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Wednesday, May 5

Healthy Skin Care

Our skin is the largest organ of our body. It is designed in a way to protect us from environment and helps detoxify our body from unnecessary toxins. It also helps in maintaining body temperature. More importantly it helps us in perceiving sensation of touch. Therefore, it is very important for us to keep our skin healthy. Any kind of problem or infection to our skin can causes threat to the internal organs.

Our skin needs to breathe and sweat 24/7 as the way we need to breathe. When we stop our skins process from performing their tasks like covering them with cosmetics and skin care products, the toxins that suppose to leave our body through sweating will not be able to penetrate and release from our skin pores. Having unable to leave the body, these toxins will remain in our body and most
likely will contribute to the cause of lung, liver, and blood disorders.

Our skin reveals our general health and internal aging. They may show wrinkles which are a sign of internal dehydration and a lack of fatty acids. Wrinkles can also be related to an elasticity or collagen disorder. Rashes are usually toxins or allergies which can come from food, environment, constipation, liver disorders, drugs, and vitamins that are not recognized as nutritional supplements. Understanding our skin characteristic will help us prevent and resolve many serious health problems.


Types of skins

It is important to know the kind of skin you possess in order to have the right care for our skin and helps in reducing any skin problems and avoid diseases. There are mainly 5 types of skin:-

1. Normal skin: It’s the most uncommon type of skin. It is soft, smooth, velvety and evenly textured skin with no flaky dead cells and no pores visible with evenly distribution of oil and moisture that makes it a balanced skin. It is also clear and free from blemishes

2. Dry skin: The skin is dry, dull, patchy, reddened and flaky especially around eyes. Dry skin may cause formation of fine lines on cheeks, under eyes and corners of mouth. These conditions happen when oil or sebaceous glands are not supplying good nourishment and lubrication to the skin. Proper care should be taken to the skin as they may lead to initiation of wrinkles in early age.

3. Oily or greasy skin: This kind of skin is thick, dull in color but shiny in appearance. Due to over secretions of oils or sebum through oil gland, makes skin pores open and skin becomes sticky, which attracts dirt and dust from the environment. With our skin pores widely open, dirt and particles can easily penetrate and blocks the pores and leads to problems like black head, white head, acne and other skin related problems.

4. Combination skin: This is the most common skin which is the combination of two kind of skin, which is some of the skin area is dry and some of the area is oily. Normally, it follows the pattern of "T" at our face. The oily part is usually the vertical from the between the eye brow crossing nose, mouth and chin. The horizontal are on the fore head. The other area left like the cheeks is comparatively dry.

5. Sensitive skin: This type of skin is very sensitive to any change in environmental conditions or any kind of allergies. It may also be due to procedures like bleaching, makeup's and other external applications.


10 ways to helps keep our skin healthy.

1. Protect your skin from over exposure of sun by using sunscreens
2. Carry an umbrella or a cap with you when overexposed to external environment
3. Don't smoke and drink excessively
4. Wash your skin gently and with lots of care
5. Moisturize your skin regularly
6. Shave with care and softly. Only shave in direction of hair growth
7. Use of good skin cleansers and toners regularly to open up blocked pores.
8. Drink lots of water and fresh fruit juices
9. Eat healthy food and avoid junk food.
10. Avoid use of chemicals on your skin


Home Remedies for a healthy skin

• Mash banana with milk and apply it on face . Leave it for 20 minutes and rinse with cold water.
• Make a fine paste of one teaspoon of walnut powder, lemon juice and honey. Scrub the body with the paste. Leave it for 20 minutes and rinse with cold water.
• Make a paste of turmeric powder and orange juice. Scrub it on the area that is widely exposed to sun or cold weather. Leave it for 20 minutes and rinse it with cold water.
• A piece of papaya when applied to the face can do a similar magic.
• Boil cabbage in water and let the water cool overnight. Wash your face with this water early in the morning.
• Make a paste of powdered mango peels and 1 teaspoon of milk powder. Scrub it over the area that is widely exposed to sun or cold weather.
• In equal quantities, mix vinegar with rose water and apply.
• Make a face mask of curd and cucumber juice and apply it at least once a week.
• Make a paste of red sandal wood and apply it on the face every day for glowing skin.
• Make a paste with red sandal powder and coconut milk and apply on the face for soft skin. A healthy massage with coconut milk and a pinch of turmeric powder before a hot water bath also helps.
• Mix pineapple juice and carrot juice together and apply it on the face and wash it after 15 minutes.
• Boil 8 cups of water, put in 2 table spoons of dark organic honey, slices of cucumber and 2 tea bags of green tea. Let the mixture sit over night in a container, then wash with a face cloth to feel refreshed.
• Mix half teaspoon dried curry leaf powder with multani mitti (fullers earth) and apply on the face. Wash it with lukewarm water after it gets dry.
• Apply the mixture of honey and tomato juice on the face and neck, wash it after 15 minutes.
• Apply coconut water and thick pineapple juice mixture for 15 minutes and pat dry.
• Drink plenty of water to keep your body well flushed of toxins and wastes.
• Include plenty of raw foods like fruits, salads and sprouts in your daily diet.
• Make sure to take time to relax as stress can trigger off many skin problems.


Try any of the above continuously for a month and have a healthy skin.

Sunday, April 4

Signs And Symptoms Of Erectile Dysfunction

Millions of men all over the world suffer erectile dysfunction derived from low testosterone levels that causes trouble to maintain erections and having a low sex drive.

Low testosterone can also affect your muscle strength, mood, and energy level. Although testosterone decline as men age, it can also be due to disease, injury, drugs, and certain types of cancer. Therefore, it is important for men of all ages to know the warning signs and symptoms of low testosterone.

Symptoms of Low Testosterone

Signs and symptoms of low testosterone include:

• Decreased sex drive
• Erectile dysfunction
• Reduced energy level
• Reduced strength and endurance levels
• Sleep problems
• Emotional problems including sadness, irritability, difficulty concentrating and depression
• Increased breast size and tenderness
• Decrease in the amount of body hair
• Decreased penis or testicle size
• Loss of muscle mass

If you doubt that your testosterone level is low, a blood test can be done by your physician to measure your testosterone level.

You can check the Androgen Deficiency in the Aging Male (ADAM) questionnaire before deciding if you need to have your testosterone level checked by your physician.

If you decide to have your physician to run a check up, your physician will want to make sure your low testosterone is not caused by medications you are taking or by a disease or condition that needs to be treated. The diagnosis for low testosterone includes taking a complete medical history and having a physical exam as well as laboratory tests to confirm the diagnosis. If you and your doctor decide that you should try medication to treat low testosterone, remember that a healthy lifestyle including a healthy weight, not smoking, limited alcohol, and regular exercise are also important for managing testosterone levels.

FORGET Viagra.

You can try this natural home-made recipe that I found in an article a couple of months ago. It was said to be more effective and it costs only a fraction of the blue pill but I took the brew for three continuous nights before I feel the effects. I think this brew have different effects to each individual, it’s all up to you whether you want to try it out or not.

Recipe:

200ml milk (fresh, UHT, anything)
6 almonds or 1 tablespoon ground almonds (skinned and pounded or ground)
1 egg (preferably free range eggs – must be fresh)
1 tablespoon honey (Tualang honey is very good!)

Heat the milk up until it is warm. In a blender, blend all the ingredients together for a minute and ENJOY!


ADAM Questionnaire (Androgen Deficiency in the Aging Male)

Answer YES or NO to each of the following questions: Yes No

1. Do you have a decrease in libido (sex drive)?
2. Do you have a lack of energy?
3. Do you have a decrease in strength and/or endurance?
4. Have you lost height?
5. Have you noticed a decreased "enjoyment of life?"
6. Are you sad and/or grumpy?
7. Are your erections less strong?
8. Have you noticed a recent deterioration in your ability to play sports?
9. Are you falling asleep after dinner?
10. Has there been a recent deterioration in your work performance?

If you answered YES to questions 1 or 7 or any 3 other questions, you may be experiencing androgen deficiency (low testosterone level).

**Adapted from Morley, et al. Validation of a screening questionnaire for androgen deficiency in aging males. Metabolism. 2000;49(9):1239-1242

Saturday, March 27

Eat To Lose Weight

Our body rest and recharge during our sleep at night and conserve energy. During this cycle, our body slow down on metabolism and doesn’t burn energy. To lose weight, we need to takes in some form of nutrients. That is why one of the many reasons breakfast is essential to losing weight. Once we eat breakfast, our body will start to burn energy, and prepare for our daily life challenge ahead of us.

Instant foods or foods that are prepared in a hurry sometimes can have an adverse impact to our health. These types of foods usually contain a large amount of calories and fats. It is essential to eat foods at breakfast that will give us energy but it is also important not to over indulge foods that will flood our calorie count in our body at the beginning to the rest of our day. It is vital to avoid fast food and high sugar content food for breakfasts. Beware! Not all cereals, breakfast drinks, and smoothies are healthy for our body. Read the ingredients content before you buy them as some may contain a high amount of fats and calories in very small servings. So read and choose wisely before putting these items in your shopping cart.

Eating healthy breakfast foods is essential especially foods that are low in fats and sugar that will give us energy and helps in our diet. Foods like eggs, oatmeal, fruits, and healthy cereals are all items that can be consumed on a regular basis.

Protein is also essential for our body in loosing weight. During exercise, our body will use the protein to create lean muscle and burn calories during its process. This will help us to lose weight. Protein should be taken in the morning with breakfast and at night before sleep as both times are ideal for helping our body create lean muscle.

So, bear in mind that, to lose weight, don’t starve yourself. Eat smart and you’re on your way to success in loosing weight.

Tuesday, March 16

Good Stress Bad Stress

Stress is defined as any situation or thought that generates a feeling of frustration, anger or nervousness. It is a body reaction to a change of physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response. In today’s lifestyle, we are always competing against each other and trying to achieve so much in their life. We can conclude that almost everybody is suffering from some degree of stress. Stress, in general is not good for our well being, but to a certain degree, it’s good for us. Some amount of stress motivates us to perform better in our life. But you should never allow stress to grow beyond a point where it breaks you down. The key to a leading happy and prosperity life is learning to manage stress effectively. If a person suffers from situations which are beyond their control and are bound to be stressful such as a loss of a loved one, divorce or loss of a job, you have to take control of the stress within and if you are not able to, enroll yourself for a stress relief program and take control of your life.

Stress and illnesses

Every year, an uncounted people lose their life because of heart disease, strokes and various forms of cancers all over the world, primarily because of stress. Stress is the root cause of many illnesses. Stress is also found in the root cause of many stomach problems such as constipation or diarrhea that can lead to serious conditions such as stomach ulcers. Stress have also found to be one of the cause for headache, migraine and even triggers or aggravates skin conditions such as acne, hives, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, warts, cold sores and blisters.

Ongoing stress is also known to weaken the immune system which makes you prone to frequent colds and upper respiratory infections and lead to depression and various types of anxiety disorders.

Stress management

Stress management is a program to help people who are unable to control their stress. It helps individuals to take control of their emotions and reactions when situations, people and events make excessive demands.

People with negative attitude will have more stress compare with people with a positive attitude in life. Keep a record of situations that is causing you stress, you'll notice that there’s a lot of stress in life can be avoided by simply altering the way you perceive that particular situation. Taking a well-balanced diet at regular intervals and regular physical exercise can also help you calm down and thereby reduce the stress in your life.

Meditation like yoga can also help you to calm and relax yourself. You can even pursue in activities like painting, dancing, sports or listening to music or anything that interests you.

Most importantly, do not become a silent recluse. Find someone that supports you. Somebody in your family or your friends will be willing to help you come out of stress. If you are still unable to take control and overcome your stress, enroll yourself in a stress management program and take control of your life. Stress can adversely effect your health drastically, so take control of your stress and you will control your health.

Tuesday, March 9

Difference Between Stress And Mental Illness

Stress is part of our life and we have to face it whether you want it or not. Stress comes in two different levels and mental illness is one of the levels. All of us deal with our stress in our own way. Being a normal human being, our mind is exposed to a possibility of a mental breakdown.

When someone has a nervous breakdown, it’s only a temporary state of mind and is often seen return to a normal lifestyle. This doesn’t mean he have a mental illness, he is just dealing with a complicated problem that isn’t a common part of his day. Therefore, no mental illness is involved. But, if you’re suffering stress that affects your daily life dramatically, then there is a possibility you might be heading to suffering mental illness. Severe stress can lead us to have suicidal thoughts, abnormal thinking patterns, health problems, impair our judgment, and even cause delusions and paranoia as well as other mental health related symptoms.

Stress affects both the body and mind and can lead to a series of problems. It forced one part of the mind against another part of the mind, compressing emotions and thoughts. This will create the person feels as though they’re losing control of their life. This will often lead them to their emotions to try to solve their problems.

When a person emotions within them that are anger or sadness, it often leads to negative thought patterns. It’s up to that person to decide when they’ve had enough and take control by doing something to resolve their problems.

If that person fails to control this decision-making process in their mind and prolong the negative emotion then he is subject to mental illness, providing it lingers for longer than a few weeks or even months. If stress changes the equilibrium in the brain and this applies pressure to the mind and the equilibrium is not reinstated, then the mind is subject to chemical imbalances, tumors, and diseases.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological reaction that reoccurs consistently after a person has witnessed or experienced a high level of trauma. This person will suffer anxiety attacks, depression, reoccurring nightmares, night sweats, flashbacks and they tends to avoid social gatherings and triggers that will link their minds back to the tragedy. This person will also suffer abnormal stress on a daily basis.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental health issue as this person has endured extreme trauma. This marks the person as a candidate for much higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, high-blood pressure and other medical related illnesses.

In conclusion, the difference between common stress and abnormal stress is that the symptoms of stress from a common view are temporary, while the symptoms of mental illness is ongoing. Sometimes, even normal person might require medications to treat stress but most of time when a mental illness is involved, the person will need long-term medical attention.

As you can see, there’s a fine line between common stress and mental illness and stress. The levels of stress for the common society are often tolerable, while the mentally ill have to fight a million times harder to avoid stress and/or cope with stress.