How to Boost Your Mental Functioning

spinach

We may accept it or not, mental performance decline as we age. But, it does not mean that we have no control of our aging process, it is just a matter of choice. You can hasten your aging process if you want by taking drugs, drinking alcoholic drinks, smoking, and other unhealthy practices. You can also delay the aging process by practicing healthy lifestyle.

Right diet is part of healthy lifestyle. What we eat plays a great role in how our body function. Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP) and National Institute of Aging encourage us to eat 3 servings of yellow, green leafy, and cruciferous vegetables everyday for a slow decline of about 40% in our mental functioning.

Eating spinach, which is a green leafy vegetable, could protect our brain from oxidative stress aside from it reduces the effects of age related decline in functioning of our brain. Vitamin E in spinach and other green leafy vegetables could help lower the loss of mental functioning.

Aside from powerful vitamin E antioxidant in spinach, folate or folic acid, potassium and other antioxidants could boost our neurological health. It was detected that level of folate is low on patients who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Why not boost your folic acid level now for you not to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and improve your motor skills and learning capacity instead by eating 3 servings of spinach and other vegetables everyday?

Protect Your Heart By Eating Spinach

We tackled the health benefits of spinach yesterday and we learned that it is a nutrient-dense food and rich in antioxidants that could protect us from various diseases and cardiovascular protection is one of the health benefits we can get out of eating spinach.

With the said topic, we learned that spinach is rich in vitamins A and C. These two vitamins is not just essential because of their nutrient value but of being powerful antioxidants as well. Vitamin A is a fat soluble antioxidant while vitamin C is water soluble. Vitamins A and C team up could help us by preventing cholesterol to be oxidized.

What is in oxidized cholesterol that we need to be alarmed? If cholesterol is on its oxidized form, it could easily cling and build up on the walls of your arteries. If your arteries are blocked, blood could not easily circulate. At first you may suffer from high blood pressure that could double the workload of your heart in pumping the blood for all the essential elements to be carried to all your cells. Too much of oxidized cholesterol that we commonly term as “bad cholesterol” could result to atherosclerosis, heart attack, or stroke.

Aside from Vitamins A and C, spinach is rich in magnesium. Magnesium could help protect us from heart disease and could lower blood pressure. Spinach is an excellent source of folate or folic acid too. We need folate for our body to convert the harmful homocysteine into a less dangerous bi-products. High level of homocysteine in our body could cause heart attack or stroke. An antioxidant called Factor CO-Q10 plays an essential role in strengthening all muscles in our body, especially our heart muscle that never rest, it continuously work for our body to stay alive and healthy.

A cup of spinach a day will do a lot for us to have a healthy heart and cardiovascular system as a whole. So, never forget to include spinach in your diet.

How to Help Your Kids Learn The Importance of Family Bonding And Exercise

You want some tips how to help your kids learn the importance of family bonding and exercise? If you are one of those parent who want your kids to appreciate the importance of exercise, family exercise is a great bonding moment to promote it. Kids, as young as months old are capable of  learning  through what they see and hear and could appreciate happenings and beauty of their surroundings.

Putting the baby on a stroller while the whole family is taking a walk in the park every morning or afternoon as form of family bonding and exercise is a good start for the baby to learn and enjoy walking with the family on the park. So, never set aside the baby and his nanny while the rest of the family is walking for wellness sake. By the time the baby could walk, encourage him to take few steps every now and then during your family walk to wellness activity.

Dancing, jogging and jumping rope are some of the fun physical activities to do if little kids are already capable to do such activities. Seeing all members participate in your family activities religiously with fun and excitement is a great learning experience for little kids  about the importance of family bonding and exercise.

The Purpose of Colon Cleansing

What is the purpose of colon cleansing? A colon cleanse is to help the colon get rid of toxins and waste products that have accumulated due to poor diet and lifestyle choices, so as exposure of our body to pollutants that are in our environment. With colon cleansing process, you help your body eliminate all of the accumulated impurities, toxins from inside the colon.

Colon cleansing helps revive a colon that is not functioning well. Did you know that your colon could absorb the waste when it cannot obtain enough nutrients from the food you eat and you have build up fecal matter and mucus in your colon that could cause toxins to be released into your bloodstream? No wonder colon cleansing has become a popular way of enhancing health and wellness nowadays. It enhances absorption of nutrients needed by the body, boosts energy level, improves blood circulation, help control weight, and enhances good health in general.

Help your system stay in sound condition by having a healthy and clean colon. Cleanse and detoxify by keeping your colon’s track free from the wastes and toxins that you acquire from the food you eat. This is the best natural method that you can use to stay away and to get rid of diseases that can lead to more serious conditions and even death.

Colon cleansing can be done as often as necessary, or better yet, after the cleansing and detoxification  process, try to avoid eating unhealthy food.

Health Benefits of Korean Ginseng

There are lots of health benefits we can get from Korean Ginseng. Phytochemicals Ginsenosides, Panaxans, Saponins, Vanillic acid and Salicylates plays a big role of all the benefits we can get from Korean Ginseng. As we all know, though phytochemicals are non-nutritive  chemicals found in plants, it plays an active role in protecting us against diseases by boosting our immune system and in treatment or prevention against certain health ailments because of its antioxidant and hormonal action properties.

The famous Korean Ginseng Root is the only part of the plant that contains all the beneficial effects. Because of  its phytochemicals, Korean Ginseng Root has been famous for being anti-stress, to curing simple illnesses  and  even to dire diseases such as cancer. Lowering cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and stabilizing blood pressure is no longer a problem if you have Korean Ginseng. Healthy individuals consume it not just as immune system power booster but physical and mental energy booster too.

Korean Ginseng Root are available in the market in the form of Korean Ginseng Extract that is in the form of a pill, powder or liquid. Though it offers a lot of benefits, we need to remember that we need to follow the safe dosage in consuming it.

Why Take Food Rich in Lecithin(Choline)

What is the significance of taking food rich in lecithin(choline)? Having time for exercise, especially if you use Kettlebell, will not just keep your mind and body healthy but shape your body as well. Did you know that lecithin (choline) has good effect on body and mind too? Lecithin(choline) has potential healing power!

Research on animals (Cippoli, C. and Chiari, G. “Effects of L-Acetylcholine on Mental Deterioration of the Aged,” Clinica Terapeutica 132L:429-510, March 31, 1990.) showed that dietary intake of choline of animal subjects on their early stage in life lessened the severity of memory loss as they aged.

Can choline help improve memory of humans too? Researchers have long suspected that it can. What are the potential healing power of lecithin(choline) I’m talking about? Aside from its potential power to improve memory of normal healthy people up to people with mild memory impairment, people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease could benefit from it too. Choline level could also influence mood, that could help control mood swings. And, some research showed that choline could prevent liver damage from alcohol, could reduce cholesterol level and lower blood pressure too.

Choline is a precursor (considered to lead to the development) of neurotransmitter  acetylcholine, which is important for memory and cognition. Acetylcholine is essential for efficient brain function and communication. Lecithin is important in dealing with fatty deposites in blood vessels too. Phosphatidylcholine is an important component of VLDL. Lack of phosphatidylcholine could result to accumulation of fats and cholesterol in the liver.

Oatmeal, soybeans, peanuts, eggs, milk, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, seaweed and chocolate are great food sources of lecithin(choline). Lecithin and choline supplements are available in health stores too. Why suffer from memory loss now that you know the potential healing power of lecithin(choline)?

Things You Can Do to Prevent Heartburn

There are lots of things you can do to prevent heartburn. Yes, you could stop heartburn fires by taking up antacid, be it  liquid or tablet. But, why troubleshoot if it happened that you can prevent heartburn fires to occur, right?

Before we talk about tips to prevent heartburn, let us talk about basic anatomy and physiology of our stomach first. As we all know, our stomach produces corrosive acids to make them very effective in digesting tough foods we take in. Our stomach has very well-organized lining that protects it from corrosiveness of stomach fluids. But, esophagus, which could be found attached to the upper part of the stomach has no protection like stomach lining. If you overeat, after the said big meal, when food and the stomach acid rise up to upper part of the stomach and could splatter the esophagus, it causes burning pain that we commonly call heartburn.

If overeating is one of the cause of heartburn then do not overeat. Any kind of food could cause heartburn if you eat too much of it. Fatty and greasy foods are the best acid makers, so better eat less of it to avoid heartburn.

One of my coworkers asked if it is true that electronic cigarette is a much healthy alternative for tobacco smokers like him since they are the one who most likely to suffer heartburn. I told him that if he uses it to gradually lessen the nicotine content before he could completely stop from smoking then it is a much better alternative.

When there is food in the stomach, definitely our stomach will produce acid. Do not take food before bedtime since it is easy for the food and acid in your stomach to move upward to the lower part of the esophagus when you are lying down. Better take a light meal at least two hours before bedtime to avoid heartburn.

How to stop heartburn? Antacids could help troubleshoot your heartburn problem by neutralizing the stomach acid but it has mild side effects so, better prevent heartburn to occur than taking antacids.

The Importance of Good Health Practices

The importance of good health practices during childhood years? It could prevent many chronic and disabling diseases on their adulthood. Parents, you are the best people who can train your children on preventive measures from acquiring chronic and disabling diseases such as acquired diabetes mellitus.

One of my friends is currently taking a fat burner aside from taking time for exercise because she want to look fit and young for her to become a good example for her kids. She said she had read a book about good health practices and she learned that by keeping weight down; avoiding alcohol, cigarettes and other vices that could harm the body; and reducing level of stress in life could also decrease the chance of acquiring coronary heart disease or hypertension.

She makes sure that their family exercise is interesting for her kids to participate and prepare healthy foods for her family too. No wonder why her kids loves to eat vegetables and fruits instead of processed foods. Hope all parents realize the importance of good health practices and train their kids to practice it as early as possible.