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Showing posts from February, 2014

Ways to become "mindful"

Learning to focus the mind can be a powerful antidote to the stresses and strains of our on-the-go lives. The ability to pay attention to what you're experiencing from moment to moment — without drifting into thoughts of the past or concerns about the future, or getting caught up in opinions about what is going on — is called mindfulness. This basic mindfulness meditation exercise is easy to learn and practice. Sit on a straight-backed chair, or cross-legged on the floor. Focus on an aspect of your breathing, such as the sensations of air flowing into your nostrils and out of your mouth, or your belly rising and falling as you inhale and exhale. Once you've narrowed your concentration in this way, begin to widen your focus. Become aware of sounds, sensations, and ideas. Embrace and consider each thought or sensation without judging it as good or bad. If your mind starts to race, return your focus to your breathing. Then expand your awareness again

FOOD MYTHS AND FACTS

Every day you can hear one or other advice or myths related to food and health. But have you ever thought about the relevance and facts behind it. You just do not have to believe all those myths and old wives stories which you hear. Here are some well known food myths and facts behind it. * Red wine is healthier than white wine: This myth is true in a sense that Red wine contains more amounts of antioxidants compared to white wine and other alcoholic beverages and the antioxidants in wine can help protect from heart disease. * Drinking Alcohol is Good for Health: The statement is half true and half false, A small amount of alcohol can be better for your health while more than recommended can have a detrimental effect on the brain, liver, heart and many other bodily organs * Swallowed gum can take years to digest: This is a false concept from the old wives' tale that states that swallowed chewing gum may take up to seven years to become fully digested. Chewing gum does resist compl

The "other" incontinence — don't suffer in silence

Most people who suffer from fecal incontinence do so in silence. As a result, the number of people with the condition — which results in the involuntary release of gas or stool — isn't known. But the scant evidence at hand indicates that it usually begins during one's 40s or 50s. You don't have to live with this condition — it can be treated. Options include dietary changes and bowel training regimens, and surgery for some people. Diet can have a major impact on the predictability of bowel movements. That means that simple changes, such as eating more fiber or eliminating foods that irritate your system, can help a lot. The importance of fiber Fiber helps control constipation and diarrhea. It's best to get extra fiber from food. A high-fiber diet can be helpful for both constipation and diarrhea. By helping produce formed but soft stools, fiber may help "normalize" bowel function. Good sources of dietary fiber include bran cereals, unco

Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms

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10 Early Signs of Multiple Sclerosis Like other autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS) occurs when your immune system mysteriously goes into overdrive and attacks the body itself, in this case the nerve fibers that run through the brain and spinal cord. MS begins at a younger age and is much more common than most people realize; more than 350,000 people in the U.S. live with the condition, most of them diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40. Women are three times more likely to get MS than men, but, oddly, it hasn't always been this way -- until some 20 years ago, men and women got MS in about equal numbers. It can take a long time for your doctor to figure out that you have MS because the symptoms, taken one by one, can be explained by so many other conditions. Use this list of 10 early signs to get diagnosed faster and start treatment earlier. Why Your Vision and Eye Issues Could Be an Early Sign of MS MS can cause a host of mysterious v

HEALING AND PREVENTING BACK-PAIN

Stretching and strengthening are key to healing and preventing back pain If you suffer from back pain, the range of treatment options can feel overwhelming. The right choice for you depends on what is causing your pain as well as the physical and other demands of your life. For many people, back problems clear up with little or no medical intervention within a few weeks. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do anything while you are deliberating over treatment options. There’s a lot you can do to ease your pain and speed your healing. An exercise program designed to stretch and strengthen your back and core muscles can help you heal from a bout of acute back pain and help prevent a repeat episode. Developing a suitable exercise program — best done under expert supervision — will help you build strong, flexible muscles that will be less prone to injury. If you have acute back pain, the goal of an exercise program is to help you resume normal activities as soon as pos

8 principles of low-glycemic eating

Eight principles of low-glycemic eating. A low-glycemic diet can help you control your weight by minimizing spikes in your blood sugar and insulin levels. This is particularly important if you have type 2 diabetes or at risk of developing it. Low-glycemic diets have also been linked to reduced risks for cancer, heart disease, and other conditions. Eat a lot of non-starchy vegetables, beans, and fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, and berries. Even tropical fruits like bananas, mangoes, and papayas tend to have a lower glycemic index than typical desserts. Eat grains in the least-processed state possible: “unbroken,” such as whole-kernel bread, brown rice, and whole barley, millet, and wheat berries; or traditionally processed, such as stone-ground bread, steel-cut oats, and natural granola or muesli breakfast cereals. Limit white potatoes and refined-grain products, such as white breads and white pasta, to small side dishes. Limit concentrated sweets — including

Breathing Trouble? 7 Signs Your Lungs Are in the Danger Zone

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We hear a lot about the risks of lung cancer -- but less about a lung condition that's just as common and debilitating, called COPD . This term, which stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , refers to a combination of two conditions, emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis, both of which are caused by lung damage from smoking or exposure to other lung irritants, such as asbestos. Whether you're a smoker, a former smoker, or just unlucky, you can develop COPD as a result of damage to your lungs that gradually limits their ability to take in oxygen. When your lungs aren't functioning at full capacity, symptoms begin to appear that are sometimes so subtle that you may not recognize them as such. And because COPD is a progressive disease that can't be slowed without treatment -- and because it's the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. -- it's critical to catch it as soon as possible. Here, seven signs that your lungs are trying to