Healthy Habits!!

Habit 1: Drink more water.
Sure, I know about all the news reports that say it's possible to drink too much water.

Surprisingly, this same story is told just about every 4 years when news stations have no other "news" going on, and it always seems to stir up all sorts of awareness on the topic. The truth is, in all my years of guiding individuals on proper nutrition, I have yet to run into one person who had an H2O disorder.

A well-hydrated body has a much easier time at shedding unwanted body fat and preserving lean muscle mass. A healthy, active individual should be consuming .6 - .7ounces of water per pound of body weight.

Habit 2: Eat more fiber.
I'll say it again. People do not get nearly enough fiber in their diets. Work on trying to get anywhere from 25 - 30 grams of fiber per day into your eating plan. Fiber provides a plethora of benefits from increasing the thermic effect (calories burned from digestion) of a meal, to trapping and evacuating excess fats.

Habit 3: Eat every 3 hours.
Start splitting your larger meals up into smaller, more frequent bouts of eating. Spreading your calories throughout the day allows for an increase in metabolism and insures that none of the nutrients you are consuming go to waste.

This can be difficult for many people who maintain busy lifestyles, which is why I suggest picking one or two days a week to do all of your cooking. At that point, Tupperware containers become your new best friend.

Habit 4: Eat more fruits and vegetables.
And eat a large variety as well. The more colors you consume the better. They're packed with fat-burning fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

We all know that vegetables are gold, but when it comes to fruit, it sometimes gets a bad rep. I often get the question "but doesn't fruit have a lot of sugar in it?" Again, I have yet to meet the person who has a well-balanced diet who has found that fruit was the main reason they couldn't let go of the extra body fat.

Get over it. If you're obese fruit isn't the culprit. Take a long look at everything else you're eating, and I'm positive you'll find something a little more worthy to drop.

Habit 6: Choose organic and local foods when possible.
There is no doubt in my mind that we will start to see more and more studies come out showing the adverse effects of consuming over-processed food. It's only a matter of time.

Digestion is a delicate process, a process our bodies have spent hundreds of thousands of years perfecting. In just the past few decades we have started introducing extra hormones, antibiotics, and other impurities into our foods. Our bodies have filters that take care of these things, but let's not put them to the test.

Habit 7: Reduce the amount of sugars consumed.
At this point it should be a no-brainer. If anything good has come from the hundreds of diet books written this past decade, it's the awareness that controlling your blood sugar is crucial to achieving optimal health. The sweets do not have to be eliminated from your diet completely, but you should have them well under control.

Habit 8: Stop going to the super market hungry.
Real simple. If you're hungry, you'll buy what you want, not what you need.

Our bodies are still hard-wired for survival. Unfortunately when you stroll down the aisle at your local food supply your brain will target just about anything in your field of vision and deem it an acceptable choice of nourishment, regardless of its nutritional value.

Habit 9: Take regular stand up breaks at work.
Do it for your posture, do it for circulation, and do it for your own sanity. Our bodies were not designed to be in a seated position all day long.

You could prevent much of life's chronic pains if you would just take a moment to stand up and stretch your legs every 30 or 40 minutes. Set a timer on your desktop if you have to; just get it done.

Habit 10: Start using the stairs instead of the elevator.
Even park farther away from your destination so you have to walk a few extra steps in the day. Adding a tiny bit of extra footwork can add up at the end of the year. I know it's not exciting or drastic, but the difference can be a few extra pounds that you don't need hanging around your waist.

Habit 11: Balance your physical and sedentary activities.
I'm talking about what you do with your free time. Have you ever spent a couple of hours on the weekend watching TV, playing video games, or browsing the Internet looking at cat pictures?

Try to create some balance by doing an equal amount of leisure activities on your feet. Take a walk, shoot some hoops, and maybe take up a new physically active hobby. Who knows, you might find something new you really like.

Habit 12: Keep a health journal.
One of the most powerful ways to be successful with your health is to write it all down.

Keep track of your workouts and your nutrition. It can be very hard to figure out where you're going if you don't remember where you've been. You'll be giving yourself a point of reference so you can truly see if any of the changes you make are creating a difference. If they're not, then at least you know that and can change your plan of action and recalibrate.

A lot of times we get a little too ambitious when it comes to our New Year's resolutions and try to take on more than we can handle. This inevitably leads to failure. Start with the small habits and work your way up the fitness ladder for a more subtle and long-term experience.

Handling Depression!!

However, there are lots of people who have to face disappointments while handling certain things. These disappointments can easily lead to depression which is a tough thing to deal with. But, if you will keep few things in mind, you will become able to come out of the depression without much ado.

First of all, you must understand that depression is not just a feeling as it can hurt you mentally and physically. When you feel depressed, you body starts to release certain hormones. For instance, the level of cortisol gets increased in times of depression which can eventually affect neurotransmitter serotonin. This is something that can lead to clinical depression. So, you must never take things lightly as this can create a lot of problem if you will show carelessness.

In order to handle depression, you must try to go through the causes of depression. Although, it is difficult to find exact causes, but, there will surely be few things which will be triggering your depression. If you will become able to find those, it will become relatively easier for you to handle depression.

However, when someone will be under depression, he will never be able to think about the causes and that’s what complicates the whole situation. Here, it is the job of the friends and family members to heal a depressed person. One thing that can be done to help someone getting out of depression is to talk with him.

If you are having a friend suffering with depression, then you must get in touch with him. Try to talk with him over certain things. Here, you can always talk about his favorite topics as this will entice him to take part in conversation. But, you must keep in mind that you may have to face a harsh response from a depressed friend which should be understandable. You must always tell yourself that your help can really work wonders for your friend.

After getting out of this first phase, things will be a bit easier to handle. You must try to take him along with you for an outing. Once the other person will start to feel that the life is beautiful, then your job will be over. This will be the time when a person can take control over his emotions by changing his routines. Exercising, running and walking can really help in order to get back on track.

However, taking a sufficient amount of sleep is of utmost importance and that’s where all types of stimulants should be avoided.

As a whole, it can easily be deduced that if you want to get out of depression, then you will have to keep yourself busy. You can talk with other people, join a gym or take part in certain house chores. All these activities will keep you away from negative thoughts and you will become able to beat depression.

Spotting Medical Problems!!

Some medical symptoms are warnings that you need immediate care. Health, Body and Mind shows you how to recognise them

Courtsey:Jeanie Lerche Davis

Like red-light warnings on the dashboard, the human body sends out a flare when something's awry. Chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness - those are some familiar medical symptoms. But other problems can creep up on you, too - aches and pains, lumps and bumps. It's necessary to know when they are important and when they are not.

Neil Shulman, MD and a professor of internal medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, calls it a serious and likens to "terrorists inside our bodies." The symptoms are "killing way too many people. There's tremendous suffering and horrible death which could be avoided, but people don't know that something's wrong."

In fact, it happens all the time, a symptom is missed and it leads to a tragic ending. Or it's caught just in time, and a life is saved. Quite literally, it's that dramatic, Shulman tells.
Here are "five flags" - five medical symptoms - you should keep in mind:

1. If you have unexplained weight loss and/or loss of appetite , you may have a serious underlying medical illness.

"If you're on a diet, you're expecting this to happen. But if you're eating the same way - and now have to adjust your belt a few notches tighter - you could have a serious problem, so you should see a doctor." Shulman says.

2. Slurred speech, paralysis, weakness, tingling, burning pains, numbness, and confusion are signs of a stroke, and you should get to an appropriate emergency centre immediately. Early treatment may prevent permanent damage to the brain or even save your life.

3. Black, tarry stools may indicate a haemorrhage from an ulcer of the stomach or the small intestine. It is important to stop the bleeding and to rule out cancer as a cause.What you eat changes the colour of stools. But black, tarry stools mean there may be bleeding higher in the digestive tract, says Shulman. It could be a sign of a bleeding ulcer or cancer.

4. A headache accompanied by a stiff neck and fever is an indicator of a serious infection called meningitis. In fact, if you can't put your chin on your chest, that's a sign you may have bacterial meningitis, says Shulman. With bacterial meningitis, you need antibiotics immediately to kill the bacteria before it infects and scars the brain.

5. A sudden, agonizing headache, more severe than any you have felt before, could mean you are bleeding in the brain. Go to an emergency room immediately. A brain aneurysm is rare, but it can happen - even in people under 40. If you have a severe, crushing headache, you may have an aneurysm, which is a blood-filled pouch bulging out from a weak spot in the wall of a brain artery. If treated before it bursts, it could save your life.

Brain's Communication Infrastructure!!

Brain signal never switches off and also supports many cognitive functions. Researcher's look at one of the human brain's most fundamental "foundations" is an important step forward in understanding the functional architecture of the brain …

Courtsey: Kate Melville

Washington University School of Medicine researchers are taking the first direct look at one of the human brain's most fundamental "foundations": a brain signal that never switches off and may support many cognitive functions. Their findings, appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are an important step forward in understanding the functional architecture of the brain.

Washington University School of Medicine researchers are taking the first direct look at one of the human brain's most fundamental "foundations": a brain signal that never switches off and may support many cognitive functions. Their findings, appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are an important step forward in understanding the functional architecture of the brain.

In the past decade, however, scientists have realised that deeper structures underlie goal-oriented mental processes. These underlying brain processes continue to occur even when subjects aren't consciously using their brain to do anything, and the energies that the brain puts into them seem to be much greater than those used for goal-oriented tasks.

"The brain consumes a tremendous amount of the body's energy resources -- it's only two percent of body weight, but it uses about 20 percent of the energy we take in," says Raichle. "When we started to ask where all those resources were being spent, we found that the goal-oriented tasks we had studied previously only accounted for a tiny portion of that energy budget. The rest appears to go into activities and processes that maintain a state of readiness in the brain."

To explore this deeper level of the brain's functional architecture, Raichle and others have been using fMRI to conduct detailed analyses of brain activity in subjects asked to do nothing. However, a nagging question has dogged those and other fMRI studies: Scientists assumed that increased blood flow to a part of the brain indicates that part has contributed to a mental task, but they wanted more direct evidence linking increased blood flow to stepped-up activity in brain cells.

In the new study, the researchers took fMRI scans of five patients with intractable epilepsy. The scans, during which the subjects did nothing, were taken prior to the temporary installation of grids of electrodes on the surfaces of the patients' brains. The level of detail provided by the grids is essential clinically for pinpointing the source of the seizures for possible surgical removal, a last resort employed only when other treatments failed.

The results confirmed that the fMRI data she had gathered earlier reflected changes in brain cell activity exhibited in the gamma frequency signal. But she also noticed the persistent low-frequency signal, which also corresponded to the fMRI data. "When we looked back in the literature, we found that a similar signal had been the subject of a great deal of animal research using implanted electrodes in the 1960s through the 1980s," she says. "There were suggestions, for example, that when this low-frequency signal, which fluctuates persistently, is in a low trough, the brain may handle mental tasks more effectively."

"What we've shown provides a bridge between the fMRI work many scientists are doing now and the earlier work involving electrical recordings from the brain that emphasised slow activity," says he. "Bringing those two fields together may give us some very interesting insights into the brain's organisation and function."

22 Reasons Why You Should be a Vegeterian!!

Stacks of studies confirm that a diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables and grains is your best bet for living a longer, healthier and more enjoyable life. There are literally hundreds of great reasons to switch to a plant-based diet; here are 22 of the best:

1.You'll live a lot longer.
Vegetarians live about seven years longer, and vegans (who eat no animal products) about 15 years longer than meat eaters, according to a study from Loma Linda University. These findings are backed up by the China Health Project (the largest population study on diet and health to date), which found that Chinese people who eat the least amount of fat and animal products have the lowest risks of cancer, heart attack and other chronic degenerative diseases.

2.You'll save your heart.
Cardiovascular disease is still the number one killer in the United States, and the standard American diet (SAD) that's laden with saturated fat and cholesterol from meat and dairy is largely to blame. Plus, produce contains no saturated fat or cholesterol. Incidentally, cholesterol levels for vegetarians are 14 percent lower than meat eaters.

3.You can put more money in your mutual fund.
Replacing meat, chicken and fish with vegetables and fruits is estimated to cut food bills.

4.You'll reduce your risk of cancer.
Studies done at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg suggest that this is because vegetarians' immune systems are more effective in killing off tumour cells than meat eaters'. Studies have also found a plant based diet helps protect against prostate, colon and skin cancers.

5.You'll add color to your plate.
Meat, chicken and fish tend to come in boring shades of brown and beige, but fruits and vegetables come in all colours of the rainbow. Disease fighting phytochemicals are responsible for giving produce their rich, varied hues. So cooking by colour is a good way to ensure you re eating a variety of naturally occurring substances that boost immunity and prevent a range of illnesses.

6.You'll fit into your old jeans.
On average, vegetarians are slimmer than meat eaters, and when we diet, we keep the weight off up to seven years longer. That's because diets that are higher in vegetable proteins are much lower in fat and calories than the SAD. Vegetarians are also less likely to fall victim to weight-related disorders like heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

7.You'll give your body a spring cleaning.
Giving up meat helps purge the body of toxins (pesticides, environmental pollutants, preservatives) that overload our systems and cause illness. When people begin formal detoxification programs, their first step is to replace meats and dairy products with fruits and vegetables and juices.

8.You'll make a strong political statement.
It's a wonderful thing to be able to finish a delicious meal, knowing that no beings have suffered to make it..

9.Your meals will taste delicious.
Vegetables are endlessly interesting to cook and a joy to eat. It's an ever-changing parade of flavours and colors and textures and tastes.

10.You'll help reduce waste and air pollution.
Livestock farms creates phenomenal amounts of waste. The tons of manure, a substance that's rated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a top pollutants. And that's not even counting the methane gas released by goats, pigs and poultry (which contributes to the greenhouse effect); the ammonia gases from urine; poison gases that emanate from manure lagoons; toxic chemicals from pesticides; and exhaust from farm equipment used to raise feed for animals.

11.Your bones will last longer.
The average bone loss for a vegetarian woman at age 65 is 18 percent; for non-vegetarian women, it's double that. Researchers attribute this to the consumption of excess protein. Excess protein interferes with the absorption and retention of calcium and actually prompts the body to excrete calcium, laying the ground for the brittle bone disease osteoporosis. Animal proteins, including milk, make the blood acidic, and to balance that condition, the body pulls calcium from bones. So rather than rely on milk for calcium, vegetarians turn to dark green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and legumes, which, calorie for calorie, are superior sources.

12.You'll help reduce famine.
It takes 15 pounds of feed to get one pound of meat. But if the grain were given directly to people, there'd be enough food to feed the entire planet. In addition, using land for animal agriculture is inefficient in terms of maximizing food production. According to the journal Soil and Water, one acre of land could produce 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, 40,000 pounds of potatoes, 30,000 pounds of carrots or just 250 pounds of beef.

13.You'll avoid toxic chemicals.
The EPA estimates that nearly 95 per cent of pesticide residue in our diet comes from meat, fish and dairy products. Fish, in particular, contain carcinogens (PCBs, DDT) and heavy metals (mercury, arsenic; lead, cadmium) that cannot be removed through cooking or freezing. Meat and dairy products are also laced with steroids and hormones.

14.You'll protect yourself from foodborne illnesses.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest in the US, which has stringent food standards, 25 per cent of all chicken sold in the United States carries salmonella bacteria and, the CDC estimates, 70 percent to 90 percent of chickens contain the bacteria campy-lobacter (some strains of which are antibiotic-resistant t), approximately 5 percent of cows carry the lethal strain of E. coli O157:H7 (which causes virulent diseases and death), and 30 percent of pigs slaughtered each year for food are infected with toxoplasmosis (caused by parasites).

15.You may get rid of your back problems.
Back pain appears to begin, not in the back, but in the arteries. The degeneration of discs, for instance, which leads to nerves being pinched, starts with the arteries leading to the back. Eating a plant-based diet keeps these arteries clear of cholesterol- causing blockages to help maintain a healthy back.

16.You'll be more 'regular.'
Eating a lot of vegetables necessarily means consuming fiber, which pushes waste out of the body. Meat contains no fibre. Studies done at Harvard and Brigham Women's Hospital found that people who ate a high-fiber diet had a 42 percent lower risk of diverticulitis. People who eat lower on the food chain also tend to have fewer incidences of constipation, hemorrhoids and spastic colon.

17.You'll cool those hot flashes.
Plants, grains and legumes contain phytoestrogens that are believed to balance fluctuating hormones, so vegetarian women tend to go through menopause with fewer complaints of sleep problems, hot flashes, fatigue, mood swings, weight gain, depression and a diminished sex drive.

18.You'll help to bring down the national debt.
We spend large amounts annually to treat the heart disease, cancer, obesity, and food poisoning that are byproducts of a diet heavy on animal products.

19.You'll preserve our fish population.
Because of our voracious appetite for fish, 39 per cent of the oceans' fish species are overharvested, and the Food & Agriculture Organization reports that 11 of 15 of the world's major fishing grounds have become depleted.

20.You'll help protect the purity of water.
It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of mutton, but just 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat. Not only is this wasteful, but it contributes to rampant water pollution.

21.You'll provide a great role model for your kids.
If you set a good example and feed your children good food, chances are they'll live a longer and healthier life. You're also providing a market for vegetarian products and making it more likely that they'll be available for the children.

22.Going vegetarian is easy!
Vegetarian cooking has never been so simple. We live in a country that has been vegetarian by default. Our traditional dishes are loaded with the goodness of vegetarian food. Switching over it very simple indeed.

Health Tips!!

Answer the phone by LEFT ear.

Do not drink coffee TWICE a day.

Do not take pills with COOL water.

Do not have HUGE meals after 5pm.

Reduce the amount of OILY food you consume.

Drink more WATER in the morning, less at night..

Keep your distance from hand phone CHARGERS.

Do not use headphones/earphone for LONG period of time.

Best sleeping time is from 10pm at night to 6am in the morning.

Do not lie down immediately after taking medicine before sleeping.

When battery is down to the LAST grid/bar, do not answer the phone as the radiation is 1000 times.

10 Tips for a Good Night Sleep!!

Stick to a schedule.
Erratic bedtimes do not allow for your body to align to the proper circadian rhythms.
Mum was right when she set a time we always had to go to sleep as kids. Also, make sure you try to keep the same schedule on weekends too, otherwise the next morning, you'd wake later and feel overly tired.

Sleep only at night.
Avoid daytime sleep if possible.Daytime naps steal hours from nighttime slumber. Limit daytime sleep to 20-minute, power naps.

Exercise.
It's actually known to help you sleep better.Your body uses the sleep period to recover muscles and joints that have been exercised.Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise every day can help you sleep, but be sure to exercise in the morning or afternoon. Exercise stimulates the body and aerobic activity before bedtime may make falling asleep more difficult.

Taking a hot shower or bath before bed helps bring on sleep because they can relax tense muscles.

Avoid eating just before bed.
Avoid eat large meals or spicy foods before bedtime.Give yourself at least 2 hours from when you eat to when you sleep.This allows for digestion to happen (or at least start)well before you go to sleep so your body can rest well during the night, rather than churning away your food.

Avoid caffeine.
It keeps you awake and that's now what you want for a good nights sleep. We all know that.

Read a fiction book.
It takes you to a whole new world if you really get into it. And then take some time to ponder over the book as you fall asleep.I find as I read more and more, regardless of the book, I get more tired at night and so find it easier to fall asleep. Different for others?

Have the room slightly cooler.
I prefer this to a hot room. I prefer to turn off the heat and allow the coolness to circulate in and out of the windows.If I get cold, I wear warmer clothes.It also saves on the bills as you're not going to require the heat all night long.

Sleep in silence.
I find sleeping with no music or TV on more easy and restful.I guess others are different, but sleep with no distractions is best for a clearer mind.

Avoid alcohol before bedtime.
It's a depressant; although it may make it easier to fall asleep, it causes you to wake up during the night. As alcohol is digested your body goes into withdrawal from the alcohol, causing nighttime awakenings and often nightmares for some people.