Ingredients for a Healthy Lifestyle - No Secrets, Just Common Sense

How much is enough water? The average person should drink 8 glasses of water per day and an extra glass for every 12 kg (25lbs) overweight.

I struggle to drink 5 glasses a day, but when I do, I have all systems go and my skin looks younger, because it is plumper.

Drinking enough water can also assist with weight loss, constipation, ‘babelaas’ or hangover.

If you weigh 150 lbs., strive to drink 75 ounces of water daily.

For those who use the Metric system, divide your weight (in kilograms) by 30 (e.g. if you weigh 70 kg you need 2.3 litres per day.

Warning: You can also drink too much water. This can be dangerous, especially if you have kidney problems.

How much is enough sleep?

According to some research the average is 8.1, so anything from 5 – 10 hours per day. If you are feeling sleepy in the afternoon, you may need more than you are getting. Take a 10 minute catnap. Too much sleep can leave you feeling groggy.

There are early risers and late risers that burn the midnight oil. You are the only one that can really work out what your real requirements are. If you start hallucinating, and it is not drug induced, and you are not schizophrenic, my bet is you need some sleep.

Enough exercise:

Exercise is fundamental to a Healthy Lifestyle. I know a number of people who groan at the e-word. The most strenuous exercise they do is to lift their arm to drink their favourite, coffee, soda, booze and to switch channels on the TV. Walking to the car is a “workout”… Just kidding!

Exercise has got a bad name in some circles, but, and, exercise can be fun. Running on a treadmill isn’t fun, but can be almost enjoyable if you’ve got some music or an interesting tape to listen to, but then you are not concentrating on your body, which is the whole idea. Isn’t it?

Find something that you enjoy; dancing, martial arts, swimming, playing ball with the kids, cycling, rollerblading, skiing, skating, bowls, gardening, even walking, as long as it gets the heart-rate up and the body moving. Yoga is a good all over body toner. You can also get exercise by taking the stairs rather than the elevator. Be creative, do plies while you are waiting for the coffee water to boil. Just don’t touch your toes in a short dress with someone standing behind you, it might be seen as an invitation.

Start slow if you haven’t been exercising. You don’t want to injure yourself, but stretch yourself to about 20% out of your comfort zone.

The benefits of exercise are legend. Just remember too much of anything isn’t good either.

The idea is to have sustained effort for at least 20 minutes. You should be doing some heavy breathing. If you are unable to talk, you are overdoing it. As you get fitter you will be able to go further, faster, longer.

Breathing space

Like breathing we need to breathe in and out. For a Healthy lifestyle, we can’t just have activity, we also need to chill, and be inactive - not only when we are asleep. We need to take a break so that we can recoup, re-energize, and regenerate.

“Live” food Eat food as close as possible to its original form, it has its highest vitamin, mineral and water content in that form. The more it is processed the less nutritious value it has. Eat a variety of food to get as many nutrients as possible. Eat enough, but not too much. If you take in more calories than the body needs, you are going to get fatter to the degree that you overeat. For a Healthy Lifestyle go slow on stimulants like coffee, chocolate and colas. I know it is a lot to ask, but we get angry when people chuck pollutants in the water, we should get angry when we chuck pollutants down our gullet. Convenience food Take-away and convenience foods usually have a higher sugar, salt, fat, preservatives and flavour enhancers content than is necessary, and it is nutritionally challenged. In some cases you may be giving your taste-buds a treat, but definitely not the rest of your body. Keep your convenience food intake to a minimum. If you can, avoid it like the plague.

How to Stay Healthy as We Get Older

More than ever, the average adult is looking for that miracle secret that will keep them young and healthy. There is no such secret formula or fountain of youth out there, the real trick to good health for adults is to put effort into diet, exercise, and personal maintenance.

The most important part of good health for adults is to make wellness a part of their daily routine. This doesn’t require any special arrangements, just attentiveness on the part of the consumer. Everyone is battered with a slew of articles and entries on health information, so it’s important to read through it carefully and consider it critically. Some articles are really worth reading, and the advice is simple and easy to follow. Other articles offer ideas that perpetuate old health myths, so be careful what you buy into. Before trying any diets for weight loss or better living, it’s important to ask yourself whether or not it seems healthy and effective. If there’s a question, it probably isn’t. Even so, it’s important for a healthy consumer to read labels carefully in order to spot toxins and other ingredients that aren’t good for your health such as excess sodium and cholesterol.

Another part of making wellness a part of daily living relates to diet. The healthiest diets are moderate ones that prescribe the consumption of a variety of foods. Too many diets recommend that it’s necessary to cut off an entire food group or significantly reduce them. The human body needs a variety of nutrients, and the basic food groups meet those nutritional needs. If you ever have questions about the specifics for your health, consider consulting a doctor or nutritionist. Just as actual nutrients are important, so is portion size. You want to eat enough to offer the necessary amount of calories for daily life, but you don’t want to give your body too many as it will be difficult to get rid of them later.

The best way to moderate calorie intake is to eat three small meals a day and snacks in between these meals. That way, your body is always metabolizing something, and you’ll never have to worry about low or high blood sugar. Another option is to take supplements that offer extra compounds including vitamins and minerals for strong muscles and bones as well as overall maintenance. And of course, drink water. You’ll be surprised what good comes from sixty-four ounces of water per day.

Good health for adults should include sufficient exercise. Besides burning calories and fat, exercise, especially for women, has added benefits. Weight training strengthens muscles and bones, which is especially important in the prevention of weakening bones. Cardiovascular exercise insures that the heart is fit and the lungs stay able. Pumping extra blood through the system is a great way to make sure all of your food’s nutrients are getting to every part of the body. Exercise has also been shown to promote healthy brain activity by assisting in brain tissue meant to insure that electronic signals get to one part of the brain to another in a more rapid and efficient manner. Finally, exercise is good for the spirit because it invites social activity and enjoyment.

How to Lose Weight Easily and Practically - No Matter Where You Are!

One of the most difficult aspects of losing weight for many people is the trouble sticking with restrictive diets while traveling, during the holidays or attending a party. Most party, holiday and restaurant fare simply is not designed to accommodate the large majority of diets currently making the circuit. It is possible; however, to lose weight easily and practically regardless of wherever you happen to be. Read on for more great tips to lose weight practically.

1. First, recognize that the key to losing weight practically often does not involve any type of restrictive diet. The key is planning ahead and focusing on eating healthy. For example, one great way to make sure you do not blow your diet when dining out or attending a party is to simply prepare ahead of time. Have a small meal before you leave home. This ensures you won't overeat on foods you shouldn't have when out.

2. When you're traveling or dining out, look at ways you can cut back on portions. Order an item from the appetizer menu and a small side salad. This tip keeps portion sizes under control but ensures you aren't starving while everyone else is munching.

3. If you are attending a party where there might happen to be lovely little dishes of food scattered about, make sure you fill up on water. Sipping a glass of water every hour will ensure you have something in your hand and keep your stomach full so you aren't tempted to overdo it on snack and buffet items.

4. It's also a good idea to look at ways you can modify foods you order. Ask for your meat to be broiled or roasted instead of fried, for example. Request that the sauce and butter be left off. These are small, but effective ways, you can keep your diet under control regardless of wherever you might happen to be.

5. Replace high-fat and high-calories snacks and treats with fruits and vegetables. Many times we tend to reach for whatever happens to be convenient when we are in the mood for a snack. If you are traveling, this is often the first convenience store you run across. Before you leave for your trip, pack a baggie with some veggies and fruit and then reach for that when the mid-afternoon munchies strike.

Sticking with your weight loss resolutions doesn't have to be difficult; it simply requires a little planning and creativity.

Green Tea To Lose Weight

The many beneficial health properties of green tea are still being discovered; this wonder herb contains ingredients which are still being researched but it is most famous for its antioxidant properties. People requiring a natural product to burn calories will not find anything to compare with green tea weight loss supplements.

In addition to weight loss functions, it can also help slow the signs of aging by helping to speed up the regenerative functions of the cells. Although it is the toxin removal and laxative qualities that help with weight loss when taken regularly. The product increases the metabolic rate and the number of calories burnt so less fatty tissue forms.

This said, green tea weight loss supplements still need the help of the person using them because if you are eating large amounts of junk food every day without any physical activity then you will still put on weight. It is important to remember that weight loss also requires a person to completely change their eating habits otherwise just consuming the product will be a waste of time.

If you use green tea as a drink then the best time to take this is just before you retire for the night. Although it may at first seem a little scary, it has a strange effect on the body and as a consequence the stomach and bowls may not work as they should while you become accustomed to it during the first few days. By making adjustments to the metabolic rate, the body will not retain toxins long enough to enter the blood; this is how green tea weight loss products work. Providing you stick to your diet which would include exercise, an increase in fluids and vegetables you will see benefits within seven days of starting your diet.

Often, green tea is combined with other products to work more effectively and one such product is ginseng. Ginseng has also been used in China and Tibet for many thousands of years and helps by adding vitamins and minerals to supplement those already being used in the detoxification process.

Increasing the energy and vitality level of the user, ginseng is a valuable addition to green tea products especially for people trying to get back to what should be their normal weight. Although safe to use, ginseng and green tea are not normally used for periods beyond six months at a time.

The Vegetarian Weight Loss Diet

Carbs have been demonized in our modern culture, but when you dig into solid nutrition practices you realize that a well balanced diet is essential to great health. This means consuming foods from every food group, including carbohydrates.

When you consume a well balanced diet rich in natural plant sourced foods, you will lose weight and feel more energetic than ever. In designing your vegetarian weight loss diet, just make certain to include healthy sources of lean protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Benefits of Lean Protein

You may know a few avid runners, but did you know that they use lean protein sources to boost their energy for those long runs? It's true! Protein has a variety of benefits inside the body:

* Fueling the muscles for intense activity.
* Building up lean muscle mass.
* Providing long term energy.

Protein is also a great appetite suppressant since it is digested slower in the body and keeps you full between meals.

Many people attack vegetarians because it is believed they eat very little protein. This is entirely untrue. Just because you aren't eating animal sources of protein doesn't mean you can't balance your meals to incorporate natural protein sources.

Consider some of the best protein sources when following a vegetarian weight loss diet:

* Nuts
* Nut Butters
* Soy
* Meat Substitute Products
* Low Fat Dairy

Not only are all of these protein sources lower in saturated fat than animal sources, but they are more complete sources of protein that will benefit your body more.

Your vegetarian weight loss diet will also benefit from the calcium that comes form the low fat dairy sources.

Benefits of Healthy Fat

You may be shocked to find fat listed as a valuable component of a vegetarian weight loss diet, but keep reading. Fats are completely misunderstood today and few people realize that healthy fat can keep them full between meals, helping them lose weight faster!

Healthy fats are unsaturated fats that come from natural foods such as olives, olive oil, avocados, and nuts. You don't want to go overboard with any type of fat, but they definitely have a place in any well balanced diet.

Unsaturated fat can actually help cure and prevent heart disease! Heart disease is caused by the build-up of plaque inside the artery walls, but unsaturated fat goes in and cleans that plaque out. Increasing levels of good cholesterol and reducing bad cholesterol, these fats are the best thing you can do for your heart.

You know the worst thing you can do is go on a diet that leaves you hungry and feeling empty. Consuming these healthy fats will keep you feeling full and satisfied so that doesn't happen.

Benefits of Carbohydrates

If there is one food source that vegetarians are never deprived of, it is carbohydrates. A a vegetarian you will eat a lot of carbs and they can be used to gain energy when it is most needed, but you have to be careful when you consume them and which ones you choose.

Avoid high carb foods that are very starchy, made with white refined flour, or which have a high content of sugar. These foods will stand in the way of your weight loss.

The majority of your carbs on a vegetarian weight loss diet should be fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. You can eat pasta and bread but make sure it is 100% whole wheat or whole grain so you don't cause blood sugar spikes and crashes. These foods will also be packed with a lot more fiber.

Quick Warning about Soy

You can use soy as a vegetarian protein source, but it may slow your weight loss or even lead to thyroid problems if you go overboard. It shouldn't be a staple that you rely upon daily. Some people may be able to handle more than others, so seek a doctor for advice if you want to consume larger amounts of soy.

Tricks to Avoid Weight Gain During Holiday

Most people think they are gaining 7 to 10 pounds during the holiday or festive seasons due to parties and open houses, where they serve all kind of food and all that you can eat dishes. So is this true? Well, it’s not actually. According to the statistics, people only gain a mere 1 pound during the holidays but most cases, they will unable to shake off this gained weight.

So here are some quick tips on how you can avoid gaining weight during the holiday season.

Don’t skip meals

If you’re hungry, you will eat more. As simple as that.

Don’t go to a buffet with an empty stomach

If you’re hungry, eat something like fruits or vegetables to avoid being too hungry when going to a buffet.

Drink lots of water.

This is important because usually they serve high calories beverages or alcohol. If you feel thirsty, then you have no choice other than drinking those. Avoid getting thirsty as much as you can.

Use sugar substitute

Try to use an alternative to sugar when preparing dishes but remember to try avoiding compromising the taste of the dishes.

Eat with care.

Think of the food in front of you. Eat consciously and don’t take too much if it’s high in calories.

Eat slowly.

Your food takes approximately 15 minutes to reach the stomach. By eating slowly, you will feel stuffed although the amount you took is different. This prevents consuming more food and avoiding more calories.

Beware of stress eating

You should avoid eating when you’re under pressure. Eating when you’re stressed usually ending up eating more.

Watch calories.

Try to avoid food with high calories.

Try not to overeat.

I know that some foods are only available during the holiday. You will not have these kind of food available any other time. Don’t eat like this is your last meal of that certain food. If you stay healthy, there’s always next year!

Stay active.

Don’t think that holiday season is where you can lay around in couch watching TV all day and eat as much as you can. You have to keep fit and exercise as usual. Don’t let go of your normal routine. Walk around the house or take a quick jog around the neighborhood should help you in keeping fit.

Simple & Effective Weight Loss Tips

Fact: There are a lot of people that want to lose weight.
Fact: Not many people understand that losing weight is not rocket science.

In fact, it’s quite simple. Losing weight requires a few things: determination, a routine, and a well planned out diet and exercise. As well as consistency; you cannot stop for a week and then start another week. You’ll just be moving in circles. Listed below are simple, but effective weight loss tips. Remember, you must take action to see any type of results. Don’t just read it; do it!

Start a weight journal

Get a weight journal or notebook and label it “food journal” or “food notebook”. This is the first step you’ll take in losing weight. Your journal or notebook will help you monitor how much weight you have that day against how much you have the next. As well as what you are eating and how much of it you are eating. Be consistent with this and be honest! No one is going to hold your hand through this. If you cheat, you’ll be only cheating yourself.

Start breaking habits.

You need to break all your bad habits. Over eating sugary sweets, and over indulging too much food. They need to stop and you need to start portioning out your meals, snacks, and in-between foods. I understand that old habits are hard to break, but it is for the greater good. In the long run, the junk food that you consumed will be replaced with healthy, but satisfactory food and snacks. Remember, how diets can influence your quest in losing weight!

Don’t be a couch potato.

If you have time to watch TV, then definitely you have time to go for a walk, run, or do some exercises. Use your television time for exercise. If you’re too lazy to go outside, then get an exercise machine in your house. Replace your old ways with new ones. Come up with an exercise routine that is suitable and fun for you. Consider bring in a friend or two to work out with you. Start changing your ways and keep thinking what you can do to lose weight. Continuously refine the methods and techniques and you’ll be on your way to a much healthier and skinnier life.

Simple Solutions For Losing Weight

Millions of Americans look into their mirrors and feel disgusted or ashamed of their weight. This is common, in fact, obesity is a huge problem in our country; However, you don’t need to be one of them. You can get rid of your fat with dedication and some planning. We have listed below some solutions to get you started. Take them into action and watch your trim line decline!

“Cheat foods” are something you should be only having once in a while. They’re the foods that shouldn’t be in your diet, but you have an extreme craving for. You don’t have to stay away from them completely, but you shouldn’t make it a habit eating them daily. Try once in every two weeks. This could be ice cream, chocolates, or any other “cheat food”.

Be meticulous about your fat intake. It is a fact that there is about 9 calories in every fat per gram. By reading the label, you allow yourself to manage your fat intake. It should never be higher than 30% of the food. More than that, you might as well be eating lard.

Salt is a huge obesity demon. You need to take drastic measures on this one and cut your salt intake by half from the following year. Measure your salt intake by pinches. One pinch for a meal is usually enough for an entire plate. Not only that, you have to watch over your diet and carefully selected your ingredients since you need to avoid allergies

Kill frying and try baking. It needs less oil and fat and will give you a much better taste — opinions of course vary. However, the health fact never changes. Baking over frying always wins.

Become wiser, start choosing low fat substitutes or no fat substitutes. The usual scene is someone going to the grocery store and picking out what they normally eat; no real thinking involved. You need to be extremely meticulous and observant. There are so many new products that hit the shelves on a weekly to monthly basis. Check for a possible substitute. One that is healthier for you. Take care of your body, get into a healthier lifestyle and your body will be responsive — and happy!

Muscle Building as a Workout

Generally speaking, most men don’t really care about their health. Just a small number of men took care of their health right from the start. Others only start when it’s already too late and that’s a shame. They know that exercise is important in keeping their health in balance, but they’re too lazy to do it. If you think you have this kind of issue, then hear me out.

One thing that most men fancy about is their body. They will do everything to make them look presentable in front of others, especially women and close friends. If you think you have this motivation, you still have a chance to redeem yourself. You can do many things for working out, outdoors or indoors.

If you’re the type of person who loves to stay at home, then you can try to start with body building. You can either go to gym for working on your muscles, or you can do it at the convenience of your home. There’s no need at all to go out and get stuck in the traffic jams for working out. If you’re in this situation, it’s better for you to exercise at home rather than wasting your time. It’s better to use the time to work out rather than get stuck in the traffic jam.

You don’t need to buy all the expensive things to start your own body building gym at home. All you need to have for starters is a set of dumbbells. If you have a small space allocated to the purpose or you want it neat, then I recommend you to get a set of powerblock dumbell. With their unique design, you will not have a messy room of dumbbells like the usual dumbbells. Start with a normal weight and don’t overdo yourself, or you’ll might hurt yourself. Keep working on as long as you feel you can go and remember to turn off air conditioning in the room so that you’ll sweat much more. In case you feel uneasy with the air flow, open up a few windows to allow the air flow into the room.

We will look more into body building tips in future posts. Remember to work constantly and don’t lift a weight that is too much for you. There’s no reason to work out only to get injured.

Cardio Fitness Will Help You Live Longer

Cardio fitness, also known as cardio respiratory endurance, is a vital part of every exercise routine, which is geared towards enhancing an individual’s health and well-being. Improved cardiovascular fitness aids in enhancing muscular endurance and allows the body to sustain various activities for certain duration of time by providing oxygen-rich blood to the lungs, heart and the vascular system. A good cardiovascular fitness helps improve physiologic and psychological health through fitness components, enhanced target rates and intense cardio workouts.

Cardio Workouts: Improving Cardio Fitness

Exercise plans that are aimed at enhancing cardio respiratory endurance are also known as cardio workouts and usually contain three general components.

• Constant implementation. Most cardio workout routines need to be performed three to five times a week. Alternate your workout plans with your rest days. However, there are mild cardio exercises that can be performed everyday if it doesn’t really strain the body’s muscular or skeletal system.

• Specific time duration. Most fitness plans are geared towards the improvement of the heart’s cardiovascular system and should be performed in less than twenty minutes. Longer cardio routines usually result in an increased heart and vascular endurance.

• Sustained cardio intensity levels. Efficient cardio workouts would need that your target heart rate to be achieved at a certain predetermined duration of time based on desired outcomes and fitness levels.

Before starting any fitness plan, a routine physical check up and consult should be done by the physician. The physical assessment provides information pertaining to a person’s overall health, potential problems and other aspects where cardio fitness workouts and strength training can be utilized in preventing future health risks.

Cardio Adaptation in Weight Lifting

During weight lifting, your heart muscle contractions compress the blood vessels, the heart exerts more effort to supply blood to the cells of the body and there is an increased resistance to the blood flow. As a rule, the stronger a person becomes, the more muscles you develop. The left ventricle’s muscular wall also thickens so the heart is able to cope with an increased blood pressure. This is how weight lifting improves a person’s cardio fitness. A good way to keep your heart and lungs healthy is by regularly exercising.

Men’s Concern: Prostate Cancer

Males are also prone to cancer that is gender specific, females can have gender specific cancers such as breast or ovarian cancer, and men can be diagnosed with prostate cancer. This cancer happens when damaged cells of the prostate multiply vicariously causing a tumor. A change in the size of the prostate, problems with urinating, and difficulty in getting an erection are some of the adverse effects of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is most likely to happen to men who are over 50. Of course, this cancer can only happen to men because women don’t have prostate glands. It is the second most common cancer for the American men following lung cancer. But studies show that men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer don’t die from it. Unlike most cancer, prostate cancer is slow in developing. Strangely enough most men with prostate cancer die of other causes.

As mentioned earlier, two symptoms of possible prostate cancer diagnosis is having pains while urinating and having difficulty in getting an erection. Sometimes, the symptoms are frequent urination, mostly at night. If diagnosed men do get an erection, ejaculation is painful.

Prostate cancer is determined from a physical examination. A possible inflicted person has to go through a blood test. X-rays and bone scans are also performed, just to check whether the cancer has already spread.

This is because advanced prostate cancer may lead to other symptoms like bone pain, pain in the pelvis and ribs. If not detected early on, prostate cancer may advanced and continue to have side effects on the spinal cord of the suspected patient, thus his legs weaken and even his way of walking will be affected.

Some hospitals conduct screening tests because this is their attempt to help out those who didn’t suspect they have prostate cancer. Unlike women, men don’t go to their urologists regularly. As of 2006, prostate cancer screening tests also include a prostate specific antigen blood test and digital rectal exam.

Stages of prostate cancer are the TNM system. These are a series of tests that show the results whether a T1, T2, T3 or T4 cancer are found in the prostate. Strength of the pelvic bones and random bone scans near the prostate are also conducted. They also check seminal vesticles.

The sample, which is the semen, is taken under a microscope to be examined by a pathologist. From there, he’d see how much tissue has already been damaged by the cancer. The Gleason system is the chart that indicates the abnormality in the prostate cancer effects, 10 being the most abnormal.

Treatment for prostate cancer is hormone therapy, radiation therapy or surgery. Often times, chemotherapy combined with the mention three can also help. Factors that affect the condition of a man with prostate cancer and the rate of how fast the virus can spread are his age and his octogene history. Case study of prostate cancer leads to a conclusion that is a disease for older men.

Causes of prostate cancer are also unknown, just like women who have ovarian cancers. Prostate cancer has a 50-50 chance of striking an individual, either you have it or not. If you do have prostate cancer, go to your nearest urologist. Unlike other cancers, prostate cancer when detected early on has a better chance to be cured.

Healthy Diet Foods That Fight Cancer

For decades doctors and researchers have spent both huge amounts of time and money trying to discover the causes cancer, how to cure it and how best to prevent it. Only to discover that one of the most effective ways to fight cancer is by eating foods that have been at our disposal for hundreds of years. While no food can fight cancer all on its own eating a variety of foods that provide cancer fighting abilities can reduce our chances of getting cancer and may even improve out chances of surviving it if we do get it.

How Foods Fight Cancer

While there are a lot of technical terms to explain how foods help fight cancer, the simple and easiest explanation to understand is simply, that certain foods contain vitamins, minerals and nutrients necessary to strengthening your immune system which aids in fighting a variety of diseases including cancer. Other foods have specific nutrients that help block or attack free radicals that cause cancer and some foods are believed to actual deactivate carcinogens and suppress cancer growth.

Think Green

Including a lot of green vegetables in your diet will help fight cancer. Green leafy vegetables such as cabbage, spinach and kale, all contain vitamins and minerals that will enhance your bodies immune system and fight cancer. Chili and Jalapeno peppers will also aid in your fight against cancer by preventing the activation of cancer causing chemicals.

Broccoli is one of the best cancer foods available today. It has a number of vitamins and nutrients that will deactivate carcinogens and are believed to aid in suppressing the growth of cancer cells in the body.

Red and Orange Vegetables

Red and orange vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes all contain antioxidants as well as a variety of other vitamins that will strengthen your immune system. Eating one or two servings of these colorful vegetables along with green vegetables daily will help you to build an immune system that is strong in cancer fighting vitamins and minerals.

Fruits

Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and limes all contain high doses of anti oxidants. These fruits actually stimulate cancer killing immune cells. Figs, red grapes, papayas, raspberries, strawberries, and apples can help to neutralize cancer causing chemicals.

Herbs and Spices

There is a variety of herbs and spices that can help fight cancer. Turmeric and Ginger are two spices that fight cancer by actually tricking the cancer cells into attacking one another rather than attacking healthy cells. Garlic interferes with the cancer causing enzymes.

There are many other foods that help fight cancer and strengthen your immune system. Nuts, green and black tea, soy, onions, the list goes on and on. For those wishing to partake in a diet of cancer fighting foods the best approach is to follow the food pyramid. By making sure that the vegetable portions contain a lot of green, red and orange vegetables we can further help our bodies defend against cancer cell growth.

Just as we can eat our way to poor health, we can also eat our way to good health. Choosing those foods that are high in anti oxidants, beta-carotene and all the vitamins and minerals necessary to build a strong immune system and activate our body’s ability to fight cancer.

Cure Stress - Start With The Roots

Stress has roots that run very deep, and the scary thing about them is they can create self-fulfilling behavior. Therefore, if you happen to be chronically stressed, and start feeling badly, things begin to look the same way, and before you know it, those feelings transform into feelings of dread, which make things look even worse.

Stress is therefore a physical response to events that disrupt your balance and make you feel threatened. In order to deal with it effectively, it is necessary to prune the roots. That is, you have to look at the events that are causing you stress, as well as your response of them.

It is almost impossible to live with stress on a long-term basis, as chronic stress can be harmful both physically, and emotionally. Stress becomes chronic when it occurs over an extended period of time. This is usually the case when you experience a number of setbacks, with which you feel unable to cope.

The genesis of stress is therefore the internal pressure that is generated by your contemplating a certain event. If an individual concludes that a particular situation is one they will not be able to cope with, then immediately, pressure builds, and physical symptoms manifest.

This really explains why two persons will experience the same circumstance and one will be stressed, and the other will not. The person who is stressed believes they will not be able to deal with the situation, while the person who responds calmly has every confidence in their ability to cope.

Curing stress must therefore deal with these roots, the occurrence and your evaluation of it. It must involve making adjustments to how you evaluate events, and how you determine your capability to respond well. Curing stress involves making realistic assessments, identifying stress triggers, coming up with solutions, and evaluating your response.

It is necessary to be realistic about the situation, if it is one that is irreversible, and then it must be acknowledged as such. Focus on those things that remain in your life that are valuable. Make the effort to refocus and learn to be hopeful. Instead of being stressed by situations that are only temporary, view them as momentary challenges that need to be overcome, because essentially that is what they are. They are not unique, because they would certainly have happened before, and will happen again to someone else. Whether it is the loss of a job, financial problems, divorce, death, it doesn’t matter, because it is a situation that occurs during the course of life.

You also have to be able to honestly identify the events, places, people and things in your life, which you believe are causing you stress. Then carefully examine them and see how the stress can be minimized. Look for solutions to the stressors that you have identified. Evaluate and adjust your response to the occurrences. Make a determination of how you can realistically deal with it, and see it for what it is, no more and no less.

It is also important to recognize that whatever happens can be dealt with when approached objectively. Appreciate the fact that while the situation may initially appear devastating, you will recover. If necessary, seek help in learning how to build your confidence, so that you do not become overwhelmed when faced with difficulties.

Strawberry: A Healthy Fruity Favorite

Strawberry milkshakes. Strawberry jam. Strawberry ice cream. Strawberry pie. Who doesn’t love the sweet, tart, and unmistakable taste of strawberries? Strawberries are cultivated worldwide, so the answer is probably not many people. They are beautiful, bright red, and smell heavenly. They are often eaten fresh, or in one of the treats listed above; in fact, their flavor is also reproduced and used in commercial food products.

An accessory fruit, derived from the plant’s receptacle instead of the ovaries, strawberries were first grown in France in the year 1740. They were really a hybrid of two different types of strawberry, a cross between the Fragaria Virginiana of North America (famous for its flavor) and the Fragaria Chiloensis from Chile and Argentine (famous for its size). Now, growers produce the woodland strawberry, first grown in the early seventeenth century.

Strawberries vary across color, size, flavor, ripening season, likelihood of succumbing to disease, and shape. Often the foliage of the plants is different as well. Growing methods vary as well, and cultivators use either the plasticulture method or the method of matted rows. Sometimes, in the off-season, strawberries are grown in greenhouses. Most growers use the plasticulture system to grow their strawberries.

Raised beds are formed and then covered in plastic after being fumigated. The plants are put through holes, and then irrigation tubes are placed under the plastic. The plastic prevents weeds from growing around the plant beds. At harvest time, the plastic is taken away. This system requires a long growing season, and invites high costs due to making and plastic coating the mounds. In colder climates, it is more common for growers to use the method of matted rows. It requires less maintenance and costs less to implement, but yields fewer fruit.

Another method of growing strawberries uses a compost sock, which gives strawberries with higher ORAC, or oxygen radical absorbance capacity, flavonoids, glucose, anthocyanins, fructose, malic acid, sucrose, and citric acid than fruit grown through other methods. Strawberries can also be grown by seed, but it’s not a widely used method in the commercial market. Seeds can be collected from the fruit themselves. Many people grow them at home in pots.

Strawberries are typically harvested and cleaned in the traditional way. Strawberries must be harvested by hand. The fleshy fruit are quite delicate, and machine processing would simply smash them. The packing and grading of the fruit happens in the field. Water streams and bumping, shaking conveyor belts wash the fruit as they move through processing. The United States produces the majority of the world strawberry market, followed by Spain and Turkey.

Many pests attack strawberries, including aphids, strawberry sap beetles, fruit flies, slugs, chafers, moths, strawberry root weevils, strawberry crown moths, strawberry thrips, and mites. Additionally, strawberries are not immune to diseases, and succumb to gray mold, leaf spot, rhizopus rot, leaf blight, verticillium wilt, red stele, black root rot, powdery mildew, nematodes, and slime molds. A windy area can prevent a fungus from growing.

In addition to being easy to cultivate, strawberries are also very nutritious fruit. They are a great source of flavonoids and vitamin C, and have few calories. Strawberries are an excellent source of fiber, potassium, and calcium. They also have beauty benefits; it is rumored that rubbing raw strawberries over your teeth will actually whiten them!

Sadly, some people are allergic to strawberries. The most common allergy is through oral consumption, but may also occur in the form of hives or breathing problems. For those with the allergy, white-fruited strawberries may be the answer. They lack the protein necessary for normal ripening, and so do not turn red. They are almost completely allergen-free!

Hopefully, everyone, even those with allergies, enjoy strawberries when they can. They are delicious, nutritious, and employ benefits for the body, both inside and out.

Different Types of Muscle Injuries

If you're an athlete or you go to the occasional muscle injury can be a matter of common and contracted. However, all too often people confuse different types of muscle or musculoskeletal injuries-for example, mixing a muscle strain with a sprain. There are various types of muscle injury, some of which can be cured simply and others that require the help of a physiotherapist. Here is a brief guide on how to distinguish between different types of muscle or musculoskeletal injuries.

One of the most common types of injuries experienced by athletes and physically active it muscle effort. A strain of muscle usually indicates injury to a muscle or tendon, the tissue that connects muscles to bones, and symptoms are localised swelling, cramps and inflammation. Some strains are caused simply by a muscle or tendon whisk, while others may be the result of a tear or rip. Common strains include hamstring strain and strain, while the rear elbow strain can be particularly prevalent in people who participate in racquet sports or activities involving throwing constant.

Distortions, on the other hand, involve ligaments or tendons rather than muscles. Ligaments join one bone to another, and these are more commonly congested and distortion of the ankle and wrist. Symptoms of distortion ligament include pain, swelling and impaired function in the affected area and, as a muscle strain, may vary in intensity. With sprains and strains, it is important to act quickly to help the healing process, before the injury develops in a chronic (long-term). Chronic muscle injury can be severely disabling and affect the mobility and the possibility of practising sport for the rest of their life of a person.

Similar to sprains and strains is repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), a musculoskeletal condition that affects the tendons and joints that are subjected to constant minor strokes. These can accumulate in a major strain in time and cause inflammation and pain. RSI can affect in particular the ones with bad posture, bad sleep positions and people carrying heavy items on a regular basis. According to a 2008 study, 68 percent of office workers in the United Kingdom has suffered from some form of CSR, with most common injuries in the back, wrists and shoulders.

If you'd like more information about muscles and muscle injuries, talk with your doctor or physiotherapist should be able to provide the necessary material. Bearing in mind this information should help distinguish between actual muscle injuries that require the attention of a doctor, and cramps that occur more frequently due to dehydration and inadequate warm-up before use. You can avoid cramps and muscle injuries minor from heat adequately before exercise or sport. Accelerate your heart rate before jumping or running in place and then making some fundamental traits of loosen your muscles and make them more flexible.

Smaller Waist Makes Us Live Longer

Belly fat is embarrassing, let's face it. And it puts a crimp on your confidence. (Hesitant to peel your shirt of at the beach recently?)

Well, recent research has uncovered that when it comes to belly fat, vanity should be the least of your worries. Too much abdominal fat is outright dangerous to your health.

If you are a woman and your waistline is more than 35 inches around, your risk of getting heart disease goes up dramatically. If your waist is less than 35 inches, your risk of heart disease is significantly less.

If you are a man, have 40+ inches on the waist, same deal. Get your waist below 40 inches, your risk for heart disease goes down significantly.

A research paper titled "The Ratio of Waist-to-Hip Circumference, Plasma Insulin Level, and Glucose Intolerance as Independent Predictors of the HDL2 Cholesterol Level in Older Adults" published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that people with smaller waists produced higher levels of HDL cholesterol compared to those with larger waistlines.

HDL cholesterol is the healthy kind of cholesterol to have in your body. It takes LDL cholesterol (the unhealthy one) and transports it to the liver where the LDL is processed and then excreted out of the body.

So the higher the levels of HDL cholesterol in your body, the more LDL cholesterol is cleared from your bloodstream and the less it can reach high levels in your body.

When LDL cholesterol reaches high levels it gets the ball rolling in the process that leads to heart disease.

LDL cholesterol gets lodged in small cracks in the lining of arteries, whereupon it becomes oxidized. Once oxidized the LDL becomes a more dangerous form a lipid and damages surrounding cells. White blood cells come running to the rescue to try and stop the damage … and this is the beginning of what becomes a plaque, a crusty swelling on the lining of the artery. Plaques eventually calcify and become hard and brittle.

The proliferation of plaques along artery walls around the heart is the basic condition of atherosclerosis. When left unaddressed, this condition usually culminates in a heart attack.

Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in Western countries.

By identifying that "the level of HDL2 cholesterol was inversely correlated with the ratio of the waist-to-hip circumference" this research paper has shown us a tangible thing that we can do to improve our health, and live longer.

Losing belly fat and reducing your waistline (35 inches or less for women, 40 inches or less for men) helps your body produce higher levels of HDL cholesterol, which in turn reduces LDL cholesterol levels, and risk of heart attack.

If you could extend your lifespan a decade or two by slimming down and losing a bit of fat … would you?

Calculate Your Fat Percentage

A calculator of body fat percentage isn't just for athletes. This is an ideal companion for anyone interested in getting fit and staying healthy. Why you should use a calculator of body fat percentage allows you to calculate how much actually lost fat. When you're sticking to your working out religiously, it can be frustrating if you feel that you're not making any progress. Using a calculator, you might be pleasantly surprised. If you just stand on weighing scales, it is muscle as well. Building muscle is great, but will be more heavy, even though you're healthier. For example, you might think you've just lost 10 pounds, when in reality actually lost 30 pounds of fat and gained 20 pounds of muscle.

How it works? First of all, you need to take a number of body measurements. These include not only your height and weight, but also your waist, neck, and, if you're female, hips. This is what the percentage of body fat will be used to calculate your fat. How much percentage is healthy depends on your sex. For women, a healthy percentage is between 14 and 17 per cent. Females who score 30 percent or more are considered obese. 14-17 Per cent for men, is ideal. Obesity in men is 20 percent or more. Athletes, regardless of gender, goal 6 to 13 percent. Maintain a healthy weight A body fat chart is a great way to see how healthy you really are. Is what you refer to when you want to calculate the fat.

This is a tool used by professional nutritionists and other health experts to determine whether a patient is overweight or not. Once you have calculated the body fat percentage using a calculator, you can refer to the chart. Men and women are different charts of the fact that they contain different levels of fat when healthy. In general, the chart has five columns: essential fats, obesity, fitness, and athletes. A number of graphs include the age, obese, overweight, underweight, healthy. If you check in a column, you will find the percentage. You can then use your figure and see which column is below.

The best column to be below is fitness. But if you really want to be root, you should be directed to the athlete. But, with the goal to the average percentage is ideal. If you're overweight, you see that it is necessary to pay a few pounds. If you fall under the obese column, you must seriously consider the next steps that you should take to lose weight. If you're dieting, body fat calculator is a great indicator of how much you lose fat. A body fat chart indicates how healthy you are. A calculator of body fat percentage is an easy way to figure out how to insert six. Fast and easy to download is a much better indicator than you should lose the fat.