Eating enough fiber in our daily food is essential for health and fitness. Health care professionals and dieticians recommend a diet which is rich in fibers to prevent cardio vascular diseases and even cancer. Fiber helps with so many their health problems, and prevents the onslaught of many diseases too. If you want to ensure that your food has enough fiber in it you will have to make a conscious effort to eat the right kind of foods.
Raw fruits and vegetables have a lot more of fiber content than cooked foods. So you will have to have more of fruits, salads, raw vegetables and whole grains to get more fiber in your food. Instead of bread and snacks made of flour have whole grain bread and wheat flour or multi grained products. For your own health care avoid snacking on fried foods, but have a fruit or a celery or carrot stick instead. A cereal in the morning at breakfast will give you a fair amount of fiber. While baking cakes, cookies and pancakes, use wheat flour instead of white flour or at least make a mix of half and half of each of flour, Brown and red rice and barley is preferred to polished white rice.
High fiber foods are usually not very palatable and most people avoid eating what does not taste good. However, fruits have a good amount of fiber and if eaten instead of drinking the juice will give you enough fiber content. Add flax seed powder or wheat bran to any food that you are eating to increase the fiber content.
You can always improvise your own recipes and salads from a health point of view and make it more nutritious to give yourself a balanced meal. A mixture of fruits and vegetables in a salad will pack it with more nutrients and give you a lot more than your could have had in a cooked meal of fiber content.
Summary: While shopping for your groceries make a list which will give you a health conscious diet and do not blindly walk along the aisle picking up stuff at random. Make a conscious effort to read the fiber content on foods like packed cereals.

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Flax seeds have more benefits than one can imagine. These small golden brown grains with a nutty taste are packed with so many essential factors which give us a good enough reason to have a daily dose of them. Health care professionals recommend flax seeds health and wellness. Flax seeds help relieve arthritis, depression, burn fat, build muscle, are good for the skin and help relieve constipation. These seeds resemble sesame seeds and are not expensive. They are packed with omega 3 oils which are not produced by the body.
Flax seeds are easily available at any grocery store and are easy to eat. You can either chew them as they are, or powder them and mix them in your porridge, fruit juice, fruit salad, vegetable salad and top your yogurt with it too. Once flax seeds have been powdered it is better to keep this powder refrigerated as it may turn rancid. There are supplement pills also available, but the original flax seed is much cheaper. From a health point of view, it is always better to consume things in their natural form. These seeds and the powder should never be heated up and should be eaten raw. If you are taking your daily dose of flax seeds make sure that you drink a lot of water too. You need to have two to three table spoons of flax seed powder per day.
The omega 3 oils in the flax seeds breaks down the deposits of cholesterol in the body and also puts a thin blockade to prevent further deposits of cholesterol. Cholesterol deposits are known to cause blood clots and blockages in the arteries which cause strokes and heart attacks. An intake of at least 1000 mg. of Omega 3 is required to show any benefits in the cardio vascular health.
The production of excess androgens which are hormones produced during teenage, is controlled by flax seeds, and this helps in clearing up acne. This also helps prevent hair loss and water retention in the body.
Summary: With so many beneficial factors it is really worth giving this cheap home remedy a try. As it is in a natural form, if taken within the stipulated amount, flax seeds can cause no harm

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There are a lot of ingredients in the kitchen which can help you with your health fitness regime. These are essential ingredients in health care and beauty care products. The great thins is that you will find them all in general grocery stores and they are not difficult to source which is half the battle won.
The most common ingredient is gram flour (Bengal gram flour) which makes a great face scrub and mixed with varied stuff you can make face packs according to your skin type. For dry skin mix the gram flour with fresh cream and honey and spread on the face avoiding eye areas and let it dry. For an oily skin you can add some lime juice and rose water to the gram flour and use as a face pack. Instead of using commercial face washes and soap, gram flour mixed with yogurt makes an ideal body wash and scrub and leaves the skin soft and glowing.
An ideal fruit is a ripe papaya. Gently massage a mashed piece of ripe papaya into the skin and wash off with cold water. This leaves the skin clean and removes white heads and black heads and reduces acne too in case you suffer from it. For a whitening face pack, the juice of a cucumber added to gram flour and applied on the face will remove a tan. Grated potato also makes a great blemish remover and is good for dark circles round the eyes too.
Rose water kept in the fridge can be used as an astringent and as it is a natural ingredient will not harm the skin in anyway. Dip some cotton wool in the cold rose water and dab it on your face to give you a fresh clean scrubbed look and also leave a faint fragrance on your skin.
Almonds are full of anti oxidants and nutrients as a food, but the oil is a natural external moisturizer and can be applied to the whole body to nourish it and leave it smooth and soft. Olive oil is such oil which is good both internally and externally and can be used for cooking in place of other oils for health and wellness.
Summary: These home ingredients are cost effective and are available easily. For those who have a restricted budget and cannot spend much on fancy creams, why worry when you have all the natural resources at home.

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Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) have found that women who feel more loved and supported by their relatives, friends, and children are less at risk for major depression than men, suggesting important gender differences in the factors leading to depression.
The VCU researchers reported in the February issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, that among approximately 1,000 adult, opposite-sex, fraternal twin pairs, the female twins reported significantly higher levels of global social support than their twin brothers. More than men, women were more sensitive to the depressongenic effects of low levels of social support, particularly from the co-twin, other relatives, parents and spouses.
Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and human genetics in VCU’s School of Medicine and lead author on the study said that “In women, social support was a robust predictor of risk for depression,” “Women who saw themselves as more loved and cared for and objectively well integrated in positive social groups were well protected against later episodes of major depression.
However no such effect was seen among men. In the large sample no relationship was found in men between their levels of social support and their risk for depression. These findings indicated that men may be less sensitive to aspects of their social environment with respect to their risk for depression the researcher said.
An interview of opposite-sex fraternal twin pairs registered with VCU’s Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry was conducted by researchers. The first interview was conducted between 1993 and 1996, and the second interview was conducted between 1994 and 1998. At the time of the second interview, subjects were between the ages of 21 and 58 years old.
According to Kendler, it was right to study opposite-sex fraternal twin pairs because the population included women and men who were conceived at the same time, developed in the same uterus and raised in the same family. Factors differing among men and women otherwise were ruled out because this population was examined. The results showed that on average, inter-personal relationships are more central to and more valued by women than by men. Women are also more likely to seek emotional support in their social network more than men.

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Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found in a study that heavy drinkers — men who consume an average of three or more alcoholic drinks per day — are nearly 45 percent more likely to suffer an ischemic stroke compared with nondrinkers. It has also been found that while light and moderate drinkers are neither at great risk nor greater advantage than non-drinkers when it comes to ischemic stroke. The frequency with which they consume alcohol is most likely to influence their risk.
The study published in the January 4, 2005 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, helped throw light on a subject that has been the source of some confusion in recent times.
Lead author Kenneth Mukamal, MD, MPH, a general internist at BIDMC and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School has noted in this study that the participants who were at lowest risk for stroke were those who consumed one or two drinks on three to four days of the week.
Almost 700,000 individuals in the U.S. suffer an ischemic stroke each year. This is also referred to as a “brain attack,” which develops when an artery in the brain becomes blocked by a blood clot. The two types of ischemic stroke are thrombotic, which occurs owing to the development of a blood clot within the brain itself, and embolic, which is the result of a clot traveling through the bloodstream from another part of the body and becoming lodged in the brain. Both instances, when left unchecked can result in neurological damage or death.
The 14-year study involved 38,156 participants who are part of the HSPH-based Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Beginning in 1986 and continuing every four years thereafter until 2000, the male participants answered a detailed questionnaire regarding diet and medical history, including alcohol consumption. They were in the age group of 40 to 75.
The researchers examined the following factors to gauge the influence of alcohol consumption on the risk for ischemic stroke: average amount of alcohol consumed; drinking patterns, and type of beverage consumed (red wine, beer, white wine, or spirits).

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According to a University of Pittsburgh researchers report, low levels of vitamin D can boost older women’s risk for hip fracture by more than 70 percent. The finding adds weight to the recommendation that people can have an adequate intake of vitamin D, by exposure to sunlight.
Dr. Michael F. Holick, director of the Vitamin D Skin and Bone Research Laboratory at Boston University noted that the fracture-vitamin D link “has been observed for 15 years,” “The good news is it’s consistent, the higher your vitamin D status, the lower the risk of your developing a hip fracture.”
The new study has been published in the Aug. 19 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Hip fractures can be devastating for older individuals. A research team led by Jane A. Cauley from the University of Pittsburgh collected data on 800 women aged 50 to 79. The women were followed up for up to nine years by researchers to determine their risk for hip fractures.
They found that the risk of hip fracture rose 33 percent with every 25 nanomoles per liter drop in vitamin D levels. Researchers reported that women with the lowest levels of vitamin D had a 71 percent increase risk for hip fractures compared with women with the highest levels of vitamin D.
Researchers were also of the view that vitamin D is essential for the body’s absorption of calcium, a key component of bone health. Those who do not have adequate vitamin D cannot efficiently absorb calcium. According to the U.S. Institute of Medicine, people should get between 200 and 400 international units of vitamin D a day. The best way to get vitamin D, naturally, is by being out in the sun. Even being out for 10 to 15 minutes under the sun can give you all a vitamin D you need. Fish and milk are also good sources of vitamin D.
Women have to find out their vitamin D status by taking the 25 hydroxy D tests. They should strive to keep their vitamin D levels above 125 nanomoles per liter, year round. They can even take supplements.

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Vaccines for measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and varicella, or chicken pox, are effective in extremely preterm infants, even though their immune systems are not as developed as full-term babies. A long-held assumption by pediatricians and neonatologists across the country is thus confirmed.
The study, included 16 term and 16 extremely preterm (born before about 6 ½ months of pregnancy) infants born between May 2002 and May 2005, and examined the antibody levels of measles, mumps, rubella and varicella in this population before and after vaccination. The study was published in this month’s Pediatrics.
In the study the same number of preterm infants and full-term infants reached a level of immunity that was considered protective against the diseases. However the positive outcome, was not guaranteed because preterm infants’ immune systems do not always react the same way as full-term infants. A change in the types of vaccine used in the UK for instance, apparently resulted in an increase in Haemophilus influenzae type b infections, like meningitis and bloodstream infection in children. Children born prematurely were seen to be cautioning about potential problems this population may have with responding to vaccines. However this was not the case with MMR and chicken pox vaccines.
Though these conditions are not fatal, measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox can all have serious complications. Generally, the virus causes a rash, fever, itching, and fatigue, but it can also cause severe scars, skin infections, brain damage and pneumonia. A person who has contracted chicken pox can get a painful rash called shingles years later, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The measles virus causes a cough, fever, rash, runny nose, eye irritation and can also lead to ear infections, seizures, pneumonia, brain damage, and rarely, death. The mumps virus causes fever, headache and swollen glands and rarely, death. The rubella virus causes a rash, mild fever and arthritis, but in pregnant women, it can lead to a miscarriage or birth defects.

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Chronic wounds, that include bedsores, are a common and potentially life-threatening problem. This problem mostly occurs in people with diabetes or poor circulation, the elderly, and also among bedridden or wheelchair-bound persons. Bed sores is also known as pressure sores or pressure ulcers. It affects about five to ten percent of hospital patients, up to 39 percent of spinal cord injury patients and up to 13 percent of nursing home residents in the United States.

According to Marjana Tomic-Canic, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Dermatology and Microbiology at NYU School of Medicine, the study’s lead author, chronic wounds can lead to widespread infections and limb amputations.
After studying tissue taken from chronic wounds in humans, the researchers discovered that skin cells get stuck in the middle of the normal healing process and cannot move to the wound site. The researchers discovered that overabundance of a molecule called c-myc (a product of the ubiquitous myc gene, which has been implicated in many human cancers) causes the stopping of the healing process. This molecule also leads to suppressing of cell migration and thickening of skin.
The cause of c-myc overproduction was linked to beta-catenin, a critical regulator of cell behavior. According to the researchers, beta-catenin activates the production of c-myc as well as other pathways that affect the migration, growth, and regulation of skin cells.
This study is unique of its kind in that it is the first one to investigate the roles of c-myc and beta-catenin in impairment of wound healing in humans. The study is published in the July 1 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.
In normal skin, cells are tightly stuck together and help to create a barrier between the body and the outside world, keeping water in and infections out. Skin cells from lower layers loosen from their neighbors when a wound occurs and start migrating to the wound site and dividing rapidly.
According to the study something else also goes awry in the case of chronic wounds. But in chronic wounds, the researchers found, skin cells are not able to progress to this stage of differentiation, and their nuclei remain present.

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A four year study of 11.5 million Medicare enrollees have shown that shown that short-term exposure to fine particle air pollution from sources such as motor vehicle exhaust and power plant emissions significantly increases the risk for cardiovascular and respiratory disease among people over 65 years of age. The study conducted to show the link between fine particle air pollution and hospital admissions for heart and lung –related diseases was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health and is the largest of its kind.
The findings revealed that small increases in fine particle air pollution resulted in increased hospital admissions for heart and vascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure and respiratory infection. Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. of National Institutes of Health said that “study participants over 75 years of age experienced even greater increases in admissions for heart problems and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than those between 65 and 74 years of age.
The study results are published in the March 8, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
According to the study, these findings indicate an ongoing threat from airborne particles to the health of the elderly and hence there is a need to set a national air quality standard that is as protective of their health as possible.
“These findings also provide evidence that fine particle concentrations well below the national standard are harmful to the cardiovascular and respiratory health of our elderly citizens. As the association between inhaled particles and adverse health effects has been established, we must concentrate on understanding why these particles are harmful, and how these effects can be prevented.
Fine particle air pollution consists of microscopic particles of dust and soot less than 2.5 microns in diameter – about thirty times smaller than the width of a human hair. These tiny particles primarily come from power plant emissions, motor vehicle exhaust and other operations that involve the burning of fossil fuels. Fine particles can go deep into the respiratory tract, reducing lung function and severe conditions such as asthma and bronchitis.

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It is very important to pay attention to lip care instead of just paying attention to make up of lips. As their outermost protective layer is very thin, lips need specific attention. Lips contain no sweat glands and few oil glands therefore they are prone to dryness and chapping. It can be very painful to have cracked dry lips that can develop infections also.
The factors that lead to dry lips are as follows:
• Dehydration can be the first reason for dry lips. You can get dehydrated by consuming too much coffee and alcohol and the first symptoms manifest in dry lips.
• Extreme hot and cold temperatures can also lead to chaffed lips. As the outer protective layer of the lips is thin it is unable to handle extremes in temperature very well. It cracks and this can also hurt.
• Body breakdown is caused by overworking and stress. The lowered body immunity manifest as minor infections and lips are a first casualty. This can cause dry and painful lips.
• Cracked lips can also be caused by irritation and allergic reactions to certain lipsticks and certain types of foods. Contact eczema can also be a cause of this problem. You should consult a professional doctor if you suffer from this condition.
• Some medications can also lead to dehydration of the body resulting in dry lips.
• Lips can dry as a result of certain medical diseases. This can be a side effect of drugs and also needs to be investigated by a doctor.
Some common remedies and precautions that can be followed daily to prevent dry lips are as follows.
1. Drinking at least eight glasses of water everyday helps to keep the body well hydrated. Dehydration is a common cause of the problem and drinking water is a simple solution.
2. You can start using a good lip balm which should create a moisture barrier by reducing dehydration from the lip area. You can also select lip balms with antiseptic properties that are good for cracked lips where infections may have set in.
3. To prevent dry lips you must eat a diet rich in Vitamin C and Vitamin B, E and various minerals. This can help counter lifestyle problems and boost immunity levels.
4. You can also apply a mixture of glycerin and rose water on the lips for a few minutes before washing it off to prevent dry lips.

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