Health GlareEvery human being is the author of his own health or disease

Have you been wondering what an article on “Top 10 Health Tips” doing on a website dedicated to Beauty?

Are you one of those individuals who think “Top 10 Health Tips” and “Top 10 beauty Tips” are two separate concepts and need to be dealt individually? Have you been splurging an aweful lot of money trying to look “good” by getting Spa treatments, visiting Beauty Salons, Buying Designer Labels, Eating Health Foods, and yet every time you look into the mirror, you feel there’s something “lacking?”

If you think that way, you’re not the only one. Whereas most of us spend a whole lot of time, money and effort to make our skin, hair, face, hands and feet look beautiful, we often miss out on the critical role our health and wellness plays in making us look physically and mentally beautiful.

Follow these Top 10 Health Tips in your daily life to stay beautiful on the inside and outside:

1.Follow A Healthy, Balanced Diet: A balanced diet is the first step towards a beautiful, healthy body. Follow a healthy balanced diet that complements your lifestyle. An ideal diet should be high on fiber, low on fat, and must be supplemented with adequate amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables. Besides knowing what to eat, it is equally important to know the right proportions, meaning how much or how little to eat. Talk to a fitness expert and find out what’s your daily calorie intake. Make food choices that have high nutritional value but are low in calories.

2.Eat Different Types Of Foods: According to Ayurveda, the Ancient Indian science of healing, rotating your food habits not only strengthens your immune system, it can also protect you from most illnesses. Try to eat vegetables and fruits of different colors each day. Try eating a different food at least thrice a month. Begin your day with an apple a day as the apple pectin cleanses the body’s digestive system by removing toxins and therefore preventing degenerative health problems such as cancer.

3.Don’t Skip Your Breakfast: Are you surprised to see how some people manage to stay so fit, energetic and active the whole time and are able to stabilize their weight while you continue to put on weight and feel exhausted most of the time? Well, chances are, they eat a good breakfast and you don’t! According to nutritionists and health experts, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and skipping your breakfast can lead to serious health problems besides adding those extra pounds as a result of binging on unhealthy snacks later in the day. Besides re-charging your energy levels, eating regular breakfast has several long-term benefits like:

• It results in faster weight loss
• Your body get more nutrients everyday
• Breakfast rich in fiber foods and wholegrain helps keep the heart healthy especially if you suffer from metabolic disorders like fluctuating blood pressure, obesity and cholesterol. It also helps stabilize blood sugar levels
• A good breakfast early in the morning sets your mood right and enables you to handle stress better
• You stay overall healthy! So begin your day with fresh fruits, fruit juices, hard-boiled eggs, wholegrain cereals and breads and stay healthy all day!

4. Drink Lots Of Water: Drinking a minimum of 7 to 8 glasses of water everyday cleanses all the impurities and toxins from your body and helps to get healthy, flawless skin.

In addition, the fluid in your body is responsible for the functioning of your internal organs including the metabolic processes.  So if you’re dehydrated, this whole process gets affected and your body tends to slow down leaving you feeling low and lethargic.

5. Exercise Regularly: Who does not dream of getting those six-pack abs? Besides making you look sexy and popular, regular exercising is also the best natural “anti-aging” recipe because it helps you stay and feel young by raising your energy levels, stabilizing your body weight, and enhancing flexibility, which reduces the wear and tear in your body.

You don’t need to exercise for hours everyday, just take 15-20 minutes off your busy schedule everyday to sweat out that pot-belly or burn those extra-pounds that have been making it difficult for you to get into your favorite outfit! If you can’t, make one of these a part of your routine: take the stairs instead of elevators and escalators to climb; Make it a habit to walk about 15 minutes everyday. If holistic healing is your thing, enroll yourself for yoga classes. If not, go swimming, take aerobics lessons or start shaking a leg or two at the local dance academy-whatever keeps you going, juts do it! If you’re into sports, you can make it part of your fitness routine.

Remember, your external fitness is only a reflection of your inner fitness and a beautiful, healthy body reflects a fit, healthy mind.

6. Quit Smoking: Okay, so you’ve heard this countless times from your doctor, but here it comes again as one of our most important health tip-Quit Smoking! If you’re one of those people who smoke to lose or gain weight, we’d stay think again! While smoking may have been related to an increase in metabolism, it is certainly not a good enough reason to substitute it with the huge risk of dying from lung cancer!

If that doesn’t make you change your mind, this will. Recent studies have proved that smoking is also one of the leading factors that stimulate the process of aging in both men and women. So say no to cigarettes and stay young and healthy for the rest of your life!

7. Say No To Stress: We know what you’re thinking-easier said than done! Agreed, but leading a stressful life can only make matters worse. On the other hand, leading a relaxed, stress-free life will not only reduce the risks of health related disorders, it will also calm you down and let you enjoy your life better.

While planning your day, strike a balance between home and work. If you have trouble remembering things-make a list of all the “things-to-do” before going to bed each night or simply set a “reminder” in your cell phone so you don’t have to run around at the last minute. Staying positive and thinking happy thoughts is one of the most effective stress buster technique you can easily follow in your daily life.

Spend atleast 15 minutes doing something you love and enjoy each day. It could be a simple activity, like cuddling up in bed by yourself and watching a funny movie, enjoying a glass of your favorite wine, socializing with friends, reading, sweating it out at the gym, pampering yourself with a stress-releasing body massage, soaking in a hot tub, taking a stroll on the beach, playing with your dog, listening to your favorite music or simply lazing around and doing nothing!

8. Take Care Of Your Teeth: Remember the phrase “million dollar smile?” Well, your teeth have a lot to do with your smile and they can make or break your looks depending on how much or how little you’ve cared for them over the years! Dental health is an important aspect of your overall heath. One of the best ways to have healthy teeth, prevent gum-related infections and protect your heart is by flossing your teeth every day. Few of us know that gum infections if left untreated can cause inflammatory reactions in the body, which can lead to stroke and heart ailments.

9. Sleep Well: A good 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep is a must for our body to reboot itself and feel energetic next day. Lack of sleep affects our hormone levels and slows down metabolism often resulting in weight gain. Studies have shown that deep, uninterrupted sleep helps cell growth and cell repair, which can increase the metabolism and help in burning calories. If you suffer from sleeplessness, try some of these simple remedies:

• Avoid alcohol before going to bed
• Stay away from stimulants like coffee, tea and chocolates before going to sleep
• Regularize your sleeping habit
• Keep your bedroom clean and uncluttered; Use decors and furnishing with peaceful and soothing colors
• Avoid taking longer daytime naps
• Follow relaxation techniques (for ex-meditation) to reduce stress

Keep Your Brain Active: Keeping your mind in “good shape” is just as vital as taking care of your physical health, so be sure to indulge your brain on a daily basis. An idle mind is not only the devil’s workshop, often the feeling of “aimlessness” or “nothingness” can cause boredom and can lead to depression and anxiety-related disorders.

One way to keep your brain engaged and busy is to constantly challenge yourself with new ideas and by learning new skills. Studies have shown than an active brain makes new connections between nerve cells that help cells communicate with one another. This allows our brain to store and access information easily, regardless of our age. Try some of these activities to keep your mind active and free from boredom:

• Learn to play a new musical instrument
• Learn a new language
• Indulge in crossword puzzles
• Play scrabble with a friend
• Participate in discussions and forums
• Maintain a blog and update it daily
• Switch careers or make a new beginning
• Read books on unfamiliar topics
• Pursue a new hobby
• Stay aware about what’s going on in the world

Follow these “Top 10 Health Tips” to stay physically and mentally beautiful for the rest of your life. Remember-”Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!”

Vaginal methods are contraceptives
that a woman places in her vagina shortly before sex. There are several vaginal methods:

* Spermicides, including foaming tablets or suppositories, melting suppositories, foam, melting film, jelly and cream.

* Diaphragm, a soft rubber cup that covers the cervix. It should be used with spermicidal jelly or cream.

* Cervical cap is like the diaphragm but is smaller. It is not widely available outside North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Spermicides work by killing sperm or making sperm unable to move towards the egg. Diaphragms block the sperm from entering the uterus and tubes, when sperm could meet an egg.

Advantages:

1. Safe, woman controlled methods that almost every woman can use.
2. Help prevent some STDs and conditions caused by STDs— pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), infertility, ectopic pregnancy and possibly cervical cancer. May offer some protection against HIV/AIDS, but this has not been demonstrated yet.
3. It offers contraception when needed. No daily action needed.
4. No side effects from hormones.
5. No effect on breast milk.

Disadvantages:

1. Side effects:
Spermicide may cause irritation to woman or her partner, especially if used several times a day.

Spermicide may cause local allergic reaction (rarely) in the woman or her partner.

Can make urinary tract infections more common. (A woman can avoid this by always after sex).

2. Effectiveness requires having method at hand and taking correct action before each act of sexual intercourse.
A woman can begin using a vaginal method any time during her monthly cycle and soon after childbirth, abortion or miscarriage.

The diaphragm and cervical cap generally should not be fitted, however, in the first 6 to 12 weeks after full-term delivery or second-trimester spontaneous or induced abortion, depending on when the uterus and cervix return to their normal sizes. If needed a woman can use the spermicidal alone or with condoms until then.

What is Emergency Oral Contraception?
After unprotected sex, emergency oral contraception can prevent pregnancy. Sometimes called post-coital or ‘morning after’ contraception.

How does it work?
Mainly stops ovulation (release of egg from ovary) but perhaps also works in other ways. Does not disrupt existing pregnancy.

How effective?
Seems to prevent about three-fourths of pregnancies that would otherwise have occurred. (Average chance of pregnancy due to one act of unprotected intercourse in the second or third week of the menstrual cycle is 8%; after emergency oral contraceptives, 2%). The sooner emergency control contraceptives are used, the better they prevent pregnancy.

How to use Emergency Oral Contraception ?
Up to 72 hours after unprotected sex, the woman should take 4 low-dose or 2 “standard-dose” combined oral contraceptives, and then take another equal dose 12 hours later.

Women who use Progestin-only Oral Contraceptives should swallow a pill every day to prevent pregnancy. It contains very small amounts of only one kind of hormone, a progestin. Again, they contain only one-half to one tenth as much progestin as combined oral contraceptives. They do not contain estrogen. These are known as progestin-only pills (POPs), POCs and mini pills.

Progestin-only contraceptives are also best recommended for breast-feeding women. They do not reduce milk production.

How do they work?
Progestin works in a manner similar to breast-feeding. It thickens the cervical mucus, making it difficult for sperm to pass through. It reduces ovulation (release of eggs from ovaries) to half of that of menstrual cycle.

Progestin-only oral contraceptives do not disrupt existing pregnancy.

How effective are they?

* For breast feeding women: Progestin is more effective than combined oral contraceptives, which are commonly used, because breast feeding itself provides protection against pregnancy. Pregnancy rates for women not breast-feeding are not available.
There is only about one pregnancy per 100 women in the first year of use. Mistakes in pill taking lead to pregnancy more often than with combined oral contraceptives. However, pill taking maybe easier, because a woman takes the same pill every day without breaks.

* For all women: Progestin-only oral contraceptives are very effective when used correctly and consistently. There are 0.5 pregnancies per 100 women in the first year of use (1 in every 200). Combined oral contraceptives which are used correctly and consistently are more effective than the above mentioned contraceptives.

It is most effective when taken about the same time every day.

Advantages and Disadvantages:

Advantages:

1. It can be used by nursing mothers starting 6 weeks after childbirth. Neither the quantity nor the quality of milk is harmed. (In contrast, combined oral contraceptives can slightly reduce milk production).

2. It does not increase risk of estrogen-related complications, such as heart attack or stroke. Women take one pill every day without break. It is easier to understand than taking 21-day combined pills.

3. It can be very effective during breast-feeding. Also there is less risk of progestin related side effects, like weight gain, acne etc. than with combined oral contraceptives.

Disadvantages:

1. Women not breast-feeding may experience common side effects. Changes in menstrual cycle are normal, including irregular periods, spotting or bleeding between periods (common), and amenorrhea (missed periods).

2. Less common side effects include headaches and breast tenderness.

3. Should be taken at about the same time each day to work best. For women not breast-feeding, even taking a pill more than a few hours late, increases the risk of pregnancy, and missing two or more pills increases the risk greatly.

When to start?
A woman can be given progestin –only oral contraceptives at any time and told when to start taking them.

A breast-feeding woman can start as early as 6 weeks after childbirth. Fully or nearly fully breast-feeding effectively prevents pregnancy for at least 6 months or until she has menstrual period.

A woman if not breast-feeding after childbirth, can take them immediately or at anytime in the first 4 weeks after childbirth. She need not wait for her menstrual period to return.

A woman who has had a miscarriage or abortion can take progestin-only contraceptives immediately or on the first 7 days after either first or second trimester miscarriage or abortion.

A woman having menstrual cycles may take these contraceptives in the first 5 days of her menstrual bleeding. The first day of the menstrual bleeding is the best. No back up method is needed for extra protection.

Women who use oral contraceptives swallow a pill each day to prevent pregnancy. Combined oral contraceptives contain two hormones similar to the natural hormones in a woman’s body—an estrogen and a progestin. Also called combined pills, COC’s, OC’s, the pill and birth control pills. Read the rest of this entry »

Pomerania Method Female sterilization provides permanent contraception for women who do not want more children. It is a safe and simple surgical procedure and can usually be done with local anesthesia and light sedation.

A small incision is made by the doctor in the woman’s abdomen and the two fallopian tubes are blocked off or cut. These tubes carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus. With the tubes blocked, the woman’s egg cannot meet the man’s sperm.

The effectiveness of this method depends partially on how the tubes are blocked, but all pregnancy rates are low. Only 0.5 pregnancies per 100 women (1 in 200) have been recorded in the first year after the procedure. Within 10 years, this figure increases to 1.8 pregnancies per 100 women (1 in 55).

Postpartum tubal litigation (immediately after the childbirth) is one of the most effective female sterilization techniques. In the first year after the procedure only, 0.05 pregnancies per 100 women (1in 2000) has been recorded.

Advantages:

1. Very effective.
2. It is permanent. A single procedure leads to lifelong, safe and very effective family planning.
3. Nothing to remember, no supplies needed and no repeated clinic visits required.
4. No interference with sex. Does not affect a woman’s ability to have sex.
5. No known long-term side effects or health risks.

Disadvantages:
It is usually painful for several days after the operation. Certain uncommon complications of the surgery can occur:

* Infection or bleeding at the incision
* Internal infection or bleeding
* Injury to internal organs
* Anesthetic risk: With local anesthesia alone or with sedation, rare risks of allergic reaction or overdose. With general anesthesia, occasional delayed recovery and side effects. Complications are more severe than with local anesthesia. There is also a risk of overdose.

Clip Method Reversal surgery is difficult, expensive and not available in most areas. Successful reversal too is not guaranteed. Women who may want to become pregnant in the future should choose a different method.

The right time to undergo Female Sterilization
A woman can have female sterilization procedure anytime that:

* She decides that she will never want children in future.
* It is reasonably certain that she is not pregnant. These times can include:

Immediately after childbirth or within 7days, if she has made a voluntary informed choice in advance;

Six weeks or more after childbirth; or

Immediately after abortion (within 48 hours), if she has not decided voluntarily in advance; and

Any other, but NOT between 7 days and 6 weeks postpartum.

Important points to remember

1. Permanent family planning method. A woman must think carefully and decide she will never want any more children, before she makes the choice.

2. It is very effective and involves a safe and simple surgery.