Eat Your Heart Out: The 10 Best Heart-Healthy Foods

 

Your heart is like the motor of your body. And like any motor, it has to be cared for, with the right ingredients going in to keep things at peak performance. And with heart disease remaining the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, adding a few heart-healthy substitutions to your daily diet is an easy way to start changing your lifestyle for the better.

 

10. Coffee

That’s right, coffeeholics, rejoice! Your favorite morning pick-me-up aids in natural fat burning and can even boost metabolism by 3-11%. In doing so, it becomes easier for your heart to do its job pumping on and on. Further research suggests moderate coffee consumption (1-3 cups/day) reduces the risk of a stroke, particularly in women.

 

9. Apples

The saying is right: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” on top of keeping your heart smiling. The fiber in apples blasts plaque buildup in your arteries and keeps further cholesterol from solidifying in its walls. Chomp away at the fruit as a lunch companion or an afternoon snack.

 

8. Sweet Potatoes

Topping the beta-carotene charts, sweet potatoes take vitamins A, C, and E and help reduce the risk of heart disease while delaying the bodily effects of aging. Low calorie, try baked sweet potato fries as a side, or pop in the microwave for a mindless meal.

 

7. Tomatoes

Rich in potassium and a great source of the antioxidant lycopene (a carotenoid believed to help keep blood vessels open and strong), tomatoes in any form will help fight your chances of a heart attack. On top of being low in sugar and high in folic acid, roasted tomatoes in garlic and olive oil is a spectacular side dish to pair with your next entree.

 

6. Oatmeal

There’s hardly a healthier way to start your day than with a bowl of hot oatmeal. A fantastic source of fiber, oatmeal lowers cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease. Avoid instant oatmeal, however, which tends to hide a lot of refined sugar, instead opting for steel cut or whole oat groats (a fancy name for oatmeal’s kernels).

 

5. Soy

Soy comes in a ton of varieties, from classic tofu to soy milk you can stir into that morning cup of Joe. It delivers an almost incomparable protein boost (half a cup can provide nearly 20% of your daily dose) while remaining low in sodium and cholesterol, common elements in many animal product alternatives.

 

4. Garlic

Not only does garlic make for killer flavoring, its cholesterol-reducing antioxidants lower blood pressure and increases overall blood flow. Keep it fresh, though. Processed garlic provides the same heart help, but not nearly to the same degree as full cloves nabbed in the produce section.

 

3. Red wine

The perks of an evening glass go beyond relaxation. Red wine contains the compound polyphenol resveratrol, an antioxidant that help clears bad toxins from blood and makes your heart’s job easier. The key here, though, rests in sticking with only one glass.

 

2. Seeds & Nuts

Nearly any kind of nut is your heart’s best buddy. From almonds and pistachios to a pinch of peanuts, most pack your heart’s necessary fiber and magnesium punch. Some, like walnuts, also carry the essential body fat, omega-3. As long as you avoid the kind with added salt, you’ve got a go-to, heart-healthy snack.

Likewise, sprinkling flax or chia seeds onto the foods you already eat delivers the same benefits of fiber and omega-3 acids. They’re a simple topping for salads, yogurt parfaits, fruit spreads, or even blended into a smoothie.

 

1. Salmon

Nothing compares to the levels of healthy, fatty acids you get from fish oils. Their omega-3 content goes hand-in-hand with lowering blood pressure and regulating good and bad cholesterol. Experts advise incorporating salmon (or other omega-3 rich fish like tuna and mackerels) into your diet at least 2-3 times a week. They work great as sandwiches for lunch or as the centerfold of a dinner pasta spread.

A specialist from ICE, Institute of Cardiovascular Excellence, says eating a healthy diet low in cholesterol, salt, and saturated fat can help you avoid heart disease. Combined with moderate exercise and lower stress levels, a heart-friendly diet will go a long way in keeping you at your best. And, with most of these delicious foods, your taste buds will thank you, too!

 

Categories: Blood, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart, heart disease, Heart-Healthy, nbsp, Red Wine, sweet potatoes

Six Ways Stress Can Affect Your Physical Health

 

 

Everyone experiences stress in their day-to-day life, but if one finds themselves constantly stressed out, this could lead to a variety of more serious physical health issues. Therefore, if one feels that they are experiencing lots of stress, they should seek help before it leads to some of the more serious physical health issues listed and discussed below.

 

 

1. Susceptibility to Infection

If one is experiencing a lot of stress in their life, the immune system is actually directly affected by being suppressed. Just like with anything else that suppresses the immune system, it can cause one to become vulnerable to most infections that could have usually been fought off with ease. If one already has an illness, large amounts of stress can prolong an illness that would have generally passed in a couple of days. If one is feeling stress and finds themselves undergoing an illness, being surrounded by both family and friends can offset some of the effects of the stress.

 

 

2. Heart Problems

The heart is one of the most vital organs of the human body. Without it, one cannot live. If one experiences large amounts of stress, one can actually find themselves experiencing a variety of different heart problems. Eating comfort foods is one way that people often cope with stress, but this can actually do more harm than good. Most comfort foods tend to have high fat and salt content, and this can be damaging to the heart.

 

 

3. Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease related to how the human body makes insulin. Some doctors believe that if one constantly experiences chronic stress, this could actually lead to insulin dependent diabetes. This is especially true for those that are already at risk of contracting diabetes.

 

 

4. High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a chronic disease and is extremely common, especially in people that live in the United States. Stress is known to increase blood pressure. Therefore, if one experiences chronic stress, it could lead to someone with high blood pressure problems developing anything from a stroke to actual heart failure.

 

 

5. Pain

Although stress in and of itself does not cause physical pain, it can actually aggravate pain conditions that already exist, through repetitive strain injury. According to a specialist from Brantford Mall Dental Office, chronic stress can also cause jaw clenching, which often leads to temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders.

 

 

6. Skin Problems

The most common skin problems that stress causes are acne and eczema. It has even been known to cause itchy skin rashes.

 

All in all, stress can cause a lot of different physical health issues, especially if one is experiencing chronic stress.

 

Categories: affect, blood pressure, chronic stress, comfort foods, experiences chronic, health issues, high blood, human body, mind and body, nbsp nbsp, physical health, Stress, ways

10 Reasons Why You Should Include More Garlic In Your Diet

While it may not do your breath any favours, including garlic in your diet has many benefits to your wellbeing – and that’s coming from a dentist! As wellness expert and dentist Dr Anitha Anchan explains, ‘Garlic has a variety of potent sulphur-containing compounds which are the reason for its characteristic pungent odour. Allicin, the vital compound among them, is known to have great anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-oxidant properties. The benefits of allicin can be best garnered when it’s finely chopped, minced or pureed and let sit for some time. Garlic is also a reliable source of selenium. Allicin, along with other compounds like ajoene, alliin, etc. found in them also have an effect on the circulatory, digestive and immunological systems of our body and help in lowering blood pressure, detoxification, healing, etc.’ So how can garlic benefit your wellness?

 

1. Antibacterial and Antiviral: According to Dr Anchan, ‘Garlic is most well-known for its antibacterial and antiviral properties. They help control bacterial, viral, fungal, yeast and worm infections. Fresh garlic is thought to play a role in preventing food poisoning by killing bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella enteritidis, etc.’

 

2. Skin Infections: Dr Anchan notes, ‘The chemical ajoene found in garlic may help treat fungal skin infections like ringworm and athlete’s foot.’

 

3. Blood Thinning: ‘The anti-clotting properties of ajoene found in garlic help in preventing the formation of blood clots in the body,’ says Dr Anchan. ‘Hence, it may also increase the risk of bleeding after surgery.’

 

4. Blood Pressure: ‘Angiotensin II is a protein that helps our blood vessels contract thereby increasing the blood pressure,’ Dr Anchan details. ‘Allicin in garlic blocks the activity of angiotensin II and helps in reducing blood pressure. The polysulphides present in garlic are converted into a gas called hydrogen sulphide by the red blood cells. Hydrogen sulphide dilates our blood vessels and helps control blood pressure.’

 

5. Heart Health: Dr Anchan points out, ‘Garlic protects our heart against cardiovascular problems like heart attacks and atherosclerosis. This cardio-protective property can be attributed to various factors. With age, the arteries tend to lose their ability to stretch. Garlic may help reduce this and may also protect the heart from the damaging effects of free oxygen radicals. The sulphur-containing compounds of garlic also prevent our blood vessels from becoming blocked and slow the development of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The anti-clotting properties of ajoene help prevent clots from forming inside the blood vessels.’

 

6. Cholesterol: Dr Anchan details, ‘Garlic has the ability to moderately lower our blood triglycerides and total cholesterol and reduce arterial plaque formation.’

 

7. Allergies: ‘Garlic is known to have anti-inflammatory property,’ says Dr Anchan. ‘It can help the body fight against allergies. The anti-arthritic property of garlic is due to diallyl sulphide and thiacremonone. Garlic has been show to improve allergic airway inflammation (allergic rhinitis). Raw garlic juice may be used to immediately stop the itching due to rashes and bug bites.’

 

8. Respiratory Problems: ‘Daily use of garlic might reduce the frequency and number of colds,’ Dr Anchan comments. ‘Its antibacterial properties help in treating throat irritations. Garlic may also reduce the severity of upper respiratory tract infections. Its benefits in disorders of the lungs like asthma, difficulty of breathing, etc. make it a priceless medicine. Its ability to promote expectoration makes it irreplaceable in chronic bronchitis.’

 

9. Diabetes: Dr Anchan outlines, ‘Garlic increases insulin release and regulates blood sugar levels in diabetics.’

 

10. Cancer: Dr Anchan asserts, ‘Daily intake of garlic has been found to lower risk of most types of cancer. This anti-cancer property is due to allyl sulphides found in garlic. PhIP, a type of heterocyclic amine (HCA), has been associated with increased incidence of breast cancer among women. According to studies, diallyl sulphide found in garlic inhibits the transformation of PhIP into carcinogens.’

Categories: angiotensin ii, anti clotting, blood pressure, blood vessels, cancer, clotting properties, Diabetes, diallyl sulphide, dr anchan, garlic, hydrogen sulphide, skin infections

Five Conditions That Chiropractic Treatments Can Relieve

A chiropractor is a medical professional who primarily treats musculoskeletal and nervous system disorders. They treat conditions by moving and pushing bones inside of the joints and spine. Most people see chiropractors for back problems. However, many people do not know that chiropractors can treat a variety of other conditions. Below are some of the conditions that respond well to chiropractic care:

 

Headaches

Headaches are something that most of us suffer from occasionally. They are not always an indication of a serious medical problem, but they can be a nuisance. In many cases, headaches are triggered or worsened by misaligned vertebrae in the spine. A chiropractor will help move the vertebrae into their proper position, which can alleviate headaches.

 

Asthma

Asthma is a condition that causes inflammation of the airways. It has increased by 60 percent since the 1980s. Medications are currently the standard treatment for asthma, but alternative treatments are currently being studied. Chiropractic treatment is one of the alternative treatments that has shown to be effective for treating asthma. Chiropractor care can help alleviate asthma symptoms by improving respiratory muscles and muscle coordination.

 

Infertility

Infertility is a problem that affects around 12 percent of the population. Many patients are encouraged to seek chiropractic care before they opt for more invasive infertility treatments. Infertility can sometimes be caused by a problem with the nervous system or improperly aligned spine. A chiropractor can perform an adjustment that will help align the spine and allow the nervous system to function properly.

 

Stress

Stress affects almost everyone at some point in time. Although stress is generally harmless, it can cause raises in blood pressure or heart rate in people with other medical conditions. Stress can also lead to other medical problems like trouble sleeping. When someone is overly stressed, it’s a good idea to seek treatment. According to a professional from Alberta Back & Neck Rehab, chiropractic massage therapy can help reduce heart rate, lower blood pressure and improve circulation.

 

Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is an illness that causes widespread muscle pain. It can also cause other symptoms, such as fatigue and joint stiffness. Studies have shown that chiropractic care can help alleviate fibromyalgia. The adjustments that a chiropractor performs can improve joint motion. In many cases, improving joint motion greatly improves or completely eliminates the pain.

 

Temporomandibular joint disorder

Tempomandibular joint disorder is a condition that causes pain in the joints and muscles that control chewing. Chiropractic care is effective for treating temporomandibular joint disorder because it can adjust the joints, re-position the jaw and relax the muscles. Chiropractic care not only helps alleviate pain, but it can also prevent TMJ from reoccurring.

 

Even though chiropractors are primarily known for treating back pain, it is important to note that they are medical professionals who can treat a variety of conditions. Chiropractic treatments can often be a great option for people who prefer not to have other invasive medical treatments.

Categories: alternative treatments, blood pressure, chiropractic, chiropractic care, chiropractic treatments, conditions, Heart Rate, joint disorder, joint motion, temporomandibular joint

Warning: Are you Underestimating the Risks at Work?

A recent study has shown that Canadians significantly underestimate the risks to their wellness and wellbeing that a corporate environment can pose. The study showed that employees were severely underestimating personal health risks, and this points towards a need for more targeted wellness programmes in workplaces across the country.

 

This very recent study looked at the huge inaccuracies in self-reported heart risk factors, and it compared the answers of individual respondents on healthcare questionnaires in the workplace to their actual medical results. Researchers looked at three key areas: cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. By comparing the data, researchers found that employees were significantly underestimating the risks to their personal health.

 

Almost half of those who took part in the study had at least one very important cardiovascular risk factor that they did not know about. Some of the employees in this category (about 27 percent) were under the age of 35, making the data all the more shocking.

 

Around 21 percent of respondents were found to have high blood pressure, around 37 percent had high cholesterol levels and around 10 percent had glucose levels that were out with the recommended norms from Health Canada.

 

The survey looked at 893 employees, and revealed that, when compared to their actual medical test results, the self-reported risk of cholesterol was underestimated by a whopping 250 percent, high blood pressure risk was underestimated by 58 percent and the risk of diabetes was underestimated by 76 percent.

 

In order to maximise the return on a company’s investment in a wellness programme, employers should make sure that they bring in medical staff as well, to test employees, rather than relying on self reporting, which is clearly inaccurate.

 

This will help staff to get the most out of their wellness programmes, as they will truly understand the health challenges that they are facing.

Categories: actual medical, blood pressure, employees, health, high blood, nbsp, percent, personal health, risk, Wellness programmes, work

Could New Apple Earphones Help You Track Your Fitness?

Apple always tries to stay ahead of the curve, but now it looks like the iPhone creators are trying to stay ahead of your curves. Not only do they want you plugging in your headphones to listen to your iPod; Apple are now creating a pair of headphones for monitoring your heart rate and tracking your activity, fitness and overall wellbeing.

 

According to technology and wellness expert Samuel Gibbs, ‘Apple has patented designs for earphones and headphones that are capable of monitoring a wearer’s movements and vital signs through a series of embedded sensors. The patent describes both headphones and earphones fitted with accelerometers like those in smartphones for detecting motion, as well as temperature, perspiration and heart-rate sensors for monitoring a user’s activity, fitness and other statistics… The patent also details the possibility of using motion detection to activate gestures such as changing track or pausing and playing music through the headphones.’

 

The patent was filed back in 2007, but it wasn’t until Tuesday that Apple was granted the patent for a ‘sports monitoring system for headphones, earbuds and/or headsets.’ This means that the pioneering tech company has been investigating the possibility of integrated health monitors for at least six years. When asked during an earnings call last month, Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook, recently confirmed that promised future ‘product categories’ were still on track saying: ‘Yes. Absolutely. No Change.’ This comment stoked expectations of an Apple smartwatch, which is also expected to have a significant role in health and fitness monitoring.

 

Cook confirmed, ‘We’re working on things you can’t see today. We have zero issues coming up with things that we want to do that we think we can disrupt in a major way. The challenge is always to focus to the very few that deserve all of our energy.’ In December of last year, Apple was rumoured to have met up with senior agents of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which, if you don’t know, is the regulatory body charged with overseeing food safety, sales of medication and the approval of medical devices in the US. Michael O’Reilly, previously the chief medical officer of a medical sensor company called Masimo who joined Apple last year, was involved in the meeting, as was Bakul Patel, a senior policy adviser who drafted the FDA’s mobile medical app guidance and plays a role in medical gadget approval.

 

Gibbs asserts, ‘It is clear that Apple is looking at medical applications for its apps and hardware at the very least. Health and fitness tracking could be one of the primary new focuses for Apple’s next mobile software update. Apple news site 9to5Mac claimed that Apple was developing a new “Healthbook” app to collect and store data on fitness activities, including steps taken, calories burned, and distance walked. The Healthbook app was said to target medical and health data, tracking a person’s heart rate and blood pressure, as well as other blood-related statistics like glucose levels, something a pair of sensor-packed earphones could link into as well as a smartwatch.’

 

However, while Apple already holds patents for the collection of sensory information – including blood-pressure monitoring – whether or not that technology is mature enough to build into a smartwatch or earphone-like device remains to be seen. In an interview in 2013, Tim Cook noted, ‘The whole sensor field is going to explode. It’s a little all over the place right now. With the arc of time, it will become clearer.’ It is also unclear how this patent awarded to Apple will affect LG, who have also announced its own fitness tracking earphones capable of monitoring the wearer’s heart rate.

Categories: activity fitness, Apple, Apple Earphones, blood pressure, fitness, fitness tracking, healthbook app, Heart Rate, Monitoring, Patent, tim cook, tracking fitness

8 Drugs that Don’t Do What They Were Intended For

These days we take all kinds of drugs and medicines, but where exactly do they come from? Here’s a run down of the different drugs we use today, and their accidental histories:

 

1. Novocain: This drug is used to numb a local area, such as while having a dental procedure, but how did we get this bright idea? According to wellness expert Lauren Gelman, ‘The commonly used anaesthetic is actually named for the drug cocaine. Cocaine was first introduced as a local anaesthetic in 1884, but it caused a number of addictions and deaths. A few years later, German chemist Alfred Einhorn began to look for a safer substitute; in 1905, he discovered the injectable local anaesthetic procaine, which became Novocain.’

 

2. Lithium: We use this drug for managing bipolar disorder and other issues related to mental wellbeing. However, Gelman notes, ‘Before it received FDA approval in 1970, the metal was first used in the 1840s to treat bladder stones and gout. A century later, Australian psychiatrist John Cade observed that guinea pigs injected with a form of lithium became sedated rather than excited; subsequent large-scale clinical studies confirmed lithium’s effectiveness for preventing mania.’

 

3. Cortisone: Gelman details, ‘Cortisone (and subsequent forms, such as hydrocortisone) was created out of a WWII rumour that German pilots were injecting steroid hormones to help counteract high-altitude stress. The myth spurred the US military to research their own comparable drug.’ Now the drug is used for a variety of ailments, including inflammation, pain, allergies, skin disorders, and autoimmune diseases such as lupus and psoriasis.

 

4. Warfarin: This life-saving drug is used to stop blood clotting. Gelman describes, ‘In 1921, veterinarians in Canada and North Dakota observed that when certain cattle had a minor injury or surgery, they bled excessively and sometimes fatally. The doctors concluded that the cows had been eating spoiled clover, which contained a substance that caused the bleeding. In 1940, a University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemist isolated a pure form of the compound, and later it was introduced to the market as Warfarin.’

 

5. Rogaine: Gelman outlines, ‘Minoxidil first appeared on the market in 1979 as a breakthrough drug for high blood pressure. However, it increased body hair growth for 80% of patients who took the drug orally; within three to six weeks, patients would grow dark hair on the face and then on the back, chest, arms, and legs. Upjohn began marketing the drug as a solution to apply to the scalp in 1988.’

 

6. Viagra: This erectile dysfunction drug is also known by the generic name of Sidenafil. Gelman comments, ‘Sidenafil (the generic name) was first tested in the 1980s to treat high blood pressure and improve blood flow in patients with chest pain. In trials, it didn’t have much of an impact on angina, but it did lead to erections. In 1998 Sidenafil became the first oral drug approved to treat impotence, replacing injected medications.’

 

7. Tamoxifen: Gelman points out, ‘Tamoxifen was originally intended as an anti-fertility drug when it was synthesized in 1962, but it turned out that it stimulated ovulation instead of suppressing it.’ Now, we use Tamoxifen to treat oestrogen-positive breast cancer, which accounts for 50 to 70% of cases. Moreover, the drug may also prevent the development of breast cancer in high-risk patients.

 

8. AZT: ‘Jerome Horwitz, of the Karmanos Cancer Institute, first synthesized AZT as a potential anti-leukemia drug in 1964, but it didn’t work,’ says Gelman. ‘In the 1970s, AZT was found to be active against a retrovirus, which led government researchers to consider it as an HIV fighter. The FDA approved the drug in 1987.’

Categories: Blood, blood pressure, breast cancer, Drug, gelman, high, high blood, lithium, local anaesthetic, nbsp, novocain, Viagra

Pregnancy And Obesity: What Are The Risks?

Obesity is a condition which vastly affects your health in a number of ways, but when you’re pregnant it can be extremely damaging to both you and your baby’s health. There are a number of possible complications and risks attached to obesity during this important stage in your life, but there are ways you can avoid these issues and promote a healthy pregnancy. Your BMI, or Body Mass Index, is usually used to determine whether or not a person is obese. If your BMI is less than 18.5, you are underweight (this is also damaging to your health and has its own set of issues attached to it). 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal; 25 to 29.9 is overweight, and anything higher than 30 is obese. A BMI of over 40 is considered extremely obese and this can have a negative impact on a woman’s success in In Vitro Fertilisation or IVF as well. So what are the risks? Firstly, gestational diabetes is a major risk for obese women during pregnancy and can affect the health of your baby as well. Preeclampsia is a condition which causes high blood pressure and protein in the urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Likewise, thrombosis and obstructive sleep apnoea can also affect you. There may be problems in labour; obesity can also interfere with the ability to use certain types of medication such as an epidural block. On an even more serious note, obesity can increase the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth.

 

Obesity during pregnancy can lead to a number of health problems for your baby as well as you. Macrosomia, which means your child is slightly larger than average, is a risk to women who are obese, and can lead to the risk of childhood obesity. Chronic conditions such as diabetes in your child or as an adult can be a risk, as well as birth defects such as heart problems or neural tube defects. You should work with your healthcare provider to ensure you maintain a healthy weight during your pregnancy. As a general rule, if you’re obese, the recommended weight gain is 11 to 20 pounds for a single pregnancy, or 25 to 42 pounds for a multiple pregnancy. There are things you can do to improve your health and weight during your pregnancy – speak to your healthcare provider as well though, to ensure you’re on the right track. You should schedule a preconception appointment if you’re obese and considering getting pregnant – there are prenatal vitamins you should take and diet changes that can be beneficial to you. You should also seek regular prenatal care to monitor both your and your baby’s health during the pregnancy. This can help you avoid issues such as sleep apnoea, high blood pressure and diabetes. A healthy diet is important at any weight during pregnancy, so as to avoid any excessive weight gain and to ensure that you’re getting the right level of vitamins and nutrients. You should endeavour to be physically active during your pregnancy – your GP can help to suggest ways to achieve this without putting your body under too much strain. And, natural, as with any pregnancy, you should avoid harmful substances such as alcohol or smoking while you’re pregnant. While these are damaging to any unborn baby, they increase some of the risks attached to obesity and could damage your baby’s development. If you’re concerned about your weight, you should speak to your GP who can advise you of the various ways to stay healthy for you and your baby.

Categories: blood pressure, healthcare provider, high blood, Obese, obesity, pregnancy, Pregnant, Risks, risks attached, Sleep apnoea, weight gain

More than Calcium: 11 Amazing Health Benefits of Milk

As a kid, you’re told to drink your milk by almost every adult you know, but why are you told to do that? Why does milk make up an important part of your diet and is this something that only applies to child wellness? Let’s investigate the role that milk has to play in your wellbeing.

 

According to the National Dairy Council, there are nine essential nutrients in milk that benefit your health:

 

1. Calcium: This mineral help your body to builds healthy bones and teeth, and maintain that bone mass as you age.

 

2. Protein: Not only does protein help your body to build and repair muscle tissue, it also serves as a source of energy.

 

3. Potassium: Also found in bananas, this mineral helps your body to maintain a healthy blood pressure.

 

4. Phosphorus: Your body needs phosphorus to help strengthen your bones and generate energy.

 

5. Vitamin D: This vitamin goes hand in hand with calcium, so it’s vital in helping your body to maintain bones.

 

6. Vitamin B12: This vitamin helps your body to maintain healthy red blood cells and nerve tissue.

 

7. Vitamin A: As well as maintaining your immune system, vitamin A helps your body maintain normal vision and healthy,

glowing skin.

 

8. Riboflavin: Also known as vitamin B2, riboflavin helps your body to convert food into energy.

9. Niacin: This vitamin, which also goes by vitamin B3, metabolizes sugars and fatty acids.

 

As well as packing this nutritional punch, milk can even play a role in your weight loss – albeit under the right conditions. Dr. Brian Roy, an associate professor of applied health sciences at Canada’s BrockUniversity, has recently published a study on how milk impacts your body after exercise. While he does allow that – generally speaking – there is some controversy surrounding milk’s influence on weight loss and body fat in general, Dr. Roy points out that, in his study, milk had a monumental impact on young adults’ weight.

 

The results of Dr. Roy’s study show that when young adults consumed milk after weight training, they lost more body fat and gained more muscle mass than those who had consumed different drinks that contained the same energy and macronutrients. He comments, ‘The important message from this is that it is probably important to include multiple servings of milk as a part of your daily diet. However, simply adding more milk to your diet will add to your total energy intake. So, if you add more milk to your diet, it likely will be most effective if it replaces other sources of energy from your diet, to ensure you are not consuming excess calories.’

 

But what about other studies that have claimed milk contributes to heart disease? Research led by professor Peter Elwood of CardiffUniversity has found that drinking milk can lessen your chances of dying from illnesses such as coronary heart disease and stroke by up to 15 to 20%. Elwood notes, ‘The fact that milk-drinking raises cholesterol is, for many people, proof that milk is a cause of heart disease. But cholesterol is only one mechanism in heart disease. Blood pressure is another relevant mechanism, and milk-drinking is associated with a lower blood pressure. It is therefore totally unreasonable to base conclusions about milk and heart disease on the effect on cholesterol alone.’ He adds, ‘As heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer are major sources of healthcare expenditure, any measure that is associated with a reduction in these diseases—however small that reduction is—is also bound to have an impact on healthcare costs.

 

Categories: blood pressure, dr roy, energy nbsp, heart disease, milk, milk drinking, nbsp, Weight Loss, young adults

I Heart Sleep: Why Fewer than 6 Hours Damages Heart Health

In your hectic, daily schedule, sleep can seem like such a hindrance – that’s eight hours of your day in which you’re not doing anything productive! However, sleep is actually extremely productive for your overall wellbeing. Sleep helps you to stave off major health concerns by aiding your mental and emotional wellness, keeping you trim, strengthening your immune system, fighting inflammation, and maintaining your heart and blood vessels.

 

In fact, sleep enables your body to repair your damaged tissues, produce crucial hormones and strengthen your memories. This latter process is known as consolidation, and it helps you to perform a new skill better after sleeping than you would if you spent an equivalent amount of time awake, which is why all-nighters are never as effective as you think they’ll be. Virend K. Somers, MD, a professor of medicine and cardiovascular diseases at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who studies sleep and heart health, explains, ‘It’s a way for the body to integrate everything that happened over the past waking day and to kind of prepare for the next day.’

 

According to Shelby Freedman Harris, PsyD, director of behavioural sleep medicine at Montefiore Medical Centres Sleep-Wake Disorders Centre in New York City, ‘When you’re sleeping you’re regulating hormone levels, you’re regulating insulin levels, your blood pressure is being kept under control, there are a lot of things going on, and if you’re not getting enough sleep you’re throwing these things out of whack.’ One way in which your body becomes skewed by a lack of sleep is in your heart. If you get less than six hours of sleep a night, or you don’t spend enough time in the deepest stages of sleep, you have a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes than those who get at least seven hours.

 

In 2011, two studies revealed the devastating impact of sleep deprivation on heart health. The first study, performed in male Japanese factory workers, showed that sleeping for less than six hours a night made the factory workers five times more likely to have a heart attack over a 14-year span compared with those who logged between 7 and 8 hours a night. The second study, this time involving men over the age of 65, showed that even healthy participants with normal blood pressure were almost twice as likely to develop hypertension if they spent less time in the deepest sleep stage (known as slow-wave sleep).

 

As well as long-term sleep deprivation having an impact on your heart health, there’s also some evidence – albeit somewhat limited – that even short-term sleep deprivation may be harmful if you already have a heart problem. Swedish researchers, who published the results of their work in 2012, reported that in the week after the spring transition to daylight saving time, hospital admissions for heart attacks increased by about 4% compared to other weeks. This is the time in which you set your clocks an hour ahead and lose an hour of sleep.

 

As to why not sleeping enough affects your heart, wellness experts aren’t quire sure. However, researchers are clear on why sleep apnoea is a known heart hazard. If you have sleep apnoea, you tend to snore and have upper airway collapse during sleep, meaning that you snort and gasp for breath without really waking up enough to be aware of it. Charles Czeisler, MD, the Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, explains, ‘It’s as if somebody’s choking you, so your heart rate goes up, your blood pressure goes up, and instead of having a daily cycle in which everything slows down at night, instead everything is higher during the night. Over time, even your daytime blood pressure is higher.’

Categories: blood pressure, factory workers, heart attacks, heart health, Sleep apnoea, sleep deprivation, sleep medicine, sleep nbsp, term sleep

Could Wellness Programmes Be Costing The Sick?

Workplace wellness schemes sound like the answer to all of our prayers – a discounted gym membership or help quitting cigarettes, all for less money and right on-site at work? Great news to many. And this great news is something that’s becoming increasingly popular for a number of large companies who are offering this as an incentive to work for the company itself. But for businesses, the deal is about to get even sweeter – not such great news for the employees. A new health reform law will soon let employers reward their workers’ efforts to get healthy with discounts of up to 30 per cent of their healthcare costs, up from 20 per cent previously. They’ll also be able to penalise employees who fail to meet their health goals by the same amount, which has been designed to ‘weed out’ sick workers and lower the amount of days companies need to pay for employees being off sick.

Around 61 per cent of employers give workers financial incentives to get healthier, which is up from 36 per cent three years ago according to surveys. One in five uses penalties, and many more companies say they’re going to introduce this plan next year. Most current plans offer the carrot rather than the stick, but if poorly designed workplace wellness programmes can shift the cost towards those with the greatest healthcare needs, it could potentially discriminate against sick workers. This way of working would work similarly to this – if employers raise deductibles from £500 to £2500, workers can then earn ‘credits’ worth £500 each to lower the deductible if they meet certain targets for four factors, such as body-mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood pressure. This will wind up back to a £500 deductible, but if you’re on the wrong end of those tests, then your costs have immediately gone up.

Some people claim that the only way to reduce health costs is to motivate people with money, which will mean incentives will only apply to things workers have control over. But there’s a fundamental question behind all of this: how much should people bear the cost of their own healthcare? People are buying health insurance on their own and pay as much as 23 per cent higher premiums if they smoke or are obese, according to research. Such incentives are routine in other insurance markets – no-one questions why good drivers pay lower rates than the teens who smashed up their first car. Workplace wellness incentives should actually make people healthier and shouldn’t just be a way of shifting costs onto sick workers. There’s strong research to back up the fact that the higher the deductible, the greater the barrier is to accessing care. Someone may not be getting the basic primary care or care they need to treat a chronic condition, and if that’s the case, the sick workers within a company actually get sicker. This costs the health system in the long run, which is a lose-lose situation.

 

In order to tackle this situation, companies need to put more thought into their workplace wellness programmes and ensure that the result of the plans are to encourage healthier lifestyles in their employees. Tricking employees into doing something just to make your company more money could wind up being foolish in the long run, as it will come back as a cost in another way and could end up making your employees even more sick than they were to begin with.

Categories: blood pressure, employees, health, illness, people, sick, sick workers, Wellness, Wellness programmes, work, workers, Workplace Wellness

How to Take Care of Your Nutritional Wellness in Your 50s

When you were younger, nutrition wellness was important. You needed milk to promote healthy teeth and bones, you were given plenty of fruits and vegetables, but nutrition isn’t really a factor once you reach 50, right? Surely, all the damage has been done and there’s nothing you can do to change it? Not according to award-winning wellness writer Hope Gillette, who argues that it’s never too late to eat healthily.

 

‘Eating healthy isn’t just important when you’re in your youth,’ says Gillette. ‘Proper nutrition is what fuels our bodies but it also what protects us from aging processes. Proper senior nutrition is an essential part of the healthy aging process, and for adults over the age of 50, eating right can mean improved mental awareness, resistance to illness and disease, increased energy levels, faster recuperation time from illness, and better management of chronic health problems.’ Moreover, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) states that eating right can lower your risk of osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart diseases and certain cancers, so what do you need to do to ensure proper nutrition? For people over the age of 50, the NLM provides the following guidelines:

 

1. Choose a variety of healthy foods.

 

2. Avoid empty calories. This means you should steer of foods like crisps, biscuits, fizzy drinks and alcohol, as they are packed with calories but contain very few nutrients.

 

3. Pick foods that are low in cholesterol and fat, particulary saturated and trans fat.

 

Three rules isn’t a hell of a lot to ask for, is it? That said, there are a few more nutritional guidelines to bear in mind if you want to live a long and healthy life way past your 50s. According to the National Institute on Ageing (NIA), it’s very important to drink plenty of fluids, but people over 50 begin to neglect this guideline as they age. Gillette explains, ‘Many seniors lose their sense of thirst as they age, and dehydration becomes a serious issue. Seniors should not wait to drink throughout the day, and should regularly schedule beverages as well as supplement meals with liquid options (like soup).’

 

Moreover, it’s an important rule for anyone to reduce their intake of salt, as we in the West tend to eat too much of it anyway. However, this rule becomes even more crucial once you reach the age of 50. Gillette points out, ‘It is also important for people over the age of 50 to limit their sodium intake. Too much sodium in a diet can contribute to certain health issues, like high blood pressure. Seniors should only consume about 2/3 of a teaspoon of table salt—1,500 milligrams (mg) sodium—from all sources, in a day.’ However, the reason why we tend to eat so many salty foods is that processed and junk foods are often cheaper than healthy options, so what do you do about nutrition if you’re on a budget?

 

‘It’s true that eating healthy is often more costly compared to alternative options,’ Gillette admits. ‘But proper senior nutrition will save money down the road as it helps prevent chronic health issues. Seniors who are working on a budget should purchase plain (generic) labels or store brands often cost less than name brands, plan meals around food that is on sale, and divide leftovers into small servings, label and date, and freeze to use within a few months. Additionally, opt always for fresh food before you eat processed or pre-packaged products that may seem more affordable but contain ingredients that may be harmful for your health and won’t give you enough nutritious content.’

Categories: blood pressure, chronic health, eating healthy, empty calories, health issues, high blood, hydrate, nbsp, proper nutrition, proper senior, reduce salt, senior nutrition

Do We Really Know What"s Going On In Our Bodies?

We can check our financial health easily. We know where we stand with our employers. Our families members can generally tell us how our relationships with them are doing. Even so, our health is one of the most complicated aspects of our lives to measure.

 

In movies and television we often see protagonists stand before the mirror and flex their muscles, as if that were the metric by which we should gauge our health. Unfortunately, the diameter of your muscles isn’t enough to determine your true health.

 

However, thanks to technology, these days we can learn more about what’s going on inside our bodies than ever before.

 

 

Facts and Figures

Hypertension, better known as high blood pressure, is often referred to as “the silent killer.” That’s because many people who suffer from it have no idea that they have high blood pressure. As a result, they fail to treat it until it triggers more obvious events like heart attacks and strokes.

 

Plenty of other conditions can lurk beneath the surface, slowly eroding your health even as you seem to feel fine. Conditions like diabetes, cancer, and artherosclerosis can be wreaking havoc on your future even though you feel fine, or at most, have a diffuse group of odd symptoms that you ignore.

 

So just because you don’t notice anything unusual doesn’t mean that something serious can’t be afoot.

 

Getting to the doctor for annual physicals is key. That means going at a time when you aren’t sick and just having your practitioner give you the age-relevant rundown of what you should be checking on. Then, you must take the initiative to get the necessary tests and check-ups.

 

 

Are We Taking the Right Medications?

And while we’re debunking the old ways of monitoring our health, let’s not forget the knee-jerk move to request prescription medication from our doctors the moment we feel run-down.

 

There was a time when the math of health went something like this:

 

Condition + Medication = Recovery

 

But that equation has gotten muddier in recent years. Drugs have side effects. Medications can interact with each other or generate new health problems.

 

The surest way to avoid a negative side effect from your treatment is to submit to prescription drug testing by health professionals who can accurately determine the medication levels in your body. This can also help you and your doctor develop a personalized treatment plan.

 

Remember that many drugs, particularly antibiotics, linger inside your body long after you have gulped the last pill. Certain steps can help you clear many toxins from your body, but medications are harder to resolve.

 

So if the condition for which you’ve taken that medicine is persisting even as the drug remains active in your body, it’s clear that you need to try a new strategy.

 

Obviously that’s not necessary with every pesky cold or nagging cough. But when more serious conditions exist, like major infections or organ malfunctions, it’s critical that you know if your current prescription isn’t cutting the mustard.

 

And your doctor should know too.

 

Speaking of things your doctor should know, interactions are critical events as well. If you continue to show significant levels of a drug you finished weeks or even months ago–and yes, they can hang around that long–your doctor needs to know that before providing you with a new medication.

 

That information is more important if the leftover medication was prescribed by someone else.

 

Regardless of the circumstances, identifying medication residues can direct us to use a different medication or consider nutritional or other treatments for new conditions.

Categories: blood pressure, bodies, conditions, doctor, feel fine, health, high blood, hypertension, medication, nbsp, nbsp nbsp

5 Health Appointments You Must Make To Start This New Year

With the New Year, you have an opportunity to make resolutions to start taking better care of your health, helping you to improve your overall quality of life now and for many more years to come. Now is the time to finally get in shape, to work on lowering your blood pressure,to tend to your dental health, and much more.

The first thing you need to do is make some health appointments to ensure that you start your new healthy journey on the right path. Here are the five appointments you need to make to start the New Year right:

 

Family Physician

Your family physician can give you a thorough exam to ensure that you are in good physical and mental health. At your physical, the doctor will check your heart rate, blood pressure, weight, reflexes, lymph nodes, glands, and more. Your doctor may order additional tests for any issues you are experiencing.

 

Dentist

You need to see the dentist twice a year for a cleaning, as well as a checkup of your oral health. Without these regular visits, you are at risk for gum disease, cavities and other dental problems. A dentist can also provide restorative services. Whether you are searching for dental implants Edmonton, cavity fillings or a general checkup, you can visit a professional like Azarko Dental Group for full service.

 

Dermatologist

You don’t have to suffer from acne or other skin conditions to see a dermatologist. You should see a dermatologist once a year to have your skin thoroughly examined. The dermatologist will check all your moles for signs of any growths that are discolored or oddly shaped, which could be an early sign of skin cancer.

 

Optometrist

Your eyes health is an important part of your total health. An annual visit to the eye doctor can not only detect changes in your vision to give you the corrective lenses to preserve your quality of life, but it can also lead to early diagnosis of eye disease like glaucoma and macular degeneration, which can impair your health.

 

Nutritionist

A nutritionist can help you devise a healthy eating plan that will help you meet your goals for weight loss or better health. The nutritionist can review your current eating habits and make a plan to suit your specific tastes and needs.

 

Keeping these appointments ensures that you are an active participant in your own health care. You can start the New Year right by making these appointments and following through on the advice your providers give you.

Categories: appointments, blood pressure, Dental, family physician, health, health appointments, nbsp, New Year, year

One for the Boys: Men who Eat Chocolate Reduce Stroke Risk

Although it’s no friend to your waistline, chocolate always seems like a friend to your emotional wellness. However, now men may be able to use the cocoa-y, sugary goodness to prevent a major health concern. This is according to a new large study from Sweden, which has found that simply eating one chocolate bar per week may help men to reduce their risk of having a stroke by about one-sixth.

This appetising conclusion was published this week in the journal Neurology by researchers at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute. For the study, which was the first in a long line of recent studies on the potential heart and vascular benefits of chocolate to look specifically at men, the team spent 10 years following more than 37,000 men between the ages of 45 and 79. The results of the study revealed that men who at the most chocolate a week – roughly 2.2 ounces – were 17% less likely to have a stroke than the participants who ate little or no chocolate during than time span.

The researchers then pooled their data with that from four previous studies – including a near-identical 2011 study they conducted in women – in order to bolster their findings. The combined data, when re-analysed, came out with a similar result: men and women who ate the most chocolate had a 19% lower risk of stroke compared to those who ate the least. Jonathan Friedman, MD, a neurosurgeon at the Texas A&M Health Science Centre College of Medicine, in Bryan–College Station, who was not involved in the research, commented, ‘This was a meaningful reduction in stroke risk, and the results seem to be valid given the high number of patients.’

This study, which was funded by a Swedish research council, adds to a growing body of evidence that shows chocolate, or rather cocoa, to have some heart-healthy properties. In cocoa there are compounds known as flavonoids, which have been proven to lower your blood pressure, increase your levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, and improve the function of your arteries. Being a type of antioxidant, flavonoids can also prevent major health concerns, and may thin your blood and prevent it from clotting. This can help to stave off heart attacks and strokes.

However, the study authors are quick to point out that there are other substances in chocolate – or certain traits associated with chocolate lovers, which is more likely — that could just as easily explain the findings. In the chocolate lovers group, participants tended to be better educated and healthier overall than their peers, being less likely to smoke, have high blood pressure or have the heart-rate abnormality known as atrial fibrillation, which is a major risk factor for stroke. The researchers carefully controlled for these and other health measures, but Pierre Fayad, MD, a professor of neurological sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha, notes that the link between chocolate consumption and strokes can possibly be explained by health or lifestyle differences that went undetected.  ‘This association could also be due to the fact that [chocolate eaters] are healthier people,’ he adds.

While the new study adds to a wealth of research that hails the health benefits of chocolate, don’t go thinking that your doctor is going to start giving you different advice about your cardiovascular health. Fayad comments that following a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and treating known risk factors such as high blood pressure will all have a bigger impact on stroke risk than how much chocolate you consume. Plus, Friedman concludes, ‘Eating five chocolate bars a week might be worse for you in terms of obesity than it is good for you in terms of stroke risk.’

Categories: blood pressure, chocolate, chocolate lovers, high blood, major health, Research, risk, stroke, stroke risk, study

The Health Benefits of Bananas that Will Blow Your Mind

Ok, there’s nothing particularly new or exciting about bananas – apart from, you know, a certain hilarious phallic appeal. However, while current, hip superfruits saturate headlines and diet plans, it’s the banana that has quietly and brilliantly benefited your wellbeing in more ways than you know. Sure, it goes great in a sundae or milkshake, but making a banana one of your five-a-day is one of the healthiest decisions you can make for your diet wellness.

 

As well as a heaping helping of dietary fibre, there are three sugars in bananas; glucose, fructose and sucrose. This means a huge boost to your digestive health, and instant energy for your workouts. Forget protein shakes; banana is the true energy food. However, if you think bananas are limited to providing energy and enhancing your digestive system, you’ve got another thing coming. Bananas help to regulate your blood pressure, improve your overall mood and even fight against major diseases! In fact, studies have shown that there’s the potential for bananas to be a new oral vaccination against the Hepatitis B virus. Rest assured, once you see all the health benefits of bananas, you’ll know that you’ve found the right fruit:

 

1. Cancer protection: A fibre known as pectin is found in bananas, and has been classified as the best way to beat colon cancer. While the fibre you find in wholegrains is insoluble, pectin is a soluble fibre, which slows down your digestion and helps you to control your weight. In each serving of banana, you will find two grams of pectin.

 

2. PMS prevention: You face a lot of problems during your period. However, for those times when you forget your pill, a banana can come to the rescue. Bananas contain vitamin B6, meaning they can help to regulate your sugar levels, alleviate your mood and help you relax. Plus, as bananas fight off signs of depression and anxiety, they also make you feel happier.

 

3. Anaemia aversion: Bananas have a high content of iron, meaning that they work to stimulate haemoglobin production in your body. Therefore, bananas are ideal if you suffer from anaemia, or you’re at particular risk to it – this includes vegetarians and women who experience heavy periods.

 

4. Blood pressure improvement: This tropical fruit is filled with the goodness of potassium, while also being very low in sodium. Hence, if you suffer from high blood pressure and are more prone to heart diseases, bananas are the perfect fruit for you.

 

5. Brain power enhancement: Have trouble getting your brain into gear in the morning? Eat a banana for breakfast! According to research, eating bananas in the morning have helped children to be more alert at school and improved their ability to grasp new things. Not only is this the case in adults, but bananas also regulate your sugar levels and offer a boost of energy, meaning you can stay on top of your game all day.

 

6. Spot relief: Whether you have painful pimples or irritating and itchy mosquito bites, the peel of the banana is the natural remedy you seek. It sounds too good to be true, but banana peel reduces swelling and soothes the affected area.

 

7. Ulcer reduction: It’s difficult to eat many fruits if you suffer from stomach ulcers, particularly those with a high acidic content like oranges, pineapples and grapes. Bananas, on the other hand, do not irritate your stomach ulcers but bring relief by coating the lining of your stomach with their cool, smooth texture.

 

8. Smoking cessation: The vitamins B12 and B6 in bananas help against signs of withdrawal, making it easier for you to quit smoking.

Categories: banana, Bananas, blood pressure, cancer prevention, energy, fibre, Health Benefits, nbsp, quit smoking, stomach ulcers, sugar levels

How Blood Flow Problems Impact Your Sexual Arousal

When you think about sexual arousal, you tend to think of it as the same thing as wanting to have sex. However, sexual arousal is actually the second phase of lovemaking. First, you want to have sex and then you become aroused through foreplay and intimacy. This makes it easier to understand how sexual health issues impact on your wellness. If your mind says yes but your body doesn’t listen, your wellbeing may be affected by sexual arousal disorder (SAD). SAD – not to be confused with seasonal affective disorder – is defined, medically speaking, as a persistent or recurring inability to maintain sexual responses during the excitement stage of sexual activity. This means you are unable to maintain adequate genital lubrication, swelling or other responses, such as nipple sensitivity. As you need the blood vessels in your genital region to swell for your vagina to become lubricated, any impediment to blood flow could potentially cause SAD. This includes:

 

1. Pelvic surgery: There are 600,000 hysterectomies performed each year and, according to Drs. Jennifer and Laura Berman, two of the nation’s top experts on sexual health for women and authors of Women Only: A Revolutionary Guide to Overcoming Sexual Dysfunction and Reclaiming Your Sex Life, the research on this procedure is contradictory. The Berman sisters note that while some studies claim that hysterectomies can improve your sex life, others have shown negative results. These include decreased vaginal lubrication and a loss of genital sensation, even if the surgery spares your ovaries. The Bermans point out that having your cervix removed and your nerves injured during surgery can severely compromise your blood flow, thereby setting the stage for SAD to impact your wellbeing.

 

2. Childbirth trauma: If suction or forceps causes vaginal tearing, you might find some nerve and vascular damage to your vagina. This leads to problems with sensation in your vagina and clitoris. If you’re breast-feeding, it’s not uncommon to experience decreased lubrication due to your body’s elevated level of the hormone prolactin.

 

3. Blood flow diseases: If you have coronory heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol, any one of these diseases can get in the way of the blood flow to your pelvic region and, as a result, reduce your ability to become aroused. You may think that high-blood-pressure medications, such as beta-blockers, can help to address this issue; but you’d be wrong; weirdly and ironically enough, beta-blockers can actually cause sexual dysfunction. Because of this, the Bermans asserts, calcium channel blockers have become more popular as a treatment for heart disease, as they have less of an impact on your sexual function. If you have a blood flow disease and are experiencing loss of sexual function, calcium channel blockers may be a good option for you, so speak to your GP.

 

4. Hormonal changes: As a woman, there are many things in life that can influence the balance of your hormones. Fluctuations can be instigated by the onset of menopause, childbirth or medications. If you take progestin-dominant birth control pills, for example, you might find that you experience a loss of libido and vaginal dryness. This latter side-effect is also a common complaint of women who take medications to prevent recurrence of breast cancer, such as Tamoxifen. However, the biggest and most dramatic change will be from a drop in oestrogen, which occurs when you go through menopause. With less oestrogen in your system, your vagina will lose lubrication, and you’ll also go through a number of other unpleasant symptoms. If you’re going through menopause, or any of the above causes of reduced blood flow, speak to your doctor about your options.

Categories: arousal, Beta Blockers, blood flow, blood pressure, calcium channel, hormonal changes, sex life, sexual arousal, sexual dysfunction, sexual function, sexual health

Kuna Cocoa Is Good For Your Health- Here"s How!

If someone said to you “chocolate can be great for your health” you might look at them in a strange way and laugh. It’s a fact that we think many things about chocolate – but probably never that it is a health food. There are a number of health concerns that are brought up with standard chocolate that you buy in stores – you could probably think of a few of them yourself. One is clearly that it is very high in sugar, and any doctor will tell you that sugar is something you need to cut back on. Another is the increased levels of fat – no-one is championing eating lots of fat as a good idea.

 

There are also many other noted problems with store bought chocolate that are less obvious. This includes that fact that it uses cocoa butter, which can be problematic because it contains around 25 per cent palmitic acid and studies have shown that high levels of palmitic acid are linked to an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. It doesn’t seem so much like a health food. And yet, it has been clear for a long time that the cacao bean does have some very positive aspects for your health. But is it possible to unlock them if we are so used to store bought chocolate with the associated problems.

 

As it turns out it is true that we can. It comes to us via the Kuna Indians, and if you’ve never heard of them, you’re not alone. They live on a group of islands that is close to Panama. The Kuna people have been shown to have an impressively low average blood pressure – a clear sign of good cardiovascular health. It is also true that they do not seem to experience the same age-related increase in blood pressure that we do in Western societies. Perhaps even more crucially, death rates from cardiovascular disease and cancer (which are the top killers in Western societies) have been shown to be virtually nil among the Kuna people. As an example, in America it was reported that for every 100,000 people 83 died from cardiovascular disease and 68 from cancer. Amongst the Kuna people,  just 9 and 4 respectively died from these diseases.

 

It is clear, then, that something is improving the health of the Kuna people. There have been many theories regarding this including the relatively low average age of the Kuna, but these reasons have all been shown to be inconclusive. However, there is one reason that is has been thought to improve their health. The Kuna consume more than four cups of cocoa-based drink every day. This cocoa is not the store bought kind, but is locally grown and has not been fermented or roasted. The Kuna make their drink by grinding raw cacao beans and then boil them with banana. It is thought that this method of producing a cocoa drink actually removes some of the problems for health and allows the Kuna to enjoy the clear benefits of cocoa.

 

As these beans are very difficult for you to come across, you’ll need to make your own drink and you can order raw, organic cacao beans that would still retain the same benefits that the Kuna use. Clearly it is true that more research into this is required to see if the affects can be proven to come from the cocoa drink but if it can it could give researchers a way to look for new ways to eliminate the problems of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Categories: blood pressure, cacao beans, cancer, cardiovascular disease, cocoa, cocoa drink, Health Food, kuna, kuna people, palmitic acid, western societies

The Importance Of Correct Form At The Gym

It is true that going to the gym has been a regular activity for many people in modern society. Going to the gym can be very good for us for a number of reasons. Firstly it means you’re getting regular exercise which is good news by almost any scale of healthy living, but it’s also about a lot more than that. Getting plenty of exercise is good for your wellbeing for a number of different reasons including increasing your metabolism, improving your immune system and keeping yourself active. So whether you’re hitting the gym in the hope of losing some weight, maintaining a healthy lifestyle or building your muscles, it is always a good thing.

 

But anyone who has ever gone to the gym and taken part in sessions with an instructor will know that one thing that they always emphasise is good posture. Having the right posture not only makes it easier for your to perform the exercises and build muscle, it also ensures that you don’t injure yourself by placing too much strain on the wrong parts of your body. The vast majority of injuries at the gym are not caused by carelessness, or attempted to do something that you shouldn’t – it is by having bad posture and form when you attempt to use the equipment.

 

Getting the right form is absolutely essential if you want to avoid injury and get the most out of your workout. Key factors include making sure you’re in the right position, taking things slowly and thinking through every move you’re going to make, and using the correct breathing techniques when you attempt to perform any lift or move. If you don’t you risk stopping your gym patronage before it even starts.

 

There are a few things that you certainly need to do if you’re going to go the gym and stay healthy and free from injury. The first, and perhaps most important, aspect of lifting weights might seem like something that it entirely obvious but for many people it is the starting point for injury. And that is that you should choose the right level of weight. Too many people attempt to overload themselves too early. Take things slow and gradual and build up your strength. Even if some of your muscles are capable of lifting very heavy weights, it could be that others are not developed enough to take the strain. Of course you need to push yourself, but at the beginning it is extremely important to take things slowly.

 

Next you need to ensure that you are performing your chosen exercise the correct way. Take to the gym instructor or your personal trainer for specific guidelines on how to perform the exercise the right way. If you don’t do this you are opening yourself up to injury as the incorrect posture will place the strain of the weights on your weakest areas. This can not only lead to injuries in the short term but can actually leave you with lasting damage to your body that will never go away.

 

Finally, you need to learn the correct breathing techniques. It can very tempting to hold your breath as your lift very heavy weights, but this is actually a very bad idea and can cause very serious problems. Holding your breath while you lift very heavy weights can lead to dangerous increases in your blood pressure which will ultimately cause you serious problems. This will lead to you needing to give up exercise in an effort to avoid this kind of high blood pressure.

Categories: blood pressure, Breathing Techniques, exercise, gym, heavy weights, Injury, nbsp, posture, Weights, work out

How to Stop Your High Blood Pressure Ruining Your Sex Life

While high blood pressure doesn’t often effect your wellness with any major symptoms, you may be able to quite clearly see the impact it has on your sexual health. Although having sex or engaging in any sexual activity isn’t likely to pose an immediate threat to your wellbeing – such as a heart attack – having high blood pressure can make sex less enjoyable, especially in men. Studies have proven a link between high blood pressure and sexual problems in men, but for women who have decreased sexual satisfaction, it’s not yet proved that high blood pressure is to blame. Nonetheless, treatment for high blood pressure and satisfaction with sex can go hand in hand — but only if you’re open about the problem and work closely with your doctor.

 

The reason why high blood pressure affects men’s sex lives is because, over time, it damages the lining of your blood vessels, causing your arteries to narrow and harden. This is a condition known as atherosclerosis and it limits your blood flow. As a result of atherosclerosis, blood cannot flow to your penis as easily, making it more difficult for you to achieve and maintain erections. This is otherwise known as the fairly common problem of erectile dysfunction (ED). Every time this happens to you, you can feel anxious that it will happen again. This means that men can try to avoid sex, which, in turn, has a negative impact on your relationship. Moreover, high blood pressure can reduce your sexual desire and interfere with ejaculation.

 

For women, high blood pressure’s effect on sexual problems still isn’t well understood, but it is possible that high blood pressure could affect your sex life. As with men, high blood pressure reduces blood flow, meaning that the blood cannot get to your vagina as easily. While women don’t necessarily need blood flow to be able to have sex, decreased blood flow to the genitals can lower your sexual desire or arousal, make it more difficult for you to achieve an orgasm, and contribute to vaginal dryness. However, lubrication and taking steps to improve your arousal can help. Still, the anxiety these problems cause – as with men – can mean you’re reluctant to have sex, which contributes to relationship problems.

 

Therefore, if you’re a man or a woman who experiences such difficulties, you should talk to a doctor about ways to make things better. The more your doctor knows about you, the better he or she can treat your high blood pressure — and help you maintain a satisfying sex life – so be open and honest, and prepared to answer questions your doctor may ask. Go to your consultation equipped with the following information:

• Any medications you are taking


• Whether your relationship with your sexual partner has changed recently


• Any recent feelings of depression


• Any stresses you are currently facing, and whether or not that’s more than usual

 

Your doctor will most likely recommend lifestyle changes that promote overall health, and boost your sexual satisfaction as a result. By eating healthy foods, reducing the amount of salt in your diet, losing weight, exercising regularly and not smoking, you can lower your blood pressure and potentially improve your sex life. Moreover, this healthy lifestyle will give you a leaner body, which will boost your confidence and help you feel more attractive – and that’s a plus to anyone’s sex life. Remember, you also need to communicate with your partner, as this will help to alleviate both of your worries and give you ways of moving forward. One thing you might try is initiating intimacy in a different, more relaxing way, such as through massage or getting in the bath together.

Categories: Blood, blood flow, blood pressure, high blood, high blood pressure, Lifestyle Changes, pressure, reduced blood flow, sex life, sexual desire, sexual problems, sexual satisfaction