Ways to Relieve Stress

Stress takes the form of many symptoms such as a fast heartbeat, headache, stiff neck or tight shoulders, back pain, sweating, upset stomach, and other stomach ailments. It changes in your body and  affects your emotions. 

If you do not address the problems it could have long lasting effects on your overall health.  I read this article from the online source called WebMD.  It talks about stress lowering your immune system, mood and your thoughts. 

Stress is linked to a number of health problems. Did you know that it has been tied to high blood pressure, blood clots, and hardening arteries? Ulcers and gastro-esophageal reflux disease, and fertiilty problems, asthma, acne and psoriasis. 

Depending on your personality, stress can greatly affect your thoughts and emotions.  If you or someone that you know has trouble is frustrated easily, temperamental, fretting over small issues, cranky, trouble focusing and unable to deal with even small problems. 

Here are some ways to relax your mind and live in the moment. Begin to write things down that are troubling you. So start a journal to help you find what is causing the stress.  Also, find a counselor, friend, or clergy member to talk to about your feelings and come up with strategies to overcome the obstacles. And finally, do something that you enjoy to help you relax.  It would do you some good to make time in your schedule to create a better atmosphere for clearing you mind. I especially like to go walking because it helps clear my mind and bring me closer to God.  I am able to get a lot more accomplished in my day if I break for lunch with just a fifteen minute break for walking. It definitely improves my mood for the better good of everyone around.

Is bottled water rotting your teeth?

Is bottled water rotting your teeth? It is certainly a question we should be asking bottled water companies and distributors. According to an article I found on WebMD, bottled water manufacturers are not held to the same standards as water plants. What does that mean? It means that while tap water is regulated by state government to make sure that it is in no way harmful, the same cannot be said of the bottled water industry.

A study published in the March 2000 issue of Archives of Family Medicine found that
*The Fluoride content of bottled water falls below the amount mandated by the state for tap water
* In some cases, bottled water was found to contain 10 times the level of bacteria found in tap water.

I know, you’re thinking, “It’s just Flouride, it’s not that big of a deal.” But actually, it is a very big deal. That lack of Flouride, mixed with the rise in Americans’ sugar intake, is contributing to tooth decay. That’s right, your bottled water could inevitably leave you wearing dentures.

To continue reading about the havoc bottled water is wreaking on your teeth, clickBottled May Not Be Better When It Comes to Water, or visit WebMD.com

All the facts you need to know about swine flu

By now we’ve all heard about the new possible pandemic we should all be fearful of; swine flu (trembles in terror every time the word is said). Now, I’m no doctor, but am I the only one who thinks people are taking this a little too seriously? Especially considering that bird flu was supposed to be the pandemic that wiped out the human race. I mean, really! In an effort to down play this over hyped illness, I headed to Web MD to get the facts for you.

What is swine flu?
Like people, pigs can get influenza (flu), but swine flu viruses aren’t the same as human flu viruses. Swine flu doesn’t often infect people, and the rare human cases that have occurred in the past have mainly affected people who had direct contact with pigs. But the current swine flu outbreak is different. It’s caused by a new swine flu virus that has spread from person to person — and it’s happening among people who haven’t had any contact with pigs.

What are swine flu symptoms?
Symptoms of swine flu are like regular flu symptoms and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. Those symptoms can also be caused by many other conditions, and that means that you and your doctor can’t know, just based on your symptoms, if you’ve got swine flu. It takes a lab test to tell whether it’s swine flu or some other condition.

How is swine flu treated?
The new swine flu virus is sensitive to the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza. The CDC recommends those drugs to prevent or treat swine flu; the drugs are most effective when taken within 48 hours of the start of flu symptoms. But not everyone needs those drugs; many of the first people in the U.S. with lab-confirmed swine flu recovered without treatment. The Department of Homeland Security has released 25% of its stockpile of Tamiflu and Relenza to states. Health officials have asked people not to hoard Tamiflu or Relenza.

Is there a vaccine against the new swine flu virus?
No. But the CDC and the World Health Organization are already taking the first steps toward making such a vaccine. That’s a lengthy process — it takes months.

I had a flu vaccine this season. Am I protected against swine flu?
No. This season’s flu vaccine wasn’t made with the new swine flu virus in mind; no one saw this virus coming ahead of time.

If you were vaccinated against flu last fall or winter, that vaccination will go a long way toward protecting you against certain human flu virus strains. But the new swine flu virus is a whole other problem.

How can I prevent swine flu infection?
The CDC recommends taking these steps:

* Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Or use an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
* Avoid close contact with sick people.
* Avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

CLICK HERE to continue reading this story.

Brown fat weight loss fad

Last week, I opened my email to find a gem of an article sitting in my inbox. Forwarded to me from one the producers of The Doctors, and courtesy of WebMD, I had to see what all the buzz was about concerning “brown fat,” mostly because I had no clue there was such a thing.

If you’re anything like me, then you’re probably just hearing about this new weight loss fad, too. According to the article, Can Brown Fat Make You Thin?, author Daniel J. DeNoon says it can. In the article he highlights the advantages of activating brown fat.

By activating the brown fat in your body, you could lose 9 pounds or more of bad white fat every year — without having to eat less or exercise more.

I know, what you’re thinking…What the heck is brown fat?! Apparently, brown fat was once thought to only be found in babies. It is the fat that all babies have and assumed that its purpose is to keep the body warm. Scientists thought that as we became older and more muscular that we lost brown fat. However, now scientists believe that we do not lose all our brown fat but rather it becomes dormant.

So, what does any of this have to do with you losing weight? Everything! Brown fat is activated when we become cold, and once that happens brown fat burns white fat as fuel. So, essentially your body uses good fat to burn bad fat. Upon studying the correlation of brown fat to white fat and muscle, scientists found

• Obese people have less brown fat than lean people do.
• Men have less brown fat than women do.
• Older people have less brown fat than younger people do.
• People with high blood sugar have less brown fat than people with normal blood sugar.

What does this mean for people like you and I? Well, it definitely makes getting hypothermia on purpose seem appealing, but besides that it’s a breakthrough in better understanding how our bodies work and what natural advantages God installed in us for weight loss and to maintain a healthy body.

To read the article in its entirety CLICK HERE.