Healthier Living Blog

Remember being a child when you were attached to an item such as teddy bear or a blanket and how it made you feel secure and happy? That feeling is the exact same one that millions of overweight people struggle with on a daily basis to overcome their emotional attachments to food. Can you be emotionally attached to food? Absolutely, and more people are than those who are not and they generally are not even aware that they are which is how and why the weight becomes an issue.

If you can become attached to an object such as a blanket, certainly you can become attached to food. Certain foods bring on specific feelings inside your mind that make you happy or secure, or even just fill a void in some cases. For example, imagine being in college and coming home for the first time to relieve yourself of all the junk you have been eating and dig into a home cooked meal that only mom can make. How good you feel eating it, it is not only good in taste, but it is what you refer to as being “home” and it is comforting to your stomach and to your mind and soul.

There are endless comfort foods such as cakes, cookies, pies, ice cream and the warm soul foods such as chicken, mashed potatoes and biscuits that millions of people adore to keep their spirits up and make them feel good. The problem is these foods are fattening and they are not good for you. Food brings people together, look at how many American holidays are surrounded by a large meal for the get together? People look forward to eating these meals because they taste good, the give you a reason to see your friends and family and they make your mind at ease. A once a year huge feast is not going to hurt you, it is the ones that eat ice cream while they are bored, the ones that consume an entire box of doughnuts while nursing a bad day from work at night those types of eating habits that will bring on emotional attachments to foods. Some people eat just because they are lonely and have nothing else to do. You need to break this self-destructive cycle as soon as possible, and tell yourself the truth which is that you eat food to survive you do not survive to eat.

Once you become comfortable with that truth in life you can begin to eat wiser choices and realize that in fact food can only make you happy for a short time until the repercussions of it sink in and then you are unhappy. You will be much more unhappy with yourself if you eat a lot of junk food and then gain ten pounds and have to hurry up and lose it than if you eat smarter foods and get up the next day feeling good and your body looks good as a result of your smarter eating choices.

Many people who are overall fairly healthy think that B12 deficiency is something that they do not need to worry about. After all, B12 deficiency is an old persons disease, right? The unfortunate reality is that many people are walking around with low B12 levels and they do not even know it. While B12 deficiency is typically associated with neurological symptoms that are quite severe, recent research indicates that even moderately low levels are cause for concern. This is thanks to the fact that science has connected low levels of B12 with the development of a host of chronic illnesses.

While you may not think there is cause for concern, research indicates that that may not be the case. In a study conducted at Tufts University is was shown that 65% of the participants had levels of B12 that were low enough to cause significant health issues including neurological damage. Only 9% had a B12 deficiency, so the remainder were likely individuals with symptoms that they could not explain that had not yet been diagnosed. What was surprising was that this study looked at individuals between the ages of 26 and 83 and found that there was no significant increase in low B12 levels between the young and old.

In addition to increasing your chances of having deficiency symptoms, individuals with low levels of B12 are much more likely to develop heart disease, strokes, and miscarriages. They are also much more likely to be the victims of early death. This is thanks to the fact that as your B12 levels go down, your Homocysteine levels increase. Homocysteine is a natural by product of bodily functions, but in high levels it is toxic to the body. Research has proven that elevated Homocysteine levels increase your risk of developing chronic disease.

While it may seem that the easiest thing to do is go to the doctor and get your B12 levels tested, the reality is that it is not so simple for most people. Basic B12 testing is not sufficient, thanks to the fact that it can lead to a false positive. Because there are other substances that mimic the properties of B12 in the body yet do not provide the benefits, it is very possible to test out with normal levels and still have a B12 deficiency. Comprehensive testing is effective, but it is going to cost you. In most cases the cost is over $4,000.

Natural remedies can find found almost anywhere. One of the most common places to find them is your kitchen cupboard. If you have minor health issues, there is no need to waste your or your doctors time when you can find solutions in your own home.

When it comes to saving money and still getting effective results from remedies, try some of these favorites.

Cloves – Boiling a clove with a dash of cinnamon and ginger and sipping it throughout the day will provide relief for painful soar throats. Try brewing this combination up as a tea and add some honey, and you have made your very own sore throat remedy.

Baking Soda- Did you know that baking soda can be used to help fight urnirary tract infections? While there are many other uses for baking soda, the soda water will cause your bladder become more alkaline and will suppress the growth of bacteria, helping fight the infection.

Drinking 8 oz. of water with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda daily can help delay an infection from worsening in the event that you still need to see the doctor.

Tonic Water – Do you have restless legs at night and have a hard time getting the sleep you need? Try 6 oz. of tonic water before you go to bed.

Tonic water contains small amounts of quinine, which helps stop muscle contractions in your legs. This simple treatment for restless legs can help your get a better nights sleep without the hassle of stronger medications.

While there are many other remedies to be discovered in your kitchen, these are just a few of the well known ones that can provide relief for various ailments. You will be surprised at the endless possibilities of different cures you can find from the items sitting in your kitchen cupboard.

It is difficult to ascertain what health benefits can be achieved through the use of saunas, and what health benefits are more or less imagined by some users. Granted, everyone agrees that general blood flow is increased, and the pores to the skin benefit highly, but what are other claims that may not be substantiated?

For instance it has been heralded as very beneficial for fibromyalgia, as well as chronic fatigue syndrome. Others say that it is a vast help for glaucoma, arteriosclerosis, Sjogren syndrome, hypertension, athrosclerosis, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity, hypertension as well as smoking induced symptoms.

Whether directly attributable to exercise therapy, there are many who laud the use of the sauna combined with exercise therapy as being able to clear pharmaceuticals (including PCBs) and heavy metals from the human body. The same has been said of organic chemicals, and assorted solvents.

Sauna use followed by cold showers, rolling in snow and other cold stimulus is said to be extremely useful for clearing pesticide exposure, and for the general problems associate with aging, osteoporosis, cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease. It is also supposed to stimulate a man’s hormone (testosterone) and boost a woman’s estrogen production.

Further, it has been often suggested that there is a possibility that the use of a sauna could aid in melting and sweating out the fat accumulations known as cellulite. Cellulite, as most women know, is the accumulation of fat deposits that are found directly under the skin in such areas as the butt, stomach and thighs.

Finally, it has not been medically substantiated that saunas actually remove various toxins from the human body, via the action of sweating it out in saunas. Interestingly enough though there are a lot of those who use saunas who say that it is true. The medical outlook on it is that saunas do promote tremendous relaxation.

From the beginnings of man there have been a myriad of healing methods used for illness, disease, accidents and wounds. Herbal remedies, poultices, letting, traditional medicine, acupuncture, holistic approach and faith just to name a very few.

Herbal remedies have been around since the very beginning, with the Chinese, Native Americans and others understanding and utilizing their powerful ability to heal. We are making a resurgence in our country today, but many of the ancient secrets have been lost. We will continue to understand and harvest plants from around the globe. Poultices were used for centuries for colds, flu, inflammation, and wounds.

Blood letting was a bad idea, it has been proven that is what killed George Washington. Take a sick person, cut him open and let out life sustaining fluid is not a great idea. Ignorance has killed many a person. The concept was that the disease was in the blood so to rid the body of the disease, rid the body of the blood. Traditional medicine has made miraculous advances in the past generation and is advancing daily in its cures, pain management and treatment of diseases, especially cancers.

Portland acupuncture is as old as ancient Chinese culture and also is making a resurgence in modern medicine. People swear by its healing powers for help in stopping smoking, pain management and especially back and face pain. It has been effective when traditional medicine runs out of ideas. The holistic approach is one that the body is a whole, not separate systems, the treatments utilize natural methods. The power of faith to heal is irrefutable, even doctors and scientist can explain how it works, but those diagnosed with the most diabolic disease often find their cure in faith. There is no one way to heal the body, be it acupuncture, herbs or traditional medicine, find what you have the faith in to make you whole.

What is the best way to get six pack abs is definitely a question that many of us have asked ourselves often. There is no doubt that a set of six pack abs is irresistible and it is a symbol of extraordinary physical shape. This is what we usually think about when we see celebrities or models showing off their rock hard abs on television or magazines. A defined midsection is something that many people not only wish for but work very hard to achieve it.

Knowing the common mistakes that so many people make in their quest to get toned ripped abs is as important as knowing the best way to get one. Knowing these mistakes can give you a huge advantage and save you great amount of time and frustration. So what are these common mistakes?

Working the abs hard every day or every other day.
Using various abs machines to work their abdominal muscles.
Using exercise balls to strengthen core muscles.
Doing hundreds of sit-ups everyday.

By avoiding these mistakes means you do not have to go to the gym everyday. The truth of the matter is you do not have to live in the gym to get six pack abs. How many people in the gym that you go to that you see have ripped abs?

There is no point in spending hours doing sit-ups or using abdominal machines in trying to get your six pack abs. So please do not kill yourself in doing countless crunches or sit-ups every day without learning how to lose belly fat first.

You see, you already have abs but they are not visible and that is because the belly fat is covering them. In order for them to be visible you first have lose the belly fat and to get your body fat percentage down to around 10%. Once you do that you will have one incredible set of six pack abs to show off.

The best way to get six pack abs is by NOT doing hundreds and hundreds of sit-ups that many people have led you to believe. The best way to a set of sexy six pack abs is by eating healthy and natural food that will help your body burn belly fat.