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Archives for March 2012

The Benefits of Diabetes Prevention

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Type 2 diabetes can have many negative health consequences—if you have this disease, you’re more likely to be overweight, which can significantly increase your chances of getting heart disease or having to go through cancer treatments later in life. Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body can’t use insulin in the correct way, causing a build up of sugar in the bloodstream. Over time, this sugar buildup can cause eye, kidney, nerve, heart, and blood vessel damage, none of which are healthy, let alone pleasant to deal with. Knowing how to prevent diabetes is therefore very important, especially when you take into consideration the benefits this prevention can have on your health. The following suggestions provide easy, interrelated methods to prevent this disease and demonstrate why your body will thank you in the long run:

1. Keep your diet healthy – Eating healthy helps keep your body running at its highest level and greatly reduces your risk of diabetes. Maintaining a balanced diet provides your body with the nutrients you need to keep your muscles, brain, and heart functioning well. Getting the right amount of nutrients also helps strengthen bones and tendons and can help prevent serious chronic diseases. Make sure to get lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and choose whole grains whenever possible.

2. Exercise regularly – Exercising is one of the best ways to prevent type 2 diabetes since it is so effective at helping maintain a healthy weight. Doctors recommend doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day, which is a perfectly feasible time commitment for most people. Exercising has a host of other benefits as well; it can improve your mood, put you at a lower risk for cancer, depression, and heart disease, and boost your energy and concentration.

3. Lose a little weight if you need to – If you follow the tip above, this step will probably come naturally, but it’s still important enough to articulate on its own. Being overweight is one of the biggest causes of type 2 diabetes, so even if you’re even slightly above the weight your doctor recommends for you, try and drop a few pounds to keep yourself out of the at-risk zone. Additionally, losing weight decreases your blood pressure, puts you at lower risk for heart disease, and even improves your sleep habits.

4. Manage your cholesterol and blood pressure – People with higher cholesterol and blood pressure are typically at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, so if you know yours are slightly higher than they should be, make sure to manage them accordingly. The tips above will all definitely help lower both cholesterol and blood pressure, but talking to your doctor and making sure you’re taking the appropriate medications can help reduce these levels even more significantly.

Making these simple lifestyle changes will not only help prevent type 2 diabetes but will contribute to an overall healthier lifestyle and will help prevent numerous other diseases that can be equally as, and sometimes more, dangerous for your health than diabetes. The major health benefits that result from diabetes prevention absolutely outweigh any negatives—mostly because maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an entirely positive health move! So eat healthy, get fit, and stay conscious of any health problems, and you hopefully won’t have to worry about diabetes at all.

BHI Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-03-30

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Go green and naturally lose weight with green tea

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Have you ever wondered that losing weight could be so much easier? After hours of running on the treadmill and working out, there are still no favourable outcomes? Then it is time to inculcate a wonder drink in your diets. The drink popularly known as Green Tea is a storehouse of anti-oxidants. Green tea is prepared from the leaves of Camellia sinensis and goes through minimum oxidation. It is mainly cultivated in China but has become popular all over the world. Green tea catechins are unique and contain a concentrated form of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) which is responsible for providing so many benefits of green tea. Green Tea is associated with many health benefits which are scientifically proven. It helps in protecting the heart by lowering the risk of heart diseases and helps in warding away certain types of cancers. Green tea helps in raising metabolic rate and induces Thermogenesis and helps in stimulating fat oxidation by increasing the metabolic rate not affecting the heart rate.

GREEN TEA VARIABLES

  • Green tea beverages: Green tea is mostly preferred in the form of tea, either hot or cold or along with milk, honey or lemon.
  • Green tea supplements: Some people do not like the taste of green tea. They can choose from a variety of health supplements available in the stores. These supplements take a longer time to be digested but provide the same benefit as that of a green tea.
  • Green tea patch: People also opt for a patch which sticks to their body to gain the benefits of green tea. The major drawback of this method is the adhesive allergy, the patch can cause.

BENEFITS OF GREEN TEA

  1. Green tea acts as an anti-oxidant: It helps in cleaning the body by getting rid of the free radicals and impurities. It also helps in repairing and bringing balance in the body’s system functions. Drinking green tea regularly after a meal helps many people fasten up the process of losing weight as it aids in digestion and in managing blood sugar levels. The antioxidants also support to increase the body’s power levels, helping to maintain a better and a rigorous workout regime and detoxifying the body.
  2. Green tea and insulin levels: A diet rich in sugar and carbohydrates lead to immense weight gain. Drinking green tea regularly can delay the process of carbohydrate release and blocks the glucose production to be absorbed by the body. Green tea helps in burning the fat present in the cells of the body. Green tea along with a good workout regime can produce a fit, healthy and a lean body. Green tea also helps in curbing the hunger pangs. It is an appetite suppressant, so that extra calories are not consumed unnecessarily by the body.
  3. Green tea and high metabolic rate: Green tea drinkers have a high metabolic rate which burns calories and turns them into energy. Green Tea is a natural stimulant which helps in burning more calories. The quicker calories are burnt, the quicker fat content in the body is shed.

Green tea can cure the illness states including cardiovascular (heart) diseases, arthritis and diabetes. It also prevents tooth decay and is effective in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. It is also proven that many enzymes present in green tea help in keeping the brain cells healthy and thus delaying the diseases like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Green tea also helps in preventing acne and slows down the ageing process naturally.

 

STUDIES CONDUCTED

A 90-day trial, conducted at Fudan University, in Shanghai, China, was funded by the Lipton Institute of Tea. The study supports existing evidence that green tea has a significant beneficial effect on body composition in Asian populations. 182 moderately weighing Chinese people were selected and were given different quantities of green tea ranging from 30 mg to 900 mg over a trail of 90 days period. The results concluded that compared to the people who did not consume green tea, the people who consumed green tea lost waist circumference, weight, abdominal fat, and total lean mass.

A study published in the January, 2005 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded “Daily consumption of tea containing 690 mg catechins for 12 weeks reduced body fat, which suggests that the ingestion of catechins might be useful in the prevention and improvement of lifestyle-related diseases, mainly obesity.

A study published in the December 1999 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that “Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation. The green tea extract may play a role in the control of body composition via sympathetic activation of thermogenesis, fat oxidation, or both.”

 

CONCLUSION

Green tea has a great effect on the well being of a human by shedding weight consistently and keeping diseases at bay. Green tea along with a good fitness regime can speed up the weight loss process and helps in creating a healthier and a leaner body. Green tea in the form of a beverage, a pill or a patch must be incorporated in the diet to increase the metabolic progression. So, “Go Green And Lose Weight Naturally”.

This article is a contribution by Jefferey Morgan who is an enthusiastic writer and has commendable knowledge on health and wellness, he is a fitness expert and has been working out for almost a decade, know more on how to get ripped fast and visit his site get ripped fast to know more.

Reducing Asthma Symptoms by Focusing On Environmental Triggers

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Asthma is a chronic respiratory illness that effects both children and adults. It is characterized by wheezing, coughing during the night and early morning as well as feeling short of breath or tightness in the chest. During an asthma attack your airways shrink and mucus produced by your body clog the narrow spaces, preventing oxygen from getting through.

Asthma symptoms may include wheezing, coughing, a feeling of tightness in the chest and difficulty breathing. If left untreated an asthma attack could be fatal.

Once you’ve been diagnosed with asthma the first step your doctor will take is to prescribe a rescue inhaler and for more severe illness he may prescribe additional prevention medications like Singulair or Advair. These medications help to reduce the symptoms of asthma by either blocking leukotrienes or reducing inflammation of the bronchial airways.

Alone prescription medications help resist triggers after they enter the body and typically provide satisfactory asthma control. Imagine the level of asthma control you could have if you also resist triggers BEFORE they gain access? This is where environmental controls take the upper hand.

Environmental Triggers That Impact Your Asthma

Managing asthma demands an awareness of external triggers. Common triggers pointed out over and over again include; smoke, pet dander, allergies from dust, air pollution, mold, and cockroach allergies. But knowing what to do about it is not as readily available.

Managing environmental controls is easier than you might think. There are three areas you need to focus your efforts; the bedroom, how you clean and the air you breathe.

Step 1: Reduce exposure to dust mites: To reduce dust mites first purchase encasements for your mattress, box springs and pillows. Encasements come in a variety of materials and pore size. To block dust mites you need to select bedding with a pore size smaller than 10 microns. If you want to also block pet dander and mold you want to purchase an encasement with a pore size smaller than 3 microns.

Once you’ve covered your mattress and box springs remove all upholstered furniture, carpeting where possible and stuffed animals from your bedroom. Dust mites are able to survive in in any soft fabric that provides protection from the light.

Step #2: Change How You Clean: How you clean your home has a direct impact on the number of triggers floating around the air you breathe or settling on the surfaces of your home waiting to be stirred up. When sweeping carpeted floors it’s important to invest in a high quality vacuum that traps particles smaller than 3 microns, uses self-sealing technology and is versatile for various floor heights. My two favorite vacuums are the Miele S7 series as well as the Kirby vacuums.

For hard surfaces invest in microfiber dust cloths and brooms. These fabrics are designed to attract and cling to dust as you clean the surfaces. As an alternative you can use a damp, not wet, cloth for dusting surfaces and hard floors.

For the most effective elimination of triggers it’s recommended to dust, sweep and vacuum every 2 or 3 days at a minimum. Daily cleaning is preferred for optimal removal of triggers.

Step #3: Clean the Air In Your Home: The final step in eliminating environmental triggers is to clean the air you breathe every day. The most efficient way to do this is with quality air purifiers that are built to eliminate dust, pet dander, smoke and chemicals. Remember that asthma attacks are triggered by all of them so your air purifier needs to be up to speed. My two favorites for asthma sufferers are Living Air Purifiers and Blueair Purifiers.

There are other recommendations out there such as placing special screens on your window and having your entire heating/cooling duct systems cleaned. Both of these options may offer some benefit but have not shown a huge change in symptoms across the board so they should be considered optional and after further study on your part.

Taking steps to manage your asthma through environmental controls is supported and recommended by doctors and allergy specialists for optimal asthma control. These are a few simple steps to get you going towards your goal of symptom relief.

You can also try to strengthen you lungs with a Power Lung exercise device, check it out over at the BHI Store.

About the Author:

Mikki Hogan lives in North Carolina with her husband and children. Having lived with asthma most of her adult life she has found the most success with controlling her asthma symptoms through proper management of house mites, dust and pet dander.

What Medications Should Be In a Home Emergency Kit?

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A home emergency kit normally needs to have supplies and medication for minor ailments, headaches and accidents that might occur in and around the home. People that suffer from allergies or chronic conditions need to have a backup supply of their medication in the home emergency kit. It is also important to have a spare emergency kit that can travel with you in the car.

What is Needed for Home Emergencies?

The kit should contain several items for home emergencies like cuts, burns, insect stings or bites. For cut or burns, you would need to have antiseptic solution, sterile gauze pads, elastic bandage, safety pins and non-latex gloves.

For the treatment of insect bites or stings, you would need calamine lotion if the bite is itching. With insect stings you would need a small pocket knife to remove the sting if necessary. Pain relief medication in the form of syrup for children and pills for adults should also be a standard part of your emergency kit. Additionally, it is recommended that an antihistamine be kept in the kit to help with allergic reactions that may occur.

Sore Throats, Coughs and Hay-Fever

In case of a sore or scratchy throat, it is always a good idea to keep throat lozenges or something similar in your home emergency kit. For mild coughs you would need a cough mixture. Most cough mixtures these days contain ingredients that are not recommended for children, so it is important o always check ingredients and ask a pharmacist if you are unsure. If you are a person that struggles with hay fever or other allergies, it is recommended that you have a good nasal spray along with allergy relief medication.

Chronic Conditions

If you suffer from any chronic condition like asthma, you should also have a back-up of your medication in your emergency kit. It is highly recommended that you rotate the medication to ensure that it doesn’t expire in the kit. Each time you get replacement medication from your doctor, you should put that in your emergency kit and use the one that is currently stored there. If there are changes in your chronic medication, it is important to ensure that you keep this updated as your prescription changes.

Emergency Numbers

It is recommended that you have a list of the emergency numbers that you might require in all of your emergency kits. The numbers that would normally be made use of in an emergency include those of a local poison centre, the local fire department, your family doctor, ambulance and a close relative or friend that you can rely on in an emergency. These numbers should be easily accessible like on the inside of the kit lid or on a tag on the outside of the portable emergency kit.

It is normally a good practice to have your emergency kits in a cool and dry area that is easily accessible but that is also out of reach of young children. You should also have a list of the products in the kit and the expiry dates of everything inside the emergency kit. If you use anything out of the kit, it is important to replace it as soon as possible.

About the Author:

Kevin Clarke is a registered Pharmacist by day and runs Drugdb.com which provides information of common prescription and over the counter drugs and medications.

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