Digital Resource for Health

If you’re a parent you must know how important it is to keep your child hydrated. However, there are a few ways you could prevent your child from dehydrating themselves. Firstly, take into account the physical condition of your child as this plays an important role in the way their bodies adjust to the heat outside. If your child is overweight or hasn’t been involved in physical activities for a long time then they will be more prone to dehydration when exposed to the outdoor heat suddenly.

What you need to do is encourage your child to play games or exercise slowly and in a lesser degree so that their bodies can adjust to the external environment. Also, make sure that they play or exercise in cooler and shadier places in the beginning. This gradual process helps their body to learn how to sweat.

It is also important to ensure that they drink lots of water or energy drinks. Studies have shown that children need to drink plenty of water or juice before going to play and it is also necessary to make them drink fluids every 20 minutes even in between the game. This will keep then adequately hydrated. Also, be aware of the weather conditions. The hotter and more humid the weather is the more probability it is for dehydration. Try to encourage your child for early morning or evening activities. If you follow these simple tips you should be able to ensure that your child does not have to suffer from dehydration.

Now moving on to adults for a similar yet different problem, the problem of excessive sweating. Humans shed water through pores in the process known as perspiration. This is normal. What is not convenient however, is when even small activities like a walk in the park or climbing up the stairs cause you to sweat profusely.

Yet many of us especially men do suffer from this problem. It is a nuisance at best as you constantly have to so freshen up, wear dark clothes to hide the sweat stains and wear sweatpants even in summer. The best way to deal with this issue is to stay fit and this exactly the reason why athletes don’t even break a sweat for running short distances.

“You are what you eat” which is why it is so important to pay attention to what we feed ourselves. A healthy lifestyle incorporates a healthy diet. There are plenty of websites and books advising you what to eat but only you know your body best. Choose a diet suitable for your body type and avoid junk food at all costs. The first step is to read those labels well and there’s always more than meets the eye. 

Also, the labels can give you a good idea on the vitamin and mineral content so you can decide what is best for you. Make a habit of eating fruits. Substitute an apple or mango for your in between, junk food snacks. Fruits are a good substitute for other sugar based food as well since unlike the latter they don’t make you gain weight. Buy fresh vegetables instead of packed ones as they have more nutritional value. Go easy of fatty products and milk but completely avoiding either is not healthy either. And a tip to make sure you don’t eat excessively as any meal would be to eat some food appetizers, they reduce your appetite by filling you up a little.

For those of you trying to lose weight here are a few tips. Avoid oily food and when cooking in oil, use the one with low cholesterol value. What you also need to avoid are fruits such as bananas, dairy products like cheese or butter and also alcohol (unless you want to end up pot bellied). What you must do is drink lots of water as it increases you metabolism and burns calories, eat plenty of veggies, protein is great and of course, don’t forget to exercise. Whatever you do, don’t starve yourself as it’s just a sure fire way of harming your body.

Other aspects of maintaining a healthy body and healthy lifestyle are to get enough sleep and exercise. Yoga is great for keeping the mind and body in balance. For a normal adult, a minimum of 8 hours of sleep is necessary. Try to catch up on that or you could find yourself yawning though the entire day. Also, negative thinking has a great impact on how your body feels. Negative emotions and stress can zap all your energy and leave you inactive. Avoid smoking and drinking as these make you gain weight, age you sooner and kill your stamina. Eat well, nurture a healthy mind and you will find yourself enjoying life a lot more.

Sweating as we all know is a necessary evil, a process that allows the body to excrete the unnecessary. However, sweating excessively is also a health issue and a medical problem that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible by you if you are suffering from it. Also, sweating excessively is also a major cause of embarrassment, as it is definitely not a desirable trait that one would want to see in other person. In public, you will always be aware of yourself because of the obvious sweat stains that you are aware of that can be easily visible by everyone around you. This can be a major cause of embarrassment no doubt, but what is more important is the fact that it is actually a medical condition. However, sweating excessively can indeed be controlled and here are some ways that will help you do so.

 There are some things that you can add to your regular diet for example that will help you reduce the amount that you sweat every day. For instance, adding grapes to your daily diet will help you do that. Even if you don’t feel like eating grapes, even grape juice can serve the purpose, because this fruit helps your body cool down considerably that in turn will help you sweat less during the day. You could also tomatoes in a larger quantity to your daily diet, in fact even tomato juice is a good idea to help you sweat less, drinking buttermilk also helps to a great extent.

Apart from only adding some specific foods to your diet there are also some direct physical things that you can do to help you sweat less than you normally do. For instance, make a solution out of water and baking soda and then soak some cotton woolen pads in that, you should then use that woolen pad to wipe your underarms so that the sweating is reduced considerably. Also, cider vinegar when applied to the underarms actually helps relieves excessive sweating to a great extent.

However, it has been proven that there are also times when excessive sweating is caused because of psychological problems as well, this could include anxiety and stress and other kinds of mental pressure. A good way of dealing with excessive sweating due to stress and anxiety therefore is by seeking some professional psychological help to combat depression. You might just discover that you sweat a lot less after you have received this kind of a treatment.

However, you must also realize that there is no way that you can actually stop your body from producing sweat completely. Not only is it hardly possible, but this is not something that is desirable no matter how badly you might feel about sweating. Sweating is a natural bodily process that might actually cause harm to your body if you try stopping it completely. However, excessive sweating is also not normal and has to be dealt with before it gets too bad to handle.

What you eat and how you eat it is often an area of health advice that people seek, but they ask for such advices when they suddenly realize that they need to shed those few extra pounds or they have heard of a new food group they could eat to keep their skin glowing and looking youthful. However, the fact is that good healthy food indulged in a well thought out diet is not actually great as far as their physical appearance is concerned but that such a diet can actually work wonders for your body even though you might not visually be able to notice the change. For instance, a healthy diet will surely have a healthy effect on your eyesight.

A diet that is high on fat and sugar can actually directly cause harm to your eyes even though you might know it yet. This kind of fat or sugar can clog up the blood vessels, the retina in your eyes that will eventually lead to a lack of oxygen supply to your eyes. This of course means big trouble as far as your eyesight is concerned and so this diet can actually lead to a loss of your eyesight. So just like a sugar filled diet can cause you to contract diabetes it might as well be causing you to suffer from a cataract very soon. There are also some other particular foods such as white rice or white bread and the likes that has a very high risk of increasing the sugar content in your blood that will again lead to a similar problem in your eyesight. This kind of food therefore is as bad for your overall health as you might already have been hearing as it is for your eyesight. In comparison, it is the wholegrain products that are actually healthier to handle than the other kinds of carbohydrates mentioned above.

In fact something that might be a part of your diet already can be working to your eyesight’s detriment. For instance, the consumption of alcohol on a high level will actually affect your eyesight. The main reason for this is because it is the liver that converts the beta carotene into the Vitamin A that is such an important nutrient to keep your eye healthy. It is however the liver that excessive alcohol consumption affects. If the liver therefore is put under the kind of stress that alcohol puts it under, the production of Vitamin A will be affected that will eventually affect the health of your eye as well unfortunately.

In fact there are researchers who have even found a direct link between smoking and the health of the eye. Smoking is another part of a person’s daily lifestyle that many people cannot get rid of but is a very unhealthy feature of their diet. Among the various harms that a smoking habit can cause to the body, damaging the blood vessels of the eye is also one of them.

Being active is more of a personal need then doing it for others. How many times we pretend that we are active but always looking for easy way out and delay work as much as possible. Activeness is not a personal trait but a part of a lifestyle which anyone can attain with no restrictions whatsoever.

Getting tired can mainly be attributed to lack of proper sleep, incomplete diet, excessive drinking or smoking. For a normal Adult (18+) a minimum of 8 hours of sleep is required. Incomplete sleep will lead to yawning, tiredness, dullness and leave you out of energy. As a result at the end of the day you cannot expect to be still active.

One of the other major factor is stress. Negative thinking will zap all our energy out leaving us feeling low and inactive. But if staying active is your daily struggle then lack of physical activity could be the reason. Exercises are important to increase stamina and endurance for long hours of work.

The best ways to stay active and full of energy is to focus on your diet. Eat high energy foods such as fish, bananas, fresh vegetables, juices and so on. The food which must be avoided should be milk products, junk food (chips and cola) and meat (pork/beef). Chocolates and ice creams are high on fat but high energy food too. They are feel good food which changes your mood.

Sometimes you are following a right diet and exercising everyday but still that exhausting feeling still lingers, then the last resort would be to try sleeping for 1-2 hours extra then normal and see if there are any improvements.

The UK spends more than £500 million a year on statins, the NHS wonder drug for lowering cholesterol. Could a new food based pill, also known as the tomato pill, do a better job – without side-effects and at far less cost?

Statins are the biggest single item on the NHS drugs bill costing around £500m a year. If proposed heart disease screening for everyone aged 40-74 in England goes ahead even more people than the current 3 million could be taking statins – and costs could soar to billions.

The suggestion that doubling the number of people taking cholesterol-lowering statins could make a major health impact and lower the current total of 227,000 heart attacks in the UK each year and more than 87,000 first strokes and 53,000 second strokes, is medically controversial.

NHS Choices Medical Knowledge Service www.nhs.uk/news/2009/02February/Pages/WideStatinUse.aspx concludes: “Statins can have adverse effects and are not needed by everyone. Each person who is being considered for a statin medication should continue to have their individual coronary risk assessed according to their blood cholesterol level, age, sex and presence of other risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking.”

Although statins are estimated to reduce heart disease incidence by around a third not all heart attacks are in patients with raised cholesterol levels. Yet regardless of cholesterol level/status heart attack victims have one other preventable risk factor in common – atherosclerosis.

Aterosclerosis, the narrowing and hardening of the arteries caused by plaque, a deposit of fatty substances that furs up the inside of the arteries, is a shared symptom of heart attacks, stroke and other common and costly vascular diseases such as circulatory dementia, intermittent claudication and AMD (age related macular degeneration, the commonest cause of sight loss in the UK).

Preventing atherosclerosis could be even more valuable in reducing heart disease and stroke than lowering cholesterol. Until now there has not been a simple and effective way to tackle the problem. However, a team of scientists at Cambridge Theranostics (CTL) which focuses on natural products to improve heart health, have developed Ateronon, a one-a-day supplement containing 7mg patented bioavailable lycopene.

The unique combination of lycopene, whey protein and soy in Ateronon acts as a potent antioxidant to prevent oxidisation of bad cholesterol. In clinical studies Ateronon has reduced oxidisation of LDL cholesterol, a key process in the development of atherosclerosis, by more than 90 per cent within two months. It is the only clinically proven product to reduce the oxidation of LDL.

Ateronon® capsules given daily to older CHD patients (mean age 61, range 40-70) doubled plasma lycopene levels in two weeks from 0.26 to 0.52µmol/L. To reduce the risk of atherosclerosis plasma concentrations of the antioxidant lycopene need to be at least 0.2µmol/L, with an increasing trend in improvement from 0.2 to 0.6µmol/L. Unlike statins, no side effects have been reported by either coronary heart disease patients, or healthy individuals, taking Ateronon®. The capsules can also be safely taken in conjunction with lipid-lowering medication such as statins, and other drugs or treatments, say CTL.

Current clinical trials using Ateronon® at Harvard Medical School, Boston, are determining the rate of reduction of atherosclerotic plaque, and reduction of hypertension (high blood pressure). They are due to end 2011.

A trial of Ateronon® among haemorrhagic stroke patients is underway at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge and will also report in 2010.

Plant ‘factories’ producing lettuces in little more than a fortnight, are springing up all over the developed world.

This month it was revealed that the Ozu Corporation in Japan is the latest conglomerate to diversify into ‘hydroponic’ horticulture techniques, where vegetables are grown in a sort of super-nutrient soup, instead of traditional soil. They are brought to maturity in sterile, indoor, temperature-controlled conditions, and sold with a guarantee of no contamination by any bugs or bacteria.

Hydroponic growing systems are also widely used in the production of tomatoes, but many fear that these high-tech, high-speed growing methods reduce the nutrient content of vegetables.

The British Tomato Growers Association has pointed out that lycopene, the key beneficial ingredient of the health-giving ‘Mediterranean’ diet is only found in optimum concentrations in outdoor sun-ripened tomatoes.

Lycopene is known to reduce the breakdown, or oxidation of harmful fats in the blood, known as low-density lipoproteins. It is this breakdown process which leads to the build up of harmful sticky deposits on arterial walls, in an ultimately fatal process called atherosclerosis. Now scientists have discovered a more efficient way of delivering lycopene to the human body in a treatment called Ateronon.

Ateronon, also known as the tomato pill, is a lycopene formulation which mixes the compound with natural proteins from milk and soya, increasing its ‘bioavailability’ – or capacity for absorption by the human body.

Studies of Ateronon have shown that it can reduce rates of fat oxidation to almost zero in as little as two months which will dramatically reduce the risk of life threatening illnesses such as heart disease and stroke. 

Because Ateronon is a food not a pharmaceutical product, it is entirely safe and has been launched direct to the public http://www.ateronon.co.uk.

Above all, enjoy your food. Eat a tasty a healthy balanced diet, such as the Mediterranean diet LINK on a regular basis because it is delicious and healthy. And while you do not need to eat any cholesterol, because the body makes it, you can still eat foods that contain cholesterol if they are part of a low fat healthy diet and you are living an active lifestyle. All of the below factors will reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes, in a similar way as the new tomato pill which was launched in June this year. 

1.    Regular exercise increases the amount of ‘good’ cholesterol in the body. That means at least 30 minutes daily of brisk walking or another activity that makes you slightly breathless and a little sweaty. If your lifestyle is sedentary – you spend most of your days sitting down – then one hour of moderate exercise is needed every day. 

2.    Eat lots of fruit and vegetables (at least 5 portions a day) because they contain antioxidants that help prevent harmful changes to cholesterol that can lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease.

3.    Eat lots of starchy carbohydrate foods such as whole grain breads, pasta, rice, oats and starchy vegetables, plus beans and pulses such as lentils. The fibre (also called NSP or non-starch polysaccharides) in these foods, and in fruit and vegetables, can bind with cholesterol and help remove it from the body.

4.    A balanced diet also requires moderate amounts of protein such as meat, but choose lean red meat, or skinless poultry, or game and cut off visible fat to avoid increasing your saturated fat intake. Good protein choices are also fish or vegetable proteins such as nuts, and eat sparingly sugary and fatty foods. Even though eggs contain cholesterol, they are a good choice and there is now no limit to how many can be eaten each week for a healthy heart – but even so, variety is better than relying on just one food.

5.    Avoid fatty meat products such as pies, pates, sausages and other processed fatty meats because they are high in saturated fat which contributes more to raised cholesterol levels than the amount of cholesterol eaten in foods such as shellfish and offal (e.g. liver).

6.    Saturated fat is also found in “hydrogenated vegetable fats” so avoid products such as biscuits, pies, peanut butters and other processed foods that contain these – check ingredients lists on the label.

7.    Trans fats are another form of harmful saturated fat that raises cholesterol levels, so choose spreads and readymeals and other processed foods that state they are “free from trans fats” on the label.

8.    A balanced diet also contains dairy food for calcium, a mineral needed by the heart and for healthy bones, but choose low fat dairy milk, yogurt and so on to avoid the saturated fat in full-fat versions.

9.    Alcohol in small amounts can also raise levels of ‘good’ cholesterol, and red wine in particular additionally contains antioxidants that help prevent hardening of the arteries by damaged cholesterol. However, even one unit of alcohol per day can raise the risk of certain cancers by a small amount. So drink only in moderate, sticking to “safe” levels of not more than 28 units per week for men, with alcohol-free days; and 21 units for women. and you don’t have to drink!

10.    Replace the saturated fats in your diet (lard, deep fried foods, processed foods) with polyunsaturates from vegetable oils, or monounsaturates from olive oil, rapeseed oil and nuts. Eat fish twice a week, one being oily fish (e.g. mackerel, salmon, tuna) for omega-3 heart-healthy fats. Omega 3 is also in sunflower and soy oil and walnuts and linseed oils.

How is solar heating good for your health and fitness?

Solar Power is usually associated with solar lighting, but it is the most efficient, reliable, sustainable and continuous energy system that can be used to heat your swimming pool. Moreover, use of solar power also reduces costs significantly as gas is no longer needed to heat your pool.

Apart from the initial installation charges, a solar heating system for your pool does not let you pay exorbitant gas bills month after month, so this will also encourage you to use your swimming pool more frequently as you will not be put off by the high costs of heating the pool in order for you to use it!

So as it will become a lot cheaper for you to heat your pool, you will make more use of it and this will result in you improving your heath and fitness, as well as your energy bills! 

Some facts that you should know when considering purchasing a solar heating system for your pool:

1) Cost effectiveness: Your monthly energy bills will reduce enormously since you will not need your regular gas heater anymore and the energy from the sun is free!

2) Sustainable: The use of a solar heating system is a sustainable way of heating your pool which will make you feel good about the environment whilst staying healthy!

3) Low maintenance costs: Solar heating systems are known to cause negligible or minimal problems once purchased so you can be rest assured you will not be seeing a local service man at your doorstep every other month.

Some athletes suffer from a subtle form of eating disorder that results in excessive and addictive exercise in an attempt to control or lose weight. Addictive exercisers may use extreme training as one way to expend calories and maintain or lose body weight in the attempt to improve performance or achieve a desired body shape or weight, these problems can be solved through psychotherapy. They often justify their behaviour by believing a serious athlete can never work too hard or too long at their sport. Discomfort, pain or even injury will not keep an exercise addict from training.

When confronted about this excessive exercise, they may insist that if they didn’t work this hard, their performance would suffer. They also tend to cling to the false belief that even the smallest break from training will make them gain weight and unable to compete at the same level.

Many compulsive exercisers have behaviours similar to drug addicts. The athlete no longer finds pleasure in exercise, but feels it is necessary. It is no longer a choice; it has become an obligation. While exercise may provide a temporary feeling of well-being or euphoria, the athlete requires more and more exercise to reach this state. If he is forced to miss a workout, he will report overwhelming feelings of guilt and anxiety, similar to withdrawal symptoms.

While some researchers report that excessive exercise causes the body to produce endorphins (hormones secreted by the pituitary gland that block pain, decrease anxiety and create feelings of euphoria) there is still debate about whether one can become physiologically addicted to exercise. Endorphins are, however, chemically similar to the highly addictive drug morphine, so addiction to exercise is not beyond the realm of possibility. For many athletes, compulsive exercise appears to be psychologically addictive. Such athletes report that reducing their amount of exercise suddenly often results in bouts of severe depression.

Warning Signs of a Compulsive Exerciser

·       You suffer symptoms of overtraining syndrome.

·       You force yourself to exercise even if you don’t feel well.

·       You almost never exercise for fun

·       Every time you exercise, you go as fast or hard as you can.

·       You experience severe stress and anxiety if you miss a workout.

·       You miss family obligations because you have to exercise.

·       You calculate how much to exercise based on how much you eat.

·       You would rather exercise than get together with friends.

·       You can’t relax because you think you’re not burning calories.

Compulsive exercise is as dangerous as food restriction, binging and purging, and the use of diet pills and laxatives. Compulsive exercise can quickly lead to more serious types of eating disorders including anorexia and bulimia as well as a number of serious physical dangers including kidney failure, heart attack and death.

Compulsive exercise is a serious health concern that often requires the intervention of someone close to the athlete such as a coach, teammate or family member who recognizes these warning signs and seeks professional help. If you suspect someone close to you is exercising compulsively you can help by learning more about this condition and talking openly with the athlete about getting appropriate professional help.