Nurture Your Own

In the previous Post, we discussed about some of the common causes of headaches. Some of the common causes of headaches include having improper postures while sitting, standing/walking, exercising and sleeping.

The main problem about improper postures is that they cause our body to improperly contract the wrong muscles and joints, thus causing undue stress and strain on our joints and muscles in the long run.

Don’t worry, years of mistakes can be corrected once you have got the postures right.

Sitting

The importance of sitting has never been that underscored till recently. With many adults spending long hours at their office chair or at their comfy couch at home, sitting with the right posture is of absolute importance. The following are some important points to take note while sitting:

1. Your head should be above your shoulders. Don’t slouch forward. Slouching causes uneven pressure between your vertebrae and eventually neck and/or lower back problems.
2. Relax your shoulders. Frequent tensing of your shoulders will easily slouch your body forward.
3. The top your monitor’s screen should be about even or a slightly lower than eye level. The monitor should be directly in front of you, not to the side. Additionally, position the monitor so there is no glare on the screen. If this isn’t possible, you may need a glare screen. Glare not only causes eye strain but may make you sit abnormally in order to see the screen clearly.
4. Your hands should be kept in-line with your forearms. Bending your wrist up/down or to either side causes the tendons running through your wrists to rub against their protective sheaths more than necessary and become damaged.
5. The back of your chair should not only support your back but help maintain the natural hollow in your lower back. Many chairs have a built-in lumbar support for this reason. The back should be adjustable up and down and back and forward. Ideally, the back should be able to be adjusted while you are seated.

Having mentioned these points, I have to emphasize that changing your sitting position every 10 minutes will help in encouraging blood flow. Better blood circulation helps in reducing strain to the back, the neck as well as the joints.

Standing/Walking

Many people have the bad habits of slouching and hunching. These bad habits not only cause us to look bad and lowers our confidence, they also causes our body to adopt an improper posture.
Do you know that when you are about to run, you are actually slouching forward? Slouching forward makes us more streamline which enables us to move faster. As our pace of life becomes faster than ever, we also tend to hurry and rush to places. As we hurry and rush, we are actually unconsciously adopting the running position as well. Therefore we have to be mindful of how we walk and stand.

The following are some points that help in improving standing or walking posture:

1. Relax your shoulders and let your eyes look straight. When you look straight, you are actually easing yourself of distracting thoughts and thus relaxing. This relaxation helps you to relax your muscles which may be involuntarily tensing you up and making you rush unconsciously.
2. Let your hips lead your body when you are walking. You will realise that you will be walking with more poise, impact and importantly, properly.
3. When standing, make sure your shoulders and hips are level, parallel to the ground. The head should be right between the shoulders.
4. The arms need to hang in a comfortable position, sort of relaxed, with the first finger and thumb pointing forward. The knees should basically point straight forward while the feet will normally have a slight turn out-wards.

You may find unnatural and uncomfortable while trying to adopt the right postures while sitting and standing/walking. Please let me assure you that this is perfectly normal! After all, you have been adopting the wrong postures for years; it is definitely not going to be easy achieving the right postures instantly.

As the following saying goes ‘a journey of a thousand miles begin with the first step’, so long as you are consciously attempting the right postures, sooner or later you will not even realise that unconsciously, you are already adapted to the right postures.
Stay tune to the next article where we will share with you on the right postures for exercising and sleeping

Additional Reading of the same series

Headache management – part 1

Headache Management – part 3

The moment you shut your heavy eyes, you drift to another world. This world that you are in is the world that you have always dreamt about. It is the sweetest dream that you ever had. You had a long uninterrupted sleep. You woke up 8 hours later, welcoming yourself for a memorably fantastic day ahead. However just when you are about to get off your bed, your head felt a throbbing pain.

Have you had such an experience before? Having an anti-climax first thing in the early morning sure is upsetting.

A headache is a complete waste of a good day. Most people’s response towards headaches is to reach out to painkillers. However painkiller hardly solves the problem. In fact it exacerbates the problem in 3 different manners.

1. It merely eases the pain temporarily.
2. When the headache recurs, most people will be at a lost and they probably resort to taking more painkiller.
3. Due to a regular intake of painkiller, addiction and tolerance problems will surface inevitably in the long run.

Studies have shown that 75% of the people who take painkillers due to chronic pain and that 80% of the chronic pain cases are due to the result of headaches.

The reason why headache is a major cause of concern is because people do not really understand what is headache really all about. The causes of headaches can be classified under 2 categories. The first category is the physiology, whereby proper body postures, regular exercise as well as balance of our hormones play a major role in minimizing headaches. The second category is the environment and substances which play a part in increasing the trigger probability of headaches.

Contrary to popular myth, headaches are not caused by abnormal blood flow to the brain. The brain itself does not have nociceptors or pain receptors. However several areas of the head as well as the neck do have nociceptors.

Most of the headache problems are due to poor head and neck postures over the years. Thus it is very important that we have to be mindful of our body postures. As our body is like a machine, slight misplacement of a cog in a gear will result in our body malfunctioning.

In view of that how we position ourselves while we partake in the following activities:

1. Sitting
2. Standing/walking
3. Exercising
4. Sleeping

In the next article, we will explore how these 4 simple activities can have a drastic impact on heads literally.

Additional Reading of the same series

Headache Management – Part 2

Headache Management – Part 3

The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it. ~Attributed to both Jim Goodwin and Sydney J. Harris

Myth: Chocolate lacks any nutritional value.
Fact: Chocolate is a good source of magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. It also contains polyphenols (an antioxidant also found in tea and red wine) that have been associated with a decreased risk of coronary disease. An average chocolate bar contains about the same amount of antioxidants as a 5-ounce glass of red wine.

A daily serving of dark chocolate, which contains more antioxidants than milk chocolate, can also help lower blood pressure and improve insulin resistance according to a joint study between Tufts University in Boston and the University of L’Aquila in Italy. The findings do not suggest that people with high blood pressure consume dark chocolate in lieu of taking their prescribed medication, but that the flavonoids in dark chocolate may have a positive effect on blood pressure and insulin resistance. Learn more about the health properties of chocolate.

Source: Calorie Count

Additional Reading

World’s #1 Chocolate Cake Recipe for only $5

First Chocolate Recipe School On Video

There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them. ~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

The man who doesn’t relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on his head for the edification of the pathologist and trained nurse, a little later on. ~ Elbert Hubbard

Here are 10 benefits why you should dance:

1. To de-stress and let loose
2. Lose weight fast
3. Strengthens bones
4. Improve muscle tone & coordination
5. Increase energy
6. Improves cardiovascular system
7. Lowers risk of heart disease
8. Reduce blood pressure & cholesterol levels
9. Improves blood circulation
10. Increase flexibility and balance

Additional Reading:

Burn the Fats Feed the Muscles

Fat Loss Secrets

Our body runs on glucose. Glucose is derived from the digestion of sugar and starch in carbohydrates in noodles, pasta, bread, rice and even vegetable and fruits.

When we consumed carbohydrates, digestion begins in the mouth. An enzyme called salivary amylase is produced which converts the starches in the food to sugars like dextrins, maltose and maltotriose.

Further digestion occurs in the small intestine. The pancreas secrets the enzyme amylase which breaks carbohydrates into simple sugar like maltose, lactose and sucrose.

As these sugars move down the intestine, the enzymes maltase, lactase, and sucrase respectively break maltose, lactose and sucrose down into smaller molecules. These are eventually converted to the simplest form of sugar – glucose – and absorbed through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream.

Source: Mind Your Body, The Straits Times, 17 Dec 2009

Additional Reading
Healthy Urban Kitchen Cookbook by Antonia Valladores and Jamie Larose

Here is a very interesting article that I found at the NY Times website. It basically talks about how bad manners in children today is becoming a common condition.

The article is titled “A Pediatrician’s View of Rude Children” and is really a timely reminder for all of us who have children or are care-givers to children.

Here is an interesting quote from the article:

Dr. Barbara Howard, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and an expert on behavior and development, told me that a child’s manners were a perfectly appropriate topic to raise at a pediatric visit.

Imagine that. Not only do you talk about allergies, and shots, manners (or the lack thereof) seems to be a problem fit for the attentions of an expert. Many problems we face as adults can be traced back to things that took place when we were children.

If you have no manners as a child, will you grow up to be a well mannered adult? How will that affect your social life, your mental well-being, acceptance in social groups, and ultimately, your happiness?

Let us not add to the stress of this world, rather, we need to learn how to build and nurture a child properly so that they can grow in a healthy, well-adjusted manner. In a well-mannered manner. Isn’t that interesting?

Live in rooms full of light
Avoid heavy food
Be moderate in the drinking of wine
Take massage, baths, exercise, and gymnastics
Fight insomnia with gentle rocking or the sound of running water
Change surroundings and take long journeys
Strictly avoid frightening ideas
Indulge in cheerful conversation and amusements
Listen to music.

~A. Cornelius Celsus

If you like to have a cuppa of coffee or tea, you will be happy to know that coffee and tea drinkers have a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

BBC Health reported that they have looked at 18 separate studies and found that people who drink 3 -4 cups a day cut their risk by a fifth.

What’s Type 2 diabetes? It usually starts after one turn 40 and develops when the body can still make some insulin but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly.

Identification of the active component in tea and coffee opens up new therapeutic options but one should never avoid exercising or keeping a healthy and balanced diet to stay pink.

Source: Mind Your Body, The Straits Times, 17 Dec 2009

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all holidays filled with Love pouring out endlessly flowing back and forth between the hearts of you and your loved ones. I’ll leave you with this Christmas song:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
>From now on
our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yule-tide gay
>From now on
our troubles will be miles away

Here were are as in olden days
happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

We know vegetables do wonders for our body but did you know spinach is great to enhance the health of your eyes?

That’s because spinach is loaded with beta carotene, vitamin C, lutein and zeaxanthin.

Additional Reading
Healthy Urban Kitchen Cookbook by Antonia Valladores and Jamie Larose

If anyone with the intention to lose fat and yet like to eat as much as they like, the only option is to select foods with fewer calories or with a lower energy density.

What is lower energy density? Food with high water and fiber content has low energy density. Eating such food will help you feel full  while you reduce your calorie intake and lose weight.

One low energy density food is fruit. However, only fresh fruits. Canned fruit usually came loaded with sweet and  heavy syrup, and that means high sugar content. Dried fruit, though a healthy choice,  has four times the energy density of fresh fruit. This is because they don’t have much water left in them.  Fresh and whole fruit has the least amount of calories and the highest amount of fullness and satisfaction.

Some fruits for your consideration are grapefruit, melons (watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew), berries (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries), papaya and peach.

Additional Reading:

The Advanced Guide to Fast Weight Loss for Busy Women

Burn the Fats Feed the Muscles

Fat Loss Secrets

Three things cells need:

OXYGEN is the source of all energy in the body. This energy drives the metabolic processes in the body, such as assimilation, elimination of wasts, respiration, circulation and digestion.

WATER is the most abundant substance in the body. Water is used as a break down of substance, as a medium, for chemical reactions and for the diffusion and osmosis of substances.

The ability to eliminate its own WASTE