Exercise is the Key

by:Jaks Lloyd

They say that you are what you eat but that is only partly true.

To become and stay fit you need to exercise. The amount of exercise you should do is directly related to your fitness aspirations and your lifestyle.

By logging into this exercise site you are showing that you want to explore the various exercise options and hopefully find a fitness regime that will suit your aspirations.

Lets start with the average person who just wants to feel good about themselves and their body.

Age is not of paramount importance. Anybody between 10 and 90 years old can find an exercise program coupled with a healthy diet that will keep their body feeling and looking toned.

The simplest of all and which will suit any age group beginning an exercise program, is walking. The opportunity to walk is not dependant upon your work or where you live but it takes a little thought and some decision making.

Try to take an exercise walk at least twice a week for at least 1-2 miles on top of your work or other daily routine. Do not push yourself too hard to start with but gradually increase the distance and try some power walking as you go along.

It is important not to over exert yourself at any time and although you may start by having aching or stiff muscles by the time you get back after a few days your body will adjust and the feel good effect will start very soon.

If you are unable to leave home perhaps because you have small children to care for or for any other reason, it is well worth considering purchasing an exercise machine to use in the safety and comfort of your home.

An exercise treadmill can tell you the distance you have covered so that you can pace yourself accordingly and set your weekly/monthly targets and many have heart rate monitors, amount of calories burnt, and other useful extras.

If you have the desire to achieve greater exercise goals such as a weight losing regime, muscular development or stamina building it is imperative to have a medical check up and discuss your exercise aims with your Doctor before starting and abide by his advice.

These days most people reading this will have access to a nearby exercise center or gym where they will find a variety of exercise machines and exercise equipment and just as importantly a qualified fitness adviser who will recommend an exercise program to achieve your fitness goals.

If you prefer to work out at home and have the self discipline to keep to a structured exercise program then you should consider acquiring some equipment and set aside a space in your home where it can be located permanently.

Regular running and jogging are basics and cost only the price of a tracksuit and trainers. Simple and inexpensive exercise equipment includes weights of various types, an exercise ball and even exercise videos which will provide ideas and interest if you find some of your own fitness routines are becoming boring.

More sophisticated exercise equipment that can provide specific groups of muscle with a work out to build up mass or can increase cardiovascular fitness to provide better stamina can be found in a fitness center where you will be advised on their use.

Otherwise think about an exercise bike at home for all round general fitness and building leg and arm muscle mass and increasing stamina. Abdominal exercise equipment can give you a six pack and weight lifting exercise machines can give a man those pectorals he’s always wanted.

For home use I would advise you to go to a gym or fitness center, have a good look at their exercise equipment and ask questions of their instructors.

Get hold of an exercise equipment review either from a catalogue, magazine article, or on line and then make your decision.

Finally decide on a training schedule, stick to it, increase it as you become fitter but don’t over do it, and keep to a healthy diet.

Copyright 2006 Jaks Lloyd

Bladder Infections?

By Tilly Davies
Personally I have been suffering from bladder infection for years. Through years of my own research is discovered that approximately 30% of women between the ages of 20 and 40 years will experience a urinary tract infection at some time.I followed all the advise from my doctor, my mother, my friends, my GP and even the urologist but the problem persisted. I drank enough fluids to ensure the passage of 1,5 – 2 litres of urine a day; took something to alkalinise the urine (this will stop the burning) e.g. Citrosoda; got an antibiotic from my doctor (take note that antibiotics and alkalising agents shouldn’t be taken together); but although I experienced relief only at the time the occurrence of the infection became a real problem.

Then I discovered Cranberry Juice! There is a substance present in cranberry juice that keeps bacteria from adhering to the walls of the bladder, so the infections aren’t as likely. Some women experience frequent bladder infections even with medical treatment, so one home remedy to help decrease the number and severity of the bladder infections is to drink cranberry juice. About 150ml per day will help to keep the bladder infections away, or make current infections go away sooner.

So what is in it? Studies in recent years have shown that cranberry juice inhibits adherence of E. coli cells to cells lining the bladder. Two different constituents have been implicated, one being fructose and the other a large polymeric compound of unknown structure. Fructose is present in all fruits, but the large polymeric compound is found only in cranberry and blueberry juices, and not those of grapefruit, orange, guava, mango and pineapple.

My advice on how To Prevent Bladder Infections Naturally

• Drink 150ml of cranberry juice daily.Remember to buy 100% cranberry juice, not cranberry juice drinks or cocktails because they contain much less cranberry juice.
• Drink plenty of water; 1L of water for every 25kg of your weight is recommended. When you drink lots of water, you urinate a lot. This will flush the urethra frequently and remove the bacteria.
• Be sure to wipe your genital area from front to back after a bowl movement or urination. This will help keep bacteria from the vagina and anus away from your urethra.
• Wear only cotton underwear
• Seek help from a health professional for bad infections, or if you have a fever along with the bladder infections.

BBC NEWS – Are we emotionally what we eat?

Negative emotions can send us rushing to the biscuit tin or hiding our horrors in a tub of ice-cream – with up to 43% of people using food to alter their mood, according to a survey by the Priory Clinic.

Chocolate boosts serotonin levels, making us feel good… for a while

Others binge and vomit or develop anorexia as a way of trying to gain some sort of control over runaway feelings.

BBC News Online spoke to the experts to try to find out why so many of us have this up and down relationship with what, on its most fundamental level, is just a means of fuelling our bodies.

According to Deanne Jade, principle of the National Centre for Eating Disorders, our complex relationship with food starts right back in the cradle.

“A baby’s blood sugar falls if they are hungry and they get in a dire emotional state. They scream and cry, are fed and feel better.

Chemicals

“So very early on we learn to associate stress reduction with eating and drinking.

“Secondly, the chemicals we gain from food have a strong impact not only on our appetite but also on our emotional brains, so the connections between food and mood become intricately connected in a very complex way.”

“Very early on we learn to associate stress reduction with eating and drinking”
Deanne Jade, National Centre for Eating Disorders

Because of this complex relationship, people might say they are hungry and genuinely believe it, when in fact they are sad. They will also feel sad and miserable when they are hungry because of the deficiency of certain neurochemicals, which carry messages in the brain.

“For example, when we eat we get changes in serotonin, endorphins and dopamine levels in the brain. These are very powerful chemicals, which also affect mood.

“Sugar, for example, causes serotonin flows and serotonin is a chemical used in certain anti-depressants, such as Prozac, which cause the user to feel more balanced and equitable.

“People who are low in serotonin in the brain do generally feel better when they eat sugar, but that’s not true of people who have adequate levels of serotonin.”

Tempting – but ice cream is only a short-term answer to feeling bad

So could that mean we can become addicted to certain foods? The notion has certainly sparked vigorous debate in recent months.

Jane Ogden, a reader in health psychology at King’s College, London, believes it depends on your definition of addiction.

She says: “If addiction means you have no control over something, then this could apply to food, but if you take the classic definition of addiction, which means you get withdrawal and tolerance, then I’m not sure it can really apply to eating behaviour.”

She adds: “Ideally, if we were purely biological beings, we would only eat when we were hungry, but food intake isn’t like that.

‘The family meal has… little to do with hunger and satiety and a lot more to do with communication within families and the way that you show whether you care about people or how you are bonded’
Jane Ogden, King’s College London

“Food becomes a central part of the currency of social life and also the individual’s day-to-day emotional life.

“It is no longer is about whether you are hungry or not but takes on a range of other meanings. It becomes part of social negotiation and about celebration and special occasions, about relationships and power.

“The family meal has a whole context which has got very little to do with hunger and satiety and a lot more to do with communication within families and the way you show whether you care about people or how you are bonded.

“Then on an individual level, food has also taken on the role of comfort and distraction from boredom. If we were animals it would have only a very basic meaning but because we are social beings it is inevitable food is going to have a much bigger role in people’s lives. “

“Binge eating leads to a cycle that can prove hard to break”

So how does all this apply to people with anorexia or bulimia?

“Starving causes people to feel high and spaced out and separated from their emotions,” says Mrs Jade.

“When you starve, you don’t feel the normal range of emotions. You feel kind of insulated from them. It doesn’t mean you don’t get depressed and miserable – you can get severely depressed – but we are talking about a narrowing of emotional range.

“There are many reasons why starving is alluring to some people. It makes them feel special, powerful, maybe more sexy, maybe less sexy, and it makes them feel they can transcend the normal things that other people need. It makes them feel very, very much in control.

“What is common to people with eating disorders is that body image and feelings about their body are a very big part of their self-esteem.”

Sugar

With binge eating, it has been proved that an unhealthy diet leads to chemical disturbances in the brain, setting up a cycle, so we become depressed, irritable or aggressive, then eat more of the very food that makes us feel that way.

Studies have shown that antisocial behaviour can be connected to having too much sugar and refined carbohydrates and a shortage of vitamins B11, B1 and minerals such as iron, selenium and magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids, found especially in oily fish such as salmon, sardines and mackerel.

A study published in the July 2002 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry indicates that the simple use of nutritional supplements can significantly reduce behavioural problems among prisoners.

The research, carried out by a team led by C Bernard Gesch of Oxford University, was a trial of nutritional supplements on 231 young adults, comparing disciplinary offences before and during supplementation.

“There are many reasons why starving is alluring to some people. It makes them feel special, powerful, maybe more sexy, maybe less sexy, and that they can transcend the normal things other people need.”
Deanne Jade

Those receiving the active capsules, rather than a placebo, committed an average of 26.3% fewer offences.

So in times of stress some people will eat more and some will eat less. It apparently comes down to something called biochemical individuality.

It also has a lot to do with the fact that we’re all different. Our emotional response to food is formed in childhood, due to many things – the way our parents feed us, and our own experiences around food, which are very personal.

Coffee

And as well as our chemistry and our individuality, the way we experience emotion and how we handle it also play a part.

To treat eating problems, the National Centre for Eating Disorders tries to regulate food intake, so people are at least protected on the chemical side. The centre also tries to help people become better at dealing with their own emotions without hiding behind food or drugs.

“If I got up in the morning, had a cup of black coffee, went to work and had a diet coke and had no protein until my evening meal, then washed it down with tea and biscuits, I’d be in a pretty bad emotional state by the end of the day as well,” says Mrs Jade.

“And that is absolutely and totally to do with the food you don’t eat, as well as the food you do eat. A lot of people are absolutely all over the place emotionally, simply because they have a desperately poor diet.”

Fat Chance Losing Weight

By Eric Cho

If you have been struggling with your oodles of fat and have jumped from one diet to another, don’t despair. You’re not the only one. Research suggests that obesity is the #1 killer of Americans and that more than 85% of men, women and children in the U.S have tried one or more methods of weight loss in their lifetimes.

Why is weight loss so difficult to achieve?

To answer this question, we have to see why obesity has become so rampant today. Obviously, fast foods, over-indulgence, alcohol and a sedentary lifestyle have succeeded in creating a generation of people who are too fat for their own good. As a result, we are stuck with diseases like:

- High blood pressure

- Heart attack

- Heart failure

- Stroke

- Cancer

Many diseases of the modern age including various aches and pains are a direct result of being overweight. Therefore many healing systems advocate weight loss as the first step towards cure.

Tried it all, and still at a loss?

Weight loss does not come in a pill or in a special diet program. The media have managed to take advantage of this common problem and come up with various miracle pills and magic diet programs that promise weight loss easily.

But the truth of the matter is that weight loss needs hard work and dedication. Permanent weight loss happens only if there is a radical change in lifestyle. People who take to diet programs and lose weight immediately put on their lost pounds and then some more when they come off their diet. Therefore, the only way out is to work the diet program into your life.

Weight loss depends on two things:

- Healthy and consistent diet, and

- Exercise

Weight loss and diet

Fad diets are NOT the best ways to weight loss, although they promise the sky. Keep off them. Fad diets usually recommend doing away with a particular kind of food or sticking to one kind of food only. The initial results of these diets may be amazing. But any weight loss thus acquired is minimal and very transient. Besides, fad diets are unhealthy because you will be robbing your body of vital nutrients.

Research suggests that losing 1-2 pounds a week through healthy food choices and through moderation is the best way towards weight loss. The mathematics here is quite simple really. The more calories you put in, the more pounds you have to carry. So in order to achieve weight loss, you need to burn more calories than you are putting in.

Weight loss and exercise

There is no permanent and healthy weight loss if you do not follow a consistent exercise program. To be effective, an exercise program has to be:

- Regular

- Be at least 30 minutes every day 5 days a week

- Mixture of aerobic and muscle training programs

Weight loss in itself is an ambiguous term. Weight management would be a better definition. You want to lose excess fat and convert some of the fat into lean muscle. While you lose weight you have to protect your body, avoid loss of muscle mass and prevent depletion of bone mass.

A sensible exercise program, taken up after consulting a doctor and a fitness expert coupled with pragmatic and sensible eating habits is the only way to achieve permanent weight loss.

Importance of Minerals

Our bodies are made up mainly by water and minerals. Overall our health is determined more by minerals than protein, fats, carbohydrates or even vitamins. Calcium for instances is not only for strong bones but is present in every single cell in our bodies to transport nutrients in and out of cells.

A subject close to my heart and I thought to share this article by Subodh Jain with you.

We need minerals for the proper composition of body fluids, the formation of blood and bone, the maintenance of healthy nerve function, and regulation of muscle tone, including cardiovascular system.

Groups Of Minerals

Nutritionally, minerals belong to two groups:

macro minerals and trace minerals. Body needs trace minerals in minerals in minute amounts and macro minerals in larger quantities. Macro minerals are electrolytes for they help regulate cellular water balance.

Macro minerals:

Most people have calcium deficient diets. Good calcium nutrition through out life is essential for achieving peak bone mass and preventing deficiency-related bone loss.

Magnesium controls bio-chemical reactions in body and is crucial to good health. Dietary deficiency of magnesium may occur in elderly people, alcoholics, pregnant ladies, and people suffering from diarrhea. Studies show that taking magnesium supplements during pregnancy reduces birth defects.

Phosphorus deficiency is rare; it is imperative to maintain a proper balance of magnesium, calcium and phosphorus at all times.

Potassium helps maintain healthy nervous system and regular heart rhythm. Low potassium might be responsible for high blood pressure.

Trace Minerals :
Chromium helps metabolize glucose. We do not get enough chromium from our diet. Athletes, pregnant ladies, people in forties need a supplemental boost.

Copper helps in building bones, accelerates healing process and helps maintain healthy nerves and joints. Copper deficiency manifests in osteoporosis.

Iron is essential to building blood. Young girl, strict vegetarians, athletes are usually low on iron.

Selenium is absorbed from soil either in plant produce or in livestock. Selenium deficiency has been linked to cancer and heart disease.

Zinc is vital for prostate gland function and the growth of reproductive organs. People suffering from diarrohea, kidney disease, excessive perspiration, diabetes can be low on zinc.

Do not take calcium and iron tighter for they neutralize each other.

Adults over 50 do not need extra iron unless doctor defects deficiency.

Those having insulin dependent diabetes a should consult their doctor before taking chromium supplement.