Simple Health Cures

   Did you know that diet and nutritional deficiencies are the major cause of most health conditions? The top 3 leading causes of death in this country- heart disease, cancer and stroke are mostly preventable with diet and nutrition alone! This is way many people are seeking alternative healthcare today.

It is important that you eat properly. Although you may be taking some sort of nutritional supplementation, it is in no way a replacement for food. Human beings require food. We can’t manufacture our own food. It would be wonderful if we could, however, we are required to actually eat and process foods to get the appropriate nutrients neccessary for life.

We have all been instructed to follow a good diet or told to eat right, but we are never told exactly what that is. That could be interpreted differently for each individual person. It could mean don’t eat fried foods for one person and for another it could mean to eat a vegetarian type diet. Let’s take a look at nutrition. You are what to eat!

Nutrition is the science of the relationship of foods and nutrients to health and disease. It is a very complex science involing over 40 different nutrients. Nutrition is vitally important for every age group. It is essential for resistance to disease and the ability of the body to heal and repair. Optimal nitrition is also needed for normal development, reproduction and for growth.

Nutrients fall into six groups: carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, minerals and water,

Let’s talk about vitamins. Vitamins are essential for growth, protection and the regulation of energy within the body. They must be supplied by diet. A deficiency in a particular vitamin can ultimately result in the expression of symptoms. Vitamins perform specific roles within the body and can be further divided into two groups, fat soluble and water soluble. The fat soluble vitamins are vitamins A,D,E, and K. Fat soluble vitamin A was the first vitamin identified. The body more readily absorbs this group when consumed with fat or oils. These vitamins are stored in the body and need not necessarily be consumed daily. The water soluble groups consists of the B vitamins, which encompass the entire B complex including B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, pantothenic acid and biotin as well as vitamin C.

As vitally important as it is for you to consume appropriate foods, it may also be necessary for you to likewise commit to taking some form of vitamin supplementation. The food that we eat today does not have the same vitamin and mineral content that it did years ago. There is a steady and rapid depletion of the soil upon which crops are grown creating deficiency of vitamins and minerals. As a matter fact to get the same amount of iron that was in one cup of spinach in 1945 you would have to eat 65 cups today! Also many crops cannot eve absorb trace minerals from the soil due to chemical fertilizers. Another problem today is the genetic modification of foods. Genetically altered foods may contain genes from other plants or animals: they may even contain chemicals such as pesticides.

There is a company that has isolated the gene in fish that protects them from cold and has integrated that gene into a tomato. Many of you aware of the recalled taco shells several years ago because they were contaminated with the genetically altered corn named “Starlink” which was modified to produce its own pesticides. Over 70% of the corn crop has been genetically engineered. This corn is devoid of vitamin B12 and other compounds. Needles to say supplementation should be included in your daily diets, but from a natural source.

   Staying healthy and avoiding illness can be preventable. Here is 5 tips  you can take to ensure that you avoid illness.

   1) Safe Food Handling Storage:

    Did you know that there is no such thing as the 24 hour flu? If you have become violently ill for the duration of 24-48 hours or less, you have consumed contaminated food. This may be the result of cross-contamination ( food that has touched other tainted foods or surfaces), undercooked meat or food that has been improperly stored or thawed, storage guidelines as set out by the Food Safety and Inspection Services. Always use a meat thermometer to determine if your food is properly cooked. This is the only way to really tell if your meat is fully cooked to a safe temperatures. Use an appliance thermometer to ensure your refrigerator and freezer are keeping your foods at safe temperatures during storage and store all meats at the bottom of the fridge and vegetables and other foods at the top.

   2) Take Care Of Your Immune System:

    Your body’s immune system is your natural defense against illness and disease. We are designed to fight off external attacks from infections, viruses, chemical and our environment as well as internal diseases such as cancer. Our skin, organs and blood all work together to battle disease but if any one area becomes stressed or weakened, the immune system can break down and allows us to become ill. A healthy lifestyle of proper nutrition, the right amount of sleep, exercise, reduced stress, proper hygiene and avoidance of toxins such as tobacco and alcohol will help you maintain a healthy immune system. Supplements including protein, vitamins A,C and E, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, selenium, calcium, iron and antioxidants, including carotenoids like lycopene and beta carotene will help keep your immune system strong.

    3) Hand Washing:

   We all know to wash our hands after gong to the bathroom, but there are a great deal of other sources that are equally as germ laden as a bathroom. Surfaces such as keyboards, telephones, TV remote controls, money, hand rails and banisters and so on are handled often by many people and are rarely disinfected. Our hands pick up germs and bacteria constantly. Get in the habits of keeping our fingers out of your mouth, nose and eyes as these are the three main portals for ingesting bacteria and viruses. Wash your hands not only after using the bathroom, but before yo eat. To wash your hands properly, wet your hands with warm water ( not hot) water, lather with soap for at least 20 seconds away from the stream of water and then rinse thoroughly. It is the suds of the soap that trap the germs in the bubbles and allow them to be rinsed away.

   4) Balanced Diet And Exercise:

   Your body is like a fine tuned machine. It requires adequate fuel and movement to function properly. A balanced diet will ensure that all of your organs are well maintained with the necessary energy, vitamins and minerals it needs and movement will keep your circulation and joint healthy.

    5) Reduce Stress:

    There is no doubt about it, high stress levels can do a number on your health. Your immune system will weaken, you can develop high blood pressure and your mental health can suffer when you are exposed to stressors long-term. We all have things that stress us out whether it is from work, kids, financial problems, etc. It may not be possible to eliminate stress from your life entirely, but you can give your body “time off” to help it recover. The key is to identify the source of your stress and do what you can to reduce it. The other important factor is to take time to DE-stress. This may involve taking some “me” time or maybe just a few minutes of meditation or deep breathing several times per day.

    The fact is that illness can be prevented and taking a pro-active approach to your health is always much more effective at keeping yourself healthy than treating illnesses when they occur. You know the saying, ” An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

   There was a time when a man in his 50’s was considered old, not long to retirement and the beginning of the steady decline. These days men are living longer, more fulfilling lives. Healthy eating, exercise, reducing or excluding smoking and drinking can add years to a man’s quality and longevity of life. It is clear a nutrition diet is one of the most important ways a man over 50 can start to make healthy improvements to his lifestyle.

   By 50 many men feel it it too late to start changing their eating habits, ” you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” The good news is it is never too late to start looking after yourself and the benefits of taking up a healthy diet can be felt and seen almost immediately. Some men may feel at their age it is not worth depriving themselves of the pleasures of unhealthy foods but when they closely look at what a healthy, nutritious diet can give in return they may change their minds.

    - Of the 10 leading causes of death and disease in men, 4 are can be linked directly to a man’s diet. A healthy diet and healthy weight greatly reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes in a man over 50. Men over 50 need to look at reducing the amount of total fat, saturated fat in animal products like meat or high fat dairy like butter and eggs, trans fats found in margarine’s and baked products, cholesterol high in shell fish, egg yolks, and meats, and sodium salt in their diets.

    - The prostate can be a sensitive area of discussion for men over 50 but it is important to pay particular attention to the area as men age. Studies have shown that older men who eat vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower or Brussels sprouts every day have a 48% lower risk of developing prostate cancer. it is also believed that green tea can lower the risks.

   - Testosterone production slows dramatically after 40. Testosterone is an hormone for maintaining physical health and well being in men. It is used to maintain muscle mass and for those men who like to stay in shape it is important to maintain your levels as much as possible. Foods high in fish oil is thought to help aid testosterone production.

    - What man isn’t interested in having a healthier sex life? Flagging energy levels, performance issues, weight gain or confidence can be a problem for any man. They can all be impacted by a healthy diet. Excessive alcohol or caffeine consumption, vitamin deficiencies, hormone imbalances have all been linked to sexual problems and can often be balance, corrected and even completely solved by small changes in diet and lifestyle. Diets high in wheat germ, liver, and some nuts are thought to improve a man sexual drive.

    Unfortunately, Type 2 diabetes is not a equal opportunity offender, Although the disease does do a number on women and their overall health, it is men who reap the worst repercussion as a result of having diabetes and unstable blood sugar levels.

   Starting with the head and working down to the feet, you can see vision is acutely affected by diabetes due to high and uncontrolled blood sugar levels. There are several conditions that appear to advance more rapidly in diabetic men than women. One is retinopathy, which is a vision disorder as a direct result of diabetes. Retinopathy is the enlargement, breakage, or leaking of tiny blood vessels in the eye, which can spill blood into the eyeball and threaten vision. Once this condition sets in, men tend to progress into blindness faster than women.

   The brain is more susceptible to disaster too. The likelihood of stroke or strokes are higher for men. Adding high cholesterol and elevated triglycerides, or fat in the blood, to this problem only makes it more probable. Let’s not forget high blood pressure. It goes hand in hand with obesity, cholesterol and low activity.

   Traveling to the heart we see the increased opportunity for health issues. Since men are more prone to heart disease, it goes without saying they need to focus more attention on keeping this area as healthy and fit as possible. In fact, studies show if a man is diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes before the age of 60, they are two and a half times more likely to suffer from a heart attack than non-diabetic men of the same age.

   When you get to the midsection, things get serious. For a man, it comes down to impotence. There is a direct correlation between out of control blood sugar levels and erectile dysfunction. The condition can appear even in the early stages of diabetes, but the chances of acquiring it, dramatically increase as you age. Sine the causes are due to impaired blood flow, nerve damage and muscle function, it is imperative to keep these areas in check through proper diet and exercise. Also, maintaining a healthy weight is ideal for making sure this doesn’t become an issue.

   Lastly, it all comes down to circulation. Men seem to have a much higher rate of limb amputation due to poor circulation, than women. In fact, statistically, men are between two and three times more likely to need amputation of their feet or legs as a result of circulation restriction and/ or nerve damage. This is where getting up and moving around can benefit. Any form of activity exercise will keep this debilitating action at bay.

   Men…keeping yourself healthy and controlling your blood sugar through…

   - stress reduction techniques

   - a balanced diet

   - regular exercise

   Is the best bet to reduce or avoid these complications of type 2 diabetes.

   Shredding the extra pounds as we all know is not an easy task. As one gets older, it even becomes more difficult. This is because the organs of the body no longer work as they used to and the metabolism slow down. It is a fact that men lose weight faster than women under normal circumstances. Weight loss for women over 45 is even more challenging. There are however steps that needs to be taken to get better result.

    It is important to state that under no circumstance should anyone subject herself to anything that will affect her health. As it is said, good health is better than weight loss. If you have your desired shape and you are not healthy, you will not enjoy that shape. There are three basic things that you need to do to stay healthy while shredding any extra weight. These include: the nature of your diet, your exercise plan and getting enough sleep.

   A Good Diet Plan: when you eat balanced diet, you are invariably maintaining or reduce your weight. You need to be more careful with what you eat because at 45 and above, your body systems no longer work as they used to when you were younger. Your body tends to absorb less glucose and the excess glucose is stored as fat.

   Your Exercise Plan: a good exercise plan not only helps you to stay healthy, but burns up any extra fat that might have been stored in your body. At this age also, no stressful or painful exercise is required. All you need are simple exercises that will do the job. Talking a walk in the morning or evening is a sure way to melt any unwanted fat in your body. Walk for a kilometer at least 4 times a week. You can also add some aerobic exercises for your heart and other organs.

   A Good Sleep: Everyone needs a good rest and sound sleep. These become even more important as we get older. A good sleep improve the ability of the body to fight disease as it refreshes the immune system. It also helps the body to repay any cell damage that occurred during the day while helping the body burn more calories. Don’t sleep for less than 8 hours.

   With the three methods outlined above, you can successfully manage you health and prevent your body from gaining weight. Even when you do not see results as expected, you need not to give up. That is the key to losing weight successfully.

   If we are to have a healthy body, it is necessary to provide it with everything it needs. The way we live and how we think about ourselves is also an important aspect of our well being. The golden rules for Healthy Life are a guideline for a well life.

    1. Be moderate ( Do Not Eat Too Much.)

   2. Do not skip breakfasts

   3. Never go out with an empty stomach

    4. Eat diverse and good quality foods

   5. Always compensate for lost fluid

   6. Respect the night’s rest

   7. You ought to be active

   8. Expose yourself to daylight and fresh air

   9. Cultivate the spirit of optimism and goodwill

   Why each of these rules is important?

   1. Moderation means that we behave in a way not expose our bodies to extreme challenges, especially not for a long time. For example, we should try to avoid many harmful substances that we consume in our everyday lives, such as ( coffee, alcohol, tobacco, preservatives, flavor enhancers). Undoubtedly, it is useful to drink a  a glass of wine after a good meal, or eat a piece of chocolate when you are depressed, but no more than that.

   2. People who skip breakfast have more problems with body weight, because it disturbs natural rhythm of their metabolism.

   3. When we are hungry we are tempted to eat something. If we persevere, we will return home even hungrier and eat uncontrollably all that comes to our hand. So it’s good to always have some fresh fruits and vegetables at home.

   4. The quality of food and beverages that we intake dictates the quilt of our health. For example, fibers pure body from harmful substances, certain foods stimulate metabolism, carbohydrates are the first source of energy for muscle, and proteins as their main structural material are the most valuable source of energy. As we age our body loses calcium, bones become weak, and it is very important to take enough calcium while we are still young.

   5. Disturbance of fluid balance is one of the key reasons for the occurrence of some disease. Daily our body may lose about 10 glasses of fluid even when we do nothing. We have to catch up with this loss and the best way to do this is to consume fresh water.

   6. The only time our body is being renewed is when we are asleep. We need to have enough hours of sleep in order to benefit from it. Sleep fine and live long.

    7. Regular exercise reduces the risk of a severe disease. Studies say that four hours of exercise per week reduces the incidence of breast cancer by 66.6%. walking is good for the heart and lungs and it also improves brain function by boosting its oxygen supply.

   8. Sunlight is the source of every life. It helps our vital organs to be strong and function properly. With fresh air, we breathe in the power of nature and oxygen that is necessary in the process of burning calories, making our bodily function optimal.

   9. Most of us would want to live the same way, and eat the same food as before, and to use a pill that would magically solve their problems. However, the solution is within us. If our mind is focused on good things, then we do good things. By identifying ourselves with a successful team, we may develop the competitive spirit. The quality of our life proves to be better when there is greater harmony in our family and when we have friends. The best way to get rid of stress is to live in a simple and relaxing way.

   Why is it important to apply this set of golden rules?

   Drugs help the body to defeat health problems, but drugs do not cure the causes. The cause of the disease is not in the absence of drugs, but however in violation of the healthy life rules. if we are to enjoy in a healthy life, we must fight on our own by the Golden Rules for Healthy Life, which we will respect to the maximum.

   Most people will not address their health issues with much vigor until they become ill. A much better way to service their health is to assess the environment and their daily routine and activities and reexamine them as to the affect all this is having on them. Wellness is better serviced by being proactive and reactive.

   When you are looking to address your health first you must consider the changes that you personally need to make. It is best to begin with the areas of your health that are obviously causing you grief. Do you find yourself tired on a regular basis, even after resting? Do you find it difficult to just make it through a typical day in your life? These are some serious signs that you are not healthy and you can begin by getting an assessment from your primary health care physician.

   Blood tests administered by your doctor is a great way to home in on the possible causes of tiredness for no apparent reasons and can help the doctor find the best starting point for further investigations that can clearly identify the problems you are experiencing. For some people diet and exercise works wonders. However, it is also important that each patient remembers to continue the new changes in their daily routines and give the diet and exercise time to work their magic. The health issues didn’t start for no reason one day, so be patient and you will soon feel and see the difference.

   Exercise and eating habits are only part of the factors that determine good health and well-being. Factors such as sleep and mental health are as important as diet and exercise and in some cases are more important. Generally if you are feeling good, regardless or your physical state you can still enjoy a general well rounded feeling of being healthy.

   Getting healthy takes time and effort and serious life changes don’t happen over night. It is important to realize that improving your health is something that will not only potentially allow you to live a longer life but a better quality life as well. It is time and energy that is well invested.

   Health is a serious matter so be sure to consult with your doctor and then begin taking the life changing steps that are need to enhance your life. Even small changes can truly enhance the quality of your life so why not start today? You only have one physical body so it is best to make it last.

    We hear so much about the importance of our diet when it comes to health. I would like to suggest to you that there are several aspects to our health that can be achieved and maintained beyond what we eat. I invite you to take a look at the following as we discuss recipes and health in a very different way.

   When we think about health the thought that most of us have begins and ends with what we eat. Yet what if what we can learn about health isn’t limited to food? You see the reason diets work is that at the end of the day a diet is a mathematical problem put on paper. It is calories in versus calories out. When we cook from home we use these healthy recipes and if we stick with them religiously we see success.

   Taking things a step further what if we applied the same system to other aspects of our health and wellness. Why don’t we have a recipe for sleep, a recipe for stress management, a recipe for stretching, a recipe for exercise and a recipe for relaxation? Recipes are nothing more than a written plan of preparing to cook. Some may be passed down for generations at home and some are used in restaurants. Some are original and some may be copied. The recipe for Cola has often been attempted to be copied yet continues to be kept well protected through the years. Remember when Cola tried to discontinue its product and introduced New cola? It became one of the biggest advertising mistake of the last century and a lesson that can apply in both business and in health, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

   The fact is that while diets do work and of course our food choices do matter. I subscribe to you that the reason perhaps that we have more success with food than we do with other health challenge is that we normally have a plan when it comes to food. Yet exercise, stress, sleep and a variety of other related subjects we seemingly try to go with the flow and just wing it.

   In conclusion, it is important to note that we can learn much from the process of creating a recipe. Recipes create consistency, reliability, and predictability. A written plan of attack if you will for the foods we eat. So let’s have a written plan when it comes to other aspects of our health and well being. Think of things in terms of life recipe…the quality and consistency of your health and wellness may depend on it.

   Learning to live with and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a subject we have all been bombarded with over the years. A healthy lifestyle is a result of a balanced lifestyle. For you to achieve and maintain a healthy balance there has to be a combination of a sensible diet and exercise. Physical activity isn’t only for maintaining a healthy weight weight but it is great for prevention and reduction of stress.

   I dislike using the  word diet because for a long the word DIET to me meant that I couldn’t have the treats that I wanted and it meant depriving myself of them. But the word diet in this context means balance, your diet is what you eat not how you eat. Most people hate the idea of exercise, but you don’t have to relate exercise with sweat and jog pants. Simple thing like, when you go to the grocery store or shopping, park in a space farthest from the door. Take a few trips around the stores. You don’t have to exert yourself in order to do exercise.

    Also a healthy lifestyle requires a sensible diet. Eating three moderate meals or five small meals a day help fuel your body and mind and will maintain an even blood sugar. Your diet should consist of vegetables, fruits and protein, dairy products, carbohydrates and fats. Protein such as lean meats. Fruits and vegetables should make up the majority of your diet. These provides a balance of minerals and vitamins. Carbs should be kept to a few portions a day. Whole grains provide more nutrients and vitamin and are released at a slower rate, this helps the reduce in sugar spikes. Fats are needed for the body. These provide fatty acids, such as canola oil, nuts, olive oil. You can still have your treats in moderation of course as like everything else, “too much of everything is bad for you” and all that.!!!

   Most of us recognize  the most serious thing that could possibly happen to us in our lifetime is the lose of our health and productivity. This of course would not only affect us personally but our family and loved ones as well.

   Surely the inactive but often stressful lives we lead in our modern world alert us that we need to increase our need to get and stay in optimal physical, mental and emotional well being. Our health should take priority as ultimately it gives us the opportunity to fulfill our goals and dreams. Conventional insight over the past 60 old years has maintained that the task and responsibility for our health was predominantly the domain of the medical establishment.

   Well, those days are well and truly over, which means you and not the medical system should be in control and in the driver’s seat. Now is the time to reclaim a level of self-responsibility towards our own health, wellness and longevity that people have not practiced for a least a century.

   Never before in history has we had so much extensive scientific evidence to back what our grandparents knew to be true that proper exercise and good nutrition are the most basic components of a long active disease free life. Only if you have a good reserve or balance of these good habits in your wellness ” Bank Account” do you have ammunition to withstand the occasional bout of flu or even surviving a more significant health crisis.

   However, if you settle for a lifestyle with not enough muscle building and maintaining activity, poor nutrition and an insidious attitude that your health is not your responsibility or within your control, then you have some work to do. It is fully recognized now that how we live our life actually affects disease processes which was a revolutionary concept for the health establishment around 20 years ago.

   Not only can we not afford the high price tag of medical supervision for health maintenance the whole idea of someone else being responsibility for our health is not a good idea in our drive to stay well. Not only does it cultivate a level of helplessness and a lack of accountability it extracts a higher price on our overall health and well being in the long run.

   Good health and long term wellness is so much more than simply not being sick and is not an accident, it does require your active participation. Even geneticists agree that over 70 percent of what happens to as in the way of preventable disease that causes disability and the possibility of an early death is within our own control.

   And since your health is a most treasured asset, it should never be put on the back burner of your life and instead be put right at the top of the totem pole of priorities right up there alongside family and career.

   Without question and right at the very core of wellness is the important positive action you can take to protect yourself from disease and illness is proper strengthening exercise. It has long been proven to prevent a very long list of diseases from the “big three”, heart disease, cancer and diabetes to mental illness that include depression, anxiety and stress related problems.

   Although some of these conditions can be treated and reversed with proper exercise and good nutrition, some cannot. Preventing them from getting a foot hold in the first place is the number one goal. You will have heard of preventative medicine, now get ready for preventative fitness with proper exercise.