After the holidays, a lot of us might have been guilty of eating too much. A lot of people ate not because they are hungry but they are under some stress. And with the season of having food pretty much everywhere a lot of people could have indulge in stress eating.
We cannot blame you totally. The holidays just gave you a ton of temptation and second, stress and pressure is pretty much high in the past few weeks because of the holidays like from the need to rush work, yearend reports, something at home, or relationships maybe? It really does not matter as when things get really stressful; the cookie jar starts waving at you.
Here are some tips to avoid stress eating:
- Choose a more subtle alarm tone to wake you up in the morning Avoid a blazing wake up ring of the alarm clock which itself causes you stress. Start your day right and wake up with a good mood.
- In case you are expecting parties or dinners to fill your calendar, cut back on your carbs. You do not want to spike up the blood sugar with all the goodies. Instead of the white bread, go for the wheat variety.
- Avoid guzzling on coffee and other caffeinated drinks. Instead drink a lot of water so your system can handle stress better when pressure comes your way.
- If you think things are getting out of control during your day, step back and take a power nap. This will help you feel refresh with your mind and body ready to face stressful situations.
- Another option if you cannot get a nap is to take a walk or bike around. Exercise tells your body to release hormones called endorphins which promotes a more positive mood and outlook.
High levels of cholesterol might increase an individual’s risk of having Alzheimer’s disease because of plaques which may clog the brain.
The study does not directly conclude that high levels of cholesterol cause Alzheimer’s and neither decreasing the amount of cholesterol in the body will lower the risk. The proponents were also not able to establish the link between cholesterol and the presence of tangles which clog the brain in people with Alzheimer’s.
But these current findings support further the researches in the past which links insulin resistance to Alzheimer’s disease. The medical doctors suggest that controlling the levels of insulin resistance and cholesterol, which are contributory factors to heart problems, may help in formulating a strategy to prevent Alzheimer’s.
Around 5.4 million people in the United States are struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. Experts project that around 16 million maybe affected by 2050 as most population ages. There is still no cure nor established way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
The proponents of the research studied 147 brains of people who live in a certain Japanese town and were still alive in 1988 during the clinical evaluations. The autopsies were done from 1988 thru 2003. About 33% of the subjects were diagnosed with dementia although they did not have it during the initial evaluation in 1988.
Those with high cholesterol levels had higher occurrences of the protein deposits in the brain known as plaque. Tangles, another form of protein, were not as prominent in people with high levels of cholesterol.
It is still not clear though how cholesterol works to make the plaques more common and the experts are assuming that high cholesterol might be triggering another process which starts the Alzheimer’s.
They also found out that obesity and cholesterol levels drop in individuals suffering from dementia but this maybe related to their eating habits.
Kids who interact with other kids but find the the act of making friends inducing some anxiety are more prone to bullying and rejection.
The anxious-solitary kids have lesser friends compared to other kids of the same age and tends to be vulnerable from bullying from other children. According to experts on human development, it is important to understand the friendships of these kids since their contacts with other kids are fewer.
A study last year concluded that bullies pick on children who are are quite unpopular. Those who are or perceived to be lesbian or gay are also prone to be bullied.
A survey was conducted on 2,500 grade five students and asked them on their views of their peers in terms of social behavior, sensitivity, and aggression. A similar questionnaire was rolled out to their teachers.
The children who joined the survey were then classified as non-withdrawn or those who has a good number of friends and sociable; unsociable withdrawn or those who are not very social but can interact with other kids without fear; and anxious-solitary or those who want to interact but are anxious to try.
The kids who fell into the category of anxious-solitary withdrawn were found out to have less friends and that they tend to lose these friends overtime. They were also more sensitive and prone to bullying by the other kids.
The study also found out that good, stable friendships protect children from being victims of bullying.
There is a new medicine in the market to help fight depression. Viibryd recently reached the shelves of pharmacies and it is said to be effective with lesser sexual side effects compared to other anti depressants in the market today.
Viibryd works just like Prozac or Zoloft. It acts by preventing the cells in the brain to reabsorb or reuptake serotonin, the uplifting chemical messenger, after the release. This allows serotonin ot remain the synapses or spaces between the brain cells.
Viibryd though does more than the two antidepressants Zoloft and Prozac. It also acts similar to serotonin at some of the receptors of the brain that opens for serotonin. So the drug acts two fold to help. One is the prevention of the reuptake and the other is mimicking serotonin.
The use of anti-depression drugs has been on the spotlight lately pointing to a big scale trial that raises doubts about their efficacy, or if they are any better than placebo drugs. Mental health experts though say that one must not judge quickly since these surveys do not consider the expertise and experience of the psychiatrists and how they consider patients for certain medications from which they can benefit from.
Viibryd may have lesser sexual and weight side effects but it may still have GI side effects and transient nausea. Patients are advised to go thru potential side effects of Viibryd with your doctor. It is also advised to take Viibryd with food as you need a full stomach so your body can absorb the medicine properly.
HDL or High density lipoprotein is also known as good cholesterol. It has been known that the good cholesterol helps protect the heart from diseases. A recent study though concluded that high levels of HDL matters less compared to how the good cholesterol functions.
The good cholesterol in your body works like a boat by cleaning it up of unwanted cholesterol. The HDL brings the excess cholesterol to the liver which gets rid of the unneeded cholesterol. This mechanism decreases the chances of cholesterol being stuck around the walls of the arteries causing plaques in the long run, and leading to a heart attack.
In the study, doctors drew blood from 200 patients and measured the thickness of the carotid artery. The blood was then subjected to the laboratory experiments which suggested that people with low levels of HDL may have thicker carotid arteries because of plaque build up.
In another experiment, there were two groups of subjects. One group were bypass surgery patients and another group were clean of any heart problems. This stage of the study revealed that those with blockages had poorer ability to remove cholesterol compared to those with unblocked arteries.
Other studies though point out to people with cardiac problems but with high levels of good cholesterol. This just shows that their HDLs might not be functioning properly. The high levels of HDL does not necessarily mean that their function is also very good while low levels of HDL does not necessarily mean that there is also a low ability to get rid of cholesterol.
A new research done in Greece said that Mediterranean-style diet can actually help prevent heart ailments. This diet basically includes a lot of fruits, vegetables, oil, nuts, whole grains, legumes, and fish. The author, Dr. Christina Chrysohoou from the University of Athens said that the nutrients from these foods help shield people’s hearts from diseases.
However, there is less information available on how these foods can help people who already have existing heart diseases. Dr. Chrysohoou’s team then set off to monitor 1,000 patients who have suffered from chest pains and heart attacks in the past. The test subjects were also limited to individuals who suffered from these chest pains and heart attacks during light exertion or while they were at rest.
The patients’ diets were also rated, from 0 to 55, on how close their individual diets resembled the Mediterranean ideal. The study showed that those who have converted to the Mediterranean diet have a lowered risk of suffering from another heart attack. The risk is lowered by 31%, to be exact, compared to the time they were discharged from the hospital.
Those who scored the lowest in the rating are more likely to suffer from another heart attack within the year. For every point added to the 55-point score, the risk lowers by 12%. Researchers found that patients who have adapted the Mediterranean diet are least likely to overwork the pumping mechanism of their hearts, as well as suffer from cardiac remodeling, or the harmful changing of the heart’s structures.
Now that we have talked about the natural benefits of herbs, let’s go ahead and move onto our next point and that is that they are healthier. Pretty much, there is an herb that can do the exactly same thing as medicine, yet it is actually healthier for you overall.
All it takes to use herbs as some medicines is a little research, you just want to look up some of the natural ways that you can do things and you will be able to certainly find an herb that can help you.
Just a little research can go a long way and you will certainly be a lot healthier when you switch over to the natural way!
Herbs are something that we use every single day, however did you know that there are actually herbs that you can use as medicines? There are and to be honest, those are the best kinds in the world to use and in the next blogs; we are going to explore the benefits of using herbs over medicine.
For one, herbs are 100% natural and do not have any chemicals inside of them. This is one of the major reasons why people switch their ways from medicines to herbs because they know that they can actually use the herbs that they, themselves grow.
Aloe for example, you can grow aloe and you can use it on things like burns and wounds and it works!
It is a good time for chest congestion. That is, a lot of people are suffering from it.
If you are not interested in over the counter medications, there are plenty of natural remedies for this problem.
For starters, herbal tea can be extremely helpful, especially if you inhale the steam. By adding apple cider vinegar to hot water and/or herbal tea, you can also get a lot of help.
Eucalyptus oil is another helpful cure. Specifically, again, add it to hot water so you can inhale the steam. Lavender, oregano, and thyme as herbs or essential oils can also be used in this remedy.
The weather is changing. That has a lot of people getting sick.
They might just get little colds, but those are still awfully unpleasant, especially as the weather starts to get warmer.
So let’s take a look at some natural ways you can get rid of your chest congestion!
After the holidays, a lot of us might have been guilty of eating too much. A lot of people ate not because they are hungry but they are under some stress. And with the season of having food pretty much everywhere a lot of people could have indulge in stress eating.
