5 Health Tips For Christmas

Health Tips for Christmas

Christmas and good health may not seem to go together particularly well, so you need to pay extra attention, if you want to stay illness-free this December. Here are 5 tips for staying healthy this Christmas.

1. Reduce stress
Stress is one of the biggest health worries at this time of the year as you try to juggle your finances and plan a feast for your family.

Try to plan your budget and work out what you can afford.
If it's a bit tight, don't feel pressured to overspend on anything and tell your friends and family that you're cutting back this year. They'll understand, they may even feel relieved!

2. Get some exercise
We know winter is dark and gloomy, but getting even the smallest amount of exercise will make you feel so much better. It's a brilliant way of relieving stress and boosting your energy, which means you will be mentally and physically prepared for when the relatives arrive!

A brisk walk is the easiest way, but if you prefer indoor exercise, why not spend 30 minutes swimming up and down your local pool - it works your whole body and is very low-impact, meaning it's less likely to put strain on your joints.

Of course, you may well be going to a Christmas party which is actually a great place to get some exercise. When the DJ sticks on Abba's Dancing Queen, make an effort to dance - it's a surprisingly easy way to get some exercise (and all the time you're dancing, you're not drinking!)

Oh, and as it's Christmas, remember, even shopping is exercise (as long as you're not sitting in front of a computer doing it!).

3. Down a smoothie
This is the time of the year, when many of us feel stretched pretty thin. When you're too busy or frazzled from the night before to eat properly, or even need a quick pick-me-up, then a smoothie is the quickest and healthiest way to get goodness inside you.

Try an Innocent Superfoods Detox smoothie (1l, £4 approx) - it's packed with potassium, which helps lower blood pressure and reduce strokes, and Vitamin E, which fights heart disease and bad cholesterol. A 250ml glass will give you the same amount of immune-boosting antioxidants as are in five portions of fruit and veg.

4. Help your hangover
No-one enjoys a hangover. They're nature's way of telling you what a great time you've had, but they also tell you how many essential vitamins your body has lost.

Surprisingly, even though it's the last thing many of us want to eat with a fuzzy head, a Christmas dinner is good to eat, because it's full of the vitamins needed to cure a hangover.
Turkey is a great source of vitamin B, which is vital for your nervous system and stopping you feeling queasy. Potatoes have more Vitamin C than a glass of orange juice, which is important, because it helps the liver to break down the alcohol. And green veg like broccoli and Brussels sprouts contain Vitamin E which detoxes the body.

If that sounds like too much hard work, gobble down a ripe banana. It contains a natural antacid to help your stomach, magnesium to ease your headache and sugar to top up your liver's natural sugar stores and lose that light-headed feeling.

5. Get some sleep
We know Christmas is all about having fun, eating and drinking, but research has shown that missing out on sleep could lead to a cold or other seasonal snuffle.
Your body and brain recharge when you're under the covers and also fight off infections. Try drinking a warm, milky drink before bed, and, if you've been up or out partying, make sure you give yourself time to wind down and switch off before jumping into bed.

Kate Corr
Good to Know

A great Christmas resource featuring advice on how to have a Cheap Christmas, inspiration for Christmas lunch and Christmas presents ideas.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kate_Corr

Superfoods in Red Juice - For Detox and Weight Loss

 

Quick Facts on Red Juice

·  redjuice is a tasty fruit and vegetable beverage with over 30 natural ingredients covering a wide range of uses and benefits based on Tradition, Research and Clinical Trials - a first in Philippine history
·  redjuice has been subjected to a Clinical Trial conducted by 5 Metro Manila-based Doctors involving over 70 patients – another first in Philippine history.

·  redjuice is manufactured in the Philippines and in USA. It is locally distributed through Mercury Drug branches. North American consumers are served directly from the US manufacturing and distribution center.
·  redjuice is one of the most widely covered health product in history: from news and features, to talkshows and forums - in print, television and radio.
·  redjuice cleansing program takes only 7 days. Getting the accumulated poisons and toxins out of your body and tuning up your body's waste removal system is the quickest way to build a powerful health. 

30+ Natural Ingredients

Redjuice is the only locally manufactured beverage packed with over 30 natural ingredients – A First in Philippine history. It contains proven 30+ natural ingredients for body cleansing and weight loss. 

See the 30+ natural ingredients by clicking HERE.

Source: redjuice.org

Back Safety and Proper Lifting

Superfoods - How Super Are They?

Do you sometimes have a suspicion that you aren't as healthy as you might be? Do you worry that your health might begin to suffer if you don't change your lifestyle? Then you're in good company. These are common responses in food health questionnaires. 

And it might make you very likely to buy something containing a superfood to hedge your bets and salve your conscience -- after all, making actual changes in your diet will seriously shake your comfort zone, won't it?

Should we eat superfoods?

What's a superfood? It has no legal definition, but in general use, it means a product especially rich in phytonutrients: plant chemicals especially good for nutrition. In the EU, anything advertised as a superfood must now have research backing for the claims.

I recently re-read a Readers Digest article from 1975.  It rubbished the idea that some 'miracle' foods might have 'magical' properties, mentioning, for example, honey and brown rice. The article instead recommended taking expert advice based on long-standing scientific research. Is that right? Are what we now call 'superfoods' a waste of money, or even dangerous?

If you want to look it up, the article is in the April 1975 UK edition of RD and was by Elizabeth Whelan, condensed from the June 1974 Glamor (Condé Nast).

I reckon that, as usual, moderation is the name of the game here. In one country after another for decades, people in the West have been shown in medical surveys to be on average badly nourished -- which means that a majority are affected. Although for every health nut there's a real slob at the other end, most of us are a culture of ill-fed, junk food addicts. I suggested why in previous articles. And the idea that we might eat some 'special' food that would put right all the ills of overindulgent piggery is just as cracked now, yet just as common, as in 1975. The difference is that today's usual diet is even worst than a third of a century ago, so maybe people are more desperate for the miracle cure that some superfood peddlers advertize.

Most of us are short of essential nutrients

What are people short of? Over three quarters of us are low in chromium, copper, magnesium, vitamin B6 and Omega-3 oils. Worse, over half of us are also deficient in calcium, iron, selenium, zinc and vitamin A. And shockingly, a quarter of us also lack enough phosphorus, manganese, silicon and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B12, C and E -- all essential nutrients. That's one in four of people you know short of 19 essential nutrients out of a total of maybe 43 -- nearly half, then -- and you, dear reader, are odds-on to be lacking in five to ten of them.

Where do you think you rank here? The worst quarter? Or the healthiest? And what would you do if you had tests and proved the deficiency? Do you think it matters? Well, you should, because there's no possible doubt that nutrient deficiency is at the root of the rise in most of the modern diseases.
Rather a lot of people are now looking to improve their prospects by a radical change of diet along the lines nutritionists have recommended for decades, but even more turn to well-advertised (and pricey) fixes like superfoods and pills (sometimes pills of superfoods) and hope the problem will go away. The scale of public nervousness is obvious if you look in any health magazine or newspaper health section and see the adverts there for nutrient and superfood supplements.

Superfoods really are just that -- super. 

They are richer in some of the essential nutrients than other foods. So there is no reason not to eat them, unless they take up too much of your diet for balance. (The main pitfalls here are excess of vitamins A and D, and high levels of fat and sugar, even natural ones.)  You might think, then, that I shouldn't be casting doubt on them. Well, I'm not -- yet there are some warnings needed even though superfoods are certainly a better idea than simply popping supplement pills.

So, what to beware of? 

I'll pick out three examples to show you that the old motto 'buyer beware' is still #1 when you're shopping or watching ads.

• What's better for you -- 10g (1/4oz) of dried Goji berries, world's best food for vitamin C content, or 150ml (6oz) of fresh orange juice at the same price? The juice wins out handsomely -- far healthier. So be balanced. More of an ordinary food can outperform a superfood and cost less!
• How much of a superfood is in the product? I recall a top brand fruit smoothie with three super berries: Blueberry, Acai and Goji. Great -- except it was mostly apple juice and banana. A fine smoothie, but not worth the premium price if you want to be healthy. Use a little more of a cheaper product to get the same benefits, plus more nutrition at less cost. Read the labels!
• Advertisers extol the virtues of their superfood, then list its impressive health benefits. Most of these claims will be just as true for a lot of less exalted alternatives. Of course, this is what advertising is for -- to puff the product. So, don't be taken in by claims. Read them with scepticism and compare them with ordinary pure foods before you buy. On the whole, superfoods command a premium price while they're the latest fad, then become just 'food' when their replacement comes along. At that point, they may be good value.

Was the 1975 article right? I reckon, yes. And adding a few superfoods to your diet to avoid thinking about your slobbish lifestyle is just plain crazy.
Have you got a favourite superfood? Why is it better than any other rival? Let me know and we can argue a little.

David
This article came from my blog in July 2008. You can find more stuff about health in my Bad Health Blog, at http://www.davidsblog.typepad.com Do get back to me with your opinion on this article or any other stuff you'd like me to know. I love debate!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Croucher

Organic Food and Its Benefits

With the development of the consumer society, home agriculture has decayed more and more. Plus, the chances of growing food independently, in urban areas is next to zero, and one depends on hypermarket chains and markets for the necessary supplies. Whole industries have grown out of the food demand, and the advantages of organic food have been forgotten by many of us. We are sometimes too busy, too ignorant or uninterested in the consume of naturally grown products. In the following lines we'll make a brief attempt at underlining the benefits of organic food once more, in the hope that more and more people will get back to nature.

Produced by organic farms, organic food is grown under strict government supervision. Under these guidelines, organic produce is grown and packaged without the use of any chemicals or pesticides. Traditionally grown, non-organic produce is subjected to a myriad of chemicals – most of which are have not been studied thoroughly enough to understand or contemplate their long-term effects on the human body. Researchers are still undecided as to whether or not these chemicals can be linked to everything from food allergies to certain types of cancer. The benefit of organic food is that they are not subjected to these unreliable substances.

Meat and dairy produced under organic guidelines are also chemical free. Traditional agricultural farmers often subject livestock to a bevy of chemical supplements designed to speed their growth and weight. Further, dairy cows are often given chemicals to increase their milk production. The benefit of organic food is that livestock is given only organic feed that is chemical and supplement free.

All the benefits of organic food could in fact be reduced to a singular concept: that of health convenience. If you are curious to analyze things in depth, you'll find out that there are dozens of studies, articles and materials that depict the advantages of the organic food. If people were more careful with what they ate, the number of diseases would decrease and so would mortality rates. The market thus changes its demands and hopefully evolves towards a healthier, safer future.