Health and Beauty tips

The problem of snoring not only affects the life of the person who is undergoing it, but their family members too. In some case, family members are the ones who have to bear the maximum brunt as they are not able to sleep peacefully. The main causes of snoring are sleeping on back, nasal blockage, excessive body weight, breathing from the mouth, etc. In order to stop snoring, you need to treat these underlying causes. The following tips may help you — and your family — sleep more peacefully:

• Sleep on your side. You’re more likely to snore if you’re lying on your back, and sleeping on your stomach is stressful on your neck.
• Try cutting down on drinking and smoking as both these activities are often the culprits of snoring.
• Elevate your head. Sleeping with your head raised may take some of the pressure off of the airway, making breathing easier. Raise the head of the bed by putting blocks under the bed posts, or prop up your upper body (not just your head, which can actually inhibit breathing) with pillows.
• Those who breathe through their mouth often end up snoring. So, developing the habit of breathing through the nose is highly recommended.
• Do not have heavy meals within the three hours, before going to sleep.
• Try not to take sedatives and antihistamines just before going to bed.
• Get plenty of sleep. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day.
• Try to exercise on a regular basis. A healthy lifestyle helps in reducing the problem of snoring.
• If a blocked nose is your problem, try using inhalers and nasal drops. At the same time, avoid dairy products like milk, butter, cheese and cream, since they increase the production of mucus.
• Don’t do too strenuous work before going to bed. If you are overtired, you tend to get a disturbed sleep and end up snoring much more.
• Lose weight. Excess body weight, especially around the neck, puts pressure on the airway, causing it to partially collapse.
• Get your allergies treated. Chronic respiratory allergies may cause snoring by forcing sufferers to breathe through their mouths while they sleep. Taking an antihistamine just before bedtime may help. If your nose is stuffed up, try using an over-the-counter saline spray or a humidifier.

Pleasant dreams!

Yoga, which is generally translated from the Sanskrit word yukti as “union” or “integration”, is an ancient system of practices. Developed in India thousand of years ago as a physical discipline and meditation, yoga aimed at integrating mind, body, and spirit to enhance health and well-being.

There are many different forms of yoga, with Hatha yoga being the most widely known form of yoga in the West, and the most closely allied with Ayurvedic medicine. It includes three practices all of which are highly beneficial for health. They are:

1. Asanas: Yoga asanas include different physical postures and exercises. They help to align the spine and head, improve blood flow, give a state of relaxation, energize glands and organs, and improve well-being. Some asanas have been used to treat specific medical conditions.

2. Pranayama: Pranayama is the control of breath. Pranayama exercises often emphasize slow, deep abdominal breathing.

3. Meditation: Meditative practices induce a relaxed state in the autonomic nervous system, which has a beneficial effect on other systems, including the immune system.

Yoga has proven effective in treating a variety of medical conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, breathing problems, asthma, stress-related illnesses, and mood disorders. Yoga is also beneficial in the management of pain, for improving respiratory endurance and efficiency of breathing, for muscle strength, and for motor control. It has shown the potential for helping to prevent musculoskeletal problems and is beneficial for people with arthritis and those recovering from bone fractures.

Yoga programs help to manage and reverse heart disease by influencing blood pressure, anxiety, and negative reaction to stress. Yoga may be particularly beneficial for older adults or individuals with disabilities. Beyond their physical and mental benefits, the practices of asanas, pranayama, and meditation contribute to an integration of mind, body, and spirit.

A great way to learn yoga is taking yoga classes, where you can learn the basic asanas from an expert instructor. However, real breakthroughs come from practicing yoga on your own, when you can listen to yourself instead of someone else telling you what to do. Give yoga a try and enjoy all the benefits it can give to your mind, body and spirit!

Osteoporosis means porous bones. That means people diagnosed with osteoporosis run a greater risk for bone breaks and fractures. Osteoporosis is often referred to as “silent disease” because there are virtually no symptoms of bone loss. The best way to fight osteoporosis is to strengthen up bones. Here are some tips on how to do that and better your overall health at the same time:

Exercise Regularly. Exercise is known to be one of the most important things you can do to fight osteoporosis. The best exercises in this respect are walking, jogging, dancing, aerobics and strength training.

Get Some Sun. 15 minutes of exposure on the hands, lower arms, and face (without sunscreen) is enough to allow your body to produce and store the necessary amount of vitamin D.

Maintain Healthy Weight. Being underweight puts you at higher risk for a deficiency of calcium, which can affect your bones’ health. On the other hand, being overweight is no guarantee of bone health either, because it tends to discourage regular bone-building physical activity.

Stop Smoking. Smokers absorb less calcium from foods. In addition, female smokers have less estrogen, which helps protect bones, and tend to go through menopause earlier.

Eat more soy products or take a supplement that contains soy isoflavones to balance estrogen levels.

Limit the Alcohol Intake. Alcohol interferes with the body’s ability to absorb calcium.
Consume Less Salt. Excess salt intake and taking diuretics increase the amount of calcium your body loses through urine.

Forget the Phosphorus Myth. There is a widespread fallacy that the phosphorus in carbonated drinks can deteriorate your bones. In fact, too much phosphorus can hinder your body’s absorption of calcium, but the amount of phosphorus in soda is not sufficient to cause any problems.

A handful of sesame seeds had every morning may also help osteoporosis.
Another home remedy for osteoporosis is calcium- rich almond milk.

Cholesterol can build up along the artery walls. When too much builds up, it can block the arteries that supply blood to your heart or to your brain. This can cause a heart attack or stroke. That’s why managing high cholesterol is vitally important.

The only way to get all the vitamins that may lower cholesterol is a healthy, balanced diet low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, combined with regular physical activity and losing excess weight. Here are some home remedies to win a complex battle against cholesterol:

Regularly intake garlic cloves will help reducing cholesterol levels.

Ishabgul - The herb ishabgul has been proved beneficial in the treatment of high cholesterol level. The oil of the ishabgul seeds should be taken by those suffering from high blood cholesterol to cure the condition fast.

A mixture of onion juice with honey reduces cholesterol levels and also works as a tonic for nervous system. It cleans blood, helps digestive system, cures insomnia and regulates the heart action.

Sunflower seeds are helpful in reducing cholesterol deposits from the walls of the arteries.

Some studies prove the effectiveness of antioxidants in preventing and combating heart diseases:

• Vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene are the vitamin antioxidants.
• Oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, green peppers, broccoli, and tomatoes are rich in vitamin C.
• Carrots, apricots, squash, spinach, and other green leafy or yellow-orange fruits and vegetables are rich sources of beta-carotene.
• Vitamin E is found in dark-green leafy vegetables, nuts, and vegetable oils.
• The mineral selenium acts as an antioxidant when combined with special proteins.
• Red wine is also believed to contain an antioxidant that may partly explain lower rates of heart disease among people in some Mediterranean countries.

Make permanent changes to your lifestyle. Commitment to lowering blood cholesterol and improving heart health requires a change of daily habits for the long period of time. No “yo-yo” dieting!

Avoid saturated fats. The more saturated fat, found in dairy products made from whole milk, the red meat, the skin of poultry, and certain oils commonly used in commercially prepared baked goods in your diet, the more cholesterol in your blood. Be sure to check product labels to choose the foods with the lowest saturated-fat content.

Avoid trans fats. Trans fatty acids are found in processed baked goods, margarines, and many other foods. Check margarine labels and buy trans-fat-free ones and avoid snack foods with partially hydrogenated fats.

A hearing aid is a small electronic device that you wear in or behind your ear. It makes some sounds louder so that a person with hearing loss can listen, communicate, and participate more fully in daily activities. A hearing aid can help people hear more in both quiet and noisy situations. For reaping the full advantage of hearing aids, it is very important that you pick them carefully. In this article, we have provided information on the types of hearing aids and how to choose the best one amongst them.

How to Choose Hearing Aids

• First of all, get a checkup done to make sure that your hearing loss is permanent and you need to get hearing aid for the same. At times, hearing loss is because of a temporary problem and can be completely cured.
• Visit a good audiologist and check out the various types and styles of hearing aids available from him. From those, take your pick.
• Now, decide on the style of hearing aid that you want. Usually, the smaller a hearing aid is, the less powerful it will be and the more it will cost. In other words, the shortest hearing aids are recommended only if the hearing loss is mild. On the other hand, the ‘behind the ear’ hearing aid is good for all types of hearing loss and all the age groups.
• After this, make a decision as to what technology of hearing aid will be most suited to you.
• After you have decided on the type and style of hearing aid that will suit you the best, it is the time to buy it. Make sure to get a trial period for the aid and arrive on the price of trial beforehand.

Types of Hearing Aids

• Completely in the Canal: these aids fit into the ear canal. Because they are small, canal aids may be difficult for a person to adjust and remove. They usually are not recommended for young children or for people with severe to profound hearing loss because their reduced size limits their power and volume.
• In the Canal: This hearing aid fits only partly inside the ear canal and party sticks outside. It is suited for people suffering from mild to moderately severe hearing loss. Some of the ‘In the Canal’ hearing aids come with a remote control too.
• In the Ear: This hearing aid is totally visible to the eye, as it is mainly placed over the bowl-shaped area of the outer ear. Such units often the most comfortable, the least expensive and the easiest to operate. They are the best choice for those with mild to severe hearing loss.
• Behind the Ear: Behind-The-Ear hearing aids are the largest hearing aids, often the least expensive, and they are very reliable. BTEs rest on the back of your ear. They are connected to the ear canal via custom-made plastic tubing; the earmold. The earmold is usually custom made from an ear impression to perfectly replicate the size and shape of your ear.

So, now you can make an informed choice and improve the quality of your life and enjoy all its niceties to the full!