Health Care Basics

The majority of people in the world want to and try to make a descent effort to stay in shape. There are very few of them who purposely choose to become overweight and out of breath. Most of them have the desire to stay healthy, but the main problem for them is finding the time and ways to stay fit.

Chances are, you may be one of those individuals who do not have a physically demanding job and therefore the majority of your day is either spent sitting behind a desk working on a computer or sitting behind the wheel of a vehicle. Most of us find ourselves caught up in the same routine which consists of getting up at 6am, getting the kids ready for school, taking care of the pets, getting ourselves ready for work and then commuting a half hour or more to get to work. Then we work all day and come home to make dinner, do housework, pay bills and take care of every other thing in between that needs to be done and by this time, we are ready for sleep. We are assuming that all of this is done in an average 8 hour work day, but this is not always true as some people work more than this in a day. So the big question is how can you possibly make time to exercise and stay fit when you are so busy?

The first thing that you have to do is to be creative and find ways to stay fit even when you are behind a desk. You might want to consider replacing your office chair with an exercise ball. This will help you to assume proper posture for your back and it will also help you to strengthen your core muscles which will in turn improve your balance. Do some research and look for different exercises that you can do while sitting at your desk or driving that will tone your transverse abdominal muscles. These are the deep muscles that hold your organs in place and they have more of an impact on the flatness of your stomach than any other abdominal group of muscles. The best thing about these muscles is that you can work them without having to put yourself on the floor. You can engage them by simply sucking in your breath. This can be done while you are behind your desk or a steering wheel and all you have to do is to push your stomach out and suck it partway in and then pull it in towards your spine and hold it for a few seconds before letting out partway.

You should also make sure that you make enough time to get up and walk around while you are at work. Instead of running directly to the coffee pot on your break, consider taking a short power walk around your office building for 10 minutes or so. If you are one of those individuals who work in a tall office building, try riding the elevator to the bottom floor and then head up the stairs as fast as possible. If you are one of those who do not have a long break, try doing a few push-ups or sit-ups to get some exercise and this will not take a lot of your time. For those who have the luxury of an hour lunch break, try taking a walk in your local park or work out for a few minutes at your local health club or gym.

Last of all, you should not rely totally on your vehicle to get you around. If you live within 10 miles or less of your workplace, consider riding your bike to work and if you are fairly close to your job, walk or jog to work. For those of us who absolutely have to use our vehicles to get to work, try parking as far away as possible from your office and walk the rest of the way to get some needed exercise. There are always creative ways that we can look for and implement in our busy lives to make room for some sort of physical exercise that will help us to live and lead a more healthy life.

I hope that you found this information useful and if you would like more information on ways to live healthy, then please visit my healthy living web site where you will find great information to help you live a long and healthy life.

Active Release Massage Therapy

A wide range of massage therapies are out there for those seeking a simple relaxation, tension release, or to the most serious specific therapy treatment needed by athletes. Active Release Massage Therapy or more commonly known as Active Release Therapy (ART) is a technique in massage therapy wherein the problems or tightness felt in our tendons, muscles, ligaments, and nerves are treated effectively. This is usually the therapy of choice for those people who are suffering from repetitive-motion and soft tissue injuries like overuse of a muscle and other sports-related trauma and injuries.

Fact is our muscles do not work alone. Our muscles need its surrounding connective tissues to be functional and healthy for it to effectively work. Although ART is more common in athletes who mostly complain about aching muscles, numbness, and tingling, this could also be beneficial for all kinds of muscle problems such as back pain, CTS, shoulder pain, neck tightness, knee problems, and other injuries.

ART is a manual therapy done on certain soft tissue areas of the body. Soft tissue structures when placed with a damaging force can form scar tissue and adhesions in the body. This scar and adhesions may cause movement restrictions and impede blood flow that will damage the muscles over time. When a tissue is perceived to be damaged, treatment is done by sliding and stretching movements at the specific area that will increase the movement by breaking the adhesions.

For Active Release Therapy practitioners to find an injured area, they apply a hands-on pressure to examine the range of movement of a client. In this way, the practitioner will be able to locate tightness in a muscle by just feeling their tendons, filaments, and ligaments for any sign of breaks or tears. This technique focuses mostly on unusually related soft tissues in different areas. It involves moving a limb or other relevant body part as told by the practitioner as he or she supports your movement.

There are things, however, that one should need to know about Active Release Massage Therapy.

To put it simply:

No pain, no gain. So they say. This is also true with Active Release Therapy. Just a precaution, it CAN hurt. When your muscles or tendons are injured and you try to put some pressure on it, pain is inevitable. Don’t worry though because the pain is just temporary and lasts for a few seconds only.

When you are to try Active Release Therapy, you might want to look for someone who is actually trained on it. Not just “trained” trained, but someone who has an extensive experience on this therapy. You don’t want to end up as someone’s training dummy, don’t you?

A series of intensive massage techniques are done by the therapist to enable the muscle to move to its full range. Through this, blood and lymph fluid is able to flow freely to the muscles with the relief of tissues surrounding the muscle of any scar that usually blocks the injured muscle. With blood and lymph fluids flowing freely, muscles heal. Active Release Therapy reduced the need for surgeries in patients that seemed to have no other choice.

Everyday products in and around our homes can become poisonous if used in the wrong way, in the wrong amount or by the wrong person. March 20th kicks off National Poison Prevention Week, created to highlight both the dangers of accidental poisoning and the steps to prevention.

More than 2 million poisonings each year are reported to the nations’ 60 poison control centers. Over half of those calls are related to children ages 5 and under, however adults account for 90% of poisoning deaths, with the highest occurrences among those ages 40-59.

Accidental poisoning can occur when a substance is inhaled or ingested, an allergic reaction occurs, or as a result of an adverse interaction between two or more substances.

The most common sources of accidental poisoning include:

• Overuse of over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol and cold medicine, as well as prescription painkillers
• Indoor and outdoor plants like wild mushrooms, poison oak and poison ivy
• Household products like bleach, pesticides, toilet bowl and oven cleaner, that can be deadly if ingested. Methanol poisoning from products like windshield wiper fluid and paint remover can cause permanent blindness. Even personal care products including lotions, makeup, perfume and mouthwash can be poisonous if ingested.
• Lead
• Bites and stings from snakes or spiders
• Fumes and gases

Protect yourself and loved ones from an accidental poisoning by following these poison prevention tips:

1. Put your local poison control number in your cell phone and post it in your kitchen and near home phones

2. Keep medicine and household products in their original containers. Never store them near food.

3. Always read labels and follow directions

4. Keep household products and medication stored away and out of sight until they are needed, and put them away as soon you finish using them

5. Buy products with child resistant packaging, keeping in mind however, that nothing is completely childproof

6. Never refer to medicine as candy

7. Have a working carbon monoxide detector in your home

8. Never mix household products together

9. Open windows or turn on a fan when using household cleaners

10. Identify poisonous plants in your house or yard and remove them or keep children and pets away from them

Since the Mediterranean diet became popular, lots of people have started adopting it. This is no doubt due to the fact that the diet is effective in helping people increase their chances of living longer, avoiding heart related diseases, helping them keep their weight down and generally helping them live better and richer lives without the guilt of obesity. The Mediterranean diet is also popular because the meals are tasty and really good.

So, it is like living and eating really well without necessarily gaining excess fat. If you live in the US and would like to adopt this diet plan or lifestyle, then you should listen up. Americans are generally lazy about their health. This is further worsened by the amount of junk food available. Research has shown than 2 out of every 3 American are overweight and 2 out of every 4 American adults are obese.

Also, 4 out of every five American child -80%- are overweight and tending towards obesity. This is no doubt, due to the kinds of food consumed on a daily basis. To implement the Mediterranean diet, here are a few tips to guide you.

1. Cut Back on the Junk

Truth be told, the average American eats a sizable amount of junk food every day. If it isn’t some fries, it is some burger or sandwich. If it isn’t any of the two, it is some soda, beer or ice cream. All these foods have high calories and have a huge tendency to clog up the arteries, causing heart related problem in the process. If you want to get the best out of the Mediterranean diet plan, you have got to cut back on the junk and start eating healthy foods. While it is okay to indulge yourself once in a while, avoid doing it too often. Get rid of the ice-cream, beer, hot dogs, sandwiches, snacks, chocolate, fries and others.

2. Drink More Wine and Water

The average Mediterranean diet plan recommends that you take a glass of wine or twice daily. This is because wine contains a huge number of antioxidants which basically help eliminate free radicals and toxins from your body. If wine isn’t available, you might want to try red grape juice. Also, drink at least eight glasses of water per day regardless of the nature of your work. If you do not like the bland taste of water, you can opt for minty or flavoured water. These are good substitutes and are often free of excess sugar.

3. Eat More fruits

The Mediterranean diet recommends eating more fruits and vegetables per day. In fact, fruits should be your snack as they are healthy for the body. So, whenever you get the urge to go grab a snack, do yourself a favor and grab a fruit. Fruits have been proven to be rich in antioxidants which help expel the free radicals in the body and are able to increase the amount of oxygen in the body.

4. Eat More Fish, Whole Grain Carbs and Olive Oil

Instead of eating more red meat, you should start eating more fish like salmon. This is because fishes have a high amount of omega 3 fatty acid which is important in the maintenance of the heart. Getting rid of saturated oils is also an integral part of the program. In place of saturated oils, you can use olive oils which are known to be healthy and lacking in huge amounts of calories.

The Mediterranean diet is easy to stick to and you can never tire of coming up with different meals as there are a lot of recipes to use.

French fries, fried chicken and burgers are all delightful foods, right? However, they are all high in cholesterol. Cholesterol is needed by the body to build cell walls, make vitamin D and create bile salts that aid in the digestion of foods. Too much cholesterol though is bad for the health because it can lead to heart problems and diseases. Using drugs to lower the level of cholesterol may be done but this entails side effects. The best way to lower cholesterol in the body is to use a natural method. You can have diet that lower cholesterol as part of your daily regimen to good health. There are so many foods that can be eaten to significantly lower the cholesterol level in the body.

One way to lower the cholesterol level is to include in your diet vegetables, whole grains and fruits. These foods are low in saturated fat or the fat that increases cholesterol, low in calories and high in fiber. Being low in calorie and high in fiber, fruits and vegetables can also help you lose weight which is important of getting rid excess fats or cholesterol. It is recommended to take five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. You may also include in your diet beans, whole grains like in cereals and pasta. Consume foods that contain more unsaturated fats like nuts, sesame seeds, soy bean and avocado. When you prepare fruits and vegetables for desert, avoid putting sweetening products in it. This will just add to your calorie intake and you’ll defeat the purpose of eating a diet that lower bad cholesterol.

Diet that lower cholesterol should exclude processed foods, white sugar that is usually found in bread products and hydrogenated oils. Processed foods or those foods that are frozen and preserved have trans fat. Trans fat tends to increase the bad cholesterol in the body. Other foods that contain trans fat are fried and baked foods, vegetable shortening and sweets. When you go to the grocery store and you can’t help but purchase those foods, read the label first if it contains high saturated and trans fat. Bakery products also contain trans fat so before buying check first your bread slice for its level of trans fat. You can purchase breads with zero trans fat.

Lastly, to complete your diet that lower cholesterol, lessen your consumption of animal products like pork and beef. Animal products contain high cholesterol and high saturated fats. Some other foods with high saturated fats that you should decrease the intake are red meat, sausages and bacon. Dairy products like cheese, whole milk and egg yolks also have high cholesterol and saturated fats. If you cannot avoid these foods, at least lessen your consumption. By following these steps to lower cholesterol, you’ll surely be healthy in a natural way and without taking drugs and their side effects.

More and more people all over the world are discovering a great new way to leave the cigarettes alone and save themselves a great deal of money. With all of the health risks involved with smoking people who like to smoke have been waiting for years for a resolution. The ecigarette has given them just what they have been waiting for.

The ecigarette still gives the look, feel, and nicotine of a real cigarette yet there is no smoke involved. These electronic devices use cartridges that are filled with nicotine liquid. This liquid is inhaled through the cigarette as a vapor. Therefore, the smoker still feels like they are smoking, and they still get the nicotine that they crave.

The ecigarette has enabled millions of people to quit smoking for good. The fact that it saves you so much money is also a major bonus. The cost of one pack of cigarettes has risen over the last few years to as much as seven dollars a pack for top brands. The average smoker smokes at least a pack a day. This means that in one year a smoker will spend at least $2555. The ecigarette kit can be found in many shapes and forms, but usually costs around fifty bucks. One cartridge refill is usually equivalent to about fifteen tobacco cigarettes. One cartridge, depending upon where you purchase them, is around one dollar per cartridge. That being said, its easy to see how much money there is to be saved.

To further savings, there is now something available called eliquid. Eliquid is a small bottle of nicotine solution that can be purchased to refill the nicotine cartridges that you use to operate the ecigarette. This eliquid comes in many different sizes and is very much cheaper than buying cartridges. It also comes in many different styles and flavors. You can find eliquid that resembles the flavor of Marlboro, Camel, Menthol, or even blueberry. This eliquid has become very popular over the last few months because of the fact that it is just another way to help people save money.

The ecigarette is readily available online and at a variety of different retailers. You can also find supplies such as refill cartridges and eliquid very easily online. Sites such as e-cigarette510.com are very committed to providing their customers with the best quality ecigarettes and eliquid that they can.

These Ecigs may very well be the best alternative for people who smoke. Many who have tried it say that they will never go back to their old habit and it is very easy to see why they feel that way. And with the tremendous savings it just makes perfect sense.

Cabbage might be one of the greatest vegetables for you. Unfortunately, it tends to be one of the least favorites, ranking up there with Brussels sprouts. With its strong taste and sometimes, unpleasant smell people are usually warded off from cabbage.

However, before you skip the leafy veggie consider the multitude of health benefits it offers including being an excellent source for weight loss. That’s right. Cabbage helps you lose weight.

Out of all vegetables cabbage has the fewest calories and least amount of fat. A substance in cabbage inhibits the conversion of sugar and other carbohydrates into fat making it a perfect side dish for any dieter. Some extremist have even gone the route of a cabbage soup diet. No need to be radical about the vegetable but you should definitely consider adding it to your menu for your next meal.

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Cabbage also offers many other benefits including:

– Lowers cholesterol
– Eases digestion
– Boosts immune system
– Packed with vitamin A & C

The green leaves are loaded with glutamine which helps you maintain muscle mass. Another added bonus for dieters.

The great thing about cabbage is it is available 365 days a year and at your local grocery store. No worries, so after St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone along with the corned beef you can still enjoy the star nutrient veggie.

You’ll also find a lot of fiber in the green leafy vegetable, which helps aid weight loss. As we’ve all come to learn fiber is a key to losing weight because of its ability to keep you feeling full much longer.

Cabbage is easy to prepare. It is best enjoyed when it has been thinly sliced and cooked for four minutes. If you over cook the vegetable you will end up with the unpleasant odor that helps give it a bad wrap.

You don’t have to conform to the cabbage soup diet but try this recipe and see for yourself all the great benefits cabbage has to offer. This recipe also adds a little kick to it with the addition of fresh chili peppers that will help speed up your metabolism.

Spicy Cabbage Soup

Prep and Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, quartered and sliced thin
• 3 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-2 tsp minced fresh chili pepper (serrano, or jalapeno)
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 TBS dry mustard
• 5 cups + 1 TBS chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 2 medium-sized red potatoes cut in ?-inch cubes (about two cups)
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 cups thinly sliced Savoy or green cabbage
• salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat 1 TBS broth in a medium soup pot. Saute sliced onion over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and minced chili pepper. Continue to saute for another minute.

Stir in dried coriander and mustard. Add broth and the rest of ingredients except the cabbage, salt, and pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes, uncovered, or until potatoes are tender. Add cabbage, and cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Introduction

We all know that to keep our bodies healthy, we need to keep our body weight at a healthy level. But did you know you should also measure your fat to ensure it is at a healthy level. A healthy level for women is considered to be between 25 to 31%. For men that healthy level is 18 to 25%.

When you go on a diet, you want to lose fat and keep the calorie burning muscle, so measuring you body fat is important.

Now you can measure your body fat at home by using of the bioelectrical impedance method.

Bioelectrical Impedance

Bioelectrical impedance is not only accessible but is probably one of the most accurate methods available to the average person. It is performed by passing a small electrical signal through the body.

By passing this electrical signal through the body, the body’s resistance is measured. By measuring the resistance, the amount of water is measured in the body which can determine the amount of fat your body has

The basic theory BI works on is that the more muscle you have, the more water you retain, which makes it easier for the electrical current to pass through it. On the other hand, the more fat you have there will be more resistance to the current.

The electrical current that is used is safe and cannot be felt.

Variables That Could Affect The Readings

There are several variables that could alter the readings. Since normal hydration is important for receiving an accurate measurement such things as exercising, eating and drinking must be controlled.

Drinking a large amount of water before the test can give you a reading of less fat than you actually have. Of course drinking small amounts of water, or none at all, will indicate more body fat than you actually have. To be consistent, you should schedule the bioelectrical impedance test at about the same time of day.

It has been determined that the best time to do the bioelectrical impedance test is in the late afternoon or early evening. This is because it has been determined that the variation in the bodies hydration is at it’s lowest point at this time.

Conclusion

When losing weight it is important to know what your body fat is. Now you can measure your body fat using the accurate bioelectrical impedance test at home. This measures your percent of body fat by measuring the amount of resistance your body has. The fatter you are, the more resistance your body will have.

Natural deodorants attract more and more attention of consumers. Many people have learnt already to choose their cosmetics wisely checking ingredients before buying. However, when it comes to picking a deodorant or antiperspirant, we still tend to opt simply for the most effective or, at least, advertised as such. Of course, modern lifestyle requires avoiding unpleasant smell almost at any cost, but as certain ingredients of the most popular deodorants are suspected to be carcinogenic or related to Alzheimer’s disease, the cost can result too high.

This is the reason why so many people are searching for all natural deodorants and so many manufacturers market their products under such label. Nevertheless, many natural brands lack a reliable third-party certification of their components while average consumers get lost reading incomprehensible and incomplete ingredient lists. As well, we have to admit that many all natural products are sold due to the simple fact of being absolutely harmless, while just a couple of them actually work.

As the majority of things, different natural deodorants have different pros and cons; different people have different needs and priorities. Usually, we cannot avoid conducting our personal market research before taking an appropriate buying decision. And there is always a risk of being mislead by an unscrupulous advertisement or well masked anti advertisement. Even so, there exist a number of basic guidelines to keep in mind: it is always better to stick with properly certified natural products, avoid strong antibacterial and aluminum compounds and take care of synthetic fragrances, especially if a manufacturer does not disclose any information more then just a word “fragrance”. Me personally, I would also recommend to choose items in environment friendly packages that can be easily recycled.

Probably, even after conducting a substantial deodorant market research, due to an unclear labeling or lack of some knowledge you may find yourself confused and unsure of what is really safe and natural. In that case, a good option is to try a couple of easy home made deodorant recipes that you can find on the Web. You can easily buy the ingredients of such deodorants in local stores or purchase them on line; they typically include essential oils, baking soda, starch, beeswax etc. Remind that before applying a deodorant that contain any ingredient that is completely new for you, for example, some essential oil, it is recommended to apply a small quantity of it on a reduced area of skin (avoid visible areas) and wait around 24 hours to check if you have any allergic reaction on it.

People most of the times take their body for granted. They never pay much attention on how to care and enhance its functioning. Just like the muscles. Muscles play an essential role in human anatomy. It protects the bones, makes our body move, uphold body posture and even provide heat to maintain regular body temperature. Advance technology made people’s live easier.

This is suited for people who wanted to tone and develop muscles but do not have extra money for gym workouts or to purchase equipment. One of the best bodyweight exercises to build muscle is sit ups. It is one of the most popular exercises that can help your muscles on the abdomen and hip area develop. When properly executed and the number of repetition is continually multiplied, you will definitely achieve the abs that can make you flaunt your body in a two piece swimsuit.

It is essential to use split body workouts on alternative days to build muscles of entire muscle groups. You should not use same muscle group in back to back sessions which means work out on your chest on Wednesday and then giving a gap of one day work out on your triceps and hamstrings on Wednesday and workout on your shoulders and quadriceps on Friday.

When you are done training, it is also important that you get plenty of rest. This allows the muscles to rest and repair any damaged tissue and also promotes muscle growth. As long as you lift weights, do cardio and let your body rest, you will achieve muscle growth with your routine.

Your carbohydrates should come mostly from complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes as well as fruits and vegetables.

If you want to build muscles quickly, going on an insane muscle building diet is absolutely necessary. You will need a huge caloric intake to keep up with your energy demands. Give yourself plenty of good carbohydrates, and a LOT of protein. Make sure you also take in good fats and oils. These are absolutely necessary.

With that being said, whether you choose to continue isolation routines or not, it is very important that you make compound lifts the focal point of your training routine. If you are interested in how to get strong fast and easy, I recommend you put together a full body routine that you can perform 3-4 days per week that consists of all heavy compound workouts.

Then simply pull the weight down to the ground with a straight back. Try to get your nose as close to the ground as you can without touching it. Try not to swing with this one and keep it controlled or you will eventually smack your head on the ground as I have done several times.