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Showing posts with label HEALTH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HEALTH. Show all posts

Monday, 5 January 2015

Hangover cures, the good, the bad, and the dangerous


 Laura Shortridge
New Year's Eve might be fun, but, let's be honest, you might just wake up tomorrow to find yourself feeling like a frantic and very pointy chicken is trying to escape your stomach and an extremely angry cat is trying to claw itself out of your brain.

When we're in pain, we're often ready to try anything to make that pain go away, but be careful of some of those most popular hangover cures. Not only do some of these not work, they might actually make your hangover worse!

1) Hair of the dog

When your body is going through agony mostly because you tried to pour too much alcohol in it, pouring more alcohol into it really isn't a good plan.

It might make you feel temporarily better for a short while by masking your symptoms, but those exact symptoms are your body's way of trying to tell you that it's had enough alcohol and please don't give it any more. It's a good idea to listen.

2) Coffee

Yes, you're exhausted and all you want is a cup of that magic potion that you dose yourself with every morning to aid that journey between the realm of the undead and the land of the living, but, apart from more alcohol, a stimulant that boosts your blood pressure is probably the last thing your body needs when it's already delicate.

3) Pain killers just before you go to bed

Look, pain killers are going to help you feel better when you do take them, but they can be pretty hard on the liver and your liver has had enough. Taking them just before you go to bed, so that they've completely worn off by the time you wake up, makes no sense. Save them for when you need them.

So you have a hangover and you just want it to stop, or at least be a little less awful. What can you do?
1) Sleep
This should come no surprise, but sleep is probably going to be the best way to recover. Your body is exhausted. It's done a lot of work, and now it needs a rest. Give it that. It's the least you can do for it.

2) Drink
NOT MORE ALCOHOL. Remember? No more alcohol for you. But plenty of water will help you out if you're dehydrated, and scientists have found Sprite will actually help cure your hangover.

3) Eat

You're probably going to want a greasy breakfast. I'm not saying that's the worst idea, but really something light that isn't going to sit in your stomach like a cheese cannonball is probably a better idea.

Rather than reaching for something that's an experiment in how much fat we can fit into the smallest amount of food, try eat something healthy and, this is important, easy to digest instead.

4) Drink responsibly

Pace yourself, and have plenty of water between drinks. Or don't drink at all. Turns out, not pushing your body to its absolute limits helps to prevent a hangover.

I know, weird right?


- Women24
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7 things to make you feel good


Take heart in this baker’s half-dozen of indulgences that can make you feel better and live longer.

If you feel as though everyone’s on your case about working out, avoiding fat-laden foods and not being a couch potato, don’t despair. Luxuriate in these cheap and easy luxuries. No thousand-dollar-a-minute health spas here – these are things you can do anywhere.
  • Stretch. As children, we start off being able to do the splits, climb trees and crawl through small spaces all day long, with no ill-effects. Once we reach adulthood, we spend our days sitting down and our agility takes a dive. Then mowing the lawn leaves us feeling stiff and creaky. Get flexible again by doing a range of stretches each morning. If you only do two, make it these: start with sitting up in bed. Keep your fingers intertwined and your palms facing outward reach above your head, tilting your head to follow your hands. Breathe in as you reach up and breathe out as your hands come down.
  • Drink wine. If you’re a teetotaler for whatever reason, there’s no need to start, but if not, have one glass of red with your supper. Wine contains resveratrol and a number of other antioxidants. It protects the body against heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol and stroke, as well as colon cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma and leukaemia.
  • Laugh. Find something that unfailingly makes you emit a belly-laugh, whether it’s your home video of Uncle Cyrus falling into the swimming pool, your scratchy old copy of Dinner for One, the works of PG Wodehouse or playing with your cat. Laughing lowers blood pressure, activates the immune system and stimulates breathing.
  • Have sex. Apart from feeling pleasant (If you haven’t noticed this, you may be doing it all wrong), it has health benefits. Like laughter, it prompts the release of endorphins, the so-called feel-good hormones. It can be mildly to excruciatingly aerobic and it tends to be good for relationships.
  • Sleep. Nodding off is a refuge, a haven from the cares of the world and your body’s way of coping with the masses of sensory input with which we deluge it daily. It’s when your brain does its filing, sorting out memories. The ability to get a good night’s sleep may be one of the single most important factors in staying healthy. If, after cutting back on caffeine and getting some light exercise during the day, you’re still unable to sleep, speak to your doctor.
  • Drink tea. Long thought to be good for you, tea has been shown to have a staggering array of health benefits.
  • Sweat. Some people shy away from the idea of exertion, but if you make aerobic exercise a habit you’ll find it’s almost addictive. Exercise triggers endorphins and regular, vigorous exercise leads to the so-called runner’s high, which can be so euphoric it’s a wonder it’s legal.

- (William Smook)
- Health24
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Keeping that weight loss resolution


Start with selecting a diet you can stick with.

"It should be clear by now that there is no one diet that works for everyone," Jill Ashbey-Pejoves, lead dietician at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y., said in a hospital news release.

One that works for you

"The best diet is the one that works for you. Don't starve yourself or eliminate entire food groups," she advised.

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet, she said.

Deprivation diets don't work because depriving yourself of something just makes you want to eat it even more.

Plan what you'll eat each day, so you won't be forced into a quick decision and make a poor choice.

Eliminate unhealthy snacks

Pack your own lunch and snacks. Eliminate unhealthy snacks and desserts from your home and replace them with fruit, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

Track your eating habits. Doing so keeps you focused and honest and helps you plan and see what works and what doesn't.

Any weight loss effort should include exercise. A mix of aerobics, resistance training and stretching is best.

Resistance workouts build muscle and muscle burns more calories. Doing only aerobics may not help you lose weight because that type of exercise stimulates appetite, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

Be sure to keep hydrated by drinking plenty of caffeine-free beverages.

Every meal should begin with a salad or broth-based vegetable soup. They help you feel full because of their high water content, but are low in calories.

Many salad dressing are high in calories, so try seasoned rice vinegar instead, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

Use smaller plates

She also suggested that you use smaller plates; fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables, put out a fruit bowl, and eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.



- Health24
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Monday, 22 December 2014

10 tips to stay slim over Christmas


The sooner you try out these tips, the more prepared you will be for the holiday foods.
1.   Activity compensates for extra calories

Give yourself the gift of 30 minutes of exercise a day. In addition to burning calories, exercise also helps to relieve tension – so you are less likely to eat to control holiday stress.
2.    H20, H20, H20

A little water goes a long way – small sips throughout the day are a smart way to keep well hydrated. It acts as a shock absorber and joint lubricant, helps to transport nutrients and eliminate waste, and works in regulating body temperature. Even better, water has no fat, no calories and no cholesterol.
3.    Be a food snob

Don’t waste precious calories on everyday chips or biscuits. Be selective and choose only the foods you really love, or that you associate with the season.
4. Bundle flavours

Variety might be the spice of life, but it is also a recipe for overeating. Bundle together similar flavours. For instance, put only salty (or meaty) foods on your plate at once. You will grow tired of that specific flavour more quickly and end up feeling satisfied on fewer calories.
5.   Pare down those portions

Try to keep your portions small and make only one visit to the table. Choose the smallest plate possible. Pile greens and other tasty veggies on your plate first, leaving just a little room for those high-calorie treats like sweets and cheeses. Eat small, lower-calorie meals during the day so you can enjoy a special treat later – just make sure you do not starve yourself for the party and overeat later.
6.    Step away from the table

 If you don’t put your choices on a plate, you have no idea how much you are really eating. The worst thing you can do at a party is stand around the table dipping into the bowl.
7.    Drink slimmer

Alcohol is a double whammy during the holidays.  It tends to weaken your resistance when it comes to eating, and the calories in drinks add up quickly. Sip on a glass of water between cocktails.
8.    “I paid for it, so I’m going to eat it”

Don’t feel as if you need to clean your plate just because you paid for it. Put part of your meal right away into a take-home container. Portion sizes in restaurants can be two to three times the amount you need. Instead of the usual starch and vegetable sides, skip the starch and double the veggies instead. Stop eating as soon as you begin to feel full.
9.    Zen Yourself

Holidays can be stressful. Keep expectations for the holiday season manageable. Organise your time and make a list and prioritise the important activities. Be realistic about what you can and cannot do. And don’t forget to schedule some down time to relax.
10.    Slip, don’t slide

If you eat three helpings of mashed potatoes and half a pie, all is not lost.  Rather than polishing off the rest, learn from your slip-up. Next time, eat a salad first, start a conversation, and park yourself far from the danger zone. The next time starts today.
- Women24
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Competitive workouts among top 2014 fitness trends


For exercise buffs who want to prove that they're the fastest and the fittest, 2014 has been a good year.

Concepts from CrossFit, the constantly varied, high-intensity mix of calisthenics, powerlifting, plyometrics and gymnastics, have made their way into traditional fitness clubs.

The latest exercises bands, loops and tubes have added assistance to resistance, and cardio workouts like treadmills and rowers have become part of group fitness classes.
"How many squats can you do in a minute? How fast can you run a mile? Very popular is training against others for time or distance in a group setting," said Grace Desimone, national group fitness director of Plus One Health Management, which designs and develops fitness centres.
Boutique clubs, which specialise in specific training styles, from indoor cycling to hot yoga, captured 21 percent of the market in 2013, according to a 2014 report by IHRSA, the trade association of health, racquet and sports clubs.

Urban surge
Desimone said the urban surge in these studios is spreading across the map.
"Measure your heart rate, race against others in the class, improve your jump height, your spring, your tennis serve. You name it, there is a specialized programme for it," she said.
Sandy Todd Webster, editor-in-chief of IDEA Health and Fitness Association, a worldwide organisation of fitness professionals, said tubes, loops and bands that combine body-weight exercise with elastic load, which relies on resistance, allow exercisers to achieve what was previously unattainable.


"This is not your mother's resistance band training protocol," said Webster, who hadn't managed a chin up before using the bands.

"I was able to hoist my own body weight up and feel success immediately," she added.

Back-to-basics moves
Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist at Miramar College in San Diego, said CrossFit has rejuvenated back-to-basics moves.
"The performance style is starting to appeal to everyday people," she said. "It's not just about getting active but about accomplishing a pull up or lifting a barbell overhead."
Group fitness classes have begun to incorporate treadmills, indoor rowers and step climbers along with resistance and bodyweight exercises, Matthews noted.

In addition, fitness is folded into a holistic concept of wellness, with gyms increasingly providing nutritional advice and trainers becoming certified as health coaches.
"It's not just about what you do in the gym," said Matthews. "It's how physical activity fits into a healthy lifestyle that includes nutrition, behaviour modification and the body-mind connection."


- Reuters
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Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Nigeria Has The Longest Nacks Duration Per Session?


Hehehe… Uberfacts claims Nigeria has the longest sex duration per session… With the average round/session of sex lasting the minimum of 24 minutes… Which happens to be the longest in the world..
uberfacts
Yet Nigerian women complain… Chai!
Photo: Ebony
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