Get Those Popeye Muscles With Some Real Spinach

A new study from Sweden says that spinach is really the one that gave the famous Popeye The Sailor Man all the big muscles. Spinach is considered a superfood that is an ideal source of inorganic nitrate that when taken can also help in powering up our cells.

Its effect can be so potent that you can feel it working in just three days. However, the researchers still do not recommend taking supplements that have the inorganic nitrate component. They advise instead for people to eat about a plate of spinach or a couple of red beets. If you would include a sufficient amount of such fruits and vegetables in your daily diet, then you can be sure to be a lot healthier. However, there are also some studies that reveal how the use of strong mouthwashes can reduce the level of nitrate. Hence, it would not hurt to steer away from those very powerful mouthwash products since they only just sting your mouth.

So if you want to build those muscles, you have got to give some love for spinach.

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Cut Down On Salt Intake As Recommended By The Government

First you heard it at school and from experts and now you will even hear it from the government. They recommend a cut down on salt intake.


The question is how consumers will be able to do this. As stated, people don’t take in too much salt through condiments but it’s something added as they prepare their meals or trough products manufactured in the market. The good news is a lot of food manufacturers are committed in doing this for the consumers benefit but it may take some time before they will be able to set it at a recommended level without the market noticing it.


According to Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the FDA may need to move companies to cut down in using salt for their products. But even with this regulation set, the salt industry seems to be not concerned about the consumers will react on this matter.


Apart from the food industry doing their part in helping cutting down their salt use for food production, several tips are also given to consumers so they can also cut their salt intake like checking the labels for sodium levels or use lesser salt while cooking.

Let’s see what the future holds for this government recommendation in terms of its implementation and the consumer’s reaction.


To read the full story, click here.



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Art-xiety: Art Therapy for Asthmatic Children

Many people may think that only the adults can feel stress and depression but the truth is that even children can also experience these things. As you can see, there are many children who can be very depressed, stressed, and very anxious. And most of the time, these anxieties on children is caused by their health problems. This is the reason why anxiety is very evident to children who have asthma.


Why are they anxious because of asthma? The thought of their past asthma attack can cause anxiety for the children. And a study stated that art can help children be relieved from this problem.


Their parents can get art therapy for their children. The therapy will include crayons and other art materials with the help of an art therapist so they will be able to express or translate their feelings on the art work. According to Anya Beebe, who is an art therapist, the therapy is not about creating beautiful art pictures but will help them be in touch with their deepest emotions and deal with it. And usually, the children who have these anxieties feel better after they finished their art work.



Click here for more details of the study.


Photo via vam.ac.uk

Working and Snacking: Not a Good Thing

Let’s face it. A lot of people these days are having problem with weight gain. And most of the time, this is very noticeable for people who are working in their homes. Primarily, since they are just in the house, food is just very accessible in their homes. They can just stand and grab any from their refrigerators. This leads to continuous snacking and thus gaining more weight in the process.


If you are among these homebased employees that notice continuous snacking, you have to do a number of things in order to help you prevent snacking and help you lose weight.


First, you have to make sure that food is not within the accessible area of your workstation. The accessibility of food in your computer area will only increase the instances of snacking on impulse. Also, make sure not to associate computer with food. Hence, it is better to eat on the dining area at an allotted time instead of eating in front of the computer.


Second, be a watchful eater. Once you are about to grab a snack from your refrigerator, check first whether you are really eating because you are hungry. Most of the time, eating can be one way to alleviate work-related stress. If you think that you are not really hungry, don’t eat that snack and look for other ways to divert your attention from food.


So if you want to prevent weight gain due to snacking at home, make sure to do these steps and you will surely be successful on your goal.


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Calling All Women in Their 30s and Going

Avoid the scare and face the facts - age does matter when it comes to health, especially for women when they reach their 30s. So better prepare yourself and be open to the idea of how important it is to visit your OB-gynecologist and have an ultrasound, a Pap smear or a breast exam whichever your symptoms fancy.

One disorder that seems prevalent these times is what is known as ovarian cyst. It happens when an ovarian follicle becomes larger than 2 cm which can be the size of a pea or as large as a golf ball. Most often these cysts are benign and do not cause a health threat, but when they start to cause bleeding and pain or any other symptoms such as stated below, that could be a signal to go and have that appointment with your doctor.

These are the possible symptoms that may indicate you have ovarian cysts:

* Dull ache or severe abrupt and sharp onset

* Discomfort in the lower abdomen (left and right or either)

* Pain in the pelvis, vagina, lower back, or thighs that may be constant or intermittent

* Abdominal fullness, pressure, heaviness or bloating

* Breast tenderness

* Pain pre, peri and post menstrual period

* Unusual uterine bleeding or spotting

* Difficulty urinating or incomplete emptying of the bladder

* Bowel movement changes or difficulty because of pressure on the pelvic anatomy

* Weight gain

* Nausea or vomiting

* Fatigue

* Strange nodules that feel like bruises under the layer of skin

If you sense any of these, go and have that nice picture taken of your abdomen and pelvis. A simple ultrasound might even save you from sleepless nights and useless worrying.

San Franciscans Get Veggies for Mondays

The Board of Supervisors of the city passed a resolution that would declare Monday as a “meat free” day. The resolution was sponsored by the vegetarian Supervisor of the Board, Ms. Sophie Maxwell.

According to her, they are encouraging every food establishments, schools and other stores to render plant-based food options once a week, particularly on Mondays for the benefit of everyone’s health and a step to fight global warming as well. They also passed another non-binding resolution which commended establishments who use the cage-free eggs alone.

The entire board was invited to Ms. Maxwell’s office for a full vegetarian treat.

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FDA To Ban Menthol Cigarettes?

It was just recent this week when it was in the news that FDA was in the process of reviewing whether to ban menthol cigarettes in the market, this despite being known to be the most popular flavor of cigarettes that Americans smoke. This is also known as the one most popular with African Americans.

Surveys say that most of the young smokers of today started their smoking habit with menthol cigarettes. They said this is due to the reason that the mint taste of the favor tones down the strong flavor of the tobacco which could be overwhelming for a smoker who is just starting on the habit.

On the other hand, most African Americans describe it as something soothing to their throats each time they smoke it compare to the average cigarettes. However, the whole point here is that there was no study that says menthol cigarettes are less dangerous than the regular ones. In fact, many African Americans get to have lung cancer and other ailments related to tobacco even if they smoke less than the white smokers.

The scientific advisory panel of the FDA is still yet to make a decision for they still await more results from further studies and surveys from the actual communities.

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Smoking is Problematic for Your Baby

Smoking can be very problematic for every user and it becomes a major problem once the user is a pregnant women. Primarily, this is because smoking affects both the mother and the fetus.


With the increasing number of tobacco users and the number of tobacco-related studies, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is now starting to give more attention to pregnant women who smoke. For them, they believe that the main solution for women who are having some smoking problem is counseling. They have come up with five steps in doing the counseling for these pregnant smokers.


To summarize the whole five steps, it includes proper interaction with the primary care provider about the issue with smoking. Basically, the physician should be able to ask them about smoking and that the patient should tell them the truth. Aside from this, there should also be willingness on both parties about helping each other to achieve smoking cessation. This means that the patient should be serious in quitting and that the physician will be of support in terms of the medical approach.


Smoking can cause different pregnancy complications and even affect the fetus’ development so it is better to increase the awareness of women about this problem.


To read the whole article, please click here

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