Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Stretch Before You Exercise.

Before starting any exercise like (jogging, cycling, walking) it is always better to stretch your body. Stretching not only increases blood flow to your heart and muscles, but also improves flexibility.
High impact exercise can exert lot of force and pressure on your muscle, as a result your muscles will get tired very quickly. Therefore stretching first before starting any exercise is very effective and will prevent any muscle injury and also help relieve tension.
Hold all stretch positions for at least 10 counts. Stretching should be performed in a smooth controlled slow manner without giving any sudden jerk. If you experience any discomfort, stop it right way.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Keeping your heart healthy

Take steps to keep heart healthy and remain fit. Avoid heart problems in the future by adopting a healthy lifestyle today. Here are some tips to keep heart healthy :

1) Be Physically Active:
Regular physical activity will keep you fit and make your heart healthy.

2) Eat a healthy diet:
Decrease the amount of calories you're eating until you're consuming fewer than you burn. Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products can help protect your heart. Fruits and vegetables are highly effective in making heart healthy.
Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat, may decrease your risk of heart attack, protect against irregular heartbeats and lower blood pressure. Some fish are a good natural source of omega-3 fatty acid and are also present in smaller amounts in flaxseed oil, walnut oil, soybean oil and canola oil and supplements.
Avoid eating butter.

3) Reduce Salt (Sodium) Intake:
Sodium causes you to retain water, increases swelling in your legs and makes it more difficult for your heart to pump. Eating too much sodium can even trigger sudden heart failure. Limiting sodium a major component of salt in your diet helps prevent your body from retaining extra fluid.

4) Quit smoking:
If you smoke, then you are doing damage to your heart and blood vessels. So quit smoking now.

5) Quit Alcohol:
Alcohol is not good for your heart.

6) Maintain a healthy weight:
As you put on weight you accumulate fat. This excess weight can lead to conditions that increase your chances of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

7) Do regular health checkup:
High blood pressure and high cholesterol can damage your heart. But without testing, you probably don't know whether you have these conditions. Regular checkups can tell you what your numbers are and whether you need to take action.

8) Follow healthy lifestyle:
Following a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to be complicated, and it doesn't mean you need to live a life of self-deprivation. Instead, find ways to incorporate heart-healthy habits into your lifestyle , be happy and you may well enjoy a healthier life for years to come.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Add Fibre to your diet

Fibre in your diet is very important. Fruits offer quick energy .They are also high in fibre. Fibre in your diet help in digestion, reduces the risk of breast cancer in women, treat long term constipation and also maintains healthy balance of intestinal flora.
Pectin is the main soluble fibre, found in fruits. It is present in the skin and the flesh of many fruits. During digestion it dissolves into jelly like substance and help in removing toxins from our body.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Benefit of Vitamin D

Recently I visited my Doctor and was surprised to know the importance of Vitamin D in our life and thought to share this useful info with you guys.

Vitamin D is very essential for good bone health because it helps body to absorb Calcium. But getting enough Vitamin D isn't always easy, especially if you avoid the sun.As it is not readily available from a normal diet and the ability to manufacture Vitamin D diminishes with age.

So if you are not getting enough Vitamin D, it may result in bone loss and increase risk of fracture.So the easiest way to get Vitamin D is to expose yourself to sunlight just 15-20 minutes daily. But make sure you don't stay too long in Sun as it may cause Sunburn and may lead to Skin Cancer later on. Make sure to apply Sunscreen if you intend to stay for long time in Sun.