Do you always go for the healthy options at parties and buffets, like fondues and raw vegetable (crudite) dips?

Raw vegetables and salads with dip

Think again, they may not be so healthy after all.

Shared dips and fondue type dishes are said to be swarming with other people’s germs. A research study shows that when the same crudite or dipper is used more than once, tens of thousands of bacteria are transferred from the mouth to the dip for each double-dip.

We can overdo the hygiene sometimes, and a certain exposure to external germs are said to be good for the immune system.

However, if your immune system is compromised in any way, or there’s a particularly nasty ‘flu bug around, avoid dips like the plague.

At some stage every teenager gets a spotty face. Sometimes the condition lingers on into later life, or just reappears occasionally.

How then do you deal with a sudden outbreak of spots or pimples? Here’s a sideways method.

1. Grind up five aspirin tablets in a small bowl — aspirin is anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory.
2. Add a spoonful of honey — honey is a powerful germ killer.
3, Wash the face and spread the mixture over it .
4. Leave for 10–12 minutes. It should now have dried.
5. Rinse off the mask and pat dry with a clean towel.

Repeat as necessary.

In a speech by HRH The Prince of Wales at the fifth annual Integrated Health Awards, Prince Charles reaffirmed his passionate support for alternative medicine.

Prince Charles with his two sons in 1996

Ladies and gentlemen, over the past fifty years we have witnessed the concerted fragmentation of every aspect of our lives, and of Nature Herself. I happen to believe, for what its worth, that there is an ever more urgent need for re –integration and for the restoration of harmony and balance. In health and medical terms, this is why I believe so strongly in integrated health care – treating the whole person (mind, body and spirit) with the best of the ancient and modern within medical practice.

When you think about it, what on earth is the point of throwing away our lifeline; of abandoning the priceless knowledge and wisdom accumulated over 1,000’s of years relating to the treatment of the human condition by natural means? It is sheer folly it seems to me to forget that we are a part of Nature and to imagine we can survive on this Earth as if we were merely a mechanical process divorced from, and in opposition to, the unity of the world around us.

As exponents of “sideways” treatments, this website endorses his views absolutely.

New research confirms that a short afternoon nap can make a major difference to your work performance and health, especially if you’re involved in mental work.

A new book by Harvard University sleep expert Dr Sara Mednick, Take a Nap! Change Your Life, describes the simple process of taking a nap as a “lifesaving habit”. She claims that snoozers make fewer mistakes and have boosted brainpower. One of her experiments involved one group taking a nap, another group drinking a mug of coffee (200mg of caffeine), and a control group taking a placebo (an inert substance).

They were then given a series of tasks, including typing and spatial skill tests. The coffee drinkers performed much worse than the placebo takers, while the nappers performed best of all. So the common assumption that coffee will keep you going through the day is a myth — or probably fed to us by the coffee industry.

Dr Mednick, a psychologist and research scientist, has accumulated a lot of evidence that a simple siesta in the afternoon is the best medicine for a happier, healthier life. People who sleep for 30 minutes at least three times a week had a 37pc lower chance of a heart attack, according to a lead researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health.

In another study, recently published in Nature Neuroscience journal, the good doctor put 30 well-rested people through the same set of tasks four times in the course of a day, starting at 9am through to 7pm — a typical working day for freelances and the self-employed.

Performance dropped by 50pc in those who stayed awake all day. However, the volunteers who took an afternoon nap kept up their performance throughout the day.

NASA –as you might expect — gets in on the act. Tests conducted by them show that astronauts who took a brief snooze doubled their alertness even if they were not tired before the nap. They also increased their work productivity by at least 13pc.

The ideal time to nap apparently is between 1pm and 3pm which enables the most restful kind of sleep pattern for boosting performance.

That’s it, I’m off to take a nap.