- We Made

Stand up for a Battle against high cholesterol

May 18th, 2013

There are a lot of people I know who keen to control their cholesterol levels but drastically fail to do so due to the enormous amount of distractions caused by the colorful and delicious food full of bad stuff.

When the cholesterol levels are high in blood, there is a high risk of atherosclerosis which can further complicate the situation leading to stroke.

How about you get to know about some delicious food items that not only fulfill serve as a treat to you but also help control you cholesterol levels? Here you go:

Beans
Soluble fiber
Soy
Salmon
Spinach
Fruits
Avocado
Garlic
Margarine
Cashews ,Walnuts, and Almonds
Chocolate
Tea
Egg white

Foods that should be kept away from your diet because they are high in cholesterol and they may cause harm to the blood vessels and heart include:

Liver
Butter
Egg Yolk
Processed Meats
Oil Packed Fish
Oysters
Cheese
Shrimp
Fast Foods (Burgers and deep fried junk etc)

Maintaining cholesterol intake is important to stay away from life threatening heart diseases. The body makes the amount of cholesterol needed in the liver. When you add a lot of cholesterol in your diet, it may pose dangerous effects. The worst thing high free fatty acids do is that they start accumulating on the walls of the blood vessels. When a lot of cholesterol has piled up, it blocks the blood passage and the organ which is supplied by the affected vessel becomes devoid of blood. This whole phenomenon comes under the term atherosclerosis.

Delay wrinkle arrival

May 17th, 2013

What could be more awesome if you could simply delay the appearance of wrinkles and lines? Well, there are ways to do so. The following tips might come in handy to minimize and even reverse the effects of aging:

Never leave your skin unprotected: A broad-spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen will help you fight against the harshness of the Sun. We all know how harmful sunlight is for our skin and it is the most influential factor for wrinkles.
Make healthy dietary changes: Add healthy stuff to your diet such as fish, which contain good fat, soy which improves the firmness and texture of the skin and fruits and veggies etc.
Gulp in antioxidants: Vitamins A, vitamin C as well as vitamin E have antioxidants properties which helps the skin fight off aging. Slow the breakdown of collagen by choosing green and white tea instead of coffee.
Sleep: Not getting enough sleep elevates the blood cortisol which is not good for skin cells. Getting enough sleep elevates growth hormone which improves the quality of the skin.
8 glasses of water: The more water you drink, the better it is for your skin. Water keeps your skin hydrated, elastic and moist.
Retinols: Retinols have a great role in skin cell synthesis and therefore consuming or using topical retinols will help a great deal.
Peptides: Go for moisturizers that contain peptides. These will not only keep your skin hydrated but will also play a role in increasing the collagen synthesis which will make your skin plump and reduce wrinkles.

5 Powerful foods for women

May 12th, 2013

Artificial products can never emulate the advantages and benefits offered to us by natural foods. The following 5 foods are best choice for women who wish to be young and healthy.

Almonds: Delicious as they taste, almonds are immensely enriched with good fat, protein, vitamins and minerals such as vitamin E etc. The best part about almonds is that they are increase metabolism because of high calcium content and help you not only lose weight but also overcome early aging, muscle build up and reducing your chance for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes as well as cancer.
Yogurt: Yogurt is high in probiotics and it improves the immunity and GIT function. It is rich in vitamin B12, potassium, protein, calcium etc.
Olive oil: Olive oil is enriched with good fats and vitamin E. It works as fat burner and hence help you stay fit. Good fats are great for your heart.
Lentils: Lentils are yet another powerful food for women which is rich in protein content, fiber, folic acid, many important elements such as iron and magnesium etc. Lentils are known to be beneficial for the heart, in stabilizing the blood glucose level and improve production of red blood cells. Not only this, lentils also help in weight loss.
Beets: Beets are marvelous natural antioxidants rich food which has substances which are great for your eyes. These substances includezeaxanthin as well as lutein. They also have anti-inflammatory benefits which work to save you from many disastrous and chronic diseases.

5 Powerful foods for women, powerful foods for women

The importance of bedtime stories

May 1st, 2013

With the economy in recession and less income, in more families now both parents have to work in order to provide better life for them and their offspring. When both parents are working they have less time to spend with their children and this is why they must spend the time they have with quality. Telling your child a bedtime story is one of the most interesting parts of the day and it should not be missed.

Parents should work on their imagination and make up good bedtime stories, whether they use everyday occurrences or they tell a story read from book or make it up, this must be done in an interesting manner so it attracts the children attention and makes their imagination work too. So telling a story to your kid should be done in gentle voice, whatever the story is about it should never become monotone or boring. Add drama in the story, it really doesn’t matter the subject of the story; a parent should know how to make any story interesting and exciting. You may use gestures, clapping your hands, whistle, make facial expressions, imitate animal or nature sounds or emotions, and just add the drama.

There are many good sources of stories; such are children books and fairy tales, any books on religion and mythology, movies, but also everyday events. Bedtime stories are not just telling stories, there is an interaction between the parent and the children, and the child has always a question to ask, so the parent should be ready to answer. Interacting with your children from early years helps the children improve thinking. While telling stories the parent should do all he can in order his child to remember the story, thus working its memory and imagination.

Newborn baby common issues

May 1st, 2013

Now that your child has arrived into the world, you have many future moments of happiness, enjoy your time with your baby; give all the love, understanding and respect. Everything in life has its challenges, so does your newborn baby. Mothers should always consider the advices of pediatrist, you may also read literature or check it on internet on issues that are not very important.

Feeding the baby is mostly difficult at earliest age; the natural way of feeding is breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is not always easy as it seems, a survey made on this subject says that most of the mothers said that nursing was not easy and it was difficult in various ways. There is always the question: is the baby fed enough? Well, if the baby is relaxed and it looks satisfied, if it normally gains weight, than there is no problem. Formula feeding your baby can also bring many questions, what kind to buy, is there any possibility of an allergic reaction etc. Babies can often spit and suffer from reflux, if this does not make the baby uncomfortable, than it is probably nothing serious, but if the baby does not gain weight because of this, check this with your doctor. There are many growth calculators now on internet that will compare your children growth with growth measured in other children.

One of the biggest challenges for parents is to put their baby to sleep; an even greater challenge is the baby staying asleep. You should assure that your baby is getting enough sleep; the baby staying awake might be connected to many factors, such as food, the timing of feeding etc. If the baby is crying try to calm it, be patient and expect good results.

Hiking – fun and healthy

May 1st, 2013

Hiking is an aerobic exercise which involves walking in nature, mostly in mountains or other scenic environment. Doing hiking is beneficial to your health in many ways, such as:

- Improves the function of your cardio – respiratory system.

- Lower the risk of many diseases, such as stroke and heart diseases, hypertension, type 2 diabetes.

- Lower the level of cholesterol and triglycerides.

- Helps prevent the occurrence of cancer, breast, colon and lung.

- It increases bone density, it also slows the loss.

- It improves the quality of sleep and helps reduce depression.

- It helps regulate the weight and built better physique; hiking for an hour does burn around 400 calories.

Hiking is important because it puts almost every part of your body in action. It is an exercise that involves your legs, hips, abdominals, arms and many other muscles or muscle groups. Not only it helps strengthen your physique and improve your physical health, it also does improve your mental health. Going for a walk in a natural environment also puts all your senses to action, scenic terrain will relax you; you will enjoy the beautiful sounds and the wonderful smell of nature.

Some studies say that around 200 minutes of moderate hiking is enough for most of these health benefits to be apparent. You can even split the exercise, to several times a week. So around 3 hours a week, can improve your health, but also improve your quality of life. Running or hiking mountains with backpack reduces the time that need to be done. If you increase the duration of your activity you have a greater chance of reaping the health benefits, but you should not overheat the body and if you feel any discomfort after hiking should go consult physician.

Good foods to eat during pregnancy

May 1st, 2013

Being pregnant should not be the only reason to start eating healthy food, but if you have not started yet, than this is the best time to start. Pregnant woman are no longer eating for themselves, they must now think on their growing baby. During pregnancy it is very important to import as big amounts of natural calcium and protein for the baby’s bones and tissues, increasing the intake of iron is also required so red blood cells will make oxygen more available to the baby. So here are some foods that you need to eat during pregnancy:

- Including whole grains in your diet is essential due to their nutritional value, their richness in iron and folic acid, they also good source of dietary fiber. Foods included are whole – grain breads, whole – wheat pasta, oatmeal etc.

- Beans are providers of protein and fiber, they also add some other key nutrition’s in your diet, such as calcium, iron, zinc etc.

- Eating fresh fish, especially from natural environment, is very healthy option. Try to include salmon in diet because of the omega – 3 fatty acids, protein and vitamins B. Salmon is low in mercury, so compared to some other fish species it pose no danger to your baby.

- Add eggs for more protein and amino acids. Eggs are also good provider of vitamins and minerals. Be sure that the eggs are well cooked.

- Berries are delicious; they can also be added to oatmeal and yogurt. So be sure to include them, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries they are all sources of fiber, vitamin C, folate and potassium.

- In addition to the oatmeal and the berries you can take low – fat yogurt, it is source of protein and calcium , and it has no additional sugar.

Tips for better health

May 1st, 2013

When it comes to health in general, there are many things and actions you can do in order to improve it, to fortify your immune system and become more resisting to diseases. Here are few tips on how to do it:

- Know your weight, today overweight is very common; obesity is one of the leading preventable factors that contribute to premature death. Your weight has direct connection with some diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and even some types of cancer.

- When it comes to losing weight, exercise is best option for you. But exercise is not only about losing weight, with exercise you are lowering the risk of many diseases including heart disease, stroke, it lowers cholesterol and regulates blood pressure.

- Maintaining healthy diet is crucial to your general health, fruits and vegetables are low on calories, but are loaded with vitamins and minerals, eating up to five portions of vegetable and fruit are day is good. Another good tip related to your diet is avoiding or lowering the intake of salt and fat. Salt increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease or stroke, excessive intake of fat in your diet results in greater risk of heart disease and stroke.

- Needless to say, quitting smoking is probably the best thing you can do for your health. You will feel the results in less than one week. Same goes with alcohol, although some alcoholic beverages in small amounts can improve your health, are a glass of wine or a pint of beer can be even good for your health.

- Stress is one of the factors that can lead to high blood pressure, depression and anxiety, be sure to manage your stress, and have enough time for sleep.

How can your child benefit from sport?

May 1st, 2013

With so many sedentary activities, such as computer games, internet and television, children are participation in team or individual sports, fitness and other physical activities is significantly lower, than before the expansion of computer games. Children practicing any physical activity are more likely to grow up into healthy and active individuals. Practicing sport will help reduce the risk of obesity in children, it increases cardio – vascular fitness, it helps for better growth in general, as well for better muscles and bones, ligaments, knees and ankles etc. Sport improves balance and coordination, it makes sleep better; there are many mental health benefits from practicing team and individual sports, such as confidence, competence. Children who participate in sport will not easily give up on everyday problems in future, they gain social and personal skills, learn how to work in a team, how to cooperate and how to lead.

Rather than arguing with children on the subject of excessive use of computer games, parents should give example to children and encourage then to participate in any sport or physical activity they like. Parents can go on a ride with bike with their children, playing sports together, support the children participation in sport, go visit their match and cheer them. Parents should also lead an example for the children, not only for the sake of the child but for its own too.

Once your children is eager to sport, you as parents should make sure to provide any needed protective gear, such as ankle , knee, elbow etc. guards or helmet for sports that are more extreme and there is a possibility to fall. It is also good for children to practice several sports so the effects are on overall fitness.

Smart Furniture Choices to Create a Stylish & Safe Kid-Friendly Home

April 25th, 2013

Statistics indicate that each year more accidents, that require serious medical attention, happen at home than anywhere else! As hard as that might be to believe, one look around your home will convince you how the cool contemporary residence can hurt your little one at pretty much every turn.

This is absolutely no exaggeration as the curious and inquisitive nature of your kids can often lead to accidents that can be easily avoided with a bit of foresight and planning.

Smart Furniture Choices to Create a Stylish & Safe Kid Friendly Home,

But there are some simple things you can do to avoid such mishaps-

Electric sockets are one of the first things you would want to ‘child-proof’ in your home. Sockets are generally pretty accessible, available at the eye level of your little one and they will inevitably try to mimic you by getting close to a switchboard or two. Socket covers are easy to install and keep them safe at all times.
Secure window locks, door stoppers and door hinge strips make both doors and windows a lot safer for your kids. Having a finger trapped accidentally in the door is something many of us have faced despite being adults. While our fingers might be able to take the hit, a kid’s fingers are far more delicate and hence extra protection for the doors is an absolute must.
When it comes to furniture, straps and guards are a great start. Make sure that you have eliminated pretty much every sharp corner there is around you. The little one will still always find a thing or two to bang himself up against, but at least it will hurt far less! Smart choices like dining chairs with arms in the kitchen and ergonomic shelves that hideaway the sharp implements are both stylish and smart choices.
If your residence sports a staircase, then both a railing and stair gates at the top and bottom are simply a must. A tumble down the stairs can be devastating to say the least and 4200 children are involved in such falls in UK alone each year. A railing next to your fireplace (even if it is a modern one with glass casing) is a must as well.
Locking up everything might not always be the solution. But when kids are at a certain age when they just start to walk and wish to explore every nook and cranny, it might be the only option. Make sure all your gadgets are secure and nothing can be tipped over by the little one. You can never be too careful with kids!