Archive for December, 2010

Dec 28, 2010 Posted Under: Health

Understanding Your Metabolism

Metabolism is a word that surely means a lot to those who are trying to lose weight. It will be even more important to those who have tried all diets and counted calories all their lives, only to feel like their battle with the bulge will never be over. Of course, when it comes down to this, it’s only metabolism that matters. The word can have a lot of meanings because it is a body process that functions in multiple ways. However, for a weight-watcher, metabolism is simply the process that burns unwanted fat and sheds off unwanted weight. The slower the metabolism, the slower the fat burns. The faster it is, the shorter the route to a leaner, healthier body.

If you find yourself struggling with metabolism issues, you’ll never be able to make them work for unless you understand the factors behind them. So if you’re serious about keeping that weight off, get to know these factors, understand them and determine how you may be able to work around them so you can improve your metabolic rate and make it your ally in your fight for fitness.

You’ve heard it all before but yes, there are many factors involved in the rate at which your body metabolizes the food you eat. The first one you’d like to consider might be age. It may be frustrating for those who are on the older end of the spectrum but age does contribute to how fast or slow one’s metabolism will be. When you’re younger, everything involved in your fat-burning process is young. That means optimal performance. But as you age, this performance deteriorates as well, so the most obvious conclusion is, younger means faster metabolism and older means slower metabolism. You will simply have to deal with that.

The good thing is, it’s not only age that affects how you burn fat. That means there are many ways for you to compensate. One is by exercising more. The more you move, the more you help your metabolism pick up speed and the faster you burn fat. You’ll have to take into consideration though that the greater your muscle mass, you’ll burn that fat even faster. This is why people are often advised to go weight-training so they build more muscle and burn more fat.

One common misconception about losing weight is that the fewer calories you consume the more fat you’ll lose. This is not entirely true because the body has a natural buffer system which tells you to burn fewer calories when you don’t consume enough calories. It is good to limit your caloric intake, but to have less than what your body requires is only going to boomerang on your weight loss efforts because you’ll only end up burning less fat.

Other causes of slow metabolism can be genetic or acquired defects of the thyroid gland which regulates metabolic activity. In these cases, medical intervention may be required. Some people even have to undergo surgery to improve their thyroid functions.

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Dec 27, 2010 Posted Under: Headaches

Migraines Classical And Common

You can recognize a migraine headache by the following symptoms and characteristics:

* It recurs often and repeatedly.
* You experience nausea with or without vomiting.
* Your vision is disturbed and you feel a headache which affects only one side of your head.

There are 2 types of migraines: the classical and the common.

The classical migraines begin with an “aura” short before the headache begins. The aura lasts from 10 to 60 minutes and it has some or all of the following possible characteristics:

* blurry vision, flashing lights, seeing visual spots and other shapes
* difficulty speaking
* smelling of aromas
* partial or temporary paralysis
* confusion, dizziness etc.

The common migraines start without an aura or any other warning. You just feel a pain that starts small and expands until it becomes really painful. The degree of pain is similar to the one experienced by the people who suffer because of the classical migraines.

What causes the classical and the common migraine?

The main associated triggers with the migraine headaches are:

* hormonal changed in women. These changes can have various causes. What is known is that migraines appear during or before a significant drop in estrogen.
* the influence of xenoestrogen. Xenoestrogen is a chemical that displays activity similar with estrogen. Xenoestrogen can come from eating beef which has been fed with grains enhanced with hormone additives, from eating vegetables and fruits that still contain pesticides and from many other similar factors.
Xenoestrogen behaves like “fake” estrogen and it may trigger a drop of estrogen.
* higher levels of use of birth control pills in the last 50 years
* bad food habits. Bad food habits can be eating junk food, eating highly preprocessed foods or not eating regularly.
* not getting enough or getting too much sleep
* intense physical effort
* changes in the atmospheric pressure or changes in the weather. For example, if you travel to another city and the weather is much different you are likely to have a migraine headache soon after you arrive there.
* side effects of certain medical drugs

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Dec 24, 2010 Posted Under: Nutrition

Reasonable Food for Your Diet Plan

Everyone wants to eat fresh food. Healthy lifestyle and a nutritious balance food are needed by everyone. The nutritional requirements for your body have to be complete and you always should eat those kind of foods which satisfy your body. When you came home after getting tired from work and that time a more healthy diet is required for your body. If you don’t take healthy food on at the moment then your body will be getting down and also you can be subjected to diseases. To work properly by mentally or physically you will have to take nutritional food otherwise you can’t get enough energy for your work.
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If you don’t know more about healthy food, here I will give you some advice about how to eat healthy. Many of the green vegetables like the sprouts, asparagus and spinach are a great source of energy. These vegetables can be eaten in any recipe. Some of nuts are very much perfect for health, such as soy nuts, peanuts and almonds. The other source is yogurt. Yogurt is a great source of Vitamin B and C. It is very necessary for you to intake of yogurt everyday. Lacking of vitamins and much-needed minerals, human body can suffer with many kinds of health hazards like arthritis, bone diseases, anemia and asthma.

Besides, you can eat more organic food which has been produced by sustainable procedures and also added minimal man-made chemicals. Actually, Organic food are high quality food that are nutritious and easier to digest than cooked or processed food. Organic raw food which contains no free radicals is pure and unaltered.
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Today people are facing number of heath problems. The most common health problems are diabetes and heart problems. In the future, more and more people will realize that eating healthy is the head item everyone should do in one’s daily life.

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Dec 22, 2010 Posted Under: Other

Can Varicose Veins Be Treated Without Surgery?

Veins are equipped with valves that ensure blood flows toward your heart. The valves are composed of leaflets that open to allow blood through, and close to prevent it from flowing in the opposite direction. If these leaflets fail to close properly, blood will start to pool in the veins. This will cause blood pressure to rise, and eventually lead to the bulging and twisting that is characteristic of varicose veins.

In addition to their unattractive appearance, varicosities in the blood vessels can be uncomfortable. They may cause itching and pain, especially toward the end of the day when pressure within the veins is greatest.

There are a number of treatment options available to eliminate varicose veins. This article will focus primarily on nonsurgical approaches, such as compression stockings and other conservative measures.

Improved Circulation With Compression Stockings

Most patients suffering from varicose veins should consider compression stockings before more invasive measures. These stockings are typically worn over the calves, though longer versions that extend over the knees are available. They put pressure on the leg veins to encourage blood flow to the heart. As a result, they reduce pain and swelling.

The stockings are available in several compression levels, some of which can be purchased over-the-counter while others require a prescription from your doctor. Compared to other treatment measures for varicose veins, this approach is far less expensive. Stockings for a compression class that requires a prescription typically cost under $100 per pair.

Exercise And Weight Management

Because blood pressure is the primary cause of varicosities in the blood vessels, weight plays a large role in their development. Those who are obese tend to experience varicose veins more often than others. Thus, exercise and weight management are important parts of treatment (as well as prevention). A healthy, low-salt diet that contains plenty of fiber will help prevent weight gain that can otherwise lead to added pressure in the veins.

Take the time to walk each day to encourage blood circulation in your legs. Any form of physical activity is good, including jogging and bicycling, since it promotes healthy venous return. Many physicians also recommend swimming because it positions the body so the legs are horizontal. This reduces blood pooling due to gravity.

If you sit for extended periods, make a point of standing up and walking every thirty minutes. This will prevent blood from pooling. An alternative to standing is to stretch your legs as you sit, and flex the muscles within them. This, too, encourages blood flow.

Other Conservative Treatment Measures

Some doctors will suggest medications to reduce inflammation caused by varicose veins. An example is ibuprofen, which may be recommended along with compression stockings. It is important to realize that medications alone cannot resolve varicosities, but they can have an anti-inflammatory effect on them. This can help prevent aching, swelling, and skin ulcers (in severe cases).

Another conservative approach to preventing blood from pooling in the legs is to elevate your legs above your heart for short periods throughout the day. This encourages blood flow, and reduces pressure within the veins.

Minimally Invasive Procedures For Resolving Varicosities
If your varicose veins are persistently uncomfortable, a more direct treatment approach may be warranted. One method is sclerotherapy. This involves injecting a chemical into the target blood vessel. The chemical causes inflammation and hardening, and eventually causes the vessel to vanish.

Another procedure is endovenous laser therapy (EVLT). During EVLT, a laser fiber is advanced into the target vessel. Once the fiber is positioned, heat is used to damage the blood vessel’s lining, and cause it to collapse. As with sclerotherapy, the vein eventually disappears.

Your doctor may also suggest ambulatory phlebectomy. This is the removal of a diseased vein through small punctures that are made over it. The procedure is usually reserved for smaller blood vessels.

Treating varicose veins seldom requires invasive surgery. In most cases, they can be resolved with treatment measures that are minimally invasive and affordable.

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Dec 21, 2010 Posted Under: Nutrition

How to Make the Diet Changes

Healthy eating is not about being overly strict and not enjoying food. It’s not about being super thin, being a vegetarian or never eating desert. Healthy eating is about feeling really good with lots of energy, basically staying as healthy as possible. You can eat well and be healthy by educating yourself in basic nutrition principals and then applying them to fit and work for you.

Healthy eating is also about not only what you eat but how you eat. Making the right food choices can make all the difference in avoiding the risk of major illness and disease. Good food choices can keep you cancer free, diabetes free, keep your heart healthy and keep you from experiencing depression. The benefit side of healthy eating is more energy, better memory and a happier disposition. Increase your healthy food choices, do some planning so you have the correct food to maintain your healthy diet.

Don’t put too much pressure on your self to change too quickly, take it at a manageable pace. Take smaller steps rather than all at once. It’s better to be consistent and succeed than to overwhelm yourself and fail. Be committed and you will be eating healthy soon enough.

Go for simplicity, choose real food, fresh food. Avoid refined processed foods, limit packaged foods. This will make it easier to make good choices in the super market. Go with the foods you love, just make them with fresh ingredients, not canned, frozen or processed. Don’t over cook your vegetables, cook lightly and retain the nutrition and enzymes. Take it all at a reasonable pace so you can be honest with yourself and not cut corners. Small steps like using olive oil over butter, eating salads everyday, fruit rather than chips or crackers for a snack. All these changes to your diet matter and will combine to get you to new healthy eating habits. The benefits to your life will be profound.

Changing habits is often the hardest part of making these kinds of changes, so ask for support from family and friends. Encourage your partner or a friend to make these changes with you. Being healthy through diet, exercise and a healthy lifestyle is well worth the effort.

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Dec 17, 2010 Posted Under: Back Pain

How Do Inversion Tables Help Low Back Pain?

There are big benefits to using inversion therapy tables. No matter whether you want to enhance posture, or preserve correct blood flow and circulation and even decrease continual low back discomfort affiliated with a pinched sciatic nerve and vertebral column compression, all these are possible with inversion therapy. Inversion therapy is a therapeutic treatment that was quite well-liked back in the mid-sixties for treating extreme lower back discomfort associated with herniated discs and spinal compression. The idea of inversion therapy goes all the way back to historic times, when Hippocrates, a renowned Greek doctor was one of the first persons to comprehend the effective nature of gravitational power used in treating lower back pain and similar conditions.

Due to gravitation force of the earth, the human body is subjected to continuous downward force on the bones, joints, muscle tissue and connective tissue. This downward force is frequent and it gets intensified via a variety of routines and movements. There may be various causes of lower back discomfort, although gravitation pressure on the spinal column and various vulnerable components of the human body is one of the leading reasons. The gravitational pressure can be double or even triple when doing every day activities such as sitting down or ascending stairs or lifting heavy objects.

It has been proven that people lose almost an inch of their height every single day as an end result of spinal compression from gravity. Throughout their life-time, human adults can lose about 2 inches from their total height by the time they have reached old age. For a lot of individuals, very small variations in height may not be a major cause for concern, though this alteration may cause a lot more harm than simply a difference in perceived height. In fact, the physical demonstration of gravitational pressure is placed on the entire body while executing every day activities. This is where inversion table exercises can play an important role in supplying anti-gravitational inversion therapy for lower back pain.

Inversion therapy is one of the most efficient ways to utilize gravity in the reverse direction. A gravity inversion table is employed to basically turn the body upside down by the ankles or feet, therefore making it possible for the joints, muscular tissues and connective tissues to stretch and elongate. Inversion therapy may be a lengthy process and may need a life time to undo the wear and tear that eventually leads to chronic lower back discomfort, joint conditions, cervical conditions, and pain all over the body. To have prolonged lasting effects, inversion treatment should be given a thorough trial, but it can present a near complete cure for low back pain with the help of low back pain workout routines.

Sciatica pain may be induced as a result of the pressure exerted on the sciatic nerve due to piriformis syndrome, bulging or prolapsed vertebral discs, spinal stenosis, arthritis, or spondylolisthesis. The sciatic nerve exercises can seriously help to minimize and control sciatic pain and minimize the dysfunctions that are responsible for pinched sciatic nerves. Conventional treatment options for sciatic nerve discomfort reduction include oral medications, weight loss routines and surgery. If the causes of lumbar discomfort have been identified as non-distinct, it may be helpful to take into account alternative options such as altering diet plan, lowering stress, and instituting lower back stretching exercises.

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Dec 16, 2010 Posted Under: Other

Obstructive Sleep Apnea: An Overview

There was a time not that long ago when snoring was considered a mild annoyance and not much more. While this is still the case in many instances, snoring can also be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that can do a world of damage to an individual’s health. The insidious thing about the condition is that so many people have it and don’t even realize it. With a condition that has the potential to raise the blood sugar level of a person and even increase their risk of developing diabetes, more should be done to identify this problem earlier.

Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, basically means that you’re not getting the airflow you need when you go to sleep. A person has a certain conscious level of control over their breathing while they are awake. When asleep, the process goes into fully automatic mode. However, this mode is also open to some problems, as is the case with people who have the condition. It is not rare, either. Some studies have indicated that as many as 25% of men suffer from the condition and as many as 10% of females.

Unlike many conditions people face on a regular basis, obstructive sleep apnea has a direct cause and that cause is very often obesity. When there is excess fatty tissue surrounding the chest area, it creates an enormous amount of extra work for the human respiratory system. What’s worse is that the presence of that fat increases the need for more oxygen. So you have a situation where the lungs need more oxygen, yet find it more difficult than ever to get it. You can see why such a situation can lead to problems and why diabetes onset is not the only thing these sufferers need to worry about. OSA has also been linked strongly with other conditions such as heart attack and high blood pressure.

If there is any good news about obstructive sleep apnea, it is that it can be treated relatively easily. Doctors, after diagnosis, can fit the patient with a CPAP device, which can ensure the open and continuous flow of air into the subject’s lungs during sleep. There have been several studies as well that seem to indicate that losing weight may help in ridding one’s self of the condition. If you believe you may be suffering from OSA, you should set up an appointment with your doctor right away and have a sleep study performed. You could be doing immeasurable damage to your health while your sleep.

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Dec 11, 2010 Posted Under: Headaches

Headaches – Check For Your Symptoms, Find A Solution

We all get overworked, and we our quick tension headache treatment – a pill which ceases our pain. It is still alright to take one in case headaches and you have a distant relation; but in case you and your headaches are regular friends, then its high time you analyzed your friend. Having headaches frequently, even as less frequent as 2-3 in a month is a matter not worth ignoring.

To start with here are a few observations one needs to make and the parallel questions one needs to ask, remember to observe the pattern before and after the headaches – firstly, do you get headaches due to allergy reactions, alcohol, smoke, passive smoking, missed meals, exercise, loud noises, physical or emotional stress, bright lights, certain odors, changes in your sleeping habits, change in hormonal levels (more in women and advancement in their age)? Second, observe if you see an aura, feel a vertigo or dizziness around you. Also, note how long does your headache last. Is your headache accompanied by shivers, sweat; stiffness of the neck or similar symptoms? Do you suffer from mood swings before and after your headaches – that is extreme euphoria or extreme depression? Is the headache pulsating? Does it affect half of your brain, full of it, forehead, near the eyebrows etc?

In case you reach to the conclusion that you have maximum of these symptoms, then you are most likely to have migraine headaches – the kinds of headaches which have no particular causes, but they are inevitable and could occur many times in a week, month or a few times in a year. It lasts for several hours till some days. The experience is painful and pulsating leaving a person weak and leading o mood changes.

The most important thing to do then is observe one’s diet carefully, list out the factors which you think increase or trigger the intensity of your headaches. Many people get typical symptoms before the start of the headache. Migraine headache relief is not easy to achieve, but there are definitely some preventive medicines and techniques which one must take under the guidance of a specialist. One could also change their diet plans accordingly, exercise more (particular exercises) and change a certain lifestyle for better results.

Other reasons for headaches can also simply be weak eyes, high stress levels, no sleep or food etc. in either case, prevention is better than cure.

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Dec 10, 2010 Posted Under: Alternative Medicine

What Is Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a process which is treated with the help of needles. The needles are inserted in to various parts of the body to relieve pain of for other therapeutic purposes. The origins of acupuncture are still not confirmed that in which century it has started, but we know that it has been originated from China.

In the modern times acupuncture treatments received a lot of criticism from the modern Chinese civil war and Chinese communist party leaders labeling acupuncture with different names such as superstitious and backward and creating a hurdle in scientific progress.

Acupuncture gained popularity when American president Richard Nixon visited China in 1972 and was shown a patient under going a surgery through acupuncture and the patient was fully awake and during the same time he was accompanied by a reporter of New York Times and he received a treatment through acupuncture and was stunned after receiving the treatment. He was so impressed with the treatment that he wrote an article relating to acupuncture which then gained its popularity.

In recent times if you have noticed a chart outside a doctors clinic doors showing body parts divided in to different zones. These zones are divided for the purposes of acupuncture as according to this treatment the needles are inserted in those positions and points which will then have an impact on the affected part.

Not only acupuncture helps proper flow of energy through your body but it also helps in regulating body functions and spiritual well being. This treatment has also been used to cure head aches, digestive disorders and asthma and apart from these problems it has been successfully used to cure and help against depression, phobias, addiction and eating disorders.

You should know that the human body is divided in to fourteen meridians or channels, one meridian for each of the twelve organs. Acupuncture pressure points are located along these meridians and some points have more than one function which means that acupuncturist might use them to cure other illness as well.

There are acupuncture points located on the back of the hands, thumb and first finger, acupuncturist use these points to cure constipation and other internal disorders. Another acupuncture point map is located at the base of the skull and along the gallbladder meridian. These points are used to cure flu and cough and also fever and headaches. There are so many pressure points in our body that can cure so many illnesses which we don’t even know.

The acupuncturist knows all the pressure points in human body and knows the exact points that are connected with different parts of our body. The needles are inserted in to specific parts of body so that proper flow of energy is established and relieve them of their illness.

When you have been treated by the acupuncturist you will then feel the flow of energy throughout your body in a new feel of physical and emotional harmony.

Remember to get treated from a proper licensed acupuncturist.

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Dec 09, 2010 Posted Under: Other

Healthy Eating Is The Key

When it comes to losing weight, there are so many options out there that it is easy to become distracted. There are diets that allow you to eat a whole lot of one thing as long as you steer well clear of something else, and there are exercise regimes that don’t involve much actual exercise. There seems to be an industry designed to think up ever more improbable ways of stopping weight gain, but when you come to really consider it, the only sure way to control your weight is to eat healthily.

Every human being has a certain calorific need, and if you exceed that without exercising to burn off the excess calories you will find that you gain weight. There are other considerations too, such as how many calories in a food come from fat, but in the main, it’s about getting the right balance of calories. You have to eat healthily to lose weight healthily and keep it off, and there is no getting around that fact.

Deciding on a diet to follow depends on showing common sense. It would be fantastic if we were able to eat what we wanted, do what we wanted and never gain weight. However, sacrifices are necessary if you want to live a healthy lifestyle and after a while they will become second nature. Eating healthily does not mean eating boring food – but we are conditioned to think that if it is good for you it cannot be fun. Breaking that particular mindset is the first key in a weight loss plan.

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