Beat the heat with juicy watermelons:

a) Watermelon is not only great on a hot summer day, this delectable thirst-quencher may also help quench the inflammation that contributes to conditions like asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer and arthritis.

b) Sweet, juicy watermelon is actually packed with some of the most important antioxidants in nature. Watermelon is an excellent source of Vitamin C and a very good source of Vitamin A, notably through its concentration of beta-carotene.

c) Watermelon is also a very concentrated source of lycopene. Also found in olive oil, lycopene is also an antioxidant that helps ease inflammations that cause colds, joint pain and helps prevent cholesterol build-up.

d) For a great summer thirst-quencher, blend chunks of watermelon with a few ice cbues and a splash of lime juice. Serve with a fresh mint leaves.

e) Because this food has a higher water content and lower calorie content than many other fruits ( a whole cup of watermelon contains only 48 calories), it delivers more nutrients per calorie-an outstanding health benefit!

Do some exercise homework to keep fit:

1) Take the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator.

2) Park your car at the far end of the parking lot. The short walk to and fro is good for your health.

3) If you ride a bus, get off a stop before your destination. Walk the rest of the way.

4) Think housework as an extra chance to exercise. Vacuuming briskly can be a real workout.

5) Mowing the lawn, pulling out weeds and raking leaves are chores that can be done as a chance to exercise.

6) If you have a dog, think of the dog as an exercise machine with fur. A brisk walk with the dog is good for both of your hearts. Make it a part of your daily routine.

7) If you can spend few minutes of your lunch break taking a stroll around the campus grounds, it should help you stay awake after lunch.

If you have a family, schedule an after dinner work. Make it quality time.

9) While working, take frequent activity breaks, get up and stretch or walk around.

Protect Your Lips

Our lips are very vulnerable when it comes to the sun.  It is important to remember to put protection on your lips as they are prone to skin cancer.  And UV exposure also leads to excessive dryness and can cause deterioration of lips’ collagen.  So be sure your lipsticks and lip balms all contain at least an SPF of 15.

Don’t lick your lips as this will take out moisture from your lips.  Drink plenty of water to keep your lips hydrated.  And apply a lip balm before bed to help moisturize lips.

In winter, try putting on a base coat of lip balm before applying lipstick.  And if your lips get dry and chapped, do not put on lipstick as the  drying products in color pigments can irritate chapped lips.

For a relaxing, at-home boost to your lips, beauty expert Josephine Fairley suggests mashing a quarter of a ripe papaya until it makes a juicy paste. Then, lie down on a towel and apply a generous amount to the lips and the skin around the lips. Leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes, rinse it off and apply lip balm. Papaya contains exfoliating enzymes and can help to soften and refine lip lines.

The Potency of Lavender

Every year, I make sure that along side of my garden, I have lavender, basil and mint.  Of course, the basil and mint are great for cooking, and make a complete difference with taste and health.  But lavender, has a unique herbal remedy all of it’s own.

Lavender is an ancient remedy that is still very popular today in helping those who need some better living.  It’s most potent ability is with the ability to help you relax.  If you are taking a bath, want a relaxing atmosphere or can’t sleep, lavender is your natural answer.  It can do wonders for your life and your ability to relax, depending on how it is prepared.

If you want to go past the soothing ingredients of lavender, you can also look at how it helps your health.  Often times, the lavender will be placed with oils, balms or even perfume.  This can be used to help the skin to improve or just to help you smell better.  As an oil, it can also be used on your skin to soothe insect bites or inflammation on the skin.

Take it even a step further - you can use lavender for headaches.  Or, if you want your house to smell good and want a great natural way to get it there - you can use lavender to disinfect the rooms you are in.  This was a popular method that was used in World War II when there was a lack of supplies to treat soldiers.  And, it worked well.

So, whatever your reason, it is the season to add lavender into your health list.  If you can’t plant a lavender plant in your yard, definitely take the time to find some natural lavender around the corner so that you can enjoy the many benefits that it can add into a healthy lifestyle.

Disease Vertigo:Causes,Symptoms,Treatment,Exercises

WHAT CAUSES VERTIGO:

Vertigo usually occurs as a result of a disorder in the vestibular system (structures of the inner ear, the vestibular nerve, brainstem and cerebellum). When the head moves, signals are transmitted to the labyrinth, which is an apparatus in the inner ear that is made up of three semicircular canals surrounded by fluid. The labyrinth then transmits the movement information to the vestibular nerve and the vestibular nerve carries the information to the brainstem and cerebellum (areas of the brain that control balance, posture, and motor coordination).Severe vertigo may result in complications such as irritability, loss of self-esteem, depression and injuries from falls. Falls are the leading cause of serious injury in people over the age of 65.

SYMPTOMS OF VERTIGO:

a) Double vision

b) Headache

c) Weakness

d) Difficulty in walking

e) Difficulty in speaking

f) Abnormal eye movements

g) Altered level of consciousness, not acting appropriately in public or difficulty in arousal

TREATMENT FOR VERTIGO:

Vertigo improves with head rotation manoeuvres that displace free-moving calcium deposits back to the vestibule. Such exercises are easy and should be done only after consulting a specialist. Treatment for each case is different and varies from person to person. Treatment and exercise depend on factors such as preference of the patient, his abilities and comfort level with certain body movements.Don’t try any exercise you see somebody else doing. It may not suit you. Worse, it can harm your system beyond repair.

EXERCISES:

1) In bed:

a) Looking up and then down

b) Looking alternatively left and right

c) Convergence exercises

d) Bending alternatively forward and backward

2) While walking:

a) Throwing and catching the ball while walking

b) Walking up and down a flight of stairs

c) Walking around in the room with eyes open and closed

d) Playing any game involving bending, stretching and aiming with the ball

3) In sitting position:

a) Shrugging and rotating soldiers

b) Bending forward and picking up objects

c) Turning head and trunk alternatively to the left and right

4) In standing position:

a) Changing from sitting to standing, initially with eyes open and then with the eyes shut

b) Throwing a small ball (ping pong) in an arc from hand to hand and following it with the eyes

c) Throwing a small ball from hand to hand under the knee

 

 

 

 

Health Benefits Of Cabbage:

Some health benefits of cabbage:

a) Uncooked cabbage is high in glutamine, an amino acid that is essential for intestinal health.

b) Cabbages are a good source of Vitamin K, which is essential in the production of blood clotting proteins.

c) This vegetable is also high in potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure, promotes a steady heartbeat,and can lower youur risk of stroke.

d) Cabbge contains quercetin, an antioxidant that is a natural antihistamine that can benefit allergy sufferers.

e) Cabbage juice can be used to treat stomach ulcers and stop any bleeding.

f)  Cabbage juice is used to relieve constipation. However, it may cause flatulence as the juice breaks down putrefying matter in the intestines.

g) A chemical (isothiocyanates) found in cabbages may lower the risk of lung cancer in smokers.

Fortify Your Health:

There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of disease-fighting chemicals in plants. Here are some of the best food you can eat to stay healthy. Remember, not all have been medically proven to fight disease X, Y or Z. But healthy veggies never do any harm…

Soya beans help prevent cancers of the breast, endometrium and ovary.

Onions and leeks may slow the development of tumour cells.

Carrots are a good source of the antioxidant beta carotene.

Broccoli helps stop carcinogens (cancer causing agents) damaging our DNA.

Carrots, celery and parsley all help slow down cancerous mutations.

Oranges are rich in the antioxidant vitamin C and help protect against stomach cancer.

Nuts and seeds are good sources of dietary fibre which speeds food through the gut, allowing cancinogens less time to interact with the lining.

Peas are a good source of folic acid, which helps in the formation of red blood cells.

The New Extremes on Plastic Surgery

Surgery to me is not something that I go into lightly and the surgeries I have had have been necessary ones. With all of that pain, and after going through a few surgeries, I would more than likely never have any type of plastic surgery done unless it was to repair my body from an accident or something of that sort.

But today more and more women (and even men) are messing with nature and having more than just little imperfections fixed. The days where plastic surgeons were operating just on nose jobs and boob jobs are long gone. Plastic surgery has now gone to a whole new level.

Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Dr. David Allessi, says that in his 18 years of being in surgery, he has received a lot of strange requests but now he says he has heard the oddest request of all…Dr. Allessi had a consultation with a 25-year-old woman who wanted to have her belly button removed.

Some other strange extreme requests that are continuing to grow in the plastic surgery arena, which they are dubbing as “fashion” surgeries are:

Toe shortening (yes, you read that right!)
Butt implants (hey, they can have some of mine!)
Labia downsizing (I’m not even going to go there!)

Vaginal rejuvenations have increased by 30% in 2007 and butt implants increased by 18%.

What is even more surprising is that most of the people that are requesting these extreme procedures are those who are plastic surgery virgins. Dr. Allessi says that a lot of his young patients think about getting plastic surgery the way they’d think about getting their hair done.

Researchers Find Being Active & Overweight Still Not Healthy

I am overweight and have battled weight issues all of my life. But I have not had my head buried in the sand and am not one of these overweight activists who believes that you can be heavy and healthy. It’s just not a reasonable defense.

Over the years, and especially over the past five years, “fat” activists have been popping up all over the place declaring that you can be active and overweight and still be healthy. Well, a new study by the researchers at Harvard that was published yesterday in Internal Medicine puts this argument to rest (hopefully).

While the study found that overweight women who are active have a decreased risk of heart disease over those overweight women who are inactive, their risk of heart disease is still high compared to that of healthy-weight active women. Women were considered active if they followed government-recommended guidelines and got at least 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week, including brisk walking or jogging. Women who got less exercise than that were considered inactive.

The study found that active overweight women with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 25 - 29 had a 54% higher risk of developing heart disease compared to that of active healthy weight women. Active obese women (with a BMI of 30 and higher) had a 87% higher risk of developing heart disease over that of healthy weight women who are active.

Here is where the benefits of exercise really shows. Check out these statistics…

For overweight inactive women, the risk of heart disease increased by 88%; for inactive obese women the risk was 2 1/2 times higher.

Healthy Hair

Shiny and healthy hair isn’t just a beauty asset, but can be an indication of overall health. Poor health of your hair can be brought about by many factors. Too much attention to hair, a poor diet, air pollution, heat and air-conditioning can have adverse affects on your hair.

There are many types of hair from frizzy and out of control, heavy and coarse, , thin, oily or dry and in-between types. There are also problems that can affect hair such as dandruff, split ends, hair product build-up, itchy scalp and even lice.

Start from the inside:

It’s important to drink plenty of fluids, especially water since moisture makes the hair supple. For best results, drink 8 - 10 glasses of water per day.

The building block of hair is protein. Protein is what strengthens your hair and helps reduce split ends or breakage. Protein comes from foods such as meat, milk, cheese, fish.

It’s also important to have enough minerals in your diet. Without iron, hair and its follicles are deprived of oxygen. You can get iron from foods such as red meat, dark green vegetables or iron supplements. Zinc helps to prevent hair loss. Seafood and meats offer a good source of zinc. Vitamins are also important for healthy hair, especially vitamins, A, B, C and E. You can get these vitamins from fruit, vegetables, cereals, eggs, milk and bread.

Hair care:

It’s important to use the appropriate products for your type of hair. This helps to manage your hair much more effectively.

Start with a hairstyle that makes the most of your hair type and is easy to manage.

Look carefully at product labels and choose what works best for your hair. Don’t overuse products. Some have a drying effect, which can also lead to breakage.

Avoid overexposure to sun, heat, air conditioning or pollution.

Deal with problems as they happen. Take care of dandruff, itchy scalp or anything that will have an adverse affect on your hair.

With the proper steps, your hair will look healthier, but it will probably take a couple of months before visible results can be seen. The effort is worth your while because healthy hair is a beautiful asset.

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