Decaf Detox

Well by now your New Year diet should be well and truly under control, you will have given up smoking, drinking, eating, snacking, laughing and can complete a fitness DVD without feeling as if you have died ....... ha! yeah right! 
If you are anything like me your good intentions lasted until Jan 3rd and you decided that you couldn't afford new clothes so best to chill out a bit.   


Of course well done to all of you however who have changed your lives for the better and have excellent will power - you are stronger people than me, so well done! Keep up the good work!


What is easy to change though is your caffeine intake.
Year ago asking for 'decaf' was frowned upon, you were treated like some kind of loony and told "Oh I can't drink that muck, I need my caffeine to survive!".  

Did you know though how bad caffeine actually is for your body?
According to: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Caffeine-Can-Affect-Your-Health&id=101557


On average In a regular cup of coffee there are about 170 mg of caffeine and in decaffeinated coffee there are about 30/40 mg of caffeine. 

These are a number of health conditions for which doctors advise their patients to eliminate coffee and all caffeine from their diet.

Acid indigestion
Anxiety, irritability and nervousness
Candida or yeast problems
Colitis, diverticulitis, diarrhea and other irritable bowel symptoms
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other auto-immune disorders
Diabetes or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
Dizziness, Meniere's syndrome or tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
Gout (Elevated Uric Acid levels)
Heart disease or heart palpitations
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Insomnia and interrupted or poor quality sleep
Liver disease and gallbladder problems such as gallstones
Kidney or bladder problems including kidney stones
Migraines or other vascular headaches
Osteoporosis
Skin irritations, rashes and dryness
Ulcers, heartburn, and stomach problems such as hiatal hernias
Urinary tract irritation

 So anyway, that's some info I have resourced from the Internet .... now back to the taste test :)
I was sent 4 different dedecaffeinated coffee's to try, I had to score them out of 5 in different categories.


Tesco Decaffeinated Original Roast   & Ground (227g)
Taylors Decaffeinated Ground Coffee   (227g)
Douwe Egberts Decaffeinated Medium Roast Coffee (250g)
Lavazza Caffe Decaffeinated Ground Coffee (250g)

Now my Dad likes his coffee, he also drinks decaf when he can ... so I asked him to conduct the test for me (talk about thrilled! off he skipped with his box of coffee vowing to 'give it his best shot').  Now some of these coffee's are 'ground roast' and others are 'medium roast' so they will taste different - so rather than compare the tastes he tried each one on a different day.

And the results are in *drum roll*

Good = 5 Poor = 1	Tesco Decaffeinated Original Roast & Ground (227g)	Taylors Decaffeinated Ground Coffee (227g)	Douwe Egberts Decaffeinated Medium Roast Coffee (250g)	Lavazza Caffe Decaffeinated Ground Coffee (250g)
Aroma	3	2	3	3
Strength intensity	3	2	3	3
Coffee taste	4	3	3	3
Sweet taste	3	2	2	2
Smooth taste	3	2	3	2
Artificial taste	2	3	2	2
Aesthetic appearance	3	2	2	2
Acidity	2	2	2	2
Body	3	2	3	3
Aftertaste	3	1	2	3
Total	29	21	25	25

My Dad was surprised, he thought that one of the more 'posher' brands would have came out on top - but for him it was Tesco's Decaffeinated Original Roast & Ground that topped the leader board.  Coming close (joint) second was Douwe Egberts and Lavazza Caffe, then third was Taylors.

All coffees were brewed in the same way using a cafetiere - and left for the same amount of time to brew (around 3-4 minutes).

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' or blogger's families own.

Tara Smith Natural Organic Haircare Range

Tara Smith Natural Organic Haircare Range

Tara Smith Big Baby Gentle Shampoo

They say that first impressions count and my first impression of Tara Smith Big Baby Shampoo is very good!! Why? Well read on ......

I like to wash my hair in a mid temperature power shower, my hair is very thick and can get greasy quite quickly, I wash my hair every morning without fail (or else I get that 'not quite clean' feeling all day).

Anyhow .. my bottle of Tara Smith shampoo is 100ml (£2.35) and to be honest looks tiny compared to the other brands in my bathroom, I wondered how many washes I would get out of this small bottle .. the answer 'a little goes a long way'. You don't need to use much shampoo for a very good deep root cleaning wash, you also only need to wash your hair once each time you shower to get a good clean (if you wash for a second time your hair is so clean from the first wash that you have trouble getting the suds out .. stop laughing!).

Made with natural and organic earth friendly ingredients, this is a very gentle shampoo that contains both Aloe Vera leaf juice, to provide the hair with moisture, plus the active ingredient from Camomile to soothe and calm sensitive scalps. The company do not test on animals and the shampoo is made in the UK.

The lavender fragrance hits you on opening the bottle, it has a very pleasant fresh fragrance, not overpowering, but enough to linger on your hair. I could smell lavender while my hair was wet, being dried and also for at least 3 hours later which I think is excellent. This however only happened the first few times I used it as I am now 'used' to the fragrance and I cannot smell it at all on application.

Very smooth to use, lathers well and doesn't sting if you accidentally get some in your eyes (as with all shampoo brands if this happens rinse your eyes with clean fresh water until all traces have been removed).

This product is suitable for babies and small children, plus Mum & Dad (see ingredient list below). My daughter thought the shampoo was really nice as the comb went straight through her hair after with no tangles.

Key ingredients are:
Aloe Barbadensis leaf juice for its proven moisturising ability.
Hydrolised Soy protein, The Chinese consider the soybean, along with rice/wheat/barley/millet, to be one of the five holy plants.
Due to its particular amino acid content, soybean contains 85% of the essential amino acids our bodies require. This ingredient acts as a energiser for the hair's natural protective layer by forming an effective protein film on the surface of the hair protecting it against detrimental environment influences.
Bisabolol the active ingredient of Camomile, is used extensively in sensitive and baby products and is both moisturising and soothing.
Organic Fragrance Lavender & Camomile 100% organic essential oil blend with Lavender, Camomile, Mand.

Apparently Anna Friel uses it on her little girl!

Tara Smith Big Baby Gentle Shampoo is stocked at Asda and Tesco, and online at http://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/ and www.bodycare2000.com/s/c/c/tara_smith_organic_hair_care.asp

http://www.bodycare2000.com/s/c/p/tara_smith_big_baby_shampoo.asp

Priced at approx: £2.35 for 100ml, £4.99 250ml

Tara Smith Big Baby Gentle Conditioner

I only condition my hair once a week, my daughters twice a week (and hubby doesn't bother at all!), therefore my 100ml bottle (£2.35) of conditioner is going to last us ages.

As above the conditioner has the same strength of lavender fragrance as the shampoo which is brilliant as you don't get overpowered with fragrance while showering if using both products.

This is a very light conditioner, non greasy and very easy to rinse out of your hair. Your hands do not feel slimy after using the conditioner and we didn't need to leave it on our hair for long either (but obviously this may not be the case for everyone).

Made with natural and organic ingredients this conditioner combines the active ingredient of Camomile with Aloe Vera leaf juice to soothe and moisturise, while Marine Algae softens hair to make it easy to manage. The conditioner is not tested on animals.

Key ingredients are:
Aloe Barbadensis leaf juice for its proven moisturising ability.
Marine Algae is extracted from two algae plants Enteromorpha compressa and Himantalia elongata. It contains large quantities of amino acids which can repair damaged hair and has a moisturising effect from its moisture binding and film forming qualities.
Bisabolol the active ingredient of Camomile, is used extensively in sensitive and baby products and is both moisturising and soothing.
Organic Fragrance. Lavender & Camomile 100% organic essential oil blend with Lavender, Camomile, Mandarin and Orange.

http://www.bodycare2000.com/s/c/p/tara_smith_big_baby_conditioner.asp

I am very excited by the Tara Smith Haircare Range and I will look out for other products, when you look at the size of the bottle for the price you feel that they are expensive, but you do only need a small amount each time you wash your hair.

Both products are approximately £2.35 for 100ml and £4.99 for 250ml and available online www.cultbeauty.co.uk and http://www.bodycare2000.com/s/c/c/tara_smith_organic_hair_care.asp and also in Tesco and Asda.