Eat Up and Get a Good Night’s Sleep

February 22, 2010 By marie 1 Comment

Do you have trouble sleeping? Maybe you need to check your diet. Food can help solve your dilemma and get you that eight hour rest that you deserve. Here are some food suggestions that you should eat in order to catch your forty winks.

Food and sleep actually affects each other. If you do not eat right you also do not rest right. And at the same case, if you do not get enough sleep, your eating habits are also affected. The lack of sleep causes leptin which is an appetite regulating hormone. The leptin crashes if you do not get enough sleep and this causes you to eat more. This is why sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain and obesity.

Here are some foods that promote sleep and try to add this to your diet so that you can adjust it accordingly:

  • Fruits – instead of getting a high calorie dessert after your dinner why not get fruits instead? Mangoes, Bananas and Dates are rich in tryptophan which is a sleep inducing hormone. Another benefit that you can get when you eat these fruits is that they have a high antioxidant content so as you sleep, your body gets all cleaned up.

  • Herbal teas – this is the perfect way to unwind at night. Instead of taking the usual night cap of wine or your favorite alcohol drink get a cup of tea instead. Teas that have chamomile, mint and lavender are ideal for those that want to get some sleep. Drinking caffeine free tea made out of gentle herbal varieties helps the body relax as it calms the digestion and it also helps soothe down your stomach. Make sure that you take your cup of tea in a cozy spot so that you can relax well.

  • Soup – soup and stews are usually filled with veggies and legumes that are rich in fiber. These low fat casseroles helps you relax and stay calm compared to meats and spicy foods. The cooking process alone can help you calm down and relax as it would require a long period of time to cook over low temperatures.

These are just three of the many sleep enhancing foods that you can add to your diet in order to get a good night’s sleep. Remember that sleep is important for our overall health. Make sure that you have enough z’s to help your body rejuvenate.

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How to Get Rid of a Hangover

November 14, 2009 By marie 1 Comment

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Partying all night and having a few drinks every now and then is not much of a bad thing. In fact you must have heard about the health benefits of drinking a glass of red wine each day. However, when it comes to alcohol, it is very easy to go beyond your limits – especially if you are having the time of your life. Once this happens, you can bet that you will be having that head breaking hangover the moment you wake up.

Anyone can have a hangover – men and women of all ages. The symptoms that come with a hangover can be unbearable for some that it is enough to make them swear off alcoholic drinks. The most common of these symptoms are nausea and headache. Other symptoms include stomach aches, eye redness and irritability.

Hangovers happen when you have excessive alcohol intake. Most of the time, people are unable to tell if they had too much alcohol during the moment that they are drinking. They only get to find out the morning after. Luckily there are a lot of hangover cures out there and some of them you can even do yourself at home.

Hangover treatments only tend to the symptoms but take note that the only thing that can totally get rid of a hangover is time. Here are some things that you can do to relieve the pain:

  • Pain relievers can be your best friend during these times. They can help get rid of your headaches.

  • Drink a lot of fluids. Drinking a lot of water can help control the headache as well.

  • Get a lot of rest. Let time pass and stay in bed. The further you are from that night, the lesser pain you will feel.

  • To help get rid of the nausea, one thing you can do is to drink cola. Do not believe on the treatment of drinking the same thing that you drank the night before because this will only let the hangover come back late on the day.

  • Eat a dry piece of toast or a banana so that you can have something in your stomach that is not heavy enough for you to throw up. If you are able to keep something down then you will be feeling less pain in the stomach.

  • Take a hot steamy bath so that you can sweat it out and release the toxins.

As you can see, this hangover remedies are very easy to do and will not require much thinking. With a hangover, thinking will be the last thing you would want to do. But the best remedy is to prevent it from happening. Limit the amounts of drinks that you have and you will not have to worry about having one in the first place.

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Dealing with Nausea

November 14, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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Ever had the feeling that you are uneasy in the stomach and uncomfortable with everything in your surroundings to the point that you want to vomit? Then you are undergoing nausea.

Nausea may not be a disease but it is one of the most common symptoms to numerous conditions. It can be acute and last for a short period of time. If prolonged, this means that your nausea is a debilitating symptom.

Nausea is often referred to as the feeling of being sick in the stomach. It is caused by a lot of things. Usually it is caused by problems in the abdominal and pelvic organs, brain and hormones. Nausea can also be caused by medications, low blood sugar, alcohol, food allergies and poisoning, morning sickness and stress. Infections can also lead to nausea especially if the gastrointestinal tract is affected. Intestinal blockage can also be a cause for nausea. Psychiatric disorders like depression, anorexia nervosa, bulimia and anxiety are some of them.

Vomiting is not the sign that you should be looking for in order to confirm whether you are experiencing nausea or not. This is because nausea can happen with or without the vomiting just as vomiting can occur without nausea. Here are the right signs and symptoms that you should watch for:

  • Sudden fever, body aches, cough, runny nose and diarrhea
  • Vomiting
  • Abdominal pain
  • Dehydration
  • Retching
  • Profuse sweating

Here is a list of some home remedies that you can use to get rid of nausea:

  • Boil half a cup of rice in one cup of water for ten to twenty minutes. After the boiling, drain the water in a cup – this is the rice water. Sip on the rice water until all the symptoms of nausea are gone.

  • One of the best ways to get rid of nausea is to use ginger. Add some fresh ginger in your tea or take ginger capsules.

  • Make sure that your stomach is never empty. Carry along with you a small bag of fruit, cheese, crackers or anything that you can nibble on throughout the day.

  • Make sure that your diet is high in protein and carbohydrates and are low in fats.

  • Dissolve a teaspoon of wheat germ in warm milk every hour.

  • Before you go to bed, get 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a tablespoon of honey in cold water. Do this before going to bed.

  • Get a lot of rest.

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Health tips for frequent Computer users

July 30, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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If you find yourself in front of the computer most of the day, you must be aware that your health must be protected. Too much exposure to computers can give you eye strain, headaches and back pain plus other serious injuries such as tendonitis, bursitis or carpal tunnel syndrome. Here are some tips for computer user in order to prevent having these effects.

The most important thing is to ensure that your workstation is set up properly. Your monitor should be an arms length away and the top of your monitor should be at eye level. It is best to have your monitor sit directly in front of you instead of to the side.

You should be seated in a way that your feet are flat on the floor for maximum support. Your back should also be supported in a way that you do not slump or round your shoulders.

The keyboard must be at the same height of your elbows when your arms are down. This is to make sure that your forearms are leveled and that your shoulders do not have to lift when you type. If your chair cannot be adjusted then you can use a cushion to elevate yourself.

When you type or use the mouse, do not rest your wrist on the desk. Your hands and arms should be able to move freely while your wrists should be straight and not bent.

Taking regular breaks is the best way to help avoid injury and eye strain. Stop what your doing for two minutes every thirty minutes so that your arms, hands, and eyes can have a short rest.

For eye strain, it is important that you work in a well-lit environment so that you can avoid the glare of light from your monitor. You should look away from the screen once in a while.

It is impossible to work without computers at this day and age so it is your responsibility to keep yourself healthy with these tips at work.

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Power Nap

July 20, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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A lot of people experience a natural drowsiness usually about 8 hours after waking up. Studies show that you can help yourself be more alert and reduce stress by taking a nap.

Sleep is cumulative meaning that if you lose sleep in a day, you will feel it in the next. You are building a sleep deficit that can damage your judgment, vision, performance, motivation, patience, vigilance and memory. Aside from that you can be experiencing moodiness and aggressive behaviors since lack of sleep can lead to high levels of stress.

Having a power nap allows you to have more patience, less stress, better reaction time, increased learning and better health. Studies show that at least 20 minutes of sleep in the middle of the day will give you more rest compared to extending another 20 minutes in your sleep. After your nap, give yourself at least 5 minutes to recover from sleep and wake up before getting back to work or your studies.

A lot of experts recommend keeping your power naps between 15 to 30 minutes since any more than that can lead you to a deeper stage of sleep and will give you a hard time from waking up. Having a longer nap can also make you have difficulty sleeping at night. You can use your cell phone alarm to help you get up. Or if you are with someone, let them wake you up.

For deep sleepers, do not sleep in a lying position because this will definitely give you a harder tie getting up. Try sleeping in a comfortable chair.

Remember that too many naps in a day will decrease your productivity greatly so it is advised to take a power nap once in a day to keep you more rested instead of being more lazy.

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