People often relate being vegetarian to activism for animal rights, but many people today become vegetarian to reap the health benefits. Many studies show that plant-based diets can lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and reduce a person’s risk for both heart disease and cancer. Although these studies exist, most meat eaters are still concerned that a vegetarian lacks certain vitamins needed to be healthy. There are many ways to ensure that a vegetarian diet is well rounded. Protein is always the main concern from those who don’t understand vegetarianism. Women need about 45 grams per day, while men need about 55 grams. With just one cup of tofu, women are almost half way there already with 20 grams of protein. It’s not as hard as some think to get enough protein. In fact, the average person is getting plenty of protein without even thinking about it. Vegetarian foods that contain high protein include tofu, seitan, veggie burgers, soy, lentils, chickpeas, nuts and seeds, brown rice and whole grains. Eating dark green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, and kale will ensure a vegetarian is getting enough calcium and iron. The vitamins C and D in an enriched orange juice will also assist in the absorption of both calcium and iron. Eating a wide spectrum of colors of fruit and vegetables will ensure a wide range of vitamins and antioxidants. Vitamin B12 is often supplemented in pill form, but can also be found in nutritional yeast. Miso and some sea weeds also contain a minimal amount of vitamin B12. Most vegetarians start out by still eating their favorite foods that they already eat and just using meat substitutes in place of the meat. Most any recipe can be made vegetarian. There are many different brands of meat substitutes and they all taste a bit different, so if you don’t like one brand, another brand might suit your tastes better. Gradually try different recipes and you’ll find your tastes developing into a healthier way of life. There are also many different types of vegetarians. A pescatarian doesn’t eat meat, but makes the exception of eating fish. Pescatarians get extra protein and omega-3s from the fish. Most vegetarians are lacto-ovo-vegetarians, meaning they don’t eat animal flesh of any kind but they still eat eggs and dairy products. However, a vegan does not eat any animal product of any kind. Many vegans also try to eliminate animals from their clothing, skin care, and day to day products also. Most grocery stores today are making it much easier to make vegetarian choices too. There are many more choices than there used to be. Some larger stores even have a “natural foods” section now devoted to many vegetarian foods. In addition to meat substitutes, you’re even likely to find soy cheeses and yogurts too. Another good place to look is a farmer’s market or food stands for local and seasonal choices. And if there’s no health food store in your area, there are a few places online where vegetarians can order food.
Vegetarianism
January 10th, 2010Health Issue Of Women
January 2nd, 2010Health Issue Of Women
It is very common that whenever issues related to health are discussed, people often keep women at bay or never discuss women health. As it is true that women are strong by birth but that doesn’t mean that women don’t possess any illness or disease. The very hard truth is that women do catch many problems but because of their own lenient behavior they don’t bother to tell anybody and don’t take it on a serious mode.
As the women have the capability to stand like a pole in every situation because of their strong will power so people don’t care too much to give a notice to the women’s health. That is the reason that various women problems came into existence at the last stage and where there is no cure for it. Thus it results in women mortality.
Mother or a wife is the one without whom home is not a home and if she gets ill then the home gets stand still and is out of control. Women health has to be concerned at the first level, it is the need of the hour……
Baby Massage
January 2nd, 2010BABY MASSAGE
With the coming of a baby in one’s life people and a couple becomes more responsible and caring. The baby comes with loads of happiness and a tension free life. A single smile of the baby rejuvenates your all stress.
So very first thing for a baby is baby massage, which is an imperial duty to be done. It is a culture in many religions and traditional families. Even a touch with the baby enhances your relation with the baby. It has been proved through many surveys. A daily baby oil massage develops the baby both mentally and physically. But it has to be done in an exact way with care otherwise it may cause some serious problems.
Rules to be followed:
- Always wash your hands properly before the massage and massage the baby with oil or cream with soft touch not harshly.
- Don’t wear any hand jewelry while massage and trim your nails properly as it could hurt the baby.
- Always start the massage from the body part from where the baby feels comfortable and easy.
- Time is really important, opt for 10 minutes for about 4 months of baby and about 20 for a little elder.
- Always give a massage at the back and with a support at the neck.
Good Nutrition
September 23rd, 2009About Good Nutrition
Did you ever think about why do you eat? The simple answer is because you are hungry; you eat when you feel tired and when your stomach is empty. Sometime you like to eat because you are too much happy or sad or because it’s lunchtime or dinnertime, or because that mince pie looks nice or so.
Those are some emotional and physical reasons why you eat, but do ever think much about why your body needs food? Not only those junk or unhealthy food, but healthy food which is good for your health or why is good nutrition important for your health?
Good Nutrition Provides Energy
The foods that you eat provide you energy for your body needs to function. Just like you need to put fuel in your car or recharge your cell phone battery, your body needs to be fed each day through diet. The main form of energy for your body is carbohydrates.
Your body has the easiest time digesting carbohydrates like sugar and starch. Carbohydrates are broken down into individual glucose, fructose or galactose units. Glucose is your body’s favorite form of energy. If you don’t get enough carbohydrates, your body can make glucose from protein or fat — and if you get too many carbohydrates, your body is very good at storing them as fat.
Good Nutrition Provides Raw Materials
Protein in the foods you eat is broken down into individual amino acids. Your body uses the amino acids to build and repair the various parts of your body. Your muscles contain lots of protein, and you need to replenish that protein through your diet. Your body also needs protein for components of your immune system, hormones, nervous system, and organs.
Another raw material your body needs is calcium. Calcium has several functions in your body, but it’s best known as the mineral that is stored in your bones and teeth. You need calcium from your diet to keep your bones and teeth strong.
Your body also needs fats to be healthy. Membranes that contain fats surround all the cells of your body. Your brain has fatty acids, and fats are also needed to signal hormones.
The “Little Helpers”
Vitamins and minerals you get from your diet are just as important as carbohydrates, protein and fats; however, you only need them in small amounts. Vitamins and minerals usually function as co-enzymes, which means they help chemical reactions in the body happen a lot faster. For example, many of the B complex vitamins help your body burn carbohydrates for energy. Vitamin A is needed for vision, zinc is involved in many metabolic processes, and vitamin C helps keep connective tissue strong and your immune system functioning.
Your diet needs to provide adequate amounts of all of these “little helpers.” A healthy, balanced diet will provide you with lots of vitamin and minerals. An unhealthy diet may make your body deficient in one or more of these helpers.
Above and Beyond the Basics
Good nutrition provides more than energy, structural components, vitamins and minerals. There are other substances in the foods that you eat that have become better known over the last few years.
Phytochemicals are found in the colorful parts of fruits and vegetables. Although they aren’t required for body functioning, they may have a very powerful impact on your health. For example, quercetin (found in red apples) functions like an antihistamine and as an anti-inflammatory effect. Resveratrol, found in grape skins and seeds, is a powerful antioxidant.
Antioxidants help protect your body from damage that comes from the sun, pollution, smoke, and poor dietary choices. They are found in the phytochemicals of fruits and vegetables, as well as some vitamins and amino acids.
Seizure Attack
September 22nd, 2009Things That Can Help During SEIZURE ATTACK
A person who is suffering from the seizure can lose his conscious, even can fall down or start moving violently.
Some tips to keep in mind that can help to avoid the injury of the person suffering from seizure-
• First and the foremost thing is one should not get panic.
• The person should not be restrained.
• During the seizure no fingers or any thing should be placed in that person’s mouth.
• Remember to move away all the pointed things from the person.
• The air should pass properly through the person’s mouth.
• As soon as the person comes back in his conscious, make a call to a physician.
• Call to the emergency number in case the seizure attack lasts for more than 5 minutes or if it is the first time the person suffered from a seizure.
The Functional Foods Have Specific Health Benefits
September 20th, 2009The Functional Foods Have Specific Health Benefits
The foods or any components of the diet that provides benefits to the health besides the basic nutrition are called the functional foods. Such specific foods provide specific benefits to the health. Few examples of functional foods are whole grains, some fruits and vegetables or beverages. The council of International Food Information has researched that the Americans are more aware of the advantages of the functional foods than the Indians. The two basic diseases for which people concern the functional foods more are cancer and the heart disease.
A survey gives the following results that hoe people are familiar with different functional foods for specific health concern-
- Women about 56 percent absolutely identified that the cranberries and the juice reduces urinary infections whereas just the 33% of people among men realize this fact.
- 55% of people of the old age know the advantage of soy with the heart’s health while only 35% among the people of age 35 to 50 realize this. About 75% of women accept that the soy is useful in lowering the risks of any heart disease but only 53 percent of men know this. This is the reason that heart diseases are common among men.
- Again the women are much aware of connection of antioxidant-cancer.
40% women know the fact that calcium reduces risk of the disease called osteoporosis whereas the fewer amounts of men know it.
Swine Flu – Symptoms,Preventions, Treatment etc..
September 18th, 2009Swine Flu
Swine flu is a disease caused by the flu virus that affects pigs, getting mutated and transforming into human flu virus. Normally the swine flu virus would not be able to affect the humans, but the genetic mutation it underwent enabled it to affect humans and as a result the current outbreak. CDC calls the virus “novel influenza A (H1N1) virus” while the World Health Organization refers to it as pandemic (H1N1) 2009. This virus affects people who do not have contacts with pigs also because it has the ability to transmit from person to person. It was first found out to be affecting humans in 1918 flu pandemic.
What are the symptoms of swine flu?
As you can expect from flu, the normal swine flu symptoms include dry cough, sever fever, body pain, running nose, sore throat, body pains in joints and other parts of the body, mild to severe headaches, loss of strength and a small vomiting tendency. Just because you have one or more of these tendencies, it does not mean that you have swine flu. These can be seen as a trait of normal flu or even other disease symptoms. Only way to make sure is to consult your doctor as soon as you see these hints. In case you doubt that you have swine flu keep yourself quarantined and immediately seek medical attention.
Who gets affected the most due to the swine flu?
The people who are affected the most are people above 65 years of age and children who are less than a year old. It is also seen in people with heart problems, kidney problems, immune suppression and such. It has also been noted that obesity has been a contributing factor in the adults who were tested positive for swine flu. Such kinds of people are at risk from further problems like respiratory blockage when affected with swine flu.
What to do if you have swine flu?
The first thing to do is, stay home when possible and avoid work, social gatherings and always keep your mouth and nose covered while sneezing. Immediately seek any medical attention you can get. Please be informed that the doctor can only take samples from you and send it to a lab for testing to ensure that you have swine flu. The laboratory tests may come in a matter of days. In some places it is quiet expensive to get such a test taken and hence many people back away from doing it. My suggestion is that you should always be on the safe side and make sure that you are not infected.
How to prevent swine flu?
As you know swine flu is spread like a normal flu. You can catch it if you come in contact with their sneeze droplets or even touch places they touch and then those parts coming in contact with your eyes, nose or mouth. Avoid close contact with people infected with swine flu. If you suspect a place to be a possible candidate for swine flu infection, stay away from that place. Wear a face mask when possible and also remember to wash your hands with soap and water or best with hand wash before touching anything. Mothers who are infected with swine flu must not breastfeed their children.
Treatments for Swine flu
There are antiviral drugs available for swine flu prevention. One such popular drug is Tamiflu. Depending on the health conditions of the affected person, they may or may not need medication to recover. A vaccine is in the making but not yet finalized as fit for human use. As they always say, “Prevention is better than cure”. So try to prevent swine flu rather than treating it.
Get more health tips for HealthRuns.com, the premier health and fitness information blog written by Dr Athira
Some Alternative Ways To Deal With Food Cravings Throughout The Day
September 18th, 2009Some Alternative Ways To Deal With Food Cravings Throughout The Day
- You can have variety of crisp vegetables such as cauliflowers, cucumbers, radish and carrots when you feel like eating something.
- You can have Jell-O for late night hunger that is sugar-free and it is tasty which hardly contains any calories.
- While long drives generally people want to have something even when they are not hungry and this purpose can be solved by having chewing gum.
- Try to have food stuffs that have high fibers.
- Do not have the junk food in your routine.
- Add some colon cleansing pill to your diet that helps you loosing the fat in your food eaten. You can try acai berry pills as the sweetener substitute.
Hard Hearing – Common Old Age Problem
September 14th, 2009
HARD HEARING-COMMON OLD AGE PROBLEM
As a person’s age increases his hearing power decreases. So this problem is seen commonly among the old age people. Hearing loss can be a bit or even to the higher degree.
You are suffering from this disease if you are facing any of the following problems-
• If you can not hear properly the conversation on the phone.
• If watching TV at a higher volume has become your habit.
• You suddenly start talking at a high pitch.
• You feel that the person talking to you is mumbling and not talking properly.
Whenever you face any of the above situations, consult a doctor. This problem can even be due to the shape of your ear that sucks the dirt in and then creates a difficulty in hearing.
Hemochromatosis – A Gastrointestinal Disorders
September 13th, 2009HEMOCHROMATOSIS- A GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS
Hemochromatosis is a disease in which a body soaks and stores huge amount of iron that accumulates in various body organs such as pancreas, liver, heart, etc and damage the cells. It is basically caused due to the genetic error. It is more common among men then the women. This can de detected from the blood tests that measures iron level in blood. The symptoms are-
- Feeling Weakness.
- Lose of weight.
- Pain in joints as well as in abdomen.
- Change in the color of the skin.
- Diabetes and liver damage.
This disease can not be cured but person can make to live little longer by regular change of blood that can be done by donating blood.