Sleep... a critical part of our lives

 A Critical Part of a Healthy Life You May Be Missing: Sleep

Warning: You may be missing out on one of the most fundamental aspects of your overall health. It’s something people take for granted. People ignore it to fit their busy schedules. I’m talking about sleep.

Everyone sleeps! But many are quick to shave off precious hours of sleep to fit their busy schedule. Worse yet, many struggle to get quality sleep. Quality sleep is a huge part of your health! Luckily, I have some tips for you to help improve your sleep quality.

First off, let’s review why sleep is so important for our overall health.

Why Sleep Is Important

To put it simply: you sleep to recharge. A number of vital processes occur only while you sleep. Your resting body tackles tasks like:

• muscle growth and repair
• memory consolidation
• the release of hormones that regulate growth and appetite
• restoration of energy
• the removal of toxins from the brain

Directly or indirectly, sleep affects your brain and nervous system, cardiovascular system, metabolic functions and immune system. Ever felt like you just needed a good, long night’s sleep to get over a cold? Bingo. Sleep is also essential for recovery after vigorous exercise because that is when your muscles have a chance to grow and repair.

Lack of Sleep

Not allowing your body to recharge can have dangerous consequences. First off, “drowsy driving” causes more than 100,000 car crashes a year according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Cognitively, studies show that lack of sleep leads to poor decision-making. Physiologically, if you don’t sleep enough your body doesn’t get the proper amount of time to regulate hormones (leading to higher levels of cortisol, the “stress hormone”) or repair muscles from exercise.

Have I convinced you that sleep is important to your overall health yet?

Learning why sleep’s important is the easy part, though. It’s much harder to actually get quality sleep. Here are some tips.

5 Tips For Improving Sleep

1. Shut down your electronics 30 min before bed. Trust me. Get the TV out of your room and remove any other electronics that are tempting. If you use your smartphone as an alarm, do your very best not to browse the internet before bed. Why? The LED light emissions from electronics suppress the production of melatonin, the hormone that makes us feel sleepy.
2. Shut out as much light as possible. This means turning nightlights and the lights from your electronics off and shutting out as much light from outside as possible. Get light-blocking curtains. Related to our first tip, even the smallest amount of light can prevent you from getting quality sleep. As dark as possible = good!
3. Commit to a sleep schedule. Shoot for 8 hours of sleep a night. This is a template that doesn’t fit everyone, though. Some people can function on less, while others will need more. But don’t let that trick you into thinking you are performing optimally on less sleep. If you are getting quality sleep and your body doesn’t need more than 6 hours of sleep, you will wake up. Without an alarm. So if you still need an alarm to wake up after 6 hours of sleep, you probably need more sleep (or aren’t getting good quality sleep).
4. Create a comfortable, relaxing sleep environment. First and foremost, invest in a mattress and pillow you find comfortable. Make your bedroom a place you find relaxing. I’m not saying to hire an interior designer (unless you want to!) but strive to make the room a place you want to be—a calming and relaxing place.
5. Exercise daily. At least 30 minutes of some activity during the day will aid your sleep quality. Just avoid exercising at the expense of sleep. Waking up early with only 4-5 hours of sleep might be counterintuitive—your body hasn’t had time to recover fully and repair muscles, so you end up fatiguing your body more…which leads to high stress and low performance.

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Water, water, water... it is so imprtant!

 The importance of water

Happy spring everyone!!

Water is everything... it is the answer to everything. 

It is what we need more than anything , it is why we live!!

Water is an important part of our bodies, which consist of up to 60% water. In fact, the brain alone is made up of 73% water, the lungs are 83%, and even bones contain some amount of water. Despite all this, many people take it for granted, not drinking even close to the adequate amount of water needed for bodily functions to take place properly.

Most people have heard the recommendation of drinking 8 glasses a day, but every day you lose water through perspiration and trips to the bathroom. This brings the actual amount close to a few glasses above 8 depending on your activity throughout the day. About 20% of our water intake comes from food and many foods such as spinach, cantaloupe, pineapple and of course watermelon bring this number to about 90% on average.

Despite all this, water also has additional benefits that you may not already know about or realize.

 

Boost Your Brainpower

As mentioned before, the brain is 73% water, so water is important for cognitive performance. Studies have shown that people performing simple tasks are more efficient at them if they drink water beforehand, both adults and children.

But you don’t have to have drunk the appropriate amount of water every day for your whole life to experience the benefits. Drinking a glass of water while working or studying for a test can help you focus and think faster.

Water deprivation can also cause headaches and is one of the most common causes of headaches and migraines, and these problems can be solved by simply drinking a glass or two of water if you’re experiencing them.

 

Weight Loss

Believe it or not, water actually helps with weight loss. Drinking water boosts the number of calories you burn, and in itself, contains zero calories. Drinking water is also shown to reduce appetite. A person might think they’re hungry, but in truth, they are actually thirsty, and this “hunger” can disappear by just drinking a glass of water.

Because it contains zero calories, drinking water when you feel hungry may satisfy your appetite, while also helping you lose weight. Drinking just 0.5 liters of water resulted in 4.4 lbs per year of weight loss in one study.

Many of our calories come from sweetened beverages such as soda or tea, replacing these beverages with water (which has no calories), can cause weight loss if you are a drinker of these beverages. Without water, the body is unable to metabolize carbohydrates or fat, which results in weight gain. Drinking more water can help speed up this process, causing weight loss.

Stops Diseases

One of the most important benefits of drinking water is it’s role in stopping diseases and health ailments. These include kidney stones, asthma, urinary tract infections, coronary heart disease, and even cancer. Dehydration shrinks your cornea, stops the blood supply to your eyes, causing impaired sight and swelling. There’s also a risk of blood clots that can be developed by not drinking enough water.

Water also helps reduce fever by getting rid of the “heat” in your body, and as mentioned before helps you reduce weight, which comes with it’s added benefits in preventing diseases. Water is one of nature’s most essential drinks, but most people don’t care to get the right amount, or don’t drink proper water that is filtered from a tap, and instead choose bottled water or regular tap water that contains toxins.

So, next time you walk by your nearest source of water, grab a glass and enjoy the most important beverage you will ever drink.

Don't under estimate its power. No need to diet, just drink water!!

It will make you loose weight and make you feel so good.

It's simple😁

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The importance of Iron for Women

 

Why women need more iron than men and how they can get it

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Almost half of adult women and three-quarters of teenage girls aren’t getting enough iron from their food, according to the most recent dietary guidelines.

Iron deficiency is one of the biggest nutritional deficiencies across the world and women need more iron than men because they lose it through menstruation, pregnancy and lactation.

 Iron is an essential mineral required to deliver oxygen to all cells of the body. And, while men need about 10 micrograms a day, menstruating women need about 14 micrograms a day. The iron needs of older women revert to those of men.

Traditionally in some countries, men are given larger portions of foods like red meat but it’s menstruating and pregnant women who need more iron than men. Men also tend to eat protein for lunch and dinner while many women opt for vegetable soups and salads at lunch time, missing out on iron from protein sources.

Anaemia

However, it’s important to distinguish between anaemia – which is a medically defined low level of iron – and not getting the recommended daily allowance of iron . The symptoms of anaemia are tiredness, irritability, headaches and a pale, washed-out facial complexion but it must be diagnosed by a general practitioner or nurse practitioner following a blood test. Only then are iron supplements prescribed.

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Women shouldn’t take iron supplements unless a doctor has identified low iron levels following a blood test.  This is important because low blood iron could also be linked to other conditions such as coeliac disease. Then, following the course of supplements, it is advised to have another blood test to see if the iron levels have returned to normal.

In the past, pregnant women were prescribed iron supplements as a matter of course. However, now only those found to have low iron levels are recommended to take iron supplements during pregnancy. Better awareness of ha-em ochromatosis, the genetic disorder which causes excess iron to be stored in the body’s organ, has also contributed to a more cautious approach to taking iron supplements.

Too much iron

Aside from ha-em ochromatosis, symptoms of having too much iron in your body are constipation, vomiting and stomach pains. In fact, taking iron supplements can in itself also cause discomfort and pharmacists recommend they are taken on an empty stomach.

It’s best to take iron one hour before a meal or two hours after a meal. They are best absorbed when taken without food and with orange juice (because vitamin C helps the absorption of iron) but never with milk.  Medicines such as tetracycline antibiotics and some thyroid and stomach medications also reduce the absorption of iron so they shouldn’t be taken at the same time as iron supplements.

Diet

However, the easier way to avoid the symptoms of low iron levels is to ensure you have enough of it in your diet. Red meat, fish and poultry contain the most easily absorbed form of dietary iron known as Ha-em iron. Plant sources of iron are leafy green vegetables (for example, spinach and kale), whole grains, dried pulses, fruit and seeds. However, this plant form of dietary iron (known as non-Ha-em) is more difficult to absorb. Non-ha-em iron is also sensitive to compounds found in tea, coffee, cocoa and red wine and the iron won’t be absorbed as well if iron-rich foods are eaten at the same time as these drinks.

Spinach is a good source of iron.

One of the biggest concerns is low levels of iron among teenage girls who become vegetarian. This is a particularly vulnerable group because growing and studying places extra demands on their bodies already and vegetarians have to be very careful to get high enough non-ha-em sources of iron as possible.

People are not expected to add up their iron intake but including eggs in a vegetarian diet is a good way to ensure adequate iron intake. Fortified breakfast cereals, fortified milks and juices, dried fruit and seeds are other readily available sources of iron and other important minerals.

  Iron-rich meal ideas

• Scrambled egg with mushrooms, grilled tomato and fruit juice
• Fortified breakfast cereal, berries and fruit juice
• Sardines with wholegrain toast and green salad
• Omelette with chopped peppers and mushrooms
• Spaghetti bolognese with grilled tomatoes and garlic ciabatta
• Spiced beef or pork stir-fried with noodles, babycorn and mangetout

At the end of the day a well balanced 

diet is the key to everything!!

  

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Not all food should be refrigerated

 

24 foods you should STOP refrigerating!

Did you know that there are many foods that we should stop refrigerating? We're completely aware of how modern refrigeration is a substantial practice in every kitchen and household. It goes a long way in preserving our food and maintaining its quality.

But did you know, despite popular belief, refrigerating certain foods can actually change their flavor (not in a good way). This is not it. It can even reduce their nutritional quality, or accelerate the spoiling process. Here are some food items that we should never keep in the fridge. We bet some of these are sitting in your refrigerator right now!

1) BREAD
It is perfectly fine to freeze bread, but keeping it in the fridge causes it to dry faster. And you end up eating dry bread. Instead, keep what you’ll eat within four days at room temperature and freeze the rest. Store in a cool cupboard or bread box for a fresh slice.

2) HERBS
It's natural instinct to stuff the fresh herbs, you just bought from the grocery, right onto the fridge. But did you know herbs wilt faster in the fridge? You could place them in a water-filled glass jar on your kitchen counter to to keep it fresh and crisp.

3) POTATO
Refrigeration adversely affects the flavor of potatoes, therefore it is best to store them in paper bags. Remember, plastic bags promote moisture and speed decay process.

4) FRUITS like ....
Avocado, apples, bananas, citrus fruits, berries, peaches, apricots, and nectarines should be stored out of the fridge. Refrigerating these fruits will result in loss of flavors and textures. However, you can refrigerate these fruits for 30 minutes prior to eating if you want a crisp bite. Store oranges, lemons, and limes at room temperature on your kitchen counter. Just be careful not to bunch them too closely, or they will tend to mold. Don't store an underripe avocado in the fridge, but an already ripe or cut avocado can be refrigerated.

5) ONION
The best way to store onions is in a paper bag in a cool, dark spot, away from potatoes. Potatoes tend to release moisture and gases that can cause onions to rot. They soften and impart an oniony scent on nearby foods. The moisture of the fridge softens the onions and moldy.

6) SALAD DRESSINGS

Just like other condiments, most salad dressing, especially ones that are vinegar or oil-based, are just fine stored outside the fridge. However, cream, yogurt, or mayo-based dressings should be stored in the fridge.

7) TOMATO
Tomatoes lose their flavor and start becoming mushy when stored inside the fridge. In order to ripen the tomatoes faster, however, store them out of the fridge in a paper bag. Once ripe, they’ll last for about three days.

8) KETCHUP, SOY SAUCE
Thanks to the vinegar and preservatives, the saucy ketchup and soy sauce will be just fine without refrigeration, even after it has been opened.

9) CEREAL
Your morning cereals will be fine and happy outside the fridge. So don't upset them.

10) OILS
Pretty much all oils are safe to store at room temperature. If the oil has a lower saturated-fat content, such as safflower or sunflower, it will benefit from being kept cool, so store it in a dark cabinet or the fridge door. The only oils that you must refrigerate are nut-based oils.

11) COFFEE
You all know this. Coffee fares best in an airtight container. In fact, refrigeration condenses coffee and reduces the flavor.

12) PICKLES
High on preservatives, pickles will stay fresh outside the fridge. Store it in an open space, so air can move around it.

13) MELONS
Melons normally do best outside the fridge. Once refrigerated, they tend to break down and become powdery and grainy. So to keep the flavour intact, melons need to be stored at room temperature. However, after cutting, you should store the melons in the fridge for three to four days.

14) PEANUT BUTTER
No need of refrigeration, just keep it stored in a cool, dark spot and your peanut butter will be just fine.

15) HONEY
Refrigeration will cause the luscious honey to harden. That's why you should be storing it at room temperature and out of direct sunlight.

16) BERRIES
Fresh berries already have a short shelf life, so leave them out of the fridge and eat them within a day or two of purchasing.

17) JAM
Due to the high amount of preservatives in jams and jellies, it is acceptable to store without refrigeration, even after opening.

18) STONE FRUITS
Stone fruits such as peach, cherry and plum aren't exactly good friends with the fridge, therefore it's best to keep them aside in the kitchen until they’re ripe, and ready to eat.

19) GARLIC
Refrigeration reduces the flavor of garlic and affects its lifespan as well. The refrigerated environment can actually cause mold to develop. Store garlic in a paper bag in a cool, dark spot.

20) SPICES
Ground spices need no refrigeration whatsoever.

21) NUTS & DRIED FRUITS
There's no need to refrigerate them. Nuts will be fine stored in a cool, dark spot.

22) WINTER SQUASHES

Butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, delicata and pumpkins are just some of the many varieties of winter squash we find in the market. These vitamin A and C rich veggies do best when stored at room temperature. On top of that, squash can last for about a month or longer out of the fridge.

23) PACKED TUNA

You might not be sure, but that tuna has been sealed, just like in a can, so it’s more than fine stored at room temperature.

24) PEPPER
Whether red, green, yellow, and even chili peppers, they're going to be just fine without any refrigeration. Store them in a paper bag in a cool space.

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