Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts

4 May 2020

Atkins And Sugar Cravings

 Sugar is everywhere you look and it might pop up in some surprising places. 

Did you know that most whole grain breads have at least one form of sugar in them? We have a national sweet tooth epidemic. Even if you don’t eat a lot of sugary treats you may experience intense sugar cravings in the first few weeks of the Atkins diet. 

So many “healthy” carbohydrate foods have hidden sugars in them, your body may be experiencing withdrawal. 

The problem with sugar is that your blood sugar is tied into your energy levels and your overall health. When your blood sugar is too low, you will experience intense cravings. 

High blood sugar is a result of eating high-sugar meals. When you eat concentrated sugar, your blood sugar will raise to high levels. Your pancreas thinks there is something wrong and then it secretes insulin to lower the blood sugar. 

As this happens more, you can create pre-diabetic conditions in your body as your pancreas becomes worn out and eventually cannot secrete insulin. Fortunately, getting started on the Atkins diet plan can put a stop to this cycle. 

However, this doesn’t mean that sugar cravings go away automatically. Sugar products are everywhere and temptation is sometimes hard to fight. 

The best way to approach sugar cravings is with planning. If you maintain a balance of protein, fat and fiber in your daily diet you will prevent blood sugar drops that lead to sugar cravings. 

Also, do not go too long between meals without eating. Snacks are an important part of keeping your blood sugar stable.

 Have some handy snacks like cheese, nuts, seeds and boiled eggs on hand with you so you can quickly stabilize your blood sugar without turning to sweet treats. Sugar cravings can also be a sign of a nutritional deficiency. 

When you are low on magnesium, you will crave chocolate and other sweets. Zinc and chromium can also stave off sugar cravings. If you aren’t taking a good multivitamin supplement with these minerals, start immediately. 

If you are and you are still experiencing cravings, consider trying additional supplements of these nutrients. Another tactic is to brush your teeth. Many Atkins dieters find that brushing their teeth or using Listerine breath strips can help with cravings. 

Both methods will numb your mouth and prevent you from wanting to eat. Drinking two large glasses of water can also help eliminate cravings. If your stomach is full, then you’ll be less likely to reach for a sugary treat. Sometimes out of sight, out of mind is the best approach. 

If you find yourself overcome with cravings while you are at home, get outside and take a walk. The distraction will have you forgetting your sugar craving in no time. Calling a friend for support or logging into an Atkins support forum can also go a long way toward preventing you from succumbing to sugar cravings. 

Having a low-carb version of your favorite treat is another good idea. You are less likely to feel deprived if you can have a satisfying low carb treat. 

There are a wide variety of low-carb products available on the market that can beat your sweet tooth. Low-carb yogurt, chocolate, ice cream and candy can all help you stay on the Atkins plan and still get something sweet to eat. 

Sugar cravings are a reality of following the Atkins plan, but the previous tips will help you overcome them and stay committed to your weight loss efforts.
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How To Get Rid Of Acne 3 Steps Toward A Fair Complexion

 There are many types of acne, but the most common form occurs during the teenage years when young adults experience a dramatic increase in hormone levels. 

These hormones signal the skin glands to produce more oil. When this oil mixes with dead cells, it can clog pores in the skin and trap bacteria as well. 

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The result is often a raised tissue area characterized by swelling, redness, and pus. These bumps are also known as “pimples,” the symptom most commonly associated with acne. 

Acne can occur anywhere on the face, neck, back, or chest, and severe cases can lead to social alienation, or emotional and physical scars.

 Although mild acne can not be entirely prevented, you can take three steps to minimize its impact. Gently Cleanse Your Skin: Each day, gently wash your skin with lukewarm water. Avoid scrubbing your face too hard or washing it too often.

 Doing so can make your acne worse. Also avoid using skin and hair care products that contain excess oil. Instead, use water-based skin care soaps that gently cleanse your skin, such as Neutrogena or Dove. Apply Topical Ointments: 

At least once daily, but no more than three times a day, apply a nonprescription topical ointment to problematic areas. One of the best products is Clearasil because it contains both benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. Benzoyl peroxide works to unplug clogged pores, while salicylic acid helps clear up blemishes by causing the top layer of skin to peel. Products that contain tea tree oil (commonly found in gels, creams, and lotions) or alpha-hydroxy acid are also desirable.

 However, remember that if you use a product too often, your acne can get worse. So confine your applications to less than three times per day unless otherwise directed by a doctor.

 Avoid the Following: Make sure to avoid the following acts which can trigger acne flare-ups: overexposure to the sun, the wearing of tight-fitting items that rub against the skin, excess stress, constant touching of the face, working with oils or harsh chemicals, excessive sweating, hair hanging in your face, or the use of hair care products that contain oils. 

Also avoid squeezing pimples. Squeezing pimples can result in an infection and/or long-term scaring. 

While mild acne is annoying, it will eventually pass. Most people will outgrow acne by their early-twenties, so there is reason to be optimistic. 

Make each of the above steps part of your daily routine, and you should be able to control your acne. However, those with more severe cases of acne should consult a dermatologist.
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7 May 2016

What really makes us talk.?

How do human beings create the sound of speech – and how come we can do it and other animals can’t? A major question! The larynx, as it’s technically known – is the reason we’re able to speak. It’s a small hollow tube which sits at the top of our windpipe, anchored to the bone that’s connected to our tongue. The larnyx is made of cartilage – just like the pliant tip of your nose, or the flexible material in your kneecaps – and contains small bands of tissue that can expand and contract. That tissue pulls together, and the air rushing through it causes the bands to vibrate.the vibration gives sound. But our voices don’t just rely on our larnyx to form the words we choose. There’s complicated interplay between our vocal cords and our oral and nasal cavities that helps modify the sound made by all that rushing air. Most animals don't have this kind of equipment to make these kind of sounds – though there are some who can. 
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5 Apr 2016

Dangers of lack of vitamin D

About 163 patients of heart failure found supplements of the vitamin, which is formed in the skin when exposed to sunlight, improved their hearts' ability to pump blood around the body.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals team, who presented at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology, described the results as "stunning".
The British Heart Foundation called for longer trials to assess the pills.
Vitamin D is vital for healthy teeth and bones and also have important health benefits throughout the body but many people are deficient.
No safe way to sustain - warning
The average age of people in the study was 70 and, like many people that age, they had low levels of vitamin D even in summer.
"Because they spend less time outside, and the skin's ability to manufacture vitamin D also gets less effective (with their age) and we don't really understand why that is," said consultant cardiologist Dr Klaus Witte.
Patients were given either a 100 microgram vitamin D tablet or a sugar pill placebo each day for a year.
And researchers measured the impact on heart failure - a condition in which the heart becomes too weak to pump blood properly.
The key measure was the ejection fraction, the amount of blood pumped out of the chambers of the heart with each beat.
In a healthy adult, the figure is between 60% and 70%, but only a quarter of the blood in the heart was being successfully pumped out in the heart failure patients.
But in those taking the vitamin pills, the ejection fraction increased from 26% to 34%.
Dr Witte said: "It's quite a big deal, that's as big as you'd expect from other more expensive treatments that we use, it's a stunning effect.
"It's as cheap as chips, has no side effects and a stunning improvement on people already on optimal medical therapy, it is the first time anyone has shown something like this in the last 15 years."
The study also showed the patients' hearts became smaller - a suggestion they are becoming more powerful and efficient.
In the UK, people over 65 are advised to take 10 microgram supplements of the vitamin.
However, Dr Witte does not think high-dose vitamin D should be routine prescribed just yet.
He also said: "We're a little bit off that yet, not because I don't believe it, but data have shown improvements in heart function, they may show improvements in symptoms and we now need a large study."
It is also not clear exactly how vitamin D is improving heart function, but it is thought every cell in the body responds to the vitamin.
Most vitamin D comes from sunlight, although it is also found in oily fish and is added to some foods such as breakfast cereals.
Prof Peter Weissberg, from the British Heart Foundation, cautioned that the patients seemed no better at exercise.
And added: "A much bigger study over a longer period of time is now needed to determine whether these changes in cardiac function can translate into fewer symptoms and longer lives for heart failure patients."

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2 Apr 2016

The mystery behind fart

The gases in the gut is not just an embarrassment – it might be as a result of your body’s health.
I hate to say it, but doctors have something of a flatulence problem: at the moment, they know embarrassingly little about the bubbles brewing in your bowels.
“What comes out of the guts only tells the last 20cm of the gut,” says Peter Gibson at Monash University in Victoria, Australia. Gibson wants to know what’s happening in the previous 130cm of the digestive tract, leading up to that final explosion.
Digestion depends on the subtle interactions between your genes, diet, metabolism, and the myriad micro-organisms inhabiting your body, each of which may leave its signature in gaseous by-products. A change in your farts’ indicates that there might maybe a sign of serious diseases affecting any part of that process.
“We know bits and pieces about it, but it’s been very difficult to get to the crux of what is happening,” Gibson says. To this end, his team are working on a probe that would work its way through your gut, measuring your gas at every stage of digestion.
The precious little we know so far would certainly indicate that flatulence is a rich topic for investigation. Excess production of hydrogen and methane seems to suggest there may be a problem with the way your gut is absorbing carbohydrates, for instance – allowing the starches and sugars to instead ferment in the gut. Excess of methane may interrupt your bowel movements, meaning that it could be a cause of constipation for people with irritable bowel syndrome. Unfortunately, we can’t be certain exactly where that methane arises. “The dogma is that it is produced in the lower parts of the large bowel, but we don’t know,” Gibson says.
Hydrogen sulphide, meanwhile, is the chemical that gives our farts that full-bodied odour of rotten eggs. Besides the discomfort it may cause in confined spaces, chronically high levels of the gas may be the sign of a damaged gut lining, inflammatory bowel disease or even colon cancer. “It’s one example of a gas that could be incredibly instructive,” says Gibson.
Strangely enough, the most popular method to measure flatulence has been a breath test
Until now, current techniques to measure flatulence are somewhat indirect. Strangely enough, the most popular option to date has been a breath test. Since some gases will be absorbed by the blood and released in your lungs, it is possible to find traces of your flatulence coming out of your mouth. Unfortunately, that can’t tell you where the gases originated. In any case, the reading might be skewed by other elements of body odour, such as the gases brewed by bacteria between your teeth. Another option is to ferment faecal samples – the gases produced should resemble your own flatulence, although again, it can’t reveal the problems in the early stages of digestion.
Gibson’s team think they have the answer with a tiny sensor that can be swallowed like a medical pill. As it passes through the body, the capsule samples the gases at regular intervals and relays them to a tablet computer; it will also measure things like the ambient temperature and acidity, which can provide further information about its position in the gut. This is particularly important at the end of its voyage. “You want to know if it’s passed out of the backside, but you wouldn’t know because it’s just part of the stool” says Gibson. The temperature sensor, however, could offer an instant warning. “When the temperature falls, that’s when it’s gone outside.”
In this way, a doctor can collect real-time data at each stage of the pill’s journey. So far, the team have tested an early prototype on a couple of pigs, and they hope to begin human trials within the next few months.
Once the sensor has proven itself to be safe and effective, he plans to build up a library profiling the gases associated with different diseases and lifestyles. From there, it may be possible to see the direct effects of different treatments for some of the related ailments.
Since methane is thought to be linked to constipation Gibson hopes to understand where and when it is produced. “What you’d like is something that reduces methanogenesis – a simple dietary change or drug that improves constipation, which is a major problem across the world,” he says. “But we can’t know until we measure it.”
Gibson certainly can’t be faulted for his enthusiasm on this subject. “It’s very exciting – the more we get into [the subject] the more we see the potential,” he says. Let’s just hope his probe delivers on that promise, and that the excitement doesn’t just turn out to be a load of hot air.

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