Doing a Flat Belly Diet

The flat belly diet lasts for 32 days, with four days of pre-diet preparation and 28 days of dieting. However, the author of the Flat Belly Diet, as seen on Oprah, insists that "diet" is a misnomer, and this method is simply a better eating plan that allows dieters to eat well, be satisfied and lose weight -- even without exercising. The diet can be tailored for individuals with allergies, vegetarians and other special cases. Here's how to lose weight and look trim with the flat belly diet

1- Begin the flat belly diet with four days of bloat-control eating to prepare yourself for the Mediterranean-inspired eating plan. For this pre-diet, simply avoid simple carbohydrates, sugary foods, carbonated beverages, fatty foods, chewing gum, spicy foods and fried items. You'll drink the "sassy water" during this time to help with weight loss and prepare you for your diet. The sassy water recipe is in the Flat Belly Diet book.

2- Buy ingredients for your flat belly diet and rid your kitchen cabinets and fridge of any junk foods. Remove temptation and surround yourself with healthy eating choices, including good snacks, to prepare yourself for success.

3- Create a meal plan using the flat belly diet book, in which you can customize each of your three meals by interchanging the choices. Each meal must include something in the monounsaturated fat category, such as nuts, olive oil, chocolate, seeds, avocados or olives. The reason for this is that these MUFAs, as they are dubbed, may aid with weight loss and help you feel satisfied even when eating less.

4- Eat each of your 400-calorie meals four hours apart. The diet allows 1,600 calories per day to nourish your body without adding weight, and to help your body burn calories already hanging on around your tummy area. IN addition to the three regular meals, you have 400 calories allotted to a floating meal or snacks.

5- Add exercise to your flat belly diet to supercharge your weight loss and improve overall body strength. While exercise is not required on the diet plan, there is a chapter devoted to the optional flat belly exercises, which you should consider doing 3-5 times a week to improve your flat belly diet results.

Putting Lemon Juice in Your Water Do

The lemon wedge on your water glass is far more than garnish. Adding fresh lemon juice to your water adds flavor to the healthy, but bland, beverage. Even better, it can have a host of medicinal uses and health benefits

Enhances Appearance

Drinking lemon water rejuvenates the skin. It can be used as an astringent, which purifies the skin and restrains the growth of bacteria, reducing the likelihood of pimples and blackheads. Daily consumption greatly improves the skin's appearance and gives it a healthy glow.

Aids Digestion

Adding lemon to hot water relieves many symptoms of poor digestion, including nausea, heartburn, and bloating. Regular consumption also aids in eliminating bowel waste more efficiently. The cleansing properties of the lemon also aid in the purification of the liver and kidneys.

Adds Vitamins and Minerals

Most people are aware of the high content of vitamin C in lemon. However, lemon water has a host of other nutrients. It contains vitamin B, riboflavin, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and potassium. It also has proteins and carbohydrates.

Relieves pain

Lemon water acts as a diuretic, which flushes out excess fluid and salt from the body. This can aid in relieving the inflammation, and thereby pain associated with arthritis and rheumatism. Applying lemon water to a toothache also aids in pain reduction.

Warning

Daily use of lemon juice in hot water can lead to erosion of tooth enamel, according to Purdue University's Center for New Crops and Food Products, and has been known to reduce teeth down to the gum level in extreme cases.

How to Substitute Natural Foods for Refined Foods

Most convenience foods are refined, which means while they may be affordable and tasty they are really bad for your health. So, if you are interested in getting healthy then you need to substitute natural foods for refined foods. It will take some time to get accustomed to eating natural foods, but you will find they taste better and are much healthier for you.

1- The first thing you need to do is eliminate all the refined foods from your kitchen. Once you have them cleaned out then you can make a grocery list of what you need. Believe it or not, you can find many natural foods that are just as good as their refined versions, but natural and healthy. A good example of this is peanut butter. Natural peanut butter has no hydrogenated oils in it and is good for you. That's not the case with traditional peanut butter. Cakes and cookies are traditionally full of refined ingredients like white sugar and white flour. But, you can find plenty of cakes and cookies made with natural ingredients that are healthier for you and taste better. The easiest thing to do is clean out your cabinets and then go shopping at a natural foods grocery store like Whole Foods.

2- When you buy fresh ingredients you will almost always be making a good choice. However, choose fresh ingredients that are organic or naturally grown. Natural foods are not refined so they are always a better choice than refined foods even if they aren't organic. However, if you are serious about your health then you will be better off spending a few more dollars and buying organic and natural foods. It really is worthwhile and will benefit you significantly.

3- You may find that changing all of your food eating habits at once is a little overwhelming, so start slow. Switch refined white bread for whole grain breads. Also, don't buy any pre-packaged cookies, cereals, or snacks unless they are natural or organic. Once you have made this switch, then you can start changing other things you eat, too. When you make the change gradually ,you will see that it is easier to do and easier to stick with.

4- Finally, you may want to carry your own natural foods with you when you travel, go to the movies or just to have in the car. These days more places are likely to carry natural or organic products. However, you won't always find this and it is better to be safe than sorry. So, buy natural foods and take them with you on a picnic, keep some in your purse for quick snacks and simply enjoy the fact that you are eating healthier than ever before.

How to Avoid Junk Foods

Junk food can have a terrible effect on your body. There are countless cases of people eating themselves to obesity. Why do they do this? Think of it like a drug: It makes them feel better in the moment, so they forget the future costs. Consider this piece of information published on the health site Mercola, quoting a Yahoo! News piece. "Research has shown that almost one-third of the U.S. diet consists of sugar-filled cans of soda and bags of potato chips." So how do you stop doing eating bad foods? Dieting is never easy, no matter what certain infomercials say. However, there are painless ways to diet and avoid junk foods. Start by understanding why you like them so much

1- Understand your thinking. Maybe chocolate does help your mental thinking for a moment. It’s apt to make you smile. So how do you avoid junk foods like chocolate? Find healthier eating escapes at all times of the day as junk food eating is often based on impulse. Bread is good and you can add peanut butter to have a healthy, high protein snack that can replace a chocolate candy bar.

2- Act. Do you find yourself eating late at night? This actually isn’t a bad thing; the myth of eating late at night and gaining weight has been discounted in many studies. But what are you eating? Are you more apt to go to the ice cream carton to fill up? You can stop this junk food habit by either deciding to cut out late night eating or replace the food you eat with healthy alternatives, such as fruits or even a large glass of water to fill you up. Yogurt is a good alternative to ice cream. Cookies can be traded in for the popular “100 Calorie” snack packs. Look to canned fruits next, which are much healthier than downing ice cream and potato chips. A nice vegetable mix can do wonders for your health. Look at the sodium contents of vegetables, because certain products like creamed corn are far from vegetables.

3- Consider the costs. Obesity can lead to countless health problems at the cost of your quality of life and even your life itself. The monetary cost of junk foods adds up, too. A good strategy is to write down your expenditures on junk foods from morning to night: That candy bar cost you a dollar, the bag of chips a few more, a half a carton of ice cream and so on. This financial reminder gives you another reason to quit. Bread and butter is far cheaper and healthier than consistently downing soda, sugar and bags of chips. Often, if you choose the right foods, you will be saving money from the start.

4- Other escapes. There are other escapes for you to do than snack. So how do you avoid filling your spare time with junk food? Junk food addiction is a battle of the mind in many ways, and where you think you need something, you really don’t. Read a book, do a craft, go for a walk, talk on the phone or write in a journal when you would usually head to the pantry.

5- Defeating impulses. The last hurdle is fighting the impulse. If you sense an impulse coming, examine it as you would any other irrational thought. Will this item truly make you happy? The next time you decide to take one box of cookies to bed, consider this strategy of eating right. Avoid your impulses—they are the enemy. Junk foods may hurt your wallet, but high starch and saturated fat does more than just add to your belly—they tend to lower life spans.

10 Anti-Asthma Foods

Even though there might not be a perfect cure for asthma the correct super-foods can help you ease it as much as possible, alleviating asthma symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing and chest tightness.

Avocado

This buttery and exquisite fruit is one of the prime source of glutathione, which has been shown to protect cells against free radical damage and to detoxify foreign substances such as pollutants.

Avocados are also a good source of vitamin E, particularly helpful for people whose asthma is linked to a nut allergy (nuts are one of the most common sources of vitamin E)

Broccoli Sprouts

These miniature cabbages share many of the benefits of their larger cousins, they are a true nutritional treasure and a great addition to your diet if you suffer from asthma. Broccoli sprouts can increase the antioxidant compounds that control the airway inflammation associated with bronchial asthma.

Apples

This crunchy, juicy, fiber-rich snack also possesses some extraordinary properties that may provide protection against asthma. They are also high in concentration of bioflavonoids, such as quercetin. Quercetin is known to possess strong anti-histamine, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties reducing the chance of suffering from wheezing by 50%.

Rosemary

The antioxidant power of rosmarinic acid is believed to be even stronger than that of vitamin E. In addition, rosmarinic acid encourages cells to create prostacyclins, which help keep the air passages of the lungs open and thus promote easy breathing.

Ginger

Ginger’s asthma fighting properties are thought to be attributed to gingerols, strong anti-inflammatory substances that give ginger its distinctive flavor.

Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower seeds are brimming with anti-asthma nutrients, as these mild nutty tasting seeds are loaded with vitamin E, potassium, and magnesium.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are one of the foods that are least likely to cause allergic reactions, which is great news since asthma is often linked to allergies. They also contain plenty of vitamin C and potassium as well as unique root proteins which, according to preliminary studies, may have significant antioxidant properties.

Turmeric

Turmeric possesses strong anti-inflammatory properties.

Kale

Kale is a great source of vitamin C, it is also one of the most concentrated dietary sources of beta-carotene, which can help with allergens.

Mustard Greens

One of the best sources of beta-carotene, chock-full of antioxidants and nutrients, mustard greens can make an excellent addition to your diet if you are susceptible to asthma attacks.

They also provide a good amount of vitamins C and E, which can remove free radicals that cause smooth muscle contraction and airway constriction in people with asthma.

Organic food ( The meaning of organic )

Organic food is produced by farmers that want to protect the environment for future generations, rotating crops, conserving and renewing the soil and protecting water sources.

These crops are grown, handled, and processed without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides, for the most part. Some are grown with natural pesticides, not synthetic ones. A great organic pesticide that is toxic to different species of insects but harmless to wild life and people is bacillus thuringiensis.

Is organic food healthier?

organic food

The systematic review, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, examined 240 studies organic and non-organic fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, poultry eggs and milk 17 studies of humans and 223 studies of nutrient and contaminant levels.

It found that more one-third of conventional produce had detectable pesticide residues, compared with 7 percent of organic produce samples. It also found organic meats were one-third less likely to carry bacteria resistant to antibiotics than conventionally produced meat.

The study also found that organic foods, on the whole, don’t contain any more vitamins or nutrients than conventional foods.

It’s good to have a wide-ranging review of organic foods. Even more interesting is the media coverage of the study. Some new stories, like this one from the Guardian, have focused on the lack of a difference in nutrient levels. Other news coverage has pointed out that the purpose of purchasing organic foods is to avoid pesticide use because of its impact on human health and the environment.

Is it safe?

Is organic food safer to eat than conventionally produced food? That’s a big debate, all the chemicals and pesticides use by farmers can certainly have an effect on the consumer’s health, what needs to be determined is the effect of lower levels of intake over a lifetime, which is more difficult for research to establish.

Organic food has much lower levels of organophostphate pesticides that in large amounts are toxic to our nervous system.

There’s no clear evidence that there’s a risk to eating conventional food or a benefit to eating organic ones. Enviromentaly speaking there are more benefits to organic methods which help prevent soil erosion, protects groundwater, and preserves wildlife.

2 Foods That May Reduce Lupus Risk (and what to avoid)

Lupus remains one of medicine’s biggest mysteries. Researchers still don’t fully understand exactly what triggers this autoimmune disease, but it’s thought to develop when certain types of genes that may predispose someone to lupus interact with the environmental factors like common viruses. The immune system gets misdirected and produces antibodies that target the body’s tissues and organs. As these antibodies, called auto-antibodies, build up in various organs, inflammation results. There are several types of lupus, the most common being systemic lupus erythematous (SLE). It can be mild, causing fatigue, joint pain, or skin rashes, or severe, affecting major organs like the kidneys.

Although there is no lupus diet per se, some very preliminary studies in animals and humans suggest that nutrition may be useful for reducing the severity of flare-ups and encouraging remission.

Fish:

There’s some evidence that in cultures like Japan and the Eskimo communities in Greenland, where people consume a lot of omega-3 fatty acids from fish, seafood, and other sources, the rates of autoimmune disease are lower than in countries where intake of omerga-3s is low. That doesn’t mean necessarily that fish lowers the risk of lupus, but it’s worth noting that there’s already a fairly well established association between high fish consumption and lower rates of conditions like depression and heart disease, so the idea isn’t very farfetched.

Green tea:

Some population studies suggest that lupus incidence is lower in countries like China and Japan, where green tea is a diet staple. One explanation may be that green tea contains potent compounds called polyphenols that are both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It’s possible that adding green tea to your diet or even applying it directly to the skin rashes that often accompany lupus may be helpful. When green tea polyphenols were mixed with skin and salivary gland cells in lab studies done at the Medical College of Georgia, researcher noted a significant decrease in the markers for SLE.

Stay away from safflower, sunflower and corn oils, as well as most margarines, since they are rich in omega-6 essential fatty acids, the polyunsaturated fats believed to increase inflammation.

Packaged and commercially fried foods, since they are often loaded with trans-fat also contribute to inflammation.

Alfalfa seeds and sprouts contain the amino acid L-canavanine, which appears to aggravate lupus symptoms.

Finally avoid foods high in zinc, zinc is one of the most effective natural immune system boosters, and Echinacea, because this herb stimulates immune function, and can initiate flare-ups.

17 Foods To Avoid Celiac disease

Celiac disease, also known as celiac sprue or non-tropical sprue, is a disorder that typically becomes apparent when young children start eating food containing wheat, rye, barley, and other cereal grains. The problem is caused by gliadin, one of the proteins collectively known as gluten, found in these grains.

Gliadin combines with antibodies in the digestive tract to damage the walls of the small intestine and interfere with the absorption of many nutrients, especially fats and certain starches and sugars.

Eat plenty of:

• Low-fat milk, eggs, fish, meat, and poultry for protein

• Vegetables and fruits for vitamins and minerals

• Legumes, potatoes and rice for starches, minerals, and protein

Daily Dosages of Supplements:

• Green food supplements, 1 tablespoon

• Evening primrose oil, two 500 mg capsules three times daily

• Multivitamin supplement, as directed on the label

• Medicinal clay, dissolve 1 teaspoon clay in ½ cup water at room temperature and drink twice daily.

• Papain, 500 mg three times daily

• Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate, 50 mg daily

• Silica, 3-6 capsules in gel form, follow the directions on the label

• Vitamin B complex, 50 mg twice daily

• Vitamin B12, 100 mcg

• Vitamin C with bioflavonoids, 5,000 mg one to three times daily

Avoid:

• Bread, pasta, cereals, cakes and other wheat, rye or barley products

• Foods using wheat products as a thickening agent or coating, such as breaded foods, meat- loaf, frankfurters, sausages, sauces, and soups

• Beverages containing gluten, such as beer, malted drinks, and chocolate milk

• Many commercial salad dressings except pure mayonnaise

6 Foods That Increase Hunger

Have you been feeling like you have been eating way too much, like you don’t have control over it and you don’t know why? Maybe you have been choosing your foods unwisely, even though you have the strongest willpower, there are some foods that are simply addictive.

Try to avoid the following foods, since they are the reason why sometimes it doesn’t matter how much you fill up on certain foods, you never seem to feel satisfied.

So, what foods should you avoid when you’re trying to get the most for your hunger buck?

1. Chewing gum

This bad habit stimulates the gastric juices, therefore saliva is produced and moves to the stomach fooling it into thinking there is food to be digested, making you hungrier.

2. Diet soda

This is not only highly harmful to your health, it can also make you hungrier, that to its high amount artificial sweeteners that could have the effect of triggering appetite but unlike regular sugars they don’t deliver something that will squelch the appetite.

3. High fructose corn syrup

Moderation is seemingly impossible with this evil ingredient, it interferes with the body’s metabolism so that a person can’t stop eating. It slows down the secretion of leptin in the body, which is a crucial hormone that tells you that you’re full and to stop eating.

4. Frozen dinners

These dinners don’t have enough calories or nutrients to fill you up, and there is not enough roughage to expand in your stomach.

5. Pastries and baked goods

White sugar and flour have no fiber or nutrients and they are normally packed with white sugar as well, this will send you through the roof and then you come crashing down much hungrier than you were before.

6. Sugary breakfast bars

This is practically the same as pastry, they are high processed and full of sugar, exchange them for real oatmeal, fruits and honey, or eggs and vegetables for a much better way to start your day.

Visited (5470) times!

The Science of Vitamins and the Body

Most of us know vitamins are essential to our bodies, but many times we don’t know what they actually do, or take them as seriously as we should. We should reach for the foods that give us what we need, as our diet is the most powerful and accessible tool for a healthy life. It is important to know a little bit about them, which ones to take, where to find them and how much we need. Vitamins are essential for cell function, growth and development, and are essential to good health.

There are 13 essential vitamins that are necessary for the body to function properly, without them we are a target for diseases and debilitating illness.

Today, vitamin deficiency is still a national epidemic. Around 90% of Americans have a potassium deficiency, 80% don’t get enough vitamin E, 70% need more calcium, and the list goes on and on.

Visited (377) times!

4 Foods to Improve Eyesight

Have you heard of AMD? Molecular Degeneration is the most common cause of severe, irreversible vision loss. Its target is the macula, a tiny yellow area near the center of the retina that’s highly specialized to allow you to see details and provide clear central vision, the kind you need to read or drive.

It is usually characterized by a loss of pigment in the retina as well as yellowish deposits called drusen. And there’s strong evidence that nutrition plays a big role in preventing it.

Load your plate with the right foods:

1- Spinach, collard greens, kale and other green leafy vegetables: they are loaded with lutein and zeaxanthin, a pair of natural plant pigments often found together in food. These antioxidant pigments are part of the carotenoid family, and they’re the only caretoids found in the eye.

2- Fish and other foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids: fish has been touted as a heart-healthy food, but is can also lower the risk of AMD as much as 40%. The two main compounds of the omega-3′s found in fish are known as EPA and DHA, essential for the development and functions of the retina.

3- Carrots, red bell peppers, almonds and sunflower seeds: High doses of beta-carotene and vitamins C and E, coupled with zinc, stop or slow the progression of AMD by 20-25%.

4- Oysters, crab, beef, baked beans, and other food rich in zinc: Zinc, an essential mineral found in meats and seafood, acts as a partner with vitamin A, ensuring that it can be used by the body, including the retina. The retina has high levels of zinc, which help to protect its membrane.

Off the menu: fatty meats, butter, and other sources of saturated fats, which can boost free radical activity undermining antioxidant’s work, also alcohol, corn, sunflower and safflower oils.

Homemade Natural Wrinkle Removers

Even though they say wrinkles make you wiser, there are many ways to look wiser without the wrinkles that are natural, there is no need to buy expensive anti-aging cream or treatments. You won’t need to expend more than a couple of bucks… here is where the real wisdom is. Bananas and their peel have been used for centuries to help with many skin conditions, including acne, wrinkles, warts, psoriasis and poison ivy.

1. Mash a banana until it has a creamy texture and apply it to your entire face for 30 minutes, bananas have so much more going for them than just a delicious and nutritious treat.

2. Coconut oil is the best option when it comes to natural wrinkle removal, since it rebuilds our skin tissue and will also leave your face skin moisturized and feeling smooth and beautiful.

3. Pineapple juice can easily rival any treatment, in fact it is much better, because they are packed with the enzyme bromelain which naturally eats away our top layer of skin when applied topically and leaves the new fresh skin underneath.

How to Decorate Cakes & Cupcakes With Swedish Fish

Cakes and cupcakes are sweet confections and the mere mention of their names often makes mouths water. Adding decorative details to these tasty treats turns them into a sensory experience, as their decorations add visual appeal, making them even more tempting. Whether you're hosting a birthday party for a child who is wild about fish or you are baking the treats for an ocean-themed school function, consider using Swedish Fish as decorative accents on your cake or cupcakes. These gummy fish, available in fruit punch, orange, lemon and lime flavors, will add color to your baked goods and infuse the treats with even more tasty goodness.

1- Place white icing and four to five drops of blue food coloring into a mixing bowl and use a rubber spatula to mix the icing and food coloring together. The icing will turn blue, meaning that it can used to simulate the look of water on the cake or cupcakes.

2- Place white icing and four to five drops of green food coloring into a mixing bowl. Mix the icing and food coloring with a rubber spatula. The icing will turn green and can be used to draw plants onto the cake or cupcakes.

3- Spread the blue icing over the surface of the cake or cupcakes with an icing knife, creating the look of a water backdrop.

4- Use a spoon to scoop the green icing into an icing bag, then use the icing bag to draw seaweed and aquatic plants along the base of the cake. On the cake, create as many seaweed or aquatic plant images as you think looks appropriate. On each of the cupcakes, draw only one aquatic plant to avoid cluttering the small space.

5- Place the Swedish Fish onto the surface of the cake and cupcakes. To ensure proper adherence, gently press the fish into the surface of the icing. Use the appropriate amount of Fish for the size of the treat. For example, on a cake, a small bag of candies can be used to mimic a school of fish swimming through the water. For cupcakes, place only one or two of the mini variety of Swedish fish on each to avoid overwhelming them.

6- Arrange the fish to suit your theme. For example, you can place individual fish onto the cake and draw the icing plants over them to create the look of fish swimming through plants. Alternatively, insert the candy into the cupcake's icing tail-first to create the look of the fish jumping out of the water. For large cakes, you can replicate the look of several schools of fish swimming around by placing small groupings of Swedish Fish on them.

Pregnancy What to Avoid

Every mother should consider in pregnancy what to avoid in food  to guarantee the health and well-being of her kid expanding inside her. Research has revealed that over the previous 5 decades, birth defects actually greatly improved, and there is a tested hyperlink in between bad maternity diet and birth defects. Eating the wrong foods could enhance the possibilities of reduced child birth weight and poor fetal advancement, along with enhancing opportunities of miscarriage.

Fish:

Fish is an excellent resource of protein, iron, and omega 3 oily acids, which are all essential for the healthy development of your child so why is fish on the list of maternity meals to avoid? Certain fish are understood to contain higher degrees of mercury which could be very hazardous to the advancement of your child’s brain and neural system. Such fish are mainly huge fish like swordfish, master mackerel, shark, and tilefish.

Eggs:

These have salmonella which is a dreaded bacterium. To prevent bacterial infection such as food poisoning, it is most effective to put raw eggs and anything that is made from them, such as tossing salad dressings, on your listing of maternity meals to prevent.

Liver:

The liver is highly considered as a rich source of nutrients and is exceptional if taken in small amounts. Nonetheless it is extremely high in supplement A and an extra of supplement A can trigger troubles for the infant.

Raw Meat:

Raw meat and fish might have higher degrees of micro-organisms like toxoplasmosis, salmonella, and curly kind, and in order to stay away from gastrointestinal disorder and various other infections it is most effective to take your preferred sushi and unusual steaks off the food selection for 9 months!

Sweets:

Saccharin and aspartame are two of the most often made use of sugars today and are linked to creating birth defects and numerous other problems in the unborn child. Ensure that this item is high up on your list of maternity meals to stay away from.

Junk Food:

As already stated, this food is highly processed and is really reduced in pregnancy nutritional worth, and will be of little perk for you or your infant. All these pregnancy what to avoid products on a list of maternity foods to avoid, and you will certainly be well heading to making sure that your infant will create normally and will be birthed healthy and well.

NATURAL BEAUTY TIPS TO LOOK YOUNG

Women’s health concerns are a little different from those of men. If you’re a woman, these tips will soon have you feeling fit and energetic.
To look and feel your best at every age, it’s important to make smart lifestyle and health choices. Here are six simple things that women can do every day (or with regularity) to ensure good health:

    Health Tip #1: Eat a healthy diet. “You want to eat as close to a natural foods diet as you can,” says Donald Novey, MD, an integrative medicine physician with the Advocate Medical Group in Park Ridge, Ill. That means a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods. Eat whole grains and high-fiber foods and choose leaner cuts of meat, fish, and poultry. Include low-fat dairy products in your diet as well — depending on your age, you need between 800 and 1,500 milligrams of calcium daily to help avoid osteoporosis, Dr. Novey says. Avoid foods and beverages that are high in calories, sugar, salt, and fat.



Healthy eating will help you maintain a proper weight for your height, which is important because being overweight can lead to a number of illnesses. Looking for a healthy snack? Try some raw vegetables, such as celery, carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, or zucchini with dip made from low-fat yogurt.
If you’re not getting enough vitamins and nutrients in your diet, you might want to take a multivitamin and a calcium supplement to make sure you’re maintaining good health.

    Health Tip #2: Exercise. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in America, but plenty of exercise can help keep your heart healthy. You want to exercise at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week, if not every day. Aerobic exercises (walking, swimming, jogging, bicycling, dancing) are good for women’s health in general and especially for your heart, says Sabrena Merrill, MS, of Lawrence, Kan., a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor and a spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise.

    Health Tip #3: Avoid risky habits. Stay away from cigarettes and people who smoke. Don’t use drugs. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. Most women’s health studies show that women can safely consume one drink a day. A drink is considered to be about 12 to 14 grams of alcohol, which is equal to 12 ounces of beer (4.5 percent alcohol); 5 ounces of wine (12.9 percent alcohol); or 1.5 ounces of spirits (hard liquor such as gin or whiskey, 80-proof).

    Health Tip #4: Manage stress. No matter what stage of her life — daughter, mother, grandmother — a woman often wears many hats and deals with a lot of pressure and stress. “Take a few minutes every day just to relax and get your perspective back again,” Novey says. “It doesn’t take long, and mental health is important to your physical well-being.” You also can manage stress with exercise, relaxation techniques, or meditation.

    Health Tip #5: Sun safely. Excessive exposure to the sun’s harmful rays can cause skin cancer, which can be deadly. To protect against skin cancer, wear sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15 if you are going to be outdoors for more than a few minutes. Even if you wear sunscreen faithfully, you should check regularly for signs of skin cancer. Warning signs include any changes in the size, shape, color, or feel of birthmarks, moles, or freckles, or new, enlarging, pigmented, or red skin areas. If you spot any changes or you find you have sores that are not healing, consult your doctor.


    Health Tip #6: Check for breast cancer. The American Cancer Society no longer recommends monthly breast self-exams for women. However, it still suggests them as “an option” for women, starting in their 20s. You should be on the lookout for any changes in your breasts and report any concerns to your doctor. All women 40 and older should get a yearly mammogram as a mammogram is the most effective way of detecting cancer in its earliest stages, when it is most treatable.

A woman’s NEED TO GET MORE ACTIVE WITH EVERY PASSING DAY OF THEIR LIFE TO LOOK MORE YOUNG AND SMART, . If follow al six beauty tips you will definitly enjoy every walk of your life with much active physicall appeareance.

What Your Tongue Says About Your Health

A White Tongue
One of the most common tongue issues that can signal larger health problems is a white coating, or white spots. Generally, the cause of a white tongue is bacterial. You may be suffering from an oral yeast infection, also known as thrush, or an infection of the throat, such as strep. Or, because your mouth is connected to your digestive system, a white tongue may indicate an overgrowth of bacteria in your gut.

While doctors don’t know exactly what causes it, oral lichen planus is another concern indicated by a white tongue. Experts believe that improving oral hygiene, staying away from cigarettes, and avoiding acidic and spicy foods might help get rid of the white coating if this is the case. A less common, but potentially serious, cause of a white coating on the tongue is leukoplakia, an excess of cell growth in the mouth that can sometimes act as a precursor to oral cancer.

A Bright Red Tongue
If your tongue is a bright cherry red rather than its usual pinkish hue, you may be suffering from a vitamin deficiency. A bright red tongue can indicate anemia, which means you should up your iron intake. Alternatively, you may be short on B vitamins, which you can pack into your diet with nuts, shellfish, and lean meats.

A Purple Tongue
In the body, purple and blue hues generally signal a lack of oxygen, which remains true when talking about your mouth and tongue. If your tongue is purple, your circulation may be off, or you may be suffering from bronchitis, asthma, or another lung issue. High cholesterol, including blockages and plaques in the arteries, may also cause your tongue to turn purple.

A Dry Tongue
There are a whole host of causes of a dry tongue and mouth, ranging from the minor to the serious. People who tend to breathe through their mouths, as well as smokers, have a tendency to wind up with tongues that feel dry and sticky. Many different medications, especially cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation, also come with dry mouth as a common side effect. And of course, minor dehydration often first appears as a feeling of dryness on the tongue or in the mouth.

However, a dry mouth can also indicate some more dangerous issues that you might want to talk to your doctor about if you can’t find an immediate cause of your symptoms. A number of diseases, ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s disease to HIV/AIDS, can cause dry mouth. Nerve damage stemming from injury or past surgeries can also play a role in the development of oral dryness. Finally, injuries affecting the salivary glands themselves also prevent the proper amount of moisture from being maintained in your mouth.

Want to Live Longer? Learn How Sleep Can Keep You Going

The Benefits of Sleep
Doctors don’t know exactly why we sleep, or how sleep helps to refresh the body, but it’s clear that catching enough shuteye has huge benefits when it comes to immediate concerns that make you look and feel younger, as well as overall longevity.

In the short term, getting enough sleep can help you learn more, and retain information better. The exact reason is unclear, but researchers believe that your brain essentially “practices” new skills while you sleep. For this reason, getting the proper amount of sleep can help ward off the forgetfulness that comes with aging. And in terms of your looks, sleep helps there, too. Your human growth hormone (HGH) levels are boosted when you’re asleep, which can help increase your metabolism and prevent wrinkles and sagging skin.

But that, ultimately, is the small stuff. The real benefits of sleep come from bettered abilities to fight infection, digest sugar, and maintain high levels of function in the endocrine, neurological, and metabolic systems.

The Consequences of Too Little Sleep
Not enough to convince you that you should budget in a little more time to get the right amount of sleep? You might want to consider these consequences of not getting enough sleep.

Looking at the short term, too little sleep can result in many quality of life issues. This ranges from stress on relationships to decreased performance at work to a higher risk of getting into a car accident, or injuring yourself on the job. It doesn’t do great things for your cognitive function, either: just one night of poor sleep can decrease your alertness during the day by a full 32%.

Long-term, insufficient sleep starts to look like something you really want to avoid. Studies have shown that long-term sleep deprivation can lead to high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues like heart failure and heart attack, depression, and even obesity.

What’s more? A 2010 study found that older adults who didn’t get enough sleep were more likely to die from any cause over the course of the study than adults who did get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep can have a huge effect on your longevity, which is unfortunately not something that an extra cup of coffee in the morning can fix.

How Much Sleep Is Enough
This is a question of much contention, and the National Sleep Foundation says that not only do sleep needs change throughout our lives, but they change on a person-to-person basis. As a general gauge, though, the NSF cites a few studies that show that getting only 4-5 hours a night can have serious consequences, and so can getting more than 9 hours of sleep a night.

So, to find your own “perfect number”, see what amount of sleep makes you feel best. If you’re struggling with getting enough sleep, there are a number of suggestions from researchers at Harvard Medical School regarding better sleep habits, ranging from avoiding caffeine to creating a bedtime routine to turning your alarm clock away from you so you aren’t watching the minutes tick by.

Healthy sleep is one of the most important parts of taking good care of your body, and ensuring that you have the best chance at a long, functional, happy life. If you want to live longer, make getting enough sleep a priority in all of your fitness routines.

Protect Your Cells With This Miracle Molecule

Glutathione and Other Antioxidants Protect Cells
Before getting into glutathione, AKA the “master antioxidant”, itself, here’s a brief refresher on free radicals and antioxidants. Free radicals are essentially bits of matter that go around disrupting the molecular structure of various cells in your body. WebMD uses a vivid example to illustrate what free radicals do: it’s the same chemical reaction that causes a sliced apple to turn brown (not exactly something that sounds good for your health!). Theories abound that link free radical proliferation to cancer, premature aging, and countless diseases.

Antioxidants, on the other hand, are nature’s way of combating free radicals. The reason glutathione is so important is that it is an extremely powerful antioxidant. According to an article in Pharmacognosy Review, glutathione changes the structure of free radicals and prevents them from damaging other cells, while also repairing already-damaged cells.

Glutathione: The Master Antioxidant
That brings us to glutathione, the master antioxidant. This modest molecule has been purported to cure or prevent everything ranging from infertility and anemia to AIDS, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. An article in Science News from early last year reported that a recent University of Colorado study found that glutathione made brain tumors more susceptible to chemotherapy, reducing the amount of treatment necessary and protecting healthy cells. Not bad for one molecule.

Glutathione works like most other antioxidants in helping to reduce oxidation and detoxify your body, but it gets its status as a “master antioxidant” because it also helps other antioxidants do their jobs better. Plus, according to a 2011 review article in the Journal of Amino Acids, glutathione is involved in countless biological processes, which is why it’s used to treat such a wide range of illnesses and diseases. These processes include everything from maintaining the very structure of the cell, to making sure DNA copies correctly, to ensuring that the cell can properly turn food energy into cellular energy in the mitochondria.
 

Getting Enough Glutathione
While our bodies do make enough glutathione to keep us going in our younger years, our natural glutathione levels eventually start to drop off. Scientists at the University of Louisville have proposed that not only are these lower glutathione levels part of why those in their more mature years are more susceptible to disease, but are also one of the culprits in the aging process itself.

There are a few ways for you to boost your levels of glutathione to protect your cells and even fight off the aging process. A glutathione-containing supplement is a quick and easy way to give your cells a boost, although some studies have shown that due to the digestion process, you don’t get the full benefit of glutathione through supplements. Luckily, glutathione can be found in a number of foods, like broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. Finally, exercise has been shown to help the body produce more of its own glutathione.

Glutathione, the master antioxidant, plays a huge role in defending your cells from age, cancer, and disease through detoxifying your body, neutralizing free radicals, and helping cells perform their daily tasks. It’s one antioxidant you definitely want to make sure you’re getting enough of.

5 Ways You’re Accidentally Lowering Your Testosterone

1- Long Distance Running
A solid cardio program can help you stay fit and even increase testosterone levels to a point, but once you start getting into long-distance running – like marathon training, for instance – you may actually be decreasing your testosterone with your workouts. A study by the University of British Columbia found that male runners who pounded over 40 miles of pavement per week had distinctly lower T levels than their short-distance running counterparts.

2- Excessive Alcohol Consumption
The bar might be a great place to meet a date, but more than a few drinks isn’t going to do great things for your testosterone level. As your liver processes alcohol, it produces compounds that inhibit the release of testosterone, reducing its overall level in your body and preventing you from doing things like building muscle mass. While even one or two drinks will cause a minor, temporary dip in your T levels, this is a bigger worry for individuals who drink heavily multiple times per week.

3- Low-Fat Diets
We’re not telling you to go shovel in a burger and fries to up your T levels, but a super-low-fat, high-fiber diet isn’t the best idea for boosting them, either. Researchers at UCLA found that men who greatly reduced their fat intake and upped their fiber intake from their baseline diet had a 12% drop in their testosterone levels. Just make sure the fats you keep in your diet are healthy ones, rather than trans or saturated fats.

4- Not Enough Sleep
Whether you’re partying, working late, or catching some 2am reruns, not sleeping enough is going to do unfortunate things to your T levels. Because your body produces most of its testosterone while you sleep, interrupting that cycle with insufficient or poor quality sleep can result in 20% to 30% less testosterone floating around your bloodstream than if you’d gotten enough shut-eye.

5- Replacing Meat with Soy
Totally cutting meat out of your diet and replacing it with soy is a common health decision these days, but it may end up lowering your testosterone levels over time. A combination of the plant estrogens in soy and the lack of complete proteins from meat have been correlated with a 10% dip in testosterone levels after 4 weeks of a change in diet.

How to Regrow Your Hair Naturally With These Herbs and Foods

Aromatherapy Oils
A combination of essential oils of rosemary, cedar, thyme, and lavender applied directly to the scalp also stimulates blood flow to the follicles, according to University of Maryland Medical Center researchers.

Low-fat Proteins
Since hair is made of protein, a diet full of fish, eggs, beans, and other low-fat, high-protein foods can help supply your hair with the raw materials it needs to grow.
 

Han Lian Cao
This Chinese herb fights inflammation and swelling in your scalp (preventing further hair loss), and helps to strengthen your hair at its roots.

Raisins
Iron is a key factor in hair production, so any foods rich in this mineral will do. But for those of you who don’t relish the thought of packing in the kale, dried fruits like raisins are a great snack that will help boost your iron levels.

Bean Sprouts
These veggies are full of silica, which your body uses to process the vitamins and minerals (like that iron you got from those raisins) that help your hair grow.
 

Horsetail Extract
No, you don’t have to cut off a horse’s tail and eat it. This herb is another silica-rich option that will help you absorb the vitamins and minerals you need to reverse your hair loss.
 

Walnuts
These nuts can pack a huge punch with biotin and vitamin E, which help protect your hair and scalp from sun damage. Low biotin consumption has also been linked with hair loss, so it’s a smart idea to make sure you’re getting enough of it.
 

Nettle Extract
Another Chinese herb, nettle extract works to just barely irritate your scalp, which causes increased blood flow and improved circulation, and therefore better oxygen absorption by your hair follicles.
 

Oysters
Not getting enough zinc has been tied to hair loss in both men and women, but just three ounces of oysters give you almost 500% of the daily recommended dose of zinc. They’re also incredibly rich in protein.
 

Saw Palmetto
This herb helps prevent a specific enzyme from turning testosterone into DHT. It’s testosterone and DHT that cause male pattern baldness in the first place, so lowering these levels slightly can help stop the process at its root.

Are you dealing with male hair loss? Have you tried any of these food or diet solutions? Let us know about what’s worked for you in the comments section.