5 Steps To Living A Happier Life
February 29, 2008 | 1 Comment
Photo by Mihaylova
Some people have a belief that happiness must be earned by first experiencing work, hardship, and pain.
My question to them is, “How do you know when you have sustained enough pain to deserve happiness?
Happiness is not something you earn, but rather it is something you bring about. It comes from within by the thoughts you have and the choices you make. Happiness is being at peace with yourself.
“There is one sure way to find happiness. That is by controlling your thoughts.” ~ Dale Carnegie
How do you find peace with yourself so that you can have happiness?
- By giving more. Give to others for the simple joy of giving. Give unconditionally.
- By expecting less. When you give to others, expect nothing in return. Realize that many people are not good at expressing gratitude and then you won’t be disappointed when they don’t return the favor.
- By living simply. While buying that new sports car will bring you pleasure, it will not bring you happiness. Pleasure is short lived while happiness is long term.
- By freeing your mind of worries. If you are worrying about something, most likely it is something beyond your power to change. Don’t dwell on problems such as finances or you may pay a higher price with your health.
- By freeing your heart of hatred. Learn to forgive those who have hurt you. Not forgiving someone hurts you more than it hurts them. Chances are, they are going on with life as usual and don’t even know you are carrying the hatred for them.
Happiness is having the freedom, health, and opportunity to do great things for yourself and others. And happier people are healthier people, both mentally and physically.
Technorati Tags: happiness, worrying, health, what is happiness
How To Calculate Your Body Mass Index
February 27, 2008 | 8 Comments
Photo by Danlamouette
Too fat or too thin, you may be unhealthy.
Calculating your BMI can give you a general idea as to whether you are underweight, at a healthy weight, or obese. Body mass index (BMI) is a standard measurement that represents the percentage of body fat for adult men and women. It can help you determine if you are at an increased risk for health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers including breast cancer. Starting in Europe more than 150 years ago, the BMI calculation became popular in the U.S. in the 1980’s.
But a BMI calculation is nothing more than an estimate as it can only measure so much. For instance, BMI may overestimate body fat in athletes and other people with muscular builds, and it may underestimate body fat in older people and those who have lost muscle mass. Still, it is a good tool to help determine if you fall above or below the safety line.
Here’s how to calculate your BMI.
There are several websites that will provide a calculation for you, but as first mentioned over at the Iowa Avenue blog, you can do a quick calculation with your own calculator . . . take 703 times your weight, divide by your height in inches, and divide again by your height in inches (703 x weight / height twice).
Here are what the results mean.
- If your BMI is 14.9 or less, you are extremely underweight.
- If your BMI falls between 15-18, you are mildly underweight.
- A BMI 18.5-24.9 means you are at a weight in good proportion to your height.
- A BMI of 25-29.9 means you are overweight.
- A BMI of 30-39.9 indicates you are obese.
- And a BMI of 40 or more indicates you are morbidly obese.
Of the U.S. population, only 33.5 percent of us have a good BMI in proportion to their height, 34 percent are overweight, and 30 percent fall under the morbidly obese category. If you find yourself in the overweight category and are wanting to lose weight, keep in mind that in order to lose one pound per week, you need to eliminate 500 calories from your day. You can do that by cutting back on the calories you consume, or by exercising, or a combination of both.
Technorati Tags: Body Mass Index, BMI, obesity, healthy weight
Health Sites … To Help Spread Links To Good Health
February 22, 2008 | 6 Comments
Photo by Delgoff
Need some more good health sites to read?
Occasionally, I like to share links to other health sites that I find interesting, helpful, or just plain fun. Here are a few worth checking out.
- Think Simple Now is a personal growth website that has taken off in a short amount of time. The writer’s success is due to good interesting writing and having a true passion for helping others.
- Healthy Habits For Life takes a strong stance on prevention for wellness. The site owner is a clinical educator and health coach in Tucson, AZ.
- Lazy Man and Health is an all-health website that provides great information, much of which he learned through personal experiences and setting goals.
- Walker Talk is the blog of a woman on a fitness mission to get in shape before her son’s wedding. One of her biggest motivators is her sister-in-law whom you can meet at Life Plus Fitness.
- Health Ranker. “Social Media Just Got Healthy.” This is a “must check out” site for anyone in the health niche. It is a new social media news site dedicated to all things health. This is great news for us health sites AND for those who want to learn better health. Health Ranker is a new site which just launched this month and is still in Beta. So don’t be surprised if you find a bug here and there. Once you become a member, you can rate health blog posts by a few simple clicks.
Oh, and if you enjoy reading my post, please be sure to rank it.
Technorati Tags: health sites, health links
Beef Recall: Where Does Our Meat Come From?
February 20, 2008 | 1 Comment
Photo by Drawings of Light - Paul
Ironically, the same slaughter house that won 2004-05 Supplier of the Year to the National School Lunch Program is also responsible for the nation’s largest beef recall ever.
The total amount recalled: 143 million pounds of beef! And it is estimated that 37 million pounds of that recalled beef went to school programs. That is, our kids.
The recent recall, which has been the nation’s top story for the past few days, came about after an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the U.S. at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. This recall isn’t due to some illness wherein one infected cow came to the slaughterhouse and infected the others. This recall is due to the mistreatment, or should we say torture, of sick and injured “downer” cattle which were forced to stand long enough to fool the USDA into believing they were healthy and therefore pass the USDA’s inspection. Normally, downer cattle are prohibited from entering the food supply because they are more likely to spread Mad Cow’s disease, E coli, and salmonella. Once the sick cattle passed inspection, they went through the slaughter process and ended up on our children’s plates. This is a prime example of why we should be more aware of whom we are getting our food from.
How can we know if a supplier is a good one or a bad one?
The ill cattle at Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. passed the USDA’s inspection. Even the Cattlemen’s Association claims that the abuse is something they don’t condone and don’t tolerate and that they were unaware of the treatment at Hallmark. If both the USDA and the Cattlemen’s Association were unaware of what was happening with the downer cattle at Hallmark, then can we be assured that they know what is happening at the other 900 or so slaughterhouses in the U.S. and that we are buying untainted meat?
Our best bet is to buy beef locally. Buy from farmers who allow their herd to roam the range and live in conditions similar to their natural behavior with sunshine, fresh air, water, and a pasture. And while you are shopping for farmers, choose ones that don’t inject their livestock with antibiotics or growth hormones.
If you aren’t yet convinced of the necessity to shop around, take a look at this graphic video from the HSUS:
Technorati Tags: beef recall, Hallmark Meat Co.
Kopi Luwak Coffee vs. Yerba Maté
February 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Photo by Crystl
In the movie, “The Bucket List,” actor Jack Nicholson is a huge fan of a coffee named Kopi Luwak … referred to as the most expensive coffee in the world.
Kopi Luwak is in fact the most expensive coffee in the world. It sells for between $120 and $600 USD per pound. A very strange thought considering that the beans come from coffee cherries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (also referred to as a cat). The civet eats the coffee cherries, but while the cherry itself is digested, the inner bean is not and it passes through. Once eliminated, the beans are collected, cleaned, and mildly roasted to make this supposedly delicious coffee. All coffees come from coffee cherries, but it is believed that the enzymes in the animal’s stomach add a unique flavor making the coffee quite pricey.
Is this coffee worth the price?
The coffee cherry is a member of the super antioxidant family and contains polyphenols that help to prevent free radical damage. It is starting to show up in skin care products as the polyphenols help stop the deterioration of collagen and lessen visible signs of aging. But it is my guess that the benefits are in the cherry itself and remain with the civet. The high cost of this coffee is due only to the rarity of it, the process of making it, and perhaps the taste, not due to any health benefits. Therefore, the health benefits of Kopi Luwak are no more than the benefits found in any other cup of coffee.
But there is a better alternative to coffee.
It has many health benefits. It is easier to find than Kopi Luwak and costs just a fraction of the price. It is yerba maté. Discovered by people of the South American rain forest, yerba maté comes from the leaves of the Ilex Paraguayansis tree.
With less caffeine than coffee, yerba maté contains three natural stimulants … caffeine (the stimulant in coffee), theobromine (the stimulant in chocolate), and theophylline (the stimulant in green tea) … which will give that kick to start the day which you get from coffee without giving you the negative effects, such as jitters, headaches, and stomach discomfort. Yerba maté also:
- Has many powerful antioxidants … nine times the antioxidants of green tea.
- Contains weight loss compounds … hunger fighting theobromine that sends an “all-full” signal to the brain and calorie burning xanthine.
- Is known to aid digestion and regularity.
- Stimulates the immune system and helps the body fight disease.
- May reduce the severity of some allergies and hay fever.
- Provides mental clarity, with increased alertness, and overall balance in the body.
- May help prevent oral cancer.
Makes me wonder why we drink coffee at all.
Technorati Tags: Kopi Luwak, yerba mate, Pixie Mate, benefits of yerba mate, weight loss
Warning: Pain Relievers, Like Tylenol, Can Cause Death
February 18, 2008 | 2 Comments
Photo by Twenty Questions
Each year, over-the-counter pain relievers containing acetaminophen are to blame for more than 100,000 calls to poison control, nearly 56,000 emergency room visits, over 26,000 hospitalizations, and more than 450 deaths from liver failure.
Many consumers believe that taking over-the-counter medications are safe as long as taken as directed. The truth is, even a low dose of acetaminophen can put us at risk for severe liver damage, a liver transplant, and even death. But you would never know it just by reading the warning on the label.
Most likely, your acetaminophen bottle has this simple message on it,
“Warning: Taking more than the recommended dosage can cause severe health problems, including liver damage.”
As it turns out, however, this widely used pain reliever causes liver failure even at doses that are within the recommended range. Doctors have reported cases of liver failure among individuals who were taking acetaminophen while following the dosage rules on the package. From these individuals, doctors have concluded that when acetaminophen is taken by consumers who are not eating (perhaps due to vomiting, fasting, or anorexia), or are drinking alcohol, the pain reliever would become very toxic and the consumer would basically be taking an accidental overdose, possibly resulting in liver failure. Yet, the warning on acetaminophen packaging is weak and does not convey the serious risks.
Why isn’t anyone changing this?
When comparing the above statistics to the millions of people taking acetaminophen without harm, the liver failure and death rates are fairly low. However, they are high enough that you would think the FDA would require the drug companies to list stronger warnings on their labels … that is, if the FDA is at all concerned about our safety. The FDA’s own guidelines require drug companies to list adverse drug events on packaging “even if there are only one or two reported events.” With acetaminophen, there have been many. It appears to be a case of the FDA protecting the pharmaceutical companies.
What you can do to protect yourself.
Acetaminophen is found in many over-the-counter medications (such as Tylenol) as well as numerous prescription drugs (such as Vicodin, Lortab, and Lorcet). You can protect yourself by:
- only using one acetaminophen product at a time
- avoiding the pain reliever during vomiting or fasting
- and avoiding alcohol while using the drug
Half of the people who overdose on acetaminophen do it unintentionally. They are not aware of either how much they are taking or that they are taking it under conditions that could make it toxic. Taking precautions will help decrease your chances of liver damage.
Technorati Tags: acetaminophen, liver damage, liver failure
New Pepsi Raw May Be Natural, But It’s Not Healthy
February 14, 2008 | 4 Comments
Photo by Samhar Khuzam
The new Pepsi Raw is not healthy. But then again, Pepsi doesn’t claim it to be.
Pepsi has launched their newest cola product … Pepsi Raw. It is currently only available in the UK and is exclusive to bars and pubs. What do they claim is so great about this product? It is all natural, meaning no artificial colorings, preservatives, flavorings, or sweeteners. It is made with cane sugar instead of fructose corn syrup. It’s ingredients include apple extract, plain caramel coloring, gum arabic from acacia trees, and sparkling water.
But Pepsi is Pepsi. That’s all there is to it. It was never meant to be a healthy drink, and this product is no different. While the word “natural” sounds healthy, that is not what natural means. Yes, it is better, but it is not healthy. Pepsi is not even marketing it as a health drink. A spokeswoman for Pepsi was quoted as saying,
“We’re not saying it’s healthier. It’s a premium drink for people who like natural products.”
But the words “natural” and “raw” are deceiving. Most people read those words and think “healthy” or “organic.” Natural only means it is made without artificial ingredients. It doesn’t mean that healthy ingredients were used or that the ingredients (such as the apples) were grown without pesticides.
So what do I think of the product, you ask.
Well, living in the U.S., I have not tried Pepsi Raw. But I do like the fact that Pepsi has launched this product. I am a firm believer that colas should be drank only on occasion as they lack anything of value and are loaded with calories. The only healthy ingredient in Pepsi Raw is the apples, but the drawbacks from the sugar outweigh the benefits of the apples. The calorie count in 300 ml of Pepsi Raw has only been reduced from 126 calories to 117. Which will hardly assist in solving the obesity problem. It is a safer choice, though, then regular Pepsi or Diet Pepsi and I would like to see it come to the U.S. At least they are headed in the right direction.
Now, if they could only make it with stevia, ….
Technorati Tags: Pepsi Raw, natural cola
Cosmetic Surgery: The Quest For Perfection
February 13, 2008 | 6 Comments
Photo by Jose Miguel Serrano
We want it all!
In the book, Facelift Hotel
How far will we go to achieve perfection?
In 2006 Botox was the number one cosmetic treatment, with more than 3 million procedures being performed, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. And 93% of those patients were women. But just take a look at other types of surgeries we will undergo:
Body lift, brow lift, breast lift, face lift, neck lift, thigh lift, suspension lift, tummy tuck, breast reduction or breast enlargement, liposuction, nose shaping, eyelid surgery, lip augmentation, and even vaginal augmentation.
Before going under the knife, be aware that there could be complications.
While it is true that complications from cosmetic surgery are not as common as they used to be, the fact is that they do occur. Consider the unfortunate recent death (Nov. 2007) of Kanye West’s mother, Donda West, who died following a tummy tuck and breast reduction procedure. If you are determined to follow through with cosmetic surgery, please take these precautions so as to lessen your chances of complications:
- Make sure your surgeon is a board-certified plastic surgeon in good standing with your state’s medical board. (This was not the case with Donda West’s surgeon.)
- Be sure to share your full health history with your surgeon to help avoid potential complications.
- Never go into surgery without your doctor doing a complete health evaluation.
- Prior to treatment, make sure your surgeon gives you pre- and post-procedure instructions.
- Discuss with your surgeon all risks involved.
If your surgeon fails to provide any of the above, then you need to look for a new surgeon or reconsider surgery altogether. There are other signs to watch for as well that indicate you have a bad doctor:
- Doctors who make unrealistic promises or minimize the risks involved.
- Doctors who suggest additional procedures unrelated to what you are seeking.
- Doctors who offer special prices as an incentive to surgery or who do not outline the cost prior to surgery.
In my opinion, a surgeon located in St. Louis, Missouri, said it best with this quote,
“A large part of looking youthful on the outside is dependent upon what you do on the inside.”
Technorati Tags: cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery, Facelift Hotel
Kidney Stones! Just Saying It Makes Me Cringe
February 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Photo by *Free-Secret-Life*
Men who have passed kidney stones say it is the male equivalent of giving birth.
The other day, a man was telling my husband about his recent excruciatingly painful experience with kidney stones. Of course, my husband then took an interest in finding out how to keep it from happening to him.
Kidney stones are one of the most common, and most painful, urinary tract disorders. While many people believe they only happen to men, the truth is that women have them too … just less often. And once you have had a stone, you are more likely to develop them again. As I heard one source put it, “Kidney stones are like dandelions. They can be eliminated, but they’ll be back next year.”
So let’s stop them before they start!
And you do that by, what else, watching your diet.
- For starters, drinking lots of water throughout the day is the best way to keep stones from forming. Try for 12 ounces daily.
- Eat less meat. Some researchers believe a diet high in protein can lead to stones. So eat protein rich foods in moderation.
- Eat normal amounts of calcium daily. It was once believed that a low-calcium diet was important to ward off the formation of stones. Doctors believe the opposite today.
What foods should you avoid?
It is not believed that any certain foods cause kidney stones. However, for those who are at higher risk of getting them (i.e., those who have had them before or who have a family history of stones), some foods to avoid include spinach, strawberries, rhubarb, chocolate, wheat bran, nuts, beets, and coffee.
And the best tip I have to offer.
Drink cornsilk tea. Yes, that’s right, I said cornsilk. Take the silk straight from corn on the cob, boil it in water, strain, and drink. Rich in Vitamin K, cornsilk is highly valued as a support to the urinary tract system. It is believed that it can reduce the formation of kidney stones and can possibly even relieve the pain for someone who already has stones formed.
Technorati Tags: kidney stones, cornsilk, how to prevent kidney stones
Why Does The FDA Approve Aspartame, But Not Stevia?
February 12, 2008 | 3 Comments
Photo by MR+G
Japan is using the natural sweetener stevia in food and beverage products, while here in the U.S. it is illegal.
I’ve read that the Coca-Cola company has expressed a strong interest in producing drinks with stevia. But they cannot do so because the FDA refuses to approve stevia as a food and beverage ingredient. The FDA states that current information is not sufficient to prove stevia safe as an ingredient in food products. Yet, they continue to allow aspartame to be added to our foods despite the FDA’s own findings that it is unsafe. Some stevia supporters feel the FDA’s agenda is to protect the profits of aspartame. It is their strong belief that the FDA fears products with stevia will harm the sales of products with aspartame. Could there be some truth to this?
Let’s compare the two sweeteners.
Stevia is an all-natural herbal sweetener with virtually no calories. It is much sweeter than sugar and has none of the unhealthy flaws that sugar has. It is low glycemic and will not raise blood sugar levels. It can be consumed by many diabetics, however, please consult your doctor on this issue. Although it has a slight aftertaste, it is a popular natural sugar alternative. Stevia has been thoroughly tested around the world and found to be non-toxic. It has been safely consumed for the past 25 years in Japan. Early studies from the 1980’s did show there was a possibility that stevia caused cancer and infertility. While anything can cause problems when eaten in large amounts, there is currently no compelling evidence that stevia actually causes cancer or infertility when consumed in reasonable quantities. In fact, incidences of cancer in Japan is very low despite the fact that stevia has been used there for over 25 years. Likewise, as far as I can tell, there is no actual evidence in Japan indicating that stevia causes infertility.
Aspartame (aka NutraSweet) is a low-calorie sweetener used in a variety of foods and drinks. It is a dangerous chemical food additive. While NutraSweet claims that aspartame is completely safe, research tells us that it may trigger weight gain, memory loss, anxiety, migraines, birth defects including mental retardation, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Alzheimer’s, brain damage, depression, suicidal tendencies, and even death … just to name a few. Health problems caused by aspartame are commonly misdiagnosed. If you ever go to the doctor with symptoms for which can’t be found a cause, take a look at your diet. Are you consuming aspartame?
Despite the differences between these two sugar alternatives, the FDA has only approved stevia as an ingredient in dietary supplements while aspartame has been approved to be added to any and all foods and drinks. I have to admit, one has got to wonder about the FDA’s credibility here.
Technorati Tags: stevia, aspartame, dangers of aspartame, NutraSweet, sugar alternatives
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