Entries Tagged as 'Health tips'

Common Mistakes Parents Make When Choosing Beverages

Some of the most common mistakes parents make when serving beverages are: serving fruit juice that is only 10% juice or fruit flavored drinks which act as substitutes for the real fruit juice which is 100%. This helps one to be able to get all the nutrition that they need from the juice. Putting a child to bed with a bottle is a huge mistake as it can lead to complications and injuring the child.

Another mistake is serving fruit juice to a child who cannot drink from the cup yet in amounts which are not appropriate for their age. Serving skim milk or milk that has fat reduced is one of the mistakes that parents make when serving beverages. The most practical one is setting a bad example and drinking unhealthy beverages and expecting the kids not to follow suit. The final mistake is not encouraging children to drink water when they are thirsty and assuming that 100% fruit juice has sugar that is added to it.

Snack Smart For Healthy Teeth

While sugary foods are delicious and sweet, they cause a lot of damage not only to the body but your teeth too and for this reason, it is important to find healthy ways of snacking to keep your teeth looking healthy. The only manner through which you can achieve this is by questioning the contents of the snacks before you munch into it. If you are used to having sweets throughout the day, you should opt to have them after main meal as dessert and make sure that you brush your teeth soon afterwards.

If you believe that you cannot do without snacking every so often then opt for low fat foods such as vegetables, fresh fruits bread and whole grain crackers among others. For fruits and vegetables you can choose, pineapple, tangerines, carrots, tomatoes and canned fruits in natural juices while for grains you can go for pasta, plain crackers, baked tortilla chips and pretzels among others.

Breast Feeding-Best Bet For Babies

It is common knowledge that the benefits of breastfeeding extend well beyond basic nutrition. Other than the immediate benefit of containing the most vital vitamins and nutrients your baby needs in the first six months of life, breast milk is also a source of with disease-fighting substances that protect the baby from illnesses.

Studies indicate that diarrhea, and ear infections happen less often in breastfed babies and lower respiratory illnesses, are less severe when they do occur in babies who have been breast fed. Exclusive breastfeeding means that there are no solid foods taken for at least six months seems to offer the most protection.

Studies also go ahead to find that the immune factors which are present in colostrum which is the first milk your body produces, guards against invading germs by forming a protective layer on your baby’s mucous membranes in his intestines, nose, and throat.

Breastfeeding may also protect your baby from developing inflammatory bowel disease later in life. Several studies have documented a link between a lack of breastfeeding in infancy and later development of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Support Your Bones with Healthy Habits

It is advised that an intake of proper foods and undertaking regular weight-bearing activities are major components needed to maximize bone mass during the younger years and to minimize bone loss with aging.

To support healthy an strong bones one is advised to choose a variety of foods from all the food groups daily to supply nutrients needed for thet proper functioning of the body, as well as for good bone health. Proper foods for this purpose include cereals, vegetables, fruit groups (2-4 servings daily) Milk, yogurt, and cheese group (2-3 servings daily) .Other foods include meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, and nuts group (2-3 servings daily)
Be sure to choose sufficient calcium rich and vitamin-D rich foods each day. Both of these nutrients are essential for dense, strong bones. Calcium sources include: low-fat or nonfat yogurt, nonfat or 1% milk, cheese, broccoli Eat only moderate amounts of protein (approximately 15% of calories) and fiber rich foods (25-35 grams fiber daily) to avoid interference with calcium absorption and storage.

What to do if you have swine flu

Most people go crazy when they start to show symptoms of a flu such as cough and a fever, thinking they have the dreaded swine flu. Well its not possible to detect the swine flu just from a few symptoms that appear unless a special test is carried out, so the best thing to do if you suspect that you have the virus is to try as much as possible to avoid contact with other human beings so you should stay indoors to avoid transmitting the H1N1 virus.

You should only get out of the house when you are going to seek medical assistance. Also when you have the swine flu you should make sure that you are prepared by having enough food supply as well as over the counter medicines and other related items like tissues so as to minimize unnecessary trips to public place and avoid spreading the virus.

Vision Care Tips

The human eye plays a very important role in day to day life. It is practically essential in the running of all activities a human being could probably undertake everyday. Taking good care of our eyes is with no doubt very important. Avoiding sun rays is one such precaution that should be put in place. Too much light is damaging to the eye, therefore invest in a pair or two of sun glasses. Whichever kind of sun glasses a person chooses should be to offer protection from UV rays.

Some people also strain the eyes by staying too long before the computer or watching television. This causes fatigue to the eye and may result in someone being short sighted. Eating foods that aid in good vision (vitamin A i.e. carrots) also goes a long way in helping the eye to function longer. A person may also consider visiting an optician just to be sure that their eyes are in good condition.

Fresh-Mouthed Answers to Bad Breath

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Bad breath is a serious matter as it not only embarrasses you publicly but also can reveal underlying health issues. In order to cure bad breath effectively, you have to find out the cause of this condition. Some of the major causes of bad breath include gingivitis, poor oral hygiene, swollen tonsils, tooth decay, internal organ malfunction, indigestion, diet and in some cases smoking.

Curing bad breath is easier once you have identify the odor causing bacteria and this means that you need to have correct oral hygiene so that the population of the bacteria that causes bad breath are minimized. After every meal, it is advisable that you floss especially if you have eaten meat as it will help to loosen the strands of meat at the same time assist in preventing tooth decay. Brushing teeth after every meal is necessary and also it is important that you work on the tongue as it is where 80% of bacteria are found.

Effective Ways to Avoid the Stomach Flu

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There are a number of ways to avoid stomach flu. Some of the ways to avoid stomach flu include;
Washing your hand – One of the best ways to avoid stomach flu and other related disease is to wash your hand thoroughly. You have to make sure that you wash your hand after using the toilet, bathroom, after changing diapers and before eating or preparing a meal. You should make it a routine to wash your hand when you get home for this will ensure that your hands are clean any time you are at home. If it is not possible that you can wash your hand with soap and water, it is advisable that you carry a bottle of alcohol based waterless sanitizer.
Another way of avoiding stomach flu is to disinfect all surfaces especially if one of your family members is ill. Keep bathrooms clean and ensure that the kitchen surface is properly disinfected.

Importance of drinking only distilled water

Distilled Water, Body Care, Health CareDrinking water is hugely suggested to regulate the body temperature, loose weight, boost energy, to improve digestion, detoxify and other benefits. But we also need to give consideration to the water that we are drinking. Drinking water that is full of harmful germs will not help you in any way, but will only further deteriorate your health. One of the ways to get healthy and clean water is to get it distilled. There are several automatic water distillation machines in the market which give you the cleanest and healthiest water to drink.

Actually, water coming from a tap, stored in a tank or taken out from a well, is full of germs like harmful bacteria. Water containing these elements makes your digestive system worse and thus, drinking this kind of water is useless, and even harmful in many ways. This will not only hamper your immunity but will also give you bacteria that is responsible for causing several diseases such as diarrhea, fever and flu.

Healing Benefits of Olive Leaves

Health, Olive, FitnessOlive leaves come from the olive tree also known as Olea Europaea. Most of the olives leaves’ known medicinal value come from the leaf’s natural flavor and extract that have various anti inflammatory, antibacterial antioxidant and antifungal properties. A few of the clinically active compounds in olive leaf include oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, oleocantathal, polyphenols, falavanoids, tacotrienols, isoprenoids, pycnogenols, carotenoids and glucosinolates. It can be taken as liquid tea, tablets or capsules.

Alternative medicine use the olive leaf’s extracts as an anti pathogen therapy that brings to close development bacterial, fungal and viral infections. Some of its anti pathogen qualities are often used for curing flu and colds, herpes, yeast infection, shingles and Epstein-Barr disease. Its antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties on the other hand can remove bad cholesterol and lower blood pressure, thereby help in management of cardiovascular conditions. Meanwhile some studies report that its antioxidant qualities can reverse liver, breast and prostate cancer tumors.