bristles are natural you can actually chuck it in your compost heap when it's become too warn out. 3. Skincare Be careful of any beauty or skincare product that contains little grains - I don't know if that's the right word but it's like those little balls that are in facial scrubs, body washes or polishing toothpastes. Many times those little balls are made from plastic - shocking right!? And when you wash your face they go straight down the drain and end up where? The ocean. Luckily some of the more natural brands use things like bamboo fiber, mineral powders or apricot granules to get the same effect. Micro-plastics are everywhere and unfortunately end up in our food and in our bodies. 4. Chemical-Free We all know about the issue around plastic packaging but hopefully a lot of it can at least be recycled when managed by a conscious shopper. I'm more worried about what's in the bottle. Preservatives, parabens, bleach and more toxic chemicals are in our every day body and household products. These chemical ingredients get washed to sea and do lots of harm. Shop for products that are natural, chemical free and biodegradable. 5. Take more than you leave When it comes to flowers and seashells they always say give more than you take, but in the case of pollution I say take more than you leave. By this I mean every time you are outside or at the beach. Pick up as much as you can and only leave your footsteps behind. If your town hosts it - join beach clean ups - they are super fun! 6. Sunscreen I know I'm repeating myself with the whole chemical-free thing but I feel sunscreen is worth the extra mention. Commercial sunscreens contain really bad chemicals that harm the fishes and corral reefs. So make sure to get yourself a natural sunscreen that's reef safe if you want to spend your time at the beach in the water. You can shop for natural products here: https://www.namohealth.co.za/search-results/q-eco/qc-products #ecofriendly #ocean #sea #water #reefsafe #sunscreen #chemicalfree #toxinfree #parabenfree #heavymetalfree #healthshop #cleaning #body #protect #cleanup #plastic #glass #paper #bamboo #recycle #pickup

Have you ever been accidently kicked out of bed by your partner? For some this is a funny story or a once in a lifetime occurrence and for others it's a daily struggle. People that have restless legs experience involuntary jerking of the legs and a tickling sensation that doesn't go away. This makes it very hard for them to fall asleep and the constant movement makes it hard for anyone to share a bed with someone with restless legs. Restless legs can be caused by a wide range of things and thus fixing it isn't always such a straight forward answer. Here's a few different things to explore - you can try one or you can try them all. Everyone's body's are different - so it's really trial and error. Okay, so firstly, it can be a structural issue. Somewhere in the body there is a structural imbalance which means that the hips might not be even or the spine might be out of alignment putting pressure on the nerves that go down the legs that can cause that prickling or tingling feeling that many people experience as restless legs. This sounds serious but it's actually an easy fix. The vertebrae in the spine move constantly and sometimes in the way that we sit, stand, sleep or move during the day can put too much pressure on an area which might cause a spasm in the muscle and then that can cause the vertebrae to get 'stuck' in the 'wrong' position. Through massage and manipulation the spine can be aligned again and that will relieve the pressure on the nerves and hopefully make the restless legs go away completely. At Namo we do a unique treatment where they combine massage, pressure points, spinal care and reflexology - all in one to relieve spasms and imbalances in the body. Going for a signature treatment would be a great first step to see if there's any improvement. Alternatively you could go see a Chiropractor. Secondly, it could be due to a deficiency. When I think of restless legs I think of Magnesium. A shortage of Magnesium in the body is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to any muscle related issue - cramps, spasms and more importantly, restless legs can all be due to your Magnesium tank being too low. This is an easy fix but you have to have patience. Just because you drink Magnesium for a week doesn't mean the restless legs will go away. You get so many kinds of Magnesium and I think that confuses people. Not all of them are equal. Some of them are hard for the body to absorb and others are buffered to be more bio-available. Different forms of Magnesium also have different uses, some are for the muscles and some make your tummy flush. The trick is to get a good form of Magnesium in. I suggest Magnesium Citrate or Magnesium Glycinate. Once you've got the right form you must look at strength as well. To have 50mg of Magnesium in your multi-vitamin isn't enough. You should be taking at least 500mg to a 1000mg per day. Take your Magnesium supplement at night as that's when the body absorbs minerals the best. Be patient with this - it's not going to help overnight but as your tank starts to fill up you will begin to feel a difference. Oh yes and just another thing to consider is that if you've tried all the Magnesium's out there and still no luck - try Iron. The other day I was chatting to our in-house Homeopath, Dr Arnike Redelinghuys and she mentioned that restless legs can actually be caused by an iron deficiency - I still need to research this myself but it's just something to keep in mind. I also believe that Zinc has an important role to play. This next one might sounds a bit weird but let's make the next point: Physical Touch. Now here's one of those that you have to experiment with to see if and which one will work for you. For some, once they get in bed they should not be touched at all - here's an excuse to get that King Size bed you've always wanted. Their bedding must be cotton to allow the body to breathe. Pets should not be allowed on the bed as they can place weight on the body that could trigger the restless legs. Then your spouse should try to not brush your skin in any way as this can trigger the nerve endings to be over active. So yeah - that's the one extreme and the next is the exact opposite. When you're intimate with your partner - that releases oxytocin which is a natural pain killer. Oxytocin is one of your happy hormones and believe it or not but it can make your legs happy too. Try getting a boost of oxytocin before you sleep to keep the restless legs at bay. Just like with oxytocin, endorphins are also one of your happy hormones. This gets released in the body when you exercise. Exercising during the day can be a great way to relieve restless legs. Just remember that when you exercise you lose magnesium through your sweat so then you just need to replace it. Another benefit of exercise is that it increases circulation (and so does massage). Circulation is another important role player when it comes to restless legs. If the lower limbs are blocked it causes toxins to build up and they can also cause tingling/twitching or itching. Try going for a nice long walk at least 3 times per week. Then lastly I would like to quickly mention herbs as well. We sell cypress oil which you could apply to the legs which helps to strengthen veins and increase circulation. Internally I would suggest Willow's Tincture combination called Restless Legs which contains a great herbal complex which helps soothe the nerve endings to calm the legs down. This can be tried as a last resort if none of the other tips have helped. As I said - you have to try a few things and see what makes it better and what makes it worse and hopefully after a while you will have found out what the right mix of methods are that's right for your body. Shop for Magnesium here: https://www.namohealth.co.za/search-results/q-magnesium%20/qc-products #restlesslegs #legs #cramps #stilbaai #magnesium #exercise #bed #sleep #herbs #circulation #oxytocin #iron #zinc #massage #treatment #spinalcare #supplements #kicking #pinsandneedles #twitching #tickling #insomnia #restless #sleeping #help

I was terrified to put oils on my skin.. I thought to myself: OMW it's going to clog my pores and I'm going to break out so badly! I was wrong... The first time I used a serum on my face my skin absolutely loved it and it hasn't stopped loving it ever since. I'm not sure if serums are a new thing or if it's just a lot more popular lately. Most people would work their serum in with their night time skin care routine just before of just after their night cream. I'm very lazy when it comes to skincare - the less, the better is my motto. As I've told my a lot of my clients, I use a day cream (Melan Hydra Day Creme) in the mornings and just oils on my face at night. That mix to me works wonders! I guess that when I'm older I might have to spice things up a little more though. My favourite skincare oil is Jojoja - I call it a serum which it isn't really but I just feel like it has enough benefits to qualify for me. I remember a story that a client told me one day. He said that he was told to use Jojoba oil and being a guy he didn't know how much to use so he like literally poured it on his face and went to bed. He's like in his 30's - the next morning he woke up and said he looked like a 10 year old - like not a wrinkle in sight. Now I haven't experienced the same results yet.. maybe I'm just not using enough but I still feel that my face feels hydrated, plump, soft and moisturized the next morning. Why I love jojoba oil as well is that it is a super fine oil so it really draws in and doesn't leave a oily residue on the skin like coconut oil for example tends to do. An Aromatherapist once told me that Jojoba oil matches your skin's natural oils so your body accepts it as your own and allows it deep into the layers of the skin. You get all kinds of serums these days... all containing different blends of carrier and essential oils. Rosehip is another nice oil - really high in Vitamin C which helps stimulate your natural collagen and thus it promotes anti-aging. Avocado oil is great for dry skin as it has a high fat content. Essential oils are a very personal thing - best is to research the best essential oils for your age and skin type and you can even mix a serum yourself. Pick oils that you enjoy the scent of and enjoy the journey of personalizing your skincare. Over the years I've used such a wild combination of products on my skin and I think at the end of the day it comes down to a gut feeling. Obviously you have to nourish your body internally to have radiant skin but more than that - just listen to your body and really look at yourself in the mirror and see how your body is reacting to different products. Your skin will tell if it's happy or not. You can shop for your favourite oils and serums in-store or online: https://www.namohealth.co.za/search-results/q-jojoba%20oil%20/qc-products #oil #serum #skinfood #jojoba #avocado #rosehip #vitaminc #skin #skincare #healthshop #stilbaai #jojobaoil #facial #essentialoil #carrieroil #story #face #nourish #hydrate #moisturize #antiaging #lazy #selfcare #metime #care #diy #tlc #natural #chemicalfree #perfumefree #nature

When someone mentions honey you would think it's a pretty straight forward thing, right? Well, working in a health shop has proven to make the topic of honey a lot more complicated. Terms like raw, creamed, organic, crystalized, local, pure, non-gmo, filtered and unfiltered come up and not everyone knows what they all mean. So here's my breakdown of it... Raw: Raw Honey means that the honey was spun out of the honeycomb - this process uses momentum and gravity to get the honey out instead of heat. Why is heat bad you may ask? If the honey goes through a heated process it looses some of it's natural enzymes. Those enzymes are what makes the honey so healthy and they help fight symptoms like sore throat, hayfever and sinus. Creamed: Creamed Honey is the term they give to honey that has been whipped. Almost like you would whip butter to make it more fluffy or whip cream. They do they same to honey and this give it a lovely smooth and creamy texture. This honey is ideal for using as a spread. Organic: Organic Honey is a term that is somewhat heavily debated. Bees normally harvest honey within a specific radius around where their hive stands but you can never control exactly where a honeybee travels to. In the perfect world, organic honey's definition would be that they bees only collected pollen and nectar from plants that have been organically grown. This means that the plants have not been given any synthetic fertilizers or been sprayed with any type of pesticide. Fynbos that grows naturally in the cape area is normally a good indication that they honey from that area would be quite organic but you can't really say that either due to air pollution being everywhere. Also, pesticides from nabouring farms can travel very far in the wind. So to conclude, this is a term to be lightly taken when seen on a honey jar. Hopefully the farmer confident enough to put that on the label will have done his or her homework to make sure that their hives are in a fairly organic area. Crystalized: Raw Honey naturally crystalizes with time - this is totally normal. Different types of honey crystalize at different speeds. Bluegum for example takes very long to crystalize. You will see that the honey becomes less runny and almost forms tiny granules within the jar. This sometimes makes the honey looked like creamed honey. When honey crystalizes it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with it. Fun fact actually: Did you know that honey can never go bad? If you don't like that the honey does this through, don't stress. You can easily just place the jar of honey in the sun or in a bowl of warm water (not boiling hot, as this will make the honey less raw). Just a tip: do not place the honey in the microwave - this will kill all the goodness of the honey - you could just as well use syrup then. Local: If you can find local honey - that's great! They actually say that people that suffer from allergy related sinus should eat local raw honey. If it's the pollen from local plants and trees that give you the sinus then the honey made from the pollen from those plants act as a natural anti-histamine. Pure: The term pure honey basically just means that there's nothing funny been added to the honey. Some unethical farmers add sugar syrup, molasses or lots of water to the honey to give it bulk. That's why you always need to buy honey from sources that you trust. Non-Gmo: Here we sit with another kind of issue like the term 'organic'. If they say that the honey is non-gmo then it just means that they believe that the bees did not harvest pollen from any gmo plants. GM mean genetically modified and plants that are an example of being genetically modified is: Canola. Filtered and Unfiltered: After the honey has been removed from the honeycomb that farmer as the option to either filter the honey or just leave it unfiltered. The result of the filtered honey is a very clean and pure honey. If they leave it, the honey may have traces of beeswax, pollen, propolis, etc in - many people prefer the unfiltered honey because that's how nature intended us to enjoy it. Then just to tickle your fancy, I would like to mention to you the different types of honey. What I mean by this is that when a farmer puts a hive near a specific area or crop the honey ends up with a taste according to the flowers that the bees has access to. In order for a honey to be named Orange Blossom for example, the bees would have had to harvest a minimum of 51% orange blossom pollen. Here's a list that includes some of the special honeys that we stock at Namo: Aloe, Fynbos, West Coast Fynbos, Bluegum, Orange Blossom, Macadamia, Blueberry, Avocado, Sunflower, Wild Flower, Blombos, Acacia, Bushveld, Karoo and many more. Honey is very seasonal and we buy from local farmers as far as possible. Each one's flavour is so unique - they're all a must try! Looking to get some honey for your hunny, shop here: https://www.namohealth.co.za/search-results/q-honey/qc-products #honey #bee #beehive #hive #raw #organic #pure #crystalized #nongmo #natural #sweet #local #healthshop #stilbaai #bees #heuning #bye #soet

Have you ever walked in the fresh produce isle in the grocery store and looked for something interesting to spice up your borings old salads with? Then the dainty and beautiful sprouts caught your eye. Picking it up just to get a mini heart attack over the price... Does this sound like you? Well I've got good news for you. Growing your own sprouts are super easy and here's my easy step by step guide. The first part is the most fun - choosing your seeds... Mungbeans, lentils and alfalfa are the three most fool-proof ones to start with. Later as you start to get the hang of it you can get adventurous and start playing with seeds like broccoli, radish, beetroot, onion, peas, cabbage or clover. Once you've decided on what seeds you want to start with, you can get going. Get a clean glass jar (about a mayo size). Poor a single layer of seeds in the bottom of the jar and fill with water. Let the seeds soak for a minimum of 6 hours or best, overnight. Then pour the water off. Cover the jar with a piece of material and a rubber band and let it stand (out of direct sunlight). Then you have to rinse the seeds with fresh water 3 times a day for as many days as it may take. So fill the jar up until all the seeds are covered and pour the water off again, through the material so that the seeds don't escape. Depending on the type of seed you chose, they can start sprouting after 1 to 9 days. I love that the lentils and mungbeans start spouting so quickly - fast results! You can start eating your sprouts as soon as they start getting a little tail (the root) or you can keep on rinsing for a few extra days and eat them once they have formed a proper root and leaf stem. I always say that the longer you leave them the better value for money it is. I know I started by saying you might want to jazz up your salad but sprouts can be used for so much more than just salads. You can chuck them in a stir-fry, soup, wrap, sandwich or use them as decorations on basically any meal. Go and and try sprouting - it's such a fun, healthy and rewarding hobby! Tag @namostilbaai on Instagram or @namonaturalhealth on Facebook if you want to share your sprout photos with us. #sprouts #raw #healthy #sprout #diy #grow #seeds #grains #beans #peas #vegatables #eating #fresh #kitchen #organic #nongmo #sprouting #stilbaai #healthshop #firstblog