Category: Health

5 Core Principles Of Promoting Health And Wellness Within A Landscaping Design

5 Core Principles Of Promoting Health And Wellness Within A Landscaping Design

When a new landscaping design is needed, various approaches can be taken. Some designs are shaped by the limitations of a small budget.

According to Sydney-based landscapers Intreeg, other projects allow landscapers the freedom to create almost anything, thanks to an unlimited budget. In some cases, the design is guided by a specific concept that must be reflected throughout the entire landscape.

Another basis upon which a landscaping design might be founded is the desire to create a garden that promotes health and wellness. On a practical level, this might be due to physical restrictions of the person whose garden it will be and on occasion, there may also be features designed to maximise the experience of being in that garden for those with dementia or Alzheimer’s.

However, if the landscaping design is not for any specific ailment or health issue, but instead to create and generate a sense or a spirit of wellbeing, then there are several ways this can be achieved. If you read on you will discover five landscaping design principles that should be followed to create a garden whose design has wellness at its core.

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How to Avoid Deep Vein Thrombosis

Deep vein thrombosis is not only caused by sitting for long hours in an airplane; it can be caused by sitting at your computer desk for long periods without moving. If you are a website designer, computer programmer or an SEO consultant for instance, you can get so caught up in what you are doing that you forget the time and even where you are.  You can even forget to move for hours at a time.

Exercise is essential for a healthy body, but how can you get enough exercise when you have a sedentary job that requires you to sit for long periods of time?  Here are some tips to help you get the kind of exercise you need to remain healthy and avoid problems such as deep vein thrombosis.

  • Get up at least once every hour and stretch, then walk to the water cooler or around the office for a few minutes.
  • While seated, move your feet and legs around to different positions.
  • Balance your feet on your toes and bounce your heels up and down for five minutes. This is easiest if you place your toes under your chair.
  • Lift one foot off the floor and swing it backwards and forwards several times, then change to the other foot.
  • Have a footstool under the computer desk so you can sit with your feet raised up a little for some of the time.

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3 Must Have Juicing Ingredients

3 Must Have Juicing Ingredients

Fruit and vegetables are good for us. Period. But we’re just not eating enough of them. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) only 49.8% of people aged 18 years and over are meeting the health guidelines for the 2 recommended daily serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables. So how do we fix it? How do we sneak in your kids’ 5+ per day?

Let’s juice it up! Juicing is a quick and effective way to increase the amount of vegetables in your diet. Base your juices on one of these three amazing ingredients:

  • Go green: Spinach contains loads of essential nutrients that our bodies need such as iron, magnesium, calcium, vitamins A and C and potassium.
  • Go red: Beetroot is full of antioxidants and folate which boosts your stamina and supports liver detoxification.
  • Go orange: Carrots are rich in vitamin A and beta-carotene which are both powerful antioxidants and essential for glowing skin.

Be creative with your juices! Add ginger and lemon for a zesty kick start or some cucumber and apple for a refreshing pick-me-up. When juicing the key is to make sure the bulk contain veggies and not too many fruits which, when juiced, increase sugar content. Try adding coconut water if you need some sweetness.

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Speech Therapy Goals And Why They Are Important

Speech Therapy Goals And Why They Are Important

There can be very few aspects of our lives that would not be enhanced by setting goals that we then seek to achieve, and for those who work in support of children’s language development, setting speech therapy goals for children that they are treating can play a crucial role. Setting goals allows them, the child’s parents, and others who have the child’s best interests at heart, to strive for and assess the child’s progression.

Anyone reading this who has set goals in the past, whether personal, for their education, for their career, or for a business they own, will be familiar with how to set goals properly. This will involve making goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. In other words, they follow the tried and trusted SMART goals method.

As for speech therapy goals, many speech therapists will indeed follow the SMART goal formula, however, each speech pathologist can also use their own goal setting methodology. The crucial test is whether the goals being set are working and helping children’s speech and language development, rather than the specific goal-setting process which is used.

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How To Turn Your Landscaping Design Into A Healing Garden

How To Turn Your Landscaping Design Into A Healing Garden

Many products and pastimes without medications can be associated with health, wellbeing, and healing, which most people would consider as alternative therapies. Examples would be the use of pets, art and cooking as therapeutic activities and we can also add into that mix, landscaping.

Whilst landscaping, and the others were have mentioned, might not be the first items your doctor prescribes for you if you are suffering from some kind of ailment, nevertheless, countless examples and case studies show that all of these have offered those who use them, benefits for both their physical and mental wellbeing.

If we focus on landscaping, one of the specific ways in which it can contribute to your well-being is when you have a healing garden created. Given the complexities, planning and implementation work necessary for landscaped gardens, in most cases, they will be created by professional landscaping experts.

However, given that you would have lots of input (after all it is going to be your garden) you can request that your landscaping company include a healing garden within the plans, or go even further, and make your entire landscaped garden a healing garden. Wondering what a healing garden is? Well, read on and we will explain all.

What Is A Healing Garden?

Let us put to bed one misconception and that is a healing garden is not one where you simply grow lots of herbal and plant-based medicines. You could certainly grow them, but they are not the only feature that normally falls under the definition of a healing garden. In truth, the definition is a lot simpler which is a healing garden provides the setting, the ambience, and the surroundings that promote a sense and feeling of peacefulness, relaxation, and harmony.

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7 Reasons Why Dogs Get Dry Skin Dandruff And How To Treat It

7 Reasons Why Dogs Get Dry Skin Dandruff And How To Treat It

One of the things that a visit to a dog grooming service will often highlight is that the dog in question is suffering from dry skin and dandruff. Just as dandruff can be an annoyance to humans, which doubtless accounts for the number of anti-dandruff shampoos which are advertised, dandruff is also a problem for dogs and one which they rely on their owners to resolve for them.

What Causes Dry Skin?

Dry skin and the dandruff which can follow, will occur for several reasons, and the seven most common are outlined below.

  • Skin Infections: Fungal and bacterial skin infections are the primary reason why your dog might suffer from dry skin and dandruff. These infections can make their skin scaly and flaky, and this occurs especially in the folds of their skin. This can also be accompanied by unpleasant skin odours. In the worst cases, you might see evidence of bleeding, pus, and fur loss.
  • Changes in Weather: Although there is much in the news about climate change, we are not suggesting that it is responsible for your dog’s dandruff. However, when the local weather is changeable it can affect your dog’s skin, especially in extremes of hot and cold weather which can cause dry skin and itchiness.

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7 Ways Removalists Truck Drivers Can Stay Safe And Healthy During Long Distance Moves

7 Ways Removalists Truck Drivers Can Stay Safe And Healthy During Long Distance Moves

As every removalists business will know, not all moves involve someone moving house from one part of town to another, or a business moving to new offices just two streets away. Whilst these might account for the vast majority of the work they do, removalists are also asked to move belongings or equipment across vast distances.

Whilst they may occasionally encounter long distance moves that involve a business, the vast majority of them is when a family is moving home from one state to another. A prime example is a family relocating from Brisbane to Perth, or even from Darwin to Melbourne. Whilst the respective families might choose to fly from one destination to the other, the moving of their belongings, including their furniture, is usually entrusted to removalists.

This brings us to a health and safety issue for removalist truck drivers having to drive over long distances. The two examples we gave have distances that need to be driven of around 2,600 miles and 2,350 miles relatively. Both of these distances would be considered long haul flights, so they must certainly be considered extremely long distances to drive.

As such it is imperative that any removalist truck drivers who are required to drive long distances such as these, take steps to ensure that their health and well-being is not put at risk as a result. To assist with this aim, here are 7 ways in which removalist truck drivers can stay safe and healthy during long-distance moves.

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5 Options For Replacing Your Missing Teeth

5 Options For Replacing Your Missing Teeth

If you have any missing teeth, or it is inevitable that you are going to have to have one or more teeth extracted, then it should reassure you to know that there are several options available for you to replace those teeth. These options range from dental implants on one end of the scale with respect to longevity and cost, to dentures at the other, and of course, there are other possibilities in-between.

One piece of advice we hope you will take on board is that your decision with respect to replacing missing teeth should not be made in haste. Bear in mind, your decision could be one that you have to live with for years. Instead, you should carefully weigh up the pros and cons of each, and also take into account the financial implications of your selection given that there is a huge difference in the costs across all your options.

To start along the path of deciding what tooth replacements you finally opt for, we are going to provide you with a brief outline of five of the main options that are available. We hope you find it helpful.

Option #1: Dentures

The option that most people have heard of simply because it is the most popular. Dentures are basically imitation teeth, usually made from acrylic or other plastic material. The ‘teeth are mounted on a moulding that is designed to fit snuggly on the gums.

Dentures can be used to replace an entire set of top and/or bottom teeth. Where just a few teeth are missing the structure will be much smaller and is called a partial denture. In most cases, dentures are the cheapest option.

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Surprising Benefits of Waist Trainers

Surprising Benefits of Waist Trainers

Waist trainers have been growing in popularity for some time. And most people aren’t surprised. They can take your workout to a new level and are suitable for both men and women.

Still, not everyone is convinced that waist trainers can offer benefits. But there are some quite surprising ones that everyday users are finding out for themselves. Some of these are listed below.

They Can Improve Posture

Because of the framing inside waist trainers, you aren’t able to slouch. As a result, whenever you’re standing or sitting, you’re able to maintain excellent posture while receiving much-needed back support.

You Can Feel More Confident

As more and more people start to wear waist trainers while exercising and eating well, their confidence can improve. They begin to see results, and they feel happier about how they look and feel.

They May Be Able to Assist with Weight Control

Waist trainers do not exist to help you lose weight. Still, they can assist with weight control. When you wear them, you tend to find it uncomfortable to consume large portions. So, you can eat little but often, which is something that may be able to give you more control over your weight.

What’s more, with high-quality waist trainers made from latex, they can increase sweating during workouts.

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Does Your Medical Centre Need Digital Marketing?

Does Your Medical Centre Need Digital Marketing?

Whilst the primary goal of a medical centre or medical advice blog is to treat and care for its patients, there would be no patients were it not for its efforts to make itself known to them via marketing. Experts in the digital marketing field have advised that the number one way medical centres can increase their patient and client numbers is via a digital marketing campaign.

This is not an article where we will explain every single element of digital marketing, first because there are so many ways to market online. Second, if you run or manage a medical centre, you are much more likely to want to know how digital marketing can benefit you rather than its mechanics.

So, to better understand how digital marketing can benefit the medical centre or centres you are responsible for, we will explain three main benefits. They are improved reputation/branding, increased revenues, and the ability to compete on level terms with more significant medical centres.

Improved Reputation and Branding

Given the nature of the services offered by medical centres, it follows that the higher its reputation, the better off it will retain existing clients and gain new ones. This is where digital marketing can have a substantial positive impact on a medical centre. It can ensure that it has a brand seen in those online locations where those researching or looking for a medical centre will likely recognise it.

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Dealing With the Mental Health Effects of Disability Discrimination

Disability Discrimination

Most people don’t realise just how debilitating it can be to have to live with a disability. There are many different types of disability, and a lot of them aren’t even visible on the surface. Instead, they linger as mental health problems, unseen physical health problems and even degenerative diseases.

Because of this, a lot of people suffer from disability discrimination within the workplace. Essentially, this is when a disabled employee (regardless of the disability) is treated differently from their able-bodied coworkers. This can range from not having the tools and training to work effectively to not being granted appropriate time off or breaks to manage your disability.

And unfortunately, ongoing disability discrimination can lead to low self-worth, depression and various mental health issues. Because of this, we’ve put together the following guide to help you deal with the negative mental effects of disability discrimination.

  1. Don’t Suffer Alone

First, it’s extremely important to make sure that you never suffer alone, regardless of how embarrassed you are about your mental health and/or disability. There are thousands of people across Australia suffering from similar problems and discrimination, and support is available.

For starters, tell someone close to you about your struggles. This could be a partner, family member or even just a close friend. Seek advice from a psychologist if required, and don’t hesitate to seek legal advice in the case of ongoing disability discrimination.

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5 Things to Consider Before Getting Laser Eye Surgery

Getting Laser Eye SurgeryLaser eye surgery is an increasingly common procedure used to correct a range of vision problems, including long-sightedness, short-sightedness, and astigmatism. In general, it’s a safe, low-invasion procedure with few side effects and a short recovery time.

However, there are still a few things you should consider before you go in for laser eye surgery. You need to make sure that you have a decent understanding of what your procedure is and what it’s going to involve.

With this in mind, we’ve put together a short list of five things you should consider before committing to laser surgery. They include:

1. The Different Types of Surgery

Basically, there are three different types of laser eye surgery suited to different people. Your surgeon and optometrist will ultimately have the final say on the right surgery for your needs, but you should be aware of the options and the associated risks.

The three main types of laser surgery are ASA, LASIK and SMILE. All three can be used to treat short-sightedness and astigmatism, while ASA and LASIK can both be effective for correcting long-sightedness.

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How to Tell a Loved One They Need Help

Need HelpIn 2017, around 71 million people were estimated to have a drug use disorder or addiction. Not only is that 71 million people who are not living their best life, but tens of millions of families who are trying to convince their loved ones to book into drug rehab.

Most people will know from experience that it’s an uncomfortable feeling to be told to do something you don’t want to do. Drug addiction is a disease, and even if someone knows deep down that they have a problem, they aren’t always willing to combat it.

If you are facing the impossible task of trying to tell someone you love that they need help and possibly drug rehab, then read on. Here are a few things that might assist with the process.

Hold an Intervention

Most people have seen an intervention on TV. Family and friends sit around in a circle and talk about how much they care about the drug user and how they need to get help. Even though it might seem cliché, it remains a highly effective method for helping a loved one understand they have a problem.

Social pressure in any other situation is usually a no-no, but when it comes to an addiction, it can often be the soundest method. The goal of an intervention is to first show the user how many people want them to get better and care about them, then provide them with a solution to their problem.

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You Might be Damaging Your Teeth, And You Don’t Even Know It

Damaging Your TeethThere are several reasons why people visit a dentist for a cosmetic dental service. Some people are not happy with a gap in their front teeth, the colour of them, or they might have a chip or crack they would like to repair to get a near-perfect or the perfect set of teeth.

Other times, daily habits have caused damage, or are causing damage, and you weren’t aware of it until the damage was done. Whatever the reason for your inquiry about a cosmetic dental care service, it’s a good idea to know what could be causing harm to your teeth every day. Here are a few habits that you might like to consider changing.

Eating Too Much Sugar

Dental O So Gentle tell us that children learn from a young age from their dentist (and parents) that too much sugar will rot their teeth. They aren’t lying just to get you to eat your vegetables; instead, sugar really can rot your teeth. However, it’s not just sweet treats, beverages, and lollies that are the culprits.

Dried fruit is full of sugar too, even if it’s also something to eat for an energy boost. If you eat too many sugary foods, you are at risk of cavities. Replace that lollipop with raw vegetables that are both nutritious and beneficial for teeth cleaning.

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Root Canal Myths

Common Root Canal Myths You May Have Thought Were Fact

Thousands of people get root canal treatments from their dentist in Australia every year. Even though the procedure is one of the most common, there are still many mistruths in the community. Those mistruths could stop people who desperately need a root canal from getting one.

Here we attempt to dispel some of the more common myths about root canals.

  1. The Treatment is Painful

There’s always an audible groan from at least one person in a group when you utter those dreaded words ‘root canal’. The truth is, the procedure is not as painful as you may think. Your dentist uses a local anaesthetic to numb your tooth and the surrounding area. If you are particularly nervous and think it will be painful, you can also talk to your dentist about nitrous oxide gas to calm your nerves.

  1. No Pain, No Need for a Root Canal

You don’t have to experience pain in your tooth to need a root canal. Sometimes, there’s an infection or damage in the pulp of your tooth that calls for a root canal – even if the pain is not a symptom.

A damaged tooth with something that looks like a pimple is a common sign. That pimple is often a fistula, which is tissue that is draining pus from your infection. That infection can get worse without seeking treatment from your dentist.

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5 Ways to Know You Need Emergency Dental Care

Emergency Dental CareHow often do you find yourself going to the dentist for anything other than pain and discomfort? An alarming number of people are not seeing their dentist for health checks and instead, wait until something goes wrong to seek dental help. But how do you know when a trip to the emergency dentist could be on the cards? Here are a few tell-tale signs.

You Have a Loose Tooth

As an adult, you should not have any loose teeth. If you do, something has gone wrong, and you now need a trip to the dentist to find out what it is. When you injure a tooth to the point of it being wobbly, nerve or jaw damage can be a risk – especially if you have knocked it loose. Even if you haven’t, seeing your dentist means they can run some tests to work out what is causing the loose tooth. Sometimes gum disease and infection are to blame.

Your Gums are Sore and Bleeding

Bleeding gums is often a sign of gum disease, which is something you can avoid with regular flossing and brushing. However, if your bleeding gums are accompanied by achiness, then that’s something that might require you to see your dentist. If you do not treat these early stages of gum disease, you may not be able to return your mouth to the healthy state it was before.

You Have a Toothache

If severe toothache is starting to impact your daily routine, or even a minor pain is more than you can handle, then it could be time to see your dentist. Your teeth don’t ache for no reason, and a emergency dentist may be able to provide immediate relief. If you notice your teeth are sensitive, sore, and achy, then make an appointment with your dentist today. (more…)

Hospital Plumbing

Superbugs and Hospital Plumbing

You may not want to know this, but hospital plumbing according to plumbers is a huge reservoir of drug resistant superbug germs. They splash about in the plumbing and share their superpowers with other bacteria. Checks of plumbing in major hospitals show drains can be full of dangerous bacteria.

The thing is that the germs are breeding down there and passing their drug-resistant properties on to other germ species. The superbugs are not found anywhere else in hospitals and as a result are not a threat to the general public. However, hospitals should be aware of the potential problem and keep ahead of any possible risks.

Looking for the Superbug

The search for these germs was brought about by the deaths of 7 patients after an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant infections. They discovered a bug by the name of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.  Medical centre officials made a concerted effort to find out how the patients became infected. Many of the bugs were found to be living in the plumbing and the sink drains even though these had been scrubbed out. An investigating team, independent to the hospital found that the bacteria could splash back out of sink drains.

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Why Banana Makes an Excellent Hair Care Product

Hair Care

Everyone knows that bananas are one of the most popular fruits on the planet, and are also one of the most delicious, but did you know they make an excellent natural hair care product as well?

Natural skin care and hair care guru this is because they are packed full of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, it was only a matter of time before someone was going to say: hey, maybe we could put this fruit in our hair? That time is now, and here’s why it could be something for you to consider.

Health

If your hair is feeling a bit lacklustre, your first thought may be to reach for a chemical-laden product. Instead, why not try a natural hair care product – or, something out of your fruit bowl? Bananas feature plenty of folic acid, which helps to make your hair shiny, hydrated, and moisturised. What’s more, because of the high levels of potassium, they also improve your hair’s overall health.

Softness

Soft hair is something everyone aspires to have. However, some people have to work hard for it by using natural hair care shampoo and conditioner, as well as other tips and tricks from professionals. What if it were as easy as grabbing a banana from your fruit bowl and coconut milk and avocado from the fridge?

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Are You Depressed?

Depression

Depression is an insidious condition and even though you may easily recognize the symptoms in other people, it is much harder to recognize depression in yourself.  If the depression is not very severe, you may think you are just feeling a bit off, but you don’t know why.  Sometimes, it may just get better by itself, but other times it does not, and may become worse.

If you have had the symptoms for some time, you may forget just how good life used to be and that is the big danger; accepting how you feel now as the norm. If you don’t enjoy life as much as you used to, it is a good idea to ask friends or loved ones if they have noticed any change in your behaviour. It could be that you have become more irritable or you refuse to go out with your friends like you used to.

If you are not as happy as you would like to be, think about why that might be. Naturally, if you have suffered an emotional or even physical trauma of some kind it is going to change you for a while until you come to terms with it. But if you can think of no reason why you should feel down, then it is time to look at what is happening to you.

Here are some of the milder symptoms that can help you to recognize depression in yourself, but they may also have other causes:

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Take Care How You Run

How You Run

Many people run for exercise and this is a good way of burning calories as well as hardening your body. Running uses many of the different parts of the body, however if you run the wrong way it can cause injuries such as shin splints, plantar fasciitis and hamstring pain. Once, these injuries were an accepted part of running and no one thought they could be avoided by running a different way.

Runners often push off with one foot while stretching their other leg as far to the front as possible. This is not good for their balance; the reaching foot will come down heavily and must stay on the ground absorbing the weight of your body as it catches up. If you can hear your feet slapping the ground hard as you run, you may be using this technique.

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How Are Your Stress Levels?

Stress Levels

Most health care professionals now agree that stress has a large part to play in many diseases from the common cold to diseases that are major and can be fatal. When a person has a lot of bad stress in their life, their immune system often gets worn out, or cannot work the way it should to protect them from such diseases. This makes their body far more likely to become a victim of things like heart disease, ulcers, digestive problems and many other enemies of health.

It is well-known also that having a pet can reduce stress levels to the extent that people even live longer when they have a pet to love and care for. Of course, not everyone can have a pet for various reasons. If you are at work all day, leaving a pet alone in the house or chained up in the back yard is cruel. Then there are people who suffer allergies to pet hair and dander, making de-stressing with a pet impossible. So what can you do?

One way to ensure your stress levels don’t get out of hand is to create a quiet place in the back garden or even in the home where you can relax. It should be a private place where there will be minimum noise and interruptions. You can do this by creating an outdoor space using comfortable outdoor furniture that is easy to relax on. Much outdoor furniture is not all that comfortable, so make sure you test it out before purchasing. Back support is important and you may need to have additional cushions, otherwise you won’t want to sit there for long.

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3 Ways to Stay Healthy When You Have a Disability

Stay Healthy With Disability

When you have a disability such as a lost limb, vision problem or a disease that affects you physically it is all the more important to stay healthy. And sometimes it is extremely difficult to do the things you should in order to gain optimum health. All you can do is try your best and be guided by your doctor or health care professionals. Here are some of the ways you can stay healthy both physically, mentally and emotionally.

Physically: Get all the exercise you can with your type of disability. Whether you go to a gym, can swim in a pool, have some form of exercise aides in your home or depend on another person to help you exercise, it is vital to move your body in as many ways as possible to keep as fit as you can. If you don’t it will be very difficult to stay healthy and your muscles will just waste away until you can hardly move at all.

Mentally: Exercise of the mind is just as important as exercising the body, no matter if you have a disability or not. However, a disabled person is often deprived of the many sights and sounds that can stir up the mind and imagination to become creative and educated as far as possible. Letting your mind go to the pack can make it difficult for people to relate to you, talk to you and make you understand what it is necessary for you to know in order to stay fit physically and in your mental health. There are many ways to exercise your mind, from watching documentaries and even movies on TV to reading informational books and magazines. You may be able to take a correspondence course in something you are interested in. Doing various kinds of puzzles, learning a craft and even playing cards also helps your mind to stay active.

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10 Training Tips for People Serious about Exercising

Exercising tips

Many people are really serious about training properly so their bodies are in top shape all the time. Others just want to lose a bit of weight or to sculpt some part of their body so it looks firmer. That’s okay too; having some kind of goal, such as running a marathon or losing 5 kilos, is important and helps you to focus. Here are some training tips and strategies to help anyone achieve their best during training.

  • When you are serious about training, you’ll be doing it most days. That means your body needs more fuel. It is far better to eat 5 small meals a day than 3 larger ones. Make sure every mouthful is nutrient dense. When you eat your metabolism is stimulated.
  • Stay hydrated because you’ll be sweating hard during training. Some fitness experts recommend drinking a glass of ice cold water first thing in the morning as it boosts your metabolism for 90 minutes.
  • Lower body resistance training is needed to flatten your waistline. You also need to eat fewer carbs and calories.
  • To burn stored body fat you need to exercise past the 20 minute mark, because during that first 20 minutes your body burns carbohydrates rather than stored fats for its fuel.
  • If the scales don’t show a decrease in weight over several weeks it’s probably because you are gaining muscle as well as losing weight. Get a more accurate picture by taking photos of the back, front and side of your body so you can see how it’s changing. Make sure to wear the same clothing and be in the same light conditions each week.

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Easy Ways to Reduce Your Cholesterol

Reduce-Cholesterol

Even though cholesterol is made in the body, it can be increased by the things we eat. Having high cholesterol is really bad for you as it blocks up the arteries and prevents the blood from going through  the way it should. This can cause heart attack, stroke or other problems such as poor circulation.

There are two kinds of cholesterol; high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL). The former is good and the latter is bad because this is what gives you the kind of cholesterol that blocks the blood vessels. This is known as plaque and causes the arteries to harden and narrow so the blood flow is restricted, causing heart pain and often, heart attack.

Here are some easy ways to reduce your cholesterol levels so you can be healthier.

  • Eat less saturated fats such as that from meat and junk foods.
  • Eat more healthy choices such as vegetables fruit and nuts.
  • Reduce your intake of processed meats such as sausages, Devon, ham and hot dogs.
  • Avoid the skin of chicken.
  • Have low fat or no fat option in drinks, cheese and yoghurt.
  • Go low on the bought cake and biscuits – home made (not packet cakes) are better.
  • Get plenty of exercise. This also helps to lower cholesterol.

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How Financial Planning Can Help Carers

Financial Planning

There are many unsung heroes in the world and those who care for an ill spouse or disabled child are high on the list. The only trouble is that according to statistics, carers are under such stress from what is often a 24/7 job that they end up dying ahead of those they care for. Financial planning with good advice from a financial advisor like Andep can really help these wonderful people stay the course so they are on hand to care for their loved one right till the end – something they would really want to do.

A financial planner or advisor is needed to help carers plan their daily budget as well as making plans for the future to ensure their loved one is taken care of if they are not there to do it.  Once the stress of financial matters is taken care of, the carer will be less likely to suffer from a stress-related disease that could be fatal.

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10 Health Benefits of Laughter

Benefits of Laughter

If you want to hear lots of laughter at your wedding reception or party, hire a photo booth so your guests can dress up and have a lot of fun taking funny photos of themselves and their friends. Laughter gives us many health benefits and here are some of them.

  • While it may seem like a simple thing to do, laughter is considered to be a great workout because it exercises your shoulders, diaphragm, abdomen and respiratory system. This is why having a good belly laugh makes you feel relaxed and happy afterwards.
  • Laughter relieves stress, decreasing stress hormones such as cortisol in the body, while at the same time increasing health-inducing chemicals. It stimulates the blood circulation and gives your muscles a gentle workout that stimulates them and alleviates stress.

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How to Reduce Stress in Business

reduce-stress-in-business

Stress that goes on for a long time without any relief is very bad for you. It can cause many different physical symptoms from indigestion and ulcers to stroke and heart attack. If you run a business or have work such as a business consultant where you are dealing with many different kinds of people and their problems, stress is sure to accompany your working week.

To stay healthy, it is important to find ways of reducing your stress. To do that well, you need to define what kind of stress you have.

  • Emotional stress – this is caused by dealing with people who may be hard to get on with for some reason. It may be the boss who expects you to get through a workload that is too heavy. It could be clients change their minds constantly causing you to lose time in redoing something they don’t want or are not satisfied with. Or it could be caused by other employees that harass you or cause problems at work in some other way. Emotional stress from home can even cause your business day to be stressful.

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10 Tips to Keep Your Heart Healthy

Heart-Healthy

Heart health is important, since many people die of heart attacks every year. Most heart attacks have serious consequences even if they are not fatal. You have to take a great deal of care once you’ve had one and it can totally change your life. But by following these 10 simple tips, you can keep your heart much healthier and avoid having a heart attack.

  • Reduce or give up smoking. Smoking is very bad for heart health since it reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood. It not only increases the risk of heart attack, but of other baddies such as stroke.
  • Manage your cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is a fatty substance in the blood that sticks to the walls of your arteries, preventing blood from flowing freely through your heart.
  • Watch your blood pressure and take medication to reduce it if it’s too high. High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease. It’s dangerous because you can’t feel anything wrong. It is wise to have your blood pressure checked every time you go to a chemist. It’s usually free.
  • If you have diabetes, your risk of heart attack is higher. Always follow the doctor’s orders to best manage your diabetes.
  • Exercise is an important part of staying healthy. If you have a sitting down job, try and get up at least once an hour to stretch your legs and get the blood flowing to keep your heart healthy and prevent deep vein thrombosis. Go walking, cycling, dancing or swimming. Play in the park with your kids. Take up gardening.
  • Keep your weight down by exercise and by eating healthy foods – and amounts. Obese people are more at risk of heart attack. You may need help to get weight down to an acceptable level if you’ve tried and failed to lose weight.

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How to Reduce Wedding Stress

Reduce Wedding Stress

Organising all the different components of a  wedding can be one of the most stressful things you’ve ever done. It’s a good idea to try and simplify things were possible, because stress can be really bad for your health. For instance,  signing up for a wedding package will save you looking for a photographer, although you may still want one for the ceremony or for more formal studio photographs, depending on how formal your wedding is to be.

Some short-term stress is good for you. It gets the adrenaline running and enables you to perform at a higher level when needed. But stress that goes on for a long time such as the months it takes to plan a wedding can eat away at you insidiously, causing all kinds of health problems and even make you difficult to get on with.

Doctors now realise that ongoing stress causes or plays a big part in causing many significant diseases and other health problems that may be more minor but are nevertheless uncomfortable to endure. Stress even plays a part in your body succumbing to the common cold. If the bride to be becomes irritable and snappy during the months preceding the wedding it really spoils the relationship as well as the wedding day. A day that should be the happiest of all is ruined simply due to stress.

Simplifying your wedding arrangements will help to reduce this bad stress and get your relationships back on an even footing. Delegating jobs is a good way to start. Don’t try and do everything yourself, but ask others to arrange certain components.  You can have different people organising the following:

    • Flowers for the bouquets, tables and other decorations
    • The wedding cake
    • The bridesmaid robes
    • The reception venue
    • Booking all the hair appointments and makeup
    • The drinks
    • The wedding DJ and music
    • The catering
    • The invitations and place cards

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Foods for A Healthy Soul

12There is a growing need for people to improve their lifestyle through the means of supplementing their diet with the proper foods that are enriched with the right minerals and vitamins. You need to ensure that you consume whole foods that contain a high amount of fibers, enzymes that catalyze the reactions in the digestive tract etc. In this section we have taken the privilege to find the right foods for you which will translate into a better self reflecting image of yourself – if you haven’t tried it already, we’d recommend trying food combining as well.

Foods for the Soul:

Almonds

There should be a high intake of almonds in your dietary system. These almonds help you in maintaining and balancing the protein and the magnesium content in your body which is necessary for building the tissue of your body. A snack of almonds consisting of 14-15 almonds that are unsalted will take your body a long way.

Apples

Your body is in continuous need of antioxidants that will help your tissue from aging and that combat free radicals. These radicals inhibit the growth of your tissues and make your tissues and cells degenerate. Most of the researches have proved that there is a correlation in the use of antioxidants and that of increase in lifespan.

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The Health Benefits of Landscape Design

Benefits of Landscape Desig

Landscape design is meant to create a beautiful outdoor space that people enjoy spending time in, but it does far more than most people realise for their health. Many studies have shown that spending time outdoors either in a natural bush environment or one that has been created on purpose, has many health benefits for those who are sick in some way, either mentally or physically.

In fact, one Perth hospital has had an outdoor space designed especially to help in the recovery and rehabilitation of patients who have been injured in some way and for those who are suffering from mental problems such as depression. Simply walking around the area the way it is designed, gives patients small challenges to overcome and helps them to exercise in a way that gets those injured muscles working. Their carers can actually measure their improvements daily due to small markers that are not very noticeable, so don’t spoil the landscape.

Many people realise that being outside in such a space either at home or at a public park, for instance, makes them feel much less stressed and has a calming influence.  Most doctors agree that constant, long-lasting stress is big factor in causing many diseases as the effect it has on the body is so negative. It can cause high blood pressure which can lead to heart attack or stroke and many other nasty health problems.

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How To Combat Against Skin Infection In Summer?

2The season of summer means more physical activities and outdoor exposures. People get a chance to flex their muscles finally and get out in the sun after the long winters. But the major drawback in this season is the skin irritation and infections it causes. It is obvious to sweat in summer, and that means it is easy to catch infections.

There are various kinds of skin infections that a person develops during summer. However, with proper care and attention, these can be treated well. A person needs to make sure he takes care of his skin, both before and during the infection. Some of the major skin infections and their treatments are given below.

Heat Rash: As the name suggests, this infection is caused due to the intense heat in the summers. It is caused due to the perspiration being trapped in the sweat ducts. It takes the shape of tiny red bumps in skin folds or other places where clothes cause friction.

Treatment: It usually heals itself if the skin is given enough air. It is advisable to wear clothes that are lightweight and breathable and avoid creamy and oily ointments. These rashes last for around 2 or 3 days, but if they still don’t cure, you should see a doctor as it can be an infection.

Poison Ivy: These plants are not specifically poisonous, but many people may be allergic to them, and this may cause them to develop allergic reactions. These may include red patches along with swelling, warmth and itching. It can normally be seen after 12 – 72 hours of contact.

Treatment: Prevention is better than cure, and thus, it is advisable to wash hands and clothes after any contact. If the infection still occurs, you can use OTC calamine or else antihistamine depending on the severity to control itching. Once the itching is sustained, use a topical cream. If this still doesn’t help, you should consult a doctor.

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Health Benefits Of Yoga And Meditation

1Meditation and yoga have always been in our culture since ages; that is, ever since the emergence of Vedas. It is beneficial in many ways and has some benefits associated. Yoga helps to reduce weight and get a healthier and toned body. It also makes the skin shine making you look and feel attractive.

You can attain peace of mind by practicing yoga and meditation on a regular basis. If practiced yoga alone or meditation is alone, then also you can achieve many benefits. There are innumerable benefits that one can avail through yoga and meditation. Few of them are discussed below in brief.

  1. It Helps to Manage Stress

If you are practicing yoga regularly, then you can manage your stress with ease. Yoga helps in decreasing the inflammatory response made to the stressors on the body, which leads to a decrease in the possibility of stress and stress-related situations.

High blood pressure can be avoided by yoga and meditation as these practices help in reducing the stress level of both mind and body. On the other hand, meditation is responsible for the reduction in anxiety disorder and panic disorders too.

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5 Foods you should Eat Everyday

5-Foods-you-should-Eat-Ever

There has been an old saying that “what you are is what you eat”. This statement is partially true with research supporting this fact. There has been research in the field to check the personality along with the food intake of a person. There is evidence of food that help you improve your stress, help memory as well as aid you in your sleep. That is why there is a need to choose the foodstuffs you need in your dietary plan. In this section we will take a look at some of the most essential foods for your diets.

5 Essential foods:

Water: A huge proportion of our bodies consist of water which is surprising. This is the why you need to replenish your body with water every time your water levels run down. Make sure that you include your diet with foods that provide you with enough water to help you sustain your health. Men should drink around 3 liters of water and women should consume around 2.2 liters of water in their diets. It is not necessary to drink only water but fluids that contain a good percentage of water which can be extracted into the body.

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Why Is Breakfast Considered The Most Important Meal Of The Day?

Why-Is-Breakfast-Considered-The-Most-Important-Meal-Of-The-Day

Out of all the big and mini meals we consume on a daily basis, breakfast is considered to be the most important of them.

It was in the 13th century that the word, ‘breakfast’ came into existence. It was essentially introduced after the verb form of ‘breakfasting’ and ‘breakfasted,’ and it was called that because it would be the first meal after fasting since the previous evening’s meal.

Not only does breakfast kick – start your metabolism but also energizes your body to get things done all throughout the day. One tends to achieve a better focus, and several studies have even linked consuming healthy breakfast to the key of preventing heart diseases and another body – related diseases.

It is as simple as this when you wake up; your body requires blood sugar to push your brain and muscles to function properly. Moreover, if you skip breakfast, then you are more likely to over – eat later in the day.

Following given are some of the benefits of having healthy and timely breakfast:

  1. Proper Breakfast Allows Adequate Body functioning

When you sleep for 8 to 10 hours, your body’s glucose levels tend to decrease. Breakfast is a way of restoring glucose levels in your body. Greater glucose levels improve memory and concentration levels by making the brain healthier. It keeps us happier and stress-free at most times.

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