The secret killer called stress

Stress is the feeling of being under too much
mental or emotional pressure.

Pressure turns into stress when you feel unable to
cope.
People have different ways of reacting to stress, so a situation that feels stressful to one person may be motivating to someone else.

Many of life's demands can cause stress,
particularly work, relationships and money
problems, when you feel stressed, it can get in the way of sorting out these demands, or can even affect everything you do.

Stress can affect how you feel, think, behave and
how your body works. In fact, common signs of
stress include sleeping problems, sweating, loss of
appetite and difficulty concentrating.

You may feel anxious, irritable or low in self esteem, and you may have racing thoughts,
worry constantly or go over things in your head.

You may notice that you lose your temper more easily, drink more or act unreasonably.

You may also experience headaches, muscle
tension or pain, or dizziness.
Stress causes a surge of hormones in your body.
These stress hormones are released to enable you
to deal with pressures or threats – the so-called
"fight or flight" response.
Once the pressure or threat has passed, your
stress hormone levels will usually return to
normal.

However, if you're constantly under stress, these hormones will remain in your body,
leading to the symptoms of stress.

Courtesy: Jehomed Consult
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.

Foods that help fight wrinkles

In Africa,it is noted that people age or grow older than their age.This is due to so many factors but mainly environmental factors...
Study after study has shown that a diet high in antioxidant slow down the signs of aging and improves longetivity. Antioxidants are substances that may protect your cells against the effects of free radicals....free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food,or by environmental exposure like tobacco smokes and radiation.Free radicals can damage cells and may play a role in heart diseases,cancer and other diseases.
Examples of antioxidants are: beta-carotene, lycopene, selenium,Vit A,C and E.
Fruits and vegetables are among the foods that is richest in antioxidants. Here's how to make sure you get a good variety of antioxidants-rich foods,

1)Choose color coded plants:Typically fruits and vegetables that are deeply coloure have the most antioxidants e.g berries,kale,spinach and collard green

2)Reach for whole grain:Whole grains foods have significantly more antioxidants than processed grains.

3)Herbs and spices: Don't just make food taste better,they can help you look younger for a longer period of time e.g thyme,rosemary,parsely,sage,pearmint and peppermint.


Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.

The secrets of dieting

Thanks to the media, everyone’s perception on what the ideal physical appearance should be has been altered, the media has helped promote being slim often times even being underweight overe being normal weight especially in women, as a result of this, most women have turned to dieting and exercise to help get that ideal physical appearance.

What is dieting?
Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion, dieting is practised for different reasons, it can either decrease, maintain or increase body weight. Dieting is often used in combination with physical exercise to loose weight in those who are over-weight or obese.

Some people, however, follow a diet to gain weight (usually in the form of muscles), this sort of dieting is practised by Body builders, or sportsmen such as rugby players, boxers and wrestlers. Dieting can be tailored to meet different needs, it all depends on the component of the diet.
Dieting to promote weight loss is the most popular, this type of dieting can be divided into 4 categories: Low fat diet, Low carbohydrate diet, Low calorie diets, Very low-calorie diets. These four categories are explained below:

1) Low fat diet:

Low fat diet involves the reduction of the percentage of fat in one's diet. Calorie consumption is reduced because less fat is consumed. This helps to bring a great reduction in weight since fat is the major culprit in excessive weight.

2) Low carbohydrate diet:

Low carbohydrate diet reduces the amount of carbohydrate in one’s diet, this has the same effect as low fat diets because, carbohydrates overtime can be converted into fat in the body, this fat could lead to weight gain, or could be converted back to glucose depending on what the body needs at that time. Low carbohydrate diets are sometimes ketogenic (i.e they restrict carbohydrate intake sufficiently to cause ketosis).

3) Low-calorie diets:

Low calorie diets usually produce an energy deficit of 500-1000 calories per day which can result in a 0.5 kg to 1 kg weight loss per week.

4) Very low-calorie diets:

Very low calorie diets provide 200-800 calories per day maintaining protein intake but limiting calories from both fat and carbohydrate.

Do you want to know how to eat well and still loose weight CLICK HERE

This article was composed by my very good friend, Oluwole, a medical student and health and fitness columnist on this blog. He represents JEHOMED CONSULT.

Ten hot tips on healthier living Part 2

6. Quit smoking
    There is nothing good about it. If you're having trouble quitting, start smoking less today -- smoke only half a cigarette, and skip as many of your usual smokes as you can -- and get help right away. Get some guidance about why it is you smoke to figure out how best to stop doing it. Smoking cessation groups can be extremely helpful and supportive, and medications like a nicotine patch can help decrease the cravings

7. Don't focus on dieting, focus on eating.
     Most people go on hunger strike only to over-eat later, why suffer all through the day and eat like a horse at night? Eat every four hours, it is better to eat moderately during the day than to suffer hunger pangs at night, and over-eat. Please note 'eat moderately'.

8. Eating won't solve emotional problems.
      Many people eat when they are sad, though it might give you a temporary solution, eating shouldn't be taken as a solution to depression, get to the root of the problem and find out why you are so sad, eating to solve emotional problems would only give you more weight to worry about, and the problems would still remain.

9. Exercise. 
     Exercise helps to improve the circulation of blood through the body, this increased circulation helps get the necessary nutrients and oxygen to the different body parts, and also helps remove waste materials from these body parts. Exercise can take any form-- jogging, weight lifting, sprinting, playing squash, tennis etc.

10. Have routine massage.
        Massage helps to reduce stress, stress is one of the top ten killers, make a date with the spa todaay.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

You might also want to view my article on 'How to eat well and still loose weight' click HERE

Ten hot tips for healthier living (part1)

Health is wealth, no matter how much you have, you need to be alive to enjoy the wealth, I came across this ten health tips, and I feel it would be great to share them with my faithful readers. Here they are, ten health tips:

1. Wear a pedometer:
     A pedometer is a device used to measure the distance you trek in a day, walking is a good form of exercise, but its usually under-used, we are advised to walk at least 30 minutes everyday at a fast pace, or take 10,000 steps in a day... Look on the bright side, those of us without cars have got a good excuse to trek, lol...

2. Eat at least two fish meals per week.
     Fishes contain essential oils that have been found to be good for the heart and brain, and they help tp prevent heart disease, fish is very good for infants as it helps their brain development. So slow down on the cholestrol ridden chicken, and go the fish way...

3. Drink lots of water.
    This wont come as a surprise to most people, water is really the best cure for thirst, and it helps in cleaning the body of toxic substances, the great Afrobeat musician Fela even sang about the benefits of water in his song Water e no get enemy, yes, we all know this, but how many of us actually practice it? Drink at least 4 glasses of water everyday, so when next you go clubbin, and your friends ask what you are going to 'pop' just say water 'winks'...

4. Sleep eight hours a night.
    I can see the 'Jonahs' smiling, sleep is good for your health, if you dont need sleep, God wont have designed us to fall asleep at night, it helps to reduce stress, boosts memory, reduces the risk of an heart attack, and besides it gives you the opportunity to dream about the empires you hope to build, keep dreaming, cause Law of attraction really works.

5. Keep sugar and caffeine to a minimum
    Sugar and caffeine can be seen as legal evils, too much sugar is bad for you, caffeine isn't any better, high blood sugar has been linked to erectile dysfunction in men, diabetes in people and itching. Caffeine on the other hand is the active ingredient in coffee and most energy drinks, it helps keep us alert, it is however linked to heart failure, why take in stimulants to be alert, when you are alert already? Caffeine is also addictive.

Watch out for Part 2.....

PROCEED TO PART 2

If you want to know how to eat well and still loose weight, click HERE

How to eat well and still loose weight

Sounds sensational doesn't it ? but its possible...
Hundreds of people most especially women around the world have been made to believe that being attractive has to do with how slim they are, thanks to the media (television, magazines, music, social media etc). It is better to be of the right weight, than to be under-weight or over-weight.

Whether men find slim or big women attractive is a topic for another day, as one man's meat is another's poison, just as one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter...
 A'lot of women engage in harmful practices of forcing themselves to vomit their food, because they are trying to get into that 'ideal' size dictated by the media, little do they know that there are other ways to keep slim other than vomiting out their food or going on compulsory fast....
Yes! Its possible to eat well and still maintain that perfect size.
First, lets know what causes people to 'blow-up'.

What brings about fat ?
Genetics plays a big role in determining how we look-- facial feature, height, weight etc, that is probably why you would meet someone that eats very little but is still very fat... everyone also has that one friend that eats like a horse but looks like a broomstick, its all in the genes...

To be fair, not all cases of being over-weight can be blamed on genetics, (definitely not), most times, the real culprit is what we eat.
Food is of different classes-- proteins, carbonhydrates, fats and oil, vitamins, minerals etc, our body handles this classes of food differently, of the classes of foods listed, 'carbonhydrates' and 'fats and oil' are the leading causes of excessive weight.

Excess carbonhydrates and fats is stored up in the body muscles as fat, which means if you eat a'lot without getting the chance to burn it, you will keep storing up this fat in the body, and in no time, being slim would be a thing of the past!!!
Proteins cant be stored up as fat in the body, neither can minerals, vitamins or water...
Excess proteins would simply be discharged from the body. No matter how much of this classes of food that you eat, it wont be harmful to your weight, they would only make you fresher and healthier...

The need for exercise cant be over-emphasized, exercise refreshes the mind and the body, it leaves you feeling younger and helps burn the accumulated fat gotten from eating starchy foods (iyan, eba, akpo etc), The issue of exercise is often looked upon vaguely, what comes to mind when people see the word 'exercise' is a gym with all those scary looking equipments, exercise can be in any form-- walking briskly on the road, jogging, skipping, deciding to use the staircase instead of the lift... Just a simple 5 mins jog daily can do a great deal in shedding excess weight, whatever the type of exercise you choose, it should be done consistently and gradually so as not to lead to injury.

Tips on how to loose weight and remain fit

• Pick a convenient exercise routine, it might be as easy as walking long distances briskly paced everyday, jogging, skipping or using the staircase, try to have fun while trying to loose weight, and having a partner that can motivate you also helps.
• Avoid checking the scale everyday, so you dont get discouraged, weight cant be lost overnight.
• Drink lots of water and eat lots of fruits and vegetables, this helps to satisfy your appetite (much better than starving!), you can never eat too much fruits, the more the better! Contrary to normal belief, fruits no matter how sweet cant be fattening.
• Incorporate a'lot of protein into your diet and avoid starchy foods, sweet desserts, soft drinks etc.
• Don't rely heavily on acclaimed 'slimming teas' and tablets, exercise and good eating habits are the real key to having a healthy weight, besides any size reduction gotten easily (by taking drugs) would be gained easily, and before you know it, you are addicted to slimming drugs.
• Gradually incorporate more physical activities into your daily routine.
• Avoid junk food and binge eating (eating randomly), eat at the right time.

More tips on how to maintain physical fitness would be posted soon, stay tuned, and re-share... You never can tell who might need to read this.