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Yoga For Beginners : 18 Yoga Poses + Tips For Beginners

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For those who are unfamiliar with the practice, getting into yoga for beginners can seem like a daunting task. To a newcomer, there appears to be so much to the culture and the world that it can feel like there’s not really a go-to place to start.

To an extent, there is some truth to this; the world of yoga and the benefits that one can gain from it is a very expansive field that has a long history. However, this certainly does not mean that it is difficult to get involved with. There are plenty of ways to approach yoga for beginners that are intuitive and helpful in the long run.

The Benefits of Yoga

One of the most helpful ways to begin understanding and practicing yoga is to learn about the health benefits. It has been widely shown that yoga can help people develop their flexibility and posture in ways unparalleled by any other type of exercise.

Contrary to popular belief, there isn’t a specified size or level of fitness required to partake in yoga for beginners—all that you need is concentration and the interest to improve yourself. (1)

Another benefit of yoga for beginners is its ability to help you reduce your stress levels drastically. Beginner’s studios and even some general offices have begun to offer midday classes to help people relieve stress while on their lunch hour – something that can help you feel calmer and be more-than-ready to tackle the rest of your day.

It can also help you calm your thoughts and breathe better. This is because an essential part is being able to retain your concentration and calm yourself. This is typically achieved by regulating breathing, something that we often don’t pay much attention to. When you’re experiencing stress, you often don’t have consistent breathing patterns, which can intensify your stress. This makes yoga for beginners a way to promote mindfulness and be more self-aware.

Where Should I Begin?

You’d be surprised at how many yoga for beginners exercises are not only accessible, but completely possible to do in the comfort of your own home.

We’ve compiled a list of our 18 Best Yoga For Beginners Poses so you can know just where to start:

(You should have a mat for all of the following poses, as it makes it easier for your body to grip the ground and makes the exercises much more comfortable.)

1. Plank

One of the most recognizable poses you’ll become familiar with is the plank. To do this pose effectively, tuck your toes and put your hands in front of you. Hold your body up from your shoulders until your body is making a slanted position, similar to a plank of wood (where the position gets its name). Then breathe deeply for 1 minute, keeping track of every breath while holding the position intently. Release the pose, then do it again.

2. Bridge

This pose is similar to the plank in the way that your body makes a similar shape, like a plank of wood. However, with the bridge, you’re facing upward with your head being at the lowest height. So, you must prop your legs up and keep your arms underneath your back, extending your stomach outward to create the pose. Like with the plank, breathe deeply for 1 minute, release the pose, then do it again.

3. Downward Dog

This pose is likely the one people will poke fun at when it comes to yoga for beginners, but the parody is often unwarranted—the reason why this pose is so common is because it’s incredibly effective. To do this, curl your toes back (like the plank) and put your arms out in front of you, holding your body up. Then lift your behind in the air so your body makes a triangle shape, holding the pose for 3 minutes before relaxing.

4. Cow

Keeping in line with the animal theme, this pose has you holding your body up with your arms in front and knees touching the ground, like a cow that is grazing on grass. Make sure that your hands and knees are not too close together and focus on your breathing.

5. Child’s Pose

This pose is important because it allows the body to relax and prepare itself for doing more intense poses down the line. It is recommended that those looking to practice the child’s pose begin the position on all fours, slowly lowering the knees down. Lower your behind back into your heel and lay your arms out forward, bringing your head down with it.

6. Warrior I

Another well-known yoga pose for beginners is the Warrior, a pose that has you extend your right leg outward and your left leg back. Let your right knee extend so it is almost at a 90 degree angle while the left leg is at a slant. Make sure your right foot is facing the direction you are and your left foot is extending 45 degrees outward.

7. Warrior II

For the Alternate Warrior, you do the same exact leg and feet positions as the Warrior, but put your hands alongside each other and raise them upward above your head instead.

8. Seated Forward Bend

The Seated Forward Bend is a pose that will undoubtedly make your body more flexible the more you do it. Your upper abdomen is in the same position it is when you’re doing the Child’s pose, but this time, your legs are underneath you with your toes above your head. It’s similar to sitting down and bringing your head down to your knees, letting the rest of your body follow suit.

9. Cat Pose

Similar to the Cow Pose, the Cat Pose involves you being on all fours with your knees touching the ground. The difference, though, is that with the Cat Pose, you arch your back upward, creating a curve. This is a great move for yoga for beginners.

10. Cobra Pose

In the same manner that you extend your body outward for the Downward Dog, you bring your body down, keeping the entire body on the ground except for the abdomen. Keep your head looking upward, creating a curve like a cobra.

11. Corpse Pose

Another relaxation pose that is deceivingly difficult, the Corpse Pose has you lying down with your arms at your side like a corpse. The tricky part of this is getting your body to stay entirely still, as many find it difficult to keep such a calm position consistent.

12. Mountain Pose

This pose is another basic pose that any beginner can do—simply stand up straight and lift your shoulders slightly higher than usual. Put your hands together facing upward in a praying position and try to stand completely still, regulating your breathing.

13. Low Plank

Similar to the plank, for this pose, you start out in plank, but lower your body closer to the ground to strengthen the muscles that have to hold the pose.

14. Dancer’s Pose

For the Dancer’s Pose, stand up straight before bringing your left leg (knee bent) back with your left hand. Make sure you’re grabbing onto the arch of your foot and raise it until your left knee is the same height as your bottom. Then keep your body slanted and your right arm extended in front of you, looking upward.

15. Tree Pose

Similar to the Mountain Pose, the Tree Pose involves you holding your hands in front of you facing upward, but instead of standing straight, you lift one leg up and press it against the other at an angle. This exercise forces you to maintain strong balance.

16. Extended Side Angle

For this pose, stand up straight and then slide your legs further and further apart from each other until there is a triangle space between the two of them. Then, use your right arm to lower your body to the right (having your right arm touch your foot) while extending your left arm upward, all while maintaining this position.

17. Triangle Pose

The Triangle Pose often goes best with the Extended Side Angle because they’re very similar poses. The difference, though, is that you place an object on the ground near your right foot for your right hand to grab onto, as you want to make your body into a right angle.

18. Staff Pose

The staff pose is another deceivingly difficult pose that requires you to sit down with your back as straight as possible and your feet facing upward. The hard part of this is holding the pose and monitoring your breath to make sure there is an even flow throughout your body.

Other Tips For Beginners

We hope you enjoyed our list of 18 poses!

Three tips for beginners we want to share with you before you begin your journey are:

1. Understand Your Body’s Limits

Don’t try to hold yourself to impossible standards. Understand what you can or cannot do and try to listen to your body to see what it needs.

2. Find A Private Instructor, If Possible

Practicing alone is good, but it can be better to have an instructor guiding you to make sure that you’re doing things correctly.

3. BREATHE!

No matter how you do, make sure that you maintain steady, deep breaths! Once you connect with the flow of your breath, you will connect with the flow of your body and greatly increase your awareness and strength.

yoga for beginners

FINAL THOUGHTS ON YOGA FOR BEGINNERS

Taking your first foray into the yoga world doesn’t have to be difficult. There are plenty of poses on our list that you can start out with to begin your journey to a happier, healthier life.

Though it can be hard to get started, doing a few of these poses at least once a day will eventually get you to a point where your body is much more relaxed and flexible. On top of that, learning to control your breath will undoubtedly help you stay connected with your inner self and promote healthy concentration!

What do you think about our list of poses? Which ones have you done? Which ones are you going to try? Let us know!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFdcCXmGpy4

(C)Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

How To Get Relief From a Migraine + Tips To Prevent it

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Migraine headaches are not like regular headaches. Most of the time, regular headaches can be eased quickly and easily, and they will not interfere with your daily activities. Migraines, on the other hand, do not go away quickly or easily and can prevent you from living a normal life.

Many Americans suffer from migraines every single day. Unfortunately, many people do not know how to get migraine relief or how to prevent the headaches from occurring frequently.

Luckily, there are methods for relief and prevention. Many of the methods are inexpensive and convenient and can be done anywhere.

15 Ways to Get Migraine Relief

1. Use lavender essential oils.

Lavender essential oil has been proven to help ease the severity and length of a migraine headache. This can be done by inhaling the lavender oil for 15 to 20 minutes, either by holding the bottle under your nose or by diffusing it. Lavender oil can also be applied directly to the temples.

2. Consume ginger.

Commonly known to reduce the feeling of nausea, ginger can alleviate some of the symptoms of migraines. Aside from easing nausea, ginger also lessens the severity and length of migraines. The migraine relief provided by ginger has been compared to popular medications, and ginger has shown to be just as effective.

3. Do some stretching.

Stretching or doing yoga has positive effects on the body that reduce pain, including that caused by migraines. It also allows you to loosen up stiff muscles, which can sometimes be the cause of an episode.

4. Use peppermint essential oils.

Peppermint essential oils contain menthol, which can stop migraines from starting and can ease the symptoms of migraines that have already started. By diluting the oil with a carrier oil (something like olive oil or coconut oil), and then placing the mixture on your forehead, temples, and back of the neck, the symptoms will be lessened. This method offers relief from the pain, nausea, and light sensitivity.

5. Put on sunglasses.

The pain can be heightened when there is light, so if it isn’t an option to sit in a dark room, sunglasses may help. The darker the sunglasses, the better the light will be blocked, resulting in less pain due to light sensitivity.

6. Turn the lights off and lay down.

Many times, migraines are caused by light sensitivity, and more light can make the pain even worse. Because of this, one of the best methods of relief is to turn the lights off and lay down. This will help ease the pain and nausea, and will likely lessen the duration of symptoms.

7. Use a cold pack.

For some reason that is unknown to even scientists, cold packs have been proven to lessen the pain of migraines. By placing one on your neck, forehead, or scalp, you will be given some migraine relief. If you don’t have a cold pack, you can simply use anything from inside of your freezer, or even a washcloth that has been rinsed in cold water.

8. Take a warm bath or shower.

A warm bath or shower will ease tense muscles, which could offer relief as well. Lay back, relax, and close your eyes for the full effect.

9. Put down your electronic devices.

Bright lights can trigger migraines or make them worse if you already have one. Remember to take breaks from electronic devices often so that your eyes can rest and you can avoid the migraines. If you already have a migraine, avoid electronics altogether or it won’t go away.

10. Pinch the pad between your thumb and pointer finger.

This is also known as acupressure. By pinching this pad of skin, a pressure point related to pain relief is triggered. This method can not only make migraines shorter and less painful, but it also helps ease nausea associated with migraines.

11. Focus on deep breathing.

Deep breathing is beneficial because you can do it anywhere and at any time. It reduces stresses and eases pain caused by migraines. By practicing deep breathing regularly, you can even prevent migraines from beginning in the first place.

12. Massage your neck and temples.

Many times, migraines are caused by tension. By massaging your neck and temples, you are relieving some of that tension, which will ease the pain of a headache. It will also get your blood flowing better, which will further relieve migraines.

13. Try a hot compress.

Depending on what triggers your migraines, a hot compress may work better than a cold pack. If you weren’t given relief from a cold pack, put a heating pad around your neck or on the back of your head. This generally works for migraines caused by tension. If you don’t have a heating pad, a warm cloth should work just as well.

14. Consume a small amount of caffeine.

Caffeine can offer relief if an episode hasn’t reached its most severe stages yet. Another reason you can get relief from caffeine is that caffeine causes pain-reducers to work better. It is important to note that too much caffeine, however, can make headaches worse.

15. Take over-the-counter medication for migraines.

This may be your last resort, but if the natural methods don’t offer you any relief, over-the-counter pain medication may be necessary. Tylenol and Ibuprofen may work, or you may need something more specific to migraines. All of these can be found at local drug stores, and usually even right at the grocery store.

How to Prevent Migraine Headaches

1. Pay attention to what you are eating.

Diet can play a big part in the frequency and severity of a migraine. A couple of general tips to help prevent them are to increase the amount of magnesium in your diet and to avoid processed foods.

You should also eat your meals around the same time each day and never skip meals. There are some foods that may trigger a migraine more than others, and it is wise to avoid those foods.

You can begin to determine which foods are triggers by keeping a detailed food journal. This food journal should include what you ate, when you ate it, and how you felt after eating. When you think you have figured out a trigger, eliminate it from your diet and see if you get less frequent headaches.

There are certain foods that are more commonly known as triggers of migraines, so paying close attention to those foods may be the best place to start. Some of these foods include:

  • Hot dogs
  • Deli meat
  • Bacon
  • Sausage
  • Chocolate
  • Cheese (specifically blue, feta, cheddar, parmesan, and swiss)
  • Alcohol (specifically red wine)
  • Foods that contain flavor enhancers or MSG
  • Cold food
  • Pickled food
  • Beans
  • Fruit
  • Sour cream and yogurt

2. Get professional massages regularly.

By having a professional massage your muscles, you will notice an improvement in the stiffness of your body. This reduces the number of migraines you will have, and also improves the quality of sleep you get each night. Since sleep and migraines are closely related, massages work in more than one way to prevent migraines.

Massages also improve your heart rate and lower your anxiety and cortisol levels. If the levels are off on any of these three issues, it could cause migraines.

3. Get enough sleep.

Migraines can be triggered by a lack of sleep, so it is important to get enough sleep each night. Unfortunately, migraines can also prevent you from falling asleep, so it could end up being a vicious cycle.

There are ways to prevent that vicious cycle from ever beginning, however. When you are struggling to get sleep, there are a couple of ways to encourage your body to shut down for the night. These ways include:

  • Start a bedtime routine, and make sure you follow it every night.
  • Take time to unwind
  • Avoid heavy exercise, large meals, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol before bed
  • Don’t watch television before bed
  • Close the door
  • Don’t do work in the bedroom
  • Read something

4. Avoid stressful situations.

Stress can increase both the frequency and severity of migraines. While stress cannot always be avoided, some stressful situations can and should be avoided.

Instead of constantly adding to your to-do list, find things that can be taken off of your to-do list. Your health and well-being are worth putting something off until tomorrow.

Another way to avoid stress is by breaking large projects up into smaller tasks. This way, you are accomplishing goals, but you aren’t giving yourself the overwhelming task of the overall large project at one time.

Find time to do something you love every single day. You may think that you don’t have time for that, but it is so important that you make the time. Even if you only have 15 or 20 minutes to do something, spend that time doing something that makes you happy.

The best way to avoid stressful situations is to give yourself a break. There will be times when you feel overwhelmed but your tasks aren’t complete yet. Taking a break can actually make you more productive when your break is over, so it is beneficial in more than one way.

5. Exercise regularly.

There are a couple of reasons that regular exercise can help prevent migraines. First, the chemicals released in the body during exercise ease symptoms of anxiety and depression, both of which cause migraines to be more frequent and severe.

Being overweight or obese also cause more frequent and severe migraines, so, by exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight, migraines will be easier to manage.

migraine

There are many exercises that you can choose from, so you should always be able to find some form that you enjoy. Start slow and work your way into more intense exercise regimes.

6. Take prescription preventative medication.

When nothing else helps with preventing migraines, prescription migraine medication may be necessary. There are certain guidelines to determine who can receive a prescription for this type of medication. The guidelines are:

  • You have at least four episodes in one month
  • Migraines last more than 12 hours
  • Over-the-counter pain medications do not help with relief
  • You have noticed that you have regular episodes of numbness or weakness
  • Your migraines often make it so you cannot perform your necessary day-to-day activities
  • Your migraines affect other medical conditions

If you are a candidate, your doctor will decide how often you should take the medication. Depending on your specific situation, your doctor may instruct that you take the medication every single day or that you should only take it when you know you will be experiencing a trigger.

Final Thoughts on Migraine Relief and Prevention

Migraine headaches can be completely debilitating. Those who suffer from them may have issues working, taking care of their families, and completing other daily tasks. It can be hard to live with them, especially if you don’t know how to make it easier.

By trying the methods for migraine relief, you should be able to get back in control of your life. Preventative methods can also be taken to minimize the frequency and severity of the migraines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKB0jThAfnQ

(C)Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

Researchers Explain How To Improve The Intimacy In Your Relationship

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Most couples, especially those in long-term relationships, want to improve intimacy. When a relationship is new and fresh, passion is more fiery and everything is exciting. But as couples stay together longer, the flame has a tendency to begin to lose its heat.

Although intimacy and passion certainly aren’t everything in a committed relationship, it’s safe to say that most individuals value these aspects when with a partner. This means you likely consider intimacy fairly important in your own romance life.

You may find it surprising, then, that roughly half the population is unsatisfied in the marital bedroom! This half also believes that their intimate lives aren’t exciting enough and consider their bedroom activities mediocre. Two-thirds would like to have intimacy more often. As such, according to this survey, the need to improve intimacy is certainly present.

Luckily, new research has found ways that are scientifically proven to help boost this passionate connection between partners. Here’s how researchers explain how to improve the intimacy in your relationship.

Researchers Explain How To Improve The Intimacy In Your Relationship

“Secrecy is the enemy of intimacy. Every healthy relationship is built on a foundation of honesty and trust.” – Dave Willis

1.    Harmonious Sexual Passion vs Obsessive Sexual Passion

In order to better understand how intimacy works and what makes it good, let’s take a look at science. Specifically, let’s talk about the research done by Robert Vallerand, Frédérick Philippe, and their team.

These researchers conducted different types of studies that focused on a dualistic model to understand intimacy. Essentially, they were able to categorize the types of sexual passion into two different kinds. Understanding these types could improve intimacy in your relationship, so let’s dive in.

Harmonious Sexual Passion

The kind of sexual passion that is best for a relationship is known as harmonious sexual passion. Simply put, this variety of passion is harmonious with all other aspects of the relationship. This allows that passion to integrate seamlessly into a couple’s lives, and it does not create conflict with other aspects of a relationship.

Supposedly, those who practice this form of sexual passion are able to enjoy spontaneous and less inhibited intimacy with their partner or partners. This also leads to lesser conflict overall and can prevent intrusive passionate thoughts. These individuals also improve their times of intimacy because they have positive control over their typical intimacy drive.

Obsessive Sexual Passion

So, you now know about the good type of sexual passion. But what’s the less favorable one? This is known as obsessive sexual passion. Essentially, this stems from sexualities that are not easily integrated with other aspects of self and the lives of those in relationships.

Those who experience obsessive sexual passion might consider intimacy a prize or a goal to achieve. This is an unhealthy way to think of intimacy and can cause less enjoyment when that goal is finally reached. This type of sexual thought is linked to a number of problems, including:

  • Extreme reactions to rejection
  • Deterioration of long-term relationships
  • An overt sexual interest in others, even when in a monogamous relationship
  • Higher chance of infidelity

It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean you can’t have a high intimacy drive, or that you can’t have many consenting sexual partners. It means that your sexuality should be an integrated part of you, not a ruling motivation or obsessive desire. Intimacy shouldn’t be considered a reward so much as an activity to be enjoyed together!

2.    Openness and Honesty

Of course, the effort to improve intimacy is about more than just what you do in the bedroom or how you think about intimacy. Often, the state of a relationship’s intimate life has roots in the overall health of the partnership.

Being open and honest is crucial for a good intimate life. If you don’t feel comfortable talking to each other with an open heart and mind outside of the bedroom, the connection you forge sexually will feel artificial and closed off.

At the beginning of a relationship, it’s customary to get to know each other. People practice self-disclosure to find out about the other person. This helps those in a budding relationship feel closer.

Research has found that self-disclosure mixed with eye contact can actually lead to an instant bond between two complete strangers. This proves that self-disclosure is necessary to improve intimacy.

But as the relationship goes on, you may find fewer things to talk about. You and your partner will know most things about each other. On top of that, revealing brand new secrets can feel more risky when you’ve been together for a long time.

A good, healthy relationship involves honesty and openness. This includes feeling safe being vulnerable with each other. You should be able to talk about serious or frightening issues. Some examples are:

  • Financial management
  • Parents and families-in-law
  • Having and raising children
  • Emotional baggage
  • Controversial thoughts and opinions
  • Wants and needs
  • Sexual fantasies
  • Finding compromise
  • Death

Take the time to be vulnerable with your partner. Spend an evening sipping wine and talking about deeper issues. It can be daunting, but practice positive thinking! You’ll be surprised how refreshing this open honesty can be. Sharing your feelings and being communicative can lead to positive change in the bedroom.

3.    Communicate About Intimacy To Improve Intimacy

Many couples make the mistake of assuming their partner should inherently know how to please them in bed. These types of assumptions are exactly what cause dissatisfaction in the bedroom.

There also seems to be the idea that giving instructions during intimacy is inherently unsexy, but that is far from the case! Think about it, and try not to blush: don’t you like hearing the words “right there,” “so good,” and so on?

While you and your partner are in bed, don’t be afraid to communicate. Take their hand and guide them, showing them how to touch you. Give directions if needed. Your partner can’t please you if they don’t know how. On the other hand, faking enjoyment will tell them that you like all the things that don’t actually work for you.

On top of that, many women have also been raised to find their sexual desire somewhat shameful. As a result, they neglect to experiment with their bodies and get in touch with what they like. Of course, this can happen with men too, though less commonly.

Regardless of your gender identity, if you’re someone who doesn’t truly know what you want or need in the bedroom, it’s time to find out. Ask your partner if you can discover that together. Or, if you prefer, take some time to lavish love on yourself and find out what truly makes you tick!

In addition, don’t be afraid to bring up sexual fantasies with your partner. Want to try out a new kink or fetish? Enjoy a specific type of intimacy? Thinking of bringing toys into the bedroom? Discuss these ideas! You might be shocked to find out that you and your partner are into the same things.

4.    Switch Things Up

There’s nothing wrong with intimate acts that are familiar and you know you both enjoy. But only doing that and nothing new for years can grow monotonous. When intimacy feels like nothing more than a routine act, you’ll get bored and dissatisfaction will grow.

Even subtle changes to the bedroom can spice things up. For example, you can:

  • Introduce a toy
  • Try roleplay
  • Indulge in fantasies
  • Light some candles
  • Sprinkle some rose petals
  • Wear some sexy lingerie or an alluring outfit
  • Give each other massages
  • Play some sensual music
  • Play a raunchy movie
  • Go to a hotel room

You and your partner deserve better than lazy, boring intimacy. Put energy into making it fun and exciting for the both of you!

In addition, switching things up doesn’t just apply to the bedroom. When was the last time you and your partner went on a real adventure? Here are some examples of fun things you can both do that will get your blood pumping and adrenaline rushing:

  • Exploring a place you’ve never been
  • Eating at a restaurant you’ve never tried
  • Setting aside a weekend for a mini-vacation
  • Rock climbing
  • Rafting
  • Skydiving
  • Hiking
  • Buying new things for your home
  • Playing games together
  • Going dancing

On a personal level, you can also indulge in mini-adventures that change up your routine. This includes:

  • Buying yourself something
  • Going out with friends
  • Singing or dancing to music you love
  • Trying a new class
  • Eating somewhere new

Trying new things boosts the release of dopamine, according to this study. This neurotransmitter actually plays a big role in one’s drive. As such, new bursts of dopamine can improve intimacy in your relationship pretty drastically!

5.    Diet and Exercise

Your lifestyle and overall health always affect your intimate life. If you and your partner spend a lot of time gorging on pizza and junk food, or if you’ve both gotten out of shape, this could play a role in your intimacy.

That’s right, intimacy is about more than just positive thinking. Your state of health can completely change your intimate drive and that side of life. So if you need a reason to work out, this is a fairly good one. Exercising together can make you closer and is an active effort you can both make for positive change.

intimacy

Working out stimulates the body, including the brain and the nervous system, which will make you more receptive to passion and intimacy in general. Plus, you’ll do better in bed, since working out will help boost circulation and keep your stamina and cardiovascular system strong.

The same goes for the food you eat. Unhealthy meals will clog up your system and make it harder for you to perform well during intimate moments, or even feel up to them in the first place.

According to Healthline, the good news is that there are some foods you can focus on that will help you have a better physical relationship and improve intimacy between you and your partner. Whether they act as aphrodisiacs or are just good for circulation or stamina, here are some examples:

  • Oysters
  • Flax seeds
  • Meat
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Avocados
  • Apples
  • Salmon
  • Pomegranate seeds

In short, take care of your body, and your body will ensure that you have the drive and ability you desire.

Final Thoughts On How To Improve The Intimacy In Your Relationship

Intimacy is a valid and valued part of a huge majority of all sexual relationships. Don’t allow your bedroom activities to become unsatisfying. Intimacy is often one of the most powerful ways to form, strengthen, and maintain bonds and connections.

The fact is that intimacy is about more than just physical relations. It’s about love, respect, and trust. If things aren’t going well in the bedroom, research suggests doing more than just focusing on what goes on between the sheets. Work on other areas of your romance, and things might just fall into place as you improve intimacy.

Is Alkaline Water Good For You? Benefits, Side Effects And More

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f you’ve recently perused the bottled water aisle, you might have stumbled across alkaline water. Health claims vary from anti-aging to disease prevention and so forth. Perhaps you have read about it in a magazine or website, but what is it, and do you really need it?

What is Alkaline Water?

Water contains pH levels that vary among sources and processes. Alkaline water must contain a pH of eight or higher as well as alkaline minerals. It must also have an oxidation reduction potential (ORP), which allows water to maintain anti or pro oxidant qualities. It aims for anti-oxidant properties or a negative ORP. Another name is ionized water.

What are the Differences Between Artificial or Naturally Alkaline Water?

Naturally produced ionized water occurs when water moves over rocks and minerals. This is why spring water tends to have a higher pH than tap water and is generally higher in mineral content. In fact, any time water passes over natural or artificial material, its pH and mineral composition can change.

Artificial production involves a process far from nature, and this accounts for the majority of water marketed as alkaline and ionized. Processes can include combining natural ingredients to change the water’s pH. Yes, you can make your own at home by adding a twist or two of acidic fruit juice, which seems counterproductive but isn’t, or baking soda.

Artificial methods can also consist of filtration that removes acidic properties from your water through ionization. However, it’s no closer to nature than swirling in a bit of lemon juice, despite many claims. Their systems first raise the levels of pH in your water before introducing electricity to separate acidic and alkaline molecules.

The problem with water ionizing systems is that the starting water quality matters greatly. Without using a reverse osmosis water system in conjunction with an ionizer, you’re doing little to enhance your water’s natural alkaline benefits.

What isn’t Alkaline Water

  • Spring water: while it contains less acidity than tap water and many consider it to be alkaline, spring water hasn’t been through the proper process to ensure it contains only alkaline minerals
  • Tap water: tap water contains an average pH of seven
  • Filtered water: some filtered waters will have alkaline processes, but generally, the filtering process removes much of the alkaline minerals that companies might or might not re-add later
  • Distilled water: this is the purest form of water and is neutral until air meets it when it becomes acidic.

The acidity and alkaline contents of water vary among brands, according to this study.

Health Claims

Commonly Marketed Health Claims

The majority of health statements centered on alkaline water benefits have no scientific data to back them up. The FDA doesn’t support them. They have no ties to traditional medicine or natural medicine either.

  • Prevents cancer—unfounded claim
  • Increases energy—unfounded claim
  • Detoxifies—unfounded claim
  • Reduces anxiety—unfounded claim based on bodily pH
  • Strengthens bones—studies contradict
  • Reduces risk of diabetes—unfounded claim
  • Weight loss—unfounded claim
  • Colon cleansing—unfounded claim
  • Hydration—supported by science
  • Reduces acidity in the body—studies support this
  • Helps heart conditions, such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol—studies support therapeutic use
  • Cures or treats acid reflux disease—studies support therapeutic treatment

The majority of claims become true for some people who make their own lemon or infused waters at home. This is because of the fresh herbs, fruits, and extracts or oils they use. Water is only the carrier.

What Science Says about Alkaline Water Benefits

Research on water pH is still in its early stages with few scientists delving into it. Understand that good clean water is important for drinking and washing dishes.

To date, no definitive or long-term studies have proven the effectiveness of using ionized water over tap water. The exceptions are small studies showing the following alkaline water benefits: improved hydration, lowered blood pressure, decreased cholesterol, reduced blood sugar, and neutralized stomach acid.

A study using 8.8-pH alkaline carbonated water found that some participants showed a neutralized pepsin enzyme. Elevations of this enzyme can be a major cause of acid reflux, so participants saw fewer symptoms (1).

However, a second study compared the use of a Mediterranean Diet and alkaline water against conventional treatments; scientists noted large differences in effectiveness, and they found the combination of diet and water performed better with subjects noting a reduction of their symptoms (2).

Ionized water might be a therapeutic treatment for hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia, according to one six-month study that witnessed notable improvement in blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids.

In an animal study, subjects were fed alkaline water after achieving metabolic acidosis and renal failure. Some improvement occurred, but human studies have yet to be conducted. Results from the animal study could not be replicated.

This study looked at whole blood viscosity after participants enjoyed either a high pH, electrolyte infused beverage or distilled water. Significant and positive changes could be seen in the high pH group. However, the study doesn’t offer information on the added electrolytes to the water, and they weren’t included in the distilled water.

The Truth About the Alkaline Diet

Many websites reference an old theory that does hold some merit since it promotes a mostly vegan diet. It doesn’t mention, promote, or in any way suggest alkaline water benefits your health.

Previous theories from the 1800’s on an alkaline diet and cancer have since been debunked. However, many of the alkaline, whole, plant-based foods recommended then are still suggested today for preventative measures against many diseases.

Concerns and Side Effects

Scientists and health professionals haven’t addressed the chemistry of water in their statements, which chemistry 101 classes have replicated in common classroom settings. Simply breathing on your water will change its pH to be more acidic. No drinking water can be free of acids because water molecules absorb carbon dioxide.

Consumption isn’t without possible short and long term side effects. In fairness, the same would apply to acidic water. However, the general medical consensus is that it’s safe to drink in place of your usual water consumption for most people.

Side Effects:

  • Lowered acidity in the stomach that naturally combats harmful bacteria and pathogens (3)
  • Skin irritations
  • Other gastrointestinal issues
  • Metabolic Alkalosis

Metabolic Alkalosis Side Effects Can Include:

  • Vomiting
  • Hand tremors
  • Twitching muscles
  • Facial and body tingling
  • Confusion

Another concern is that people will drink less water when it isn’t readily available. This can lead to dehydration and other health complications. Unless water contains contamination such as harmful bacteria or fecal matter, drinking regular water when your preferred water isn’t available will not harm your body.

Make Your Own Alkaline Lemon Water

You might be truly better off using the citrus or baking soda method with a clean source of water. The citrus method does offer additional scientifically backed health benefits: vitamin C, supports weight loss, supports your immune system, contains anti-oxidant properties, prevents kidney stones, eases digestive issues, freshens breath, and reduces dry mouth symptoms.

alkaline water

You can also add other kitchen herbs and food grade essences and oils to your water. Fresh ginger root is excellent for digestive issues, for example, and has a warming effect on the body. Add a sweetener of choice as needed.

Whether you drink your water hot, warm, or cold is up to you. If you start your infused water from a boiling or warm state, you might find bolder or bitterer flavors. Prolonged or high heat can damage the delicate oil compounds in plants, including their fruits. Refrain from oversteeping your additives ad use hot but not boiling water. A cold infusion is also an option, as are sparkling waters.

Final Thoughts on Alkaline Water Benefits

Alkaline water requires more research to back many claims. With the exception of treating acid reflux related to an overproduction of pepsin, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure (which the science somewhat supports), you should aim to drink your water however you prefer it.

Considerations before making the switch:

  • Drinking clean water is more important than your water’s pH level.
  • Your body can maintain its own pH balance better than the water you drink
  • You might or might not see notable differences by switching
  • You might have side effects, such as digestive issues
  • Lowered stomach acid to defend against harmful bacteria is a real concern
  • No science or natural medical practice can back most health claims at this time
  • Most benefits are therapeutic only

We understand the value of water in our diets. Our bodies contain more than 50% water, and daily activities, temperatures, exercise, and sickness can deplete us quickly. Whether you make your own infusions, use an ionizer, or buy your water pre-bottled, clean water is more important than its pH when it comes to your health.

(C)Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

21 Reasons To Start Meditation Today

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If you thought that meditating was only for Chinese monks, you have never been more wrong. Anyone can meditate for improvements in many areas of their life.

Here are 21 reasons to start meditation today:

1. Reduced Blood Pressure

Meditating can help in improving health through reduction in heart strain. In the long run, high blood pressure causes the heart to put more effort in pumping blood, a condition that can result in poor functioning of the heart.

High pressure of the blood also causes narrowing of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, which could cause strokes or heart attacks. Research shows that meditating through focusing on silent mantras can reduce blood pressure by an average of five points. This is effective in old people and those who suffer from high blood pressure.

Meditating improves your blood pressure through relaxing signals of the nerves that coordinate the functions of the heart, blood vessel tension, and the fight-or-flight response that makes you more alert when you are stressed.

2. Weight-loss Goals

If you are trying to lose some weight for a fit body, mindfulness could help you achieve it. Research by the American Psychological Association and Consumer Reports stated that 70% of the psychologists surveyed believed that meditating is an excellent strategy for losing weight.

3. Controlled Pain

Human awareness of pain is linked to the mind’s state, and it can increase in stressful situations. Research has shown that meditating increases activity in the regions of the brain that control pain. It also helps you to be more resistant to pain.

Habitual meditation helps in reducing intermittent or chronic pain in practitioners. Research has shown that terminally-ill patients suffer from less chronic pain at the end of their lives.

4. Improved Immune System

When you are continually suffering from stress, you can suffer from increased fat storage, poor digestion, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and a weak immune system. Because meditating helps to reduce stress levels, it can aid in reversing all those conditions. Your thoughts will manifest in your body, and that is why meditating will work to improve your immune system.

5. Improved Sleep

50% of people have insomnia at some point in their lives. Studies show that meditating can help you sleep sooner and for longer.

Skilled practitioners can redirect or control the “runaway” -or racing – thoughts that frequently result in insomnia. Moreover, it can assist you in feeling relaxed, tension-free, and peaceful to enable sleep.

6. Becoming in Tune with Your Body

According to research, meditating helps in increasing the ability to listen to one’s body and understand what it is communicating for one to respond accordingly. For instance, you will begin to comprehend things like why your heart is racing, why you have a headache, whether you are hungry or just anxious, and more.

7. Combats Addictions

Meditating helps you gain mental discipline that can aid you in breaking dependencies through increased self-control and awareness of addictive behavior triggers. Research shows that meditating can assist persons to learn to grow their willpower, improve the comprehension of their addictive behavior causes, control their impulses and emotions, and redirect their attention.

Therefore, meditating can help you to better control cravings and stresses related to cravings. Studies show that mindfulness meditation assists people to minimize emotional and binge eating.

8. Generating Kindness

Meditating may also increase positive actions and feelings toward yourself and people. Metta, also called loving-kindness meditation practice, starts with developing kind feelings and thoughts toward yourself.

Through meditating, individuals learn to extend this forgiveness and kindness externally even toward enemies. Studies have revealed that this meditating method is dose-dependent such that the more effort you put into it, the more positive feelings you experience.

Another study showed that it could help anger management, reduce marriage conflict, and improve social anxiety.

9. It Can Improve Your Grades

Research by the University of California at Santa Barbara discovered that students who practice mindfulness perform well in the GRE’s verbal reasoning section and have better working memory. This shows that undertaking mindfulness is an efficient and effective technique to improve cognitive function.

10. Reduced Age-Related Memory Loss

Improved clarity of thinking and attention could keep your mind young. Kirtan Kriya meditation practice combines a chant with a repetitive movement of the fingers. Research shows that this method improves the brain’s ability to perform memory tasks.

Moreover, studies have shown that numerous styles of meditating increase mental quickness, memory, and increased attention in older people. Additionally, meditating can help dementia patients partially improve memory. It can also aid in improved coping and reduced stress in people living with dementia patients.

11. It Makes Doctors Do Their Jobs Better

Mindfulness could assist medical practitioners in caring for their patients better. Research by the University of Rochester Medical Center reveals that doctors who practice mindfulness are more self-aware, better listeners, and less judgmental when they interact with their patients.

12. Lengthened Concentration Span

Focused-attention meditation practice resembles an intensive workout for your concentration. It aids in increasing the endurance and strength of your concentration. For instance, research has shown that human resource personnel who carry out mindfulness meditation are focused for more extended hours. They are also able to remember work details better than their peers who do not meditate.

Additionally, a review indicated that meditating could reverse brain patterns responsible for poor attention, worrying, and mind-wandering. Even meditating for a short period can be advantageous. Research reveals that meditating for four days is sufficient to improve attention span.

13. It is Enjoyable

After meditating for a while, you will begin enjoying the state of being peaceful and will want more of it.

14. Enhances Self-Awareness

Some forms of meditating may assist you to understand yourself better, making your best self grow. For instance, meditating through self-inquiry helps you know yourself more, and therefore, relate to others better.

Other forms of meditating help you to identify thoughts that may be self-defeating or harmful. The concept is that when you become more aware of your thought habits, you can direct them towards patterns that are more constructive. Research has shown that tai chi programs help in improving the self-esteem of people who have cancer. Studies also reveal that mindfulness meditation helps to minimize loneliness. Additionally, meditating can help you become more creative in solving problems.

15. Low Health Care Costs

In addition to improved health, meditating will also improve your cost savings in health care. According to research by the American Journal of Health Promotion, Transcendental Meditating is related to lower annual healthcare costs, as compared to individuals who fail to practice this technique.

16. Promotes Emotional Health

Some meditation forms can also cause a more positive outlook on life and a better self-image. Research on mindfulness meditation showed that it reduced depression in the participants.

When you are a stressed, cytokines – inflammatory chemicals – are released, and they can impact mood and cause depression. Studies have shown that meditating may reduce these inflammatory chemicals and cause decreased depression. Meditating also promotes changes in activity areas linked to optimism and positive thinking.

17. It Helps in Handling Colds

In addition to having good hygiene, you can reduce the grave impacts of colds with mindfulness meditation. Research by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Health discovered that individuals who meditate are more available at work because they are more resistant to acute respiratory infections, and when they get such diseases, they face less severe symptoms for a shorter time than people who do not meditate.

18. Controls Anxiety

Stress is directly related to anxiety. For instance, research shows that mindfulness meditation aids in reducing anxiety. Additionally, a meditation practice helps in minimizing anxiety disorder symptoms like panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, social anxiety, phobias, and paranoid thoughts.

Studies have also shown that meditating with different strategies may aid in reduced levels of anxiety. For instance, yoga has been proven to reduce anxiety as a result of physical activity and meditation practices. If you are in a high-pressure work environment, meditating will help in decreasing job-related anxiety.

19. Building Confidence

Meditating helps you to stop rushing between things and limiting yourself. It makes you believe that you will accomplish all the things that you want.

20. Reduces Stress

One of the common reasons people meditate is to reduce stress. According to research, 3,500 adults experiencing stress were found to have reduced stress symptoms after meditating.

Typically, physical and mental stress lead to high levels of cortisol stress hormone. This causes numerous dangerous stress impacts, like the production of cytokines that promotes inflammation.

meditation for stress
These impacts can interfere with your sleep, cause anxiety and depression, lead to cloudy thinking and fatigue, and heighten your blood pressure. Research shows that mindfulness meditation reduces the inflammation effects created by stress. Studies have shown that meditation is more effective in people with higher stress levels.

More research reveals that meditating could also improve symptoms of conditions related to stress such as fibromyalgia, PTSD, and nervous colon.

21. Increase Performance of the Lungs

Meditating will not just improve your awareness of your breathing during the session, but also during the rest of the day. It allows you to control your breathing, which is good for your lungs.

Conclusion

Whether you are facing stress, anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, short attention spans, and other issues, meditating can help improve your condition. Meditate today for greater self-awareness and more!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFdcCXmGpy4

(C)Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

Scientists Explain Why You Should Never Eat Late At Night

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If you eat late at night, you may experience some adverse health effects that are easily preventable. Scientists tell us you may see several health benefits by simply making positive changes like moving your last meal closer to sunset.

It is a modern fact that we have access to food 24 hours a day. Most of us sleep an average of between six and eight hours per night, leaving us between sixteen and eighteen hours to be awake and able to consume food. Just because we can consume food from the minute we wake to the minute before we sleep doesn’t mean we should. Our optimal health may depend on our ability to choose not to eat late at night when we have the munchies.

Health benefits of daytime eating

Research on time-restricted feeding (TRF) shows that daytime eating is the best option for the human body. The research states that daytime eating “supports a robust circadian rhythm,” which is the instinct we have to be awake during the day and asleep at night. The circadian rhythm is related to biological processes in the body, such as our metabolism.

TRF is associated with these benefits:

  • reduced adiposity (organ fat)
  • elevated lean mass
  • longer sleep duration
  • increased endurance and energy
  • reduced systemic inflammation
  • decelerated cardiac aging
  • gut homeostasis
  • improvement in other clinically relevant biomarkers

Diurnal, or daytime eating for us humans, usually happens over approximately fifteen hours, from when we have our breakfast to our last sip of something before bed.

Research scientists in the journal Cell Metabolism studied the duration of daily intake (how long subjects ate from breakfast to dinner). Most participants in the study ate for more than 14.75 of their waking daytime hours. In a 24-hour day, this leaves only nine hours on average that we are not digesting or taking in new foods. We are not eating that entire time. However, what does it say about us when we are eating or digesting for most of our waking hours?

Science shows that restricting the hours we eat during a day can benefit our weight, energy, and sleep. Researchers say “When overweight individuals with >14-hour eating duration ate for only ten or eleven hours daily for sixteen weeks, they reduced body weight, reported being energetic, and improved sleep. Benefits persisted for a year.” These results are significant for the improvements in health factors that many of us focus on.

It bears repeating that TRF gives the following benefits:

  • Improvements in energy
  • Reduced body weight
  • Improved sleep

Most likely, eating earlier in the day will allow your body to digest food before you get horizontal for sleep fully. This reduces the risk of acid reflux and discomfort due to digestion happening while you try to get to sleep. A more restful sleep due to not eating late at night will give you more energy the next day.

Health problems if you eat late at night

Research from Japanese scientists studying those with Type 2 diabetes found that “consuming late-night-dinner led to postprandial (after food) hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).” This means that for diabetics, the liver doesn’t stop producing sugar after you eat a meal, resulting in higher blood sugar levels than are healthy.

Other physical problems associated with eating late at night are:

  • Overnight metabolic changes
  • Acid reflux or heartburn
  • Weight gain and obesity
  • Metabolic jetlag
  • Higher blood sugar
  • Decreased fat metabolism

In the research study, “There was a bias toward eating late, with an estimated <25% of calories being consumed before noon and >35% after six p.m. ‘Metabolic jetlag’ resulting from weekday/weekend variation in eating pattern akin to travel across time zones was prevalent.” Jetlag from eating late throws your metabolism off the normal circadian schedule of daytime food consumption, resulting in delays in energy consumption by the body.

Dietitian Amy Hess-Fischl tells us. However, even “people who don’t have diabetes can also develop hyperglycemia,” saying that “certain medications and illnesses can cause it, including beta blockers, steroids, and bulimia.” She advises that these symptoms may be a warning even before you test your glucose level.

Symptoms of high blood sugar may include:

  • Increased thirst and hunger
  • Frequent urination
  • Sugar in your urine
  • Headache
  • Blurred vision
  • Fatigue

According to the Japanese study after-meal glucose levels are influenced by the:

  • meal size
  • amount of carbohydrates
  • macronutrient composition
  • intestinal absorption
  • hormone secretion
  • gastric emptying
  • order of food consumption

While we can control some of these factors, like reducing late-night meal size or the amount of food eaten late with high carbohydrate levels, some factors, like hormones, seem beyond our control. Scientists say, “Not only the amount of total energy or carbohydrate but also the timing of meal consumption are thus important factors for diet therapy.”

Cravings can’t make you eat late at night

Although we have all experienced late-night munchies, that deep desire and craving for some specific food or type of food are entirely controllable by the strength of your will. The willpower to avoid eating late at night is something that positive-thinking people already focus on strengthening. Willpower, like a muscle, can be exercised and developed to prevent you from giving in to nighttime food cravings.

No one is force-feeding you. Realize that you are in control of every food purchase and decision to eat, which means that you are entirely accountable for the portion of your health affected by when and what you eat. So, choose not to eat late at night.

Skipping meals isn’t a healthy option either; according to researchers, “Unhealthy habits such as skipping breakfast and late-night eating are associated with weight gain and obesity.”

Eat late at night to slow your metabolism

The body has periods of higher energy demands at night and lower demands during the day. As you might guess, we need more when we are more active and less energy when we are sedentary. Our metabolism is like the gas pedal on the car, helping us rev the internal combustion of our energy levels.

In a previous article, we told you “The body’s metabolism is at its most active in the morning. As the day progresses, it gets slower and slower before reaching a crawl at night. But even more compelling is the fact that eating times have such a large impact on metabolism.”

eat late at night

Help for shift workers and those who must eat late

Our late-night shift workers know that eating “dinner” may occur overnight depending on when they get their assigned “lunch” breaks midway through their working hours. If you are one of the late-night eaters, here are a few helpful meal strategies for your health.

Researchers say late-night eaters who ate a divided dinner avoided the hypoglycemia health problems associated with high blood glucose overnight. The research concluded that eating a divided dinner late at night might help patients with type 2 diabetes, and those who cannot avoid eating late.

Other Tips for Working Late Shifts

  • Move your carbohydrate eating earlier in your day
  • Consume protein only for the last 2 hours before sleeping
  • Eat your smallest meals of the day toward the late part of your waking hours
  • Eat “dinner” before your mid-shift break if you work a late shift.

You can use a trick such as brushing your teeth immediately after dinner to avoid consuming additional foods. Smelling a food, and visualizing eating it without eating it, can often trigger the same sense of satiety that you would have if you had eaten the same food, but without the calories.

Is it ever okay to eat late at night? Actually, some people with certain illnesses may be required to eat late. Those who suffer from Glycogen Storage Disease (GSD) and those with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) must eat before bed to survive.

Some research scientists are studying whether eating late at night might benefit some other populations. Protein before sleep may help “sedentary individuals, athletes, and clinical populations.” Proteins are quite filling and achieve a feeling of fullness or satiety for a long time. If dinner includes high amounts of healthy, organic, vegan protein, you won’t likely think about snacking late.

Final Thoughts on Why You Probably Should Not Eat at Night

Eating late at night may be a case of “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” Instead, plan your meals to keep you from eating late at night. To prevent haphazard eating, you might want to prepare your food over the weekend, devise a weekly meal timetable, or even prepare food and store it in the fridge. This way, you will organize the meals you should eat daily, leaving no room for unhealthy food choices.”

Note: Always consult your wellness advocate before starting any new regimen.

Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

Researchers Reveal The Body’s Natural “Kill Switch” For Cancer

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Cancer has plagued humans for centuries. Over that time, medical experts have come up with at least three major breakthrough treatments to fight this disease. Doctors either go with surgery, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy to treat cancer patients. More recently, scientists have also developed aggressive cancer medications that can poison the cancer cells, albeit with some side effects.

Experts at the National Cancer Institute say that 40 percent of the population will get some form of cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. As cancer still plague humans despite medical advances, the quest for the perfect cure continues.

Today, groups of scientists are doing many extensive studies on how to hone on the body’s natural “kill switch” to defeat cancer through different types of immunotherapies. Here’s what you need to know about the latest discoveries on these potential cancer cures.

Researchers Reveal The Body’s Natural “Kill Switch” For Cancer

“Cancer is only going to be a chapter in your life, not the whole story.” – Joe Wasser

1.    One cancer research was originally not about finding a cancer cure.

Scientists from Northwestern University in the U.S. have been analyzing the human genome for at least eight years. They created a pathway or sequence of small RNA molecules (siRNAs) in order to study the genes. But in doing so, they stumbled upon a trigger mechanism that could be the cancer cure medical science has been waiting for.

2.    The small RNA molecules apparently force malignant cells to “commit suicide.”

Through their research, the scientists learned that these small RNA molecules can force cancer cells to destroy themselves.

  • Study lead author Marcus Peter described in the press release that any malignant cells have no possibility of surviving once this trigger mechanism is introduced in the body.
  • What’s even more positive about their discovery is that the siRNAs do not seem to harm healthy and normal cells.
  • On paper, this sounded like the perfect, fail-safe method for fighting cancer. Peter’s team expanded their research with a series of experiments to find out if it was effective.

3.    Tests showed that the RNA molecules slowed down the cancer tumors.

The scientists used nanoparticles to introduce the siRNAs in the body of mice test subjects implanted with human ovarian cancer cells. The method apparently worked because the cancer cells did not advance. This proved that the tumors were not resistant to the molecules. The mice’s toxicity levels also did not increase, which means that the healthy cells remained protected.

4.    The siRNAs work like super assassins.

Through more tests, the scientists learned that siRNAs worked like well-trained assassins. They attacked and eliminated the cancer cells in a simultaneous manner to create a pathway for multiple deaths of these cells. The experts termed this process “Death Induced by Survival gene Elimination” (DISE). Last year, they published their initial findings of DISE in the journal Oncotarget.

5.    The siRNAs have been in the human genes for millions of years.

Peter said that nature intended the human body to have this fail-safe since the beginning of life.

  • Cells have been fighting toxins even then and still survived years of evolution.
  • However, finding the kill switch was a bit trickier because it required the cancer cells to be aggressive, meaning a patient has to be quite sick in order to get a better chance for treatment success.
  • It also took millions of years for this to happen, thanks to the advancements in medicine and technology.

6.    Hopefully, their findings will work for ALL types of cancers.

For the last few decades, hundreds of cancer studies have shown promise and success when it came to detecting and diagnosing this deadly disease. However, there has been little progress in finding more effective treatment than surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and medications to completely eliminate cancer.

Certain cancers also have a higher success rate of remission with immune therapy. But this form of treatment isn’t effective for all types of cancer. The Northwestern scientists hope, therefore, that their discovery will be able to help every cancer patient. It’s still unclear, however, when their method will be viable for human immunotherapy.

7.    Other studies have also looked into honing a different kill switch in the body to eliminate cancer.

At the Trinity College in Dublin, scientists have been working on understanding how certain cancer-killing cells attack the tumors. These Natural Killer (NK) cells, found innately in the body’s immune system, may apparently be boosted to fight cancer by a switch in the body’s metabolic process.

Once this switch has been turned on, the NK cells can power up the body’s biochemical engine that can set off a tumor-killing machine. The experts published their findings in the journal Nature Immunology.

8.    The Natural Killer cells rely on a protein called SREBP to turn on the kill switch.

What triggers the NK’s activity to go on a “special mission,” if you will, is a protein known as Sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBP). These proteins deliver energy during the metabolic process. They work to synthesize fatty acids and regulate cells that are healthy.

However, the SREBP’s function may also be disrupted. A type of cholesterol-like molecule known as oxysterols can block the SREBP. They can, in turn, prevent the Natural Killer cells from doing what they’re supposed to do to eliminate the tumors.

9.    The cancer cells also produce oxysterols.

The experts further learned that cancer tumors may also produce oxysterols. Its impact is more evident in people suffering from both cancer and obesity. This apparently explains why Natural Killer cells cannot be effective in cancer patients who have weight problems or higher cholesterol levels. More studies are being undertaken to determine if lowering a cancer patient’s cholesterol level may improve the function of the NK cells to fight the tumors.

10. Scientists in the U.K. are also working on the Natural Killer cells to fight cancer.

A third study on the body’s natural kill switch to fight cancer has also been ongoing in the U.K. Since the NK cells function to destroy toxic cells in the body, including cancerous tumors, experts at the Walter+Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research wanted to find out how to keep the NK cells healthier. Doing so could improve the chances of cancer patients to win against this disease.

11. Even without any switch, other cells can be NK cells.

Their findings revealed that NK cells rely on proteins like the ID2 and IL-15 to form and thrive. The ID2 makes the NK cells more responsive, while it needs the IL-15 to survive. A lack of IL-15 can essentially kill the NK cells in the body, thus making a cancer patient’s body weaker.

However, experts learned that even without any switch, the body can transform other healthy cells into Natural Killer cells if there is enough ID2 and IL-15 in the body.

  • Essentially, what this means is that if the number of NK cells is higher, the body’s immune system will be better equipped to fight the disease.
  • Cancer patients, therefore, must be supplied with the essential proteins to boost their NK cells.
  • This method might be limited to fighting breast or colon cancer and melanoma only.
  • It’s still unclear if it can work for other forms of cancers or if the experiments have moved on to human testings.

12. Making the immune system work against cancer is not a new medical marvel.

Even before these discoveries, two scientists in America and Japan have already been working to harness the immune system to win against cancer. In fact, they were recently awarded a Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in revolutionizing the treatment for cancer.

James Allison and Tasuku Honjo found a way to stop malignant cells from shutting down a cancer patient’s immunities. They did it by blocking a protein known as the CTLA-4. This protein functioned like a circuit breaker for the body’s immune response. It keeps the Natural Killer cells in check, ensuring that NK cells won’t get out of control and damage healthy cells.

cancer

However, the experts learned that the cancer cells take advantage of the body when the CTLA-4 turns on those circuit breakers. So, the scientists found a way to jam this protein to allow the NK cells to continue to attack the cancer cells. Their method did destroy the tumors and, in most cases, completely cured the cancer patients from the disease.

The scientists and their team have been working on this study since 1994. They have been injecting cancerous mice test subjects with CTLA-4 but the tests on humans with cancer did not start until 15 years later.

13. Admittedly, there’s a downside to this type of immunotherapy.

However, while this method was indeed a breakthrough in the cure for cancer, blocking the CTLA-4 did have serious side effects. Some patients reportedly developed toxicities from the immunotherapy.

But then, its positive results outweighed the negative side effects. Many medical experts who reviewed the work of Allison and Honjo agreed that the cure works well after seeing the response of a stage 4 terminal cancer patient who became cancer-free during the human trials.

Final Thoughts On The Body’s Natural Kill Switch For Cancer

The human body’s immune system usually does an excellent job of sorting healthy and unhealthy cells. It also eliminates foreign elements that should not be there. However, it’s still quite helpless against cancer. This disease remains deadly and continues to take the lives of millions of people around the world every year. But thanks to the work of these scientists, humans could finally have a chance to truly beat cancer.

In the past, people diagnosed with cancers usually did not get promises of a cure from their doctors. In fact, the word “cure” might not be ideal to use because; it has seemed like a wishful thinking or a fantasy. No doctor would like to get their patient’s hopes up only to disappoint them when a treatment doesn’t work.

Today, however, there are many indicators of hope. Some people have actually gained positive outcomes from participating in trials. While not everyone has the privilege of participating in these trials, there is light at the end of that tunnel. Hopefully, it won’t be long before cancer, regardless of the type, will finally be eradicated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKB0jThAfnQ

7 Things About a Vitamin B12 Deficiency to Never Ignore

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The body receives most of its vitamins from the food we eat. As our diets change, so do the nutrients that the body absorbs.

When it comes to vitamin B12, the body begins to lose its ability to absorb this important nutrient, making it easier than ever to become deficient.

Identifying a Vitamin B12 Deficiency

In order to keep our bodies at their healthiest, we need a diet filled with foods high in B12 or take vitamin B12 supplements.

B12 allows the body to create red blood cells, helping us to function normally. If you aren’t receiving an adequate amount of B12, the following are a few tell-tale signs you should look for:

1. You Find it Difficult to Stay Awake

Struggling to stay awake? This could be a symptom of many things, so it isn’t wise to automatically assume that you are B12 deficient.

When trying to determine the cause of your drowsiness, start by figuring out if you are getting an adequate amount of sleep each night. Receiving eight hours of sleep or more and still feeling tired? Then it’s time to consider that you may be lacking B12.

In a healthy body, vitamin B12 is responsible for the creation of red blood cells. These red blood cells help the body function properly. The fatigue that is associated with a B12 deficiency is due to the fact that the body isn’t producing the right amount of red blood cells.

Dizziness

This drowsiness caused by a B12 deficiency is often accompanied by dizziness. This sensation is usually felt if a person stands up too quickly from sitting down. Additionally, the dizzy feeling can occur when walking up or down the stairs.

B6

Dietitians explain the dangers of a B6 deficiency (and how to beat it!).

2. Your Muscles Feel Exceptionally Weak

If you are lacking in B12, you will feel weak in addition to feeling tired. This is due to the fact that healthy and strong muscles need a substantial amount of red blood cells. Without B12, your red blood cells won’t be able to send oxygen to your other cells, increasing the weakness in your muscles.

Feeling Pins and Needles

In addition to causing muscle fatigue, a B12 deficiency often causes a person to feel pins and needles. These sensations are often followed by numbness or electric shocks caused by nerve damage. These nerve issues are caused by lower oxygen levels.

3. You’ve Started to Experience Memory Loss

B12 is also responsible for the red blood cells needed to send oxygen to the brain. A lack of oxygen to the brain will result in a foggy memory, as well as other symptoms of improper brain function.

People who suffer from B12 related issues often assume they have Alzheimer’s. In reality, these people aren’t getting the necessary amount of B12.

Improving Your Memory

After visiting a doctor, a blood test will be able to help diagnose a B12 deficiency. If this is the case, the doctor will usually prescribe a vitamin B12 supplement to help you improve your memory.

4. Your Skin Seems Pale

Is your complexion yellow? This symptom of a B12 deficiency is caused by broken blood cells. These cells then release bilirubin.

As the skin also yellows in individuals dealing with jaundice, it’s best to see a doctor to confirm the cause of the problem.

5. Your Tongue is Smooth and Red

Bumps on the tongue are completely normal and are indicators that you are healthy. These bumps are known as papillae. Without B12, you’ll find that the bumps on your tongue are no longer there.

6. You’ve Started Losing the Ability to Taste

Moreover, without B12, you may lose some of the taste buds on your tongue. You also may find that there’s pain towards the back of your tongue. You’ll notice that food loses its taste the more your body is lacking in B12.

7. You’ll Begin to Experience Eye Issues

Being deficient in B12 can cause damage to the optic nerve in your eyes. This damage can lead to blurry vision, double vision, and even vision loss.

In order to pinpoint if these eye issues are related to a B12 deficiency, you’ll need to visit a professional. By self-diagnosing, you won’t be able to improve your vision if the problem isn’t B12.

Other Common Symptoms

Trying to determine if you have a B12 deficiency? While it is necessary to visit a medical professional to accurately diagnose your condition, you can work to narrow down your symptoms if you think you are lacking in vitamin B12.

Keep an eye out for these additional symptoms:

  • Shortness of breath when performing simple activities
  • Frequent headaches that won’t go away
  • Unexplained or sudden weight loss
  • Experiencing an upset stomach
  • Constant and extreme mood swings
  • An excessively dry mouth
  • Ringing in your ears
  • Difficulty falling asleep
  • Lower levels of melatonin
  • White nails as a result of anemia

The Benefits of B12

Knowing all the symptoms and consequences of a B12 deficiency are just as important as knowing all of the benefits of having an ample amount of B12.

1. Prevent Birth Defects

Expectant mothers should be at their healthiest during their pregnancy. This includes having a sufficient amount of B12, either from taking supplements or eating a protein-heavy diet.

Women who are hoping for a healthy pregnancy should up their intake of B12. As the baby develops in the mother’s body, the B12 will work to ensure that the baby’s nervous system and brain develop properly.

Women who have a deficiency of B12 earlier on in their pregnancy are at risk of increasing the potential for birth defects, which can include neural tube defects. Additionally, mothers deficient in B12 are more likely to miscarry or give birth prematurely.

2. Improve Bone Health While Preventing Osteoporosis

While osteoporosis is often associated with old age, B12 plays a role in our bone density as well.

Maintaining healthy levels of B12 will help to improve your bone health. With the adequate absorption of B12, your body will be able to regulate its bone mineral density.

A healthy bone mineral density will help reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis.

3. Ease Symptoms of Depression

B12 plays a role in the creation of seratonin. Individuals with a B12 deficiency may find that they are experiencing symptoms of depression.

With an increase of B12, individuals can improve their moods while working to reduce their depression.

Improving Your Intake of Vitamin B12

A change in your diet can lead to your body having trouble maintaining B12. Oftentimes, people who drastically change their eating habits notice that they are deficient in this important nutrient.

Anyone experiencing a B12 deficiency will need to alter their diet to include more B12. By changing their eating habits, they will be able to ensure they are getting the right amount of B12.

Eat More Meat for More B12

The best way to improve one’s diet to include more vitamin B12 is to eat more chicken, lamb, and fish. These foods are high in B12 and are an easy way to help your body absorb this nutrient.

Try a Vitamin B12 Supplement

Individuals who are vegan or vegetarians may find themselves lacking in B12. If this is the case, they can use a vitamin B12 supplement to help ensure they are getting the right amount of B12.

The most popular choices for a vitamin B12 supplement are Cyanocobalamin and Methylcobalamin. These are the preferred options for a vitamin B12 supplement for non-meat eaters.

vitamin b12

Take More Probiotics

Quality probiotics help individuals absorb B12 more efficiently. The best foods to help with your intake of B12 include dark chocolate, kefir, kombucha, and more.

Cut Back on Inflammatory Foods

The overall amount of B12 in your body is highly dependent on your gut’s health. Focusing on avoiding inflammatory foods will help to ensure that your body is well taken care of, in addition to getting enough B12.

Receive a B12 Injection from the Doctor

An efficient way to receive a boost of B12 is via injection. If a doctor finds that you are deficient, he or she may recommend that you receive a shot.

Final Thoughts on Vitamin B12 Deficiencies

At first, it can be hard to detect a B12 deficiency. However, once this deficiency has been identified, getting back on track takes a concentrated effort. In addition to changing your diet, it’s important to monitor your intake of this essential nutrient.

As you work to live a healthier life, keep an eye out for any of the aforementioned symptoms. By understanding the importance of B12 and the consequences of a B12 deficiency, you will be better prepared to take care of yourself and prevent any of these symptoms from occurring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG-G9_LOkLA

7 Things Your Poop Says About Your Health

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Talking about poop is uncomfortable for some people unless you’re dealing with potty training. It is a messy subject to tackle and might even be regarded as an inappropriate topic for discussion. For others, talking about poop may elicit a laugh or an embarrassing giggle. While no one takes poop talk seriously, the topic is actually very important to your health.

With a growing interest in the human body’s gut health, scientists and doctors are no longer dismissing poop talk and keeping it behind closed doors. They have come out in the open and are now saying that you should discuss and carefully study this often-overlooked bodily function. In fact, it is the key to our health, as per The Guardian.

More than half of the human body is apparently made up of microbes. The most concentrated part of these microbes exists in the bowels, according to the BBC report. Pooping is the body’s way of naturally eliminating these microbes and toxins. It’s a normal process that every human experiences pretty much every day so why must it be embarrassing to talk about it?

Do you know how to analyze your poop? What can you discover about your health when you pay attention to your pooping habits? Here are some things to keep in mind about your poop’s health.

7 Things Your Poop Says About Your Health

baby poop

1.    The composition of the microbes in your poop is critical to your health

The microbes inside your body comprise cells, bacteria, fungi, and viruses. This is known as the microbiome, where the “bugs” outnumber the cells with a ratio of 1.3 to 1, as per a study in the journal PLOS Biology. But the ratio of other microbes to cells may be higher, depending on how often you poop.

So, if you don’t poop regularly, the accumulation of bugs in the microbiome may impact your health and well-being. These bugs are critical because they contain both good and bad bacteria. The good bacteria are responsible for boosting your immune system. The bad bacteria may contribute to developing diseases like autoimmune disorders, diabetes, hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease, and even mental health disorders.

2.    Fecal transplant exists and may help people with a severely unhealthy gut

Your microbiome builds up as soon as you start consuming food at birth. As soon as you learn to eat solid foods, your microbiome has been primed and prepared for your development as an adult. So, what you eat impacts the microbiome’s composition, which in turn influences your body’s metabolism.

If you’re fond of eating foods rich in artificial sweeteners, fat, fiber, and sugar, the microbiota in your gastrointestinal tract could be modulated, as per a study by National Institutes of Health. Your body’s hormone production may increase, which may then dictate the rest of your bodily functions.

Research at the University of Newcastle also shows that an imbalance in your microbiome affects how food tastes in your mouth. This explains why you’re more partial to eating foods others might not like. Needless to say, your food choices impact your nutritional needs.

Scientists, to this day, are still discovering new things about the gut. But given the insights above, they have made it possible to facilitate a fecal transplant to help those with severe gastrointestinal problems. A fecal transplant involves the transplantation of poop bacteria coming from a healthy person to a recipient. Although that might sound gross, it could become a widely accepted treatment procedure for various diseases in the future.

3.    The changes in your poop’s color show the state of your health

It’s normal for poop to change color every day. The color will help you analyze if there are alarming concerns that you should look into. Some color tones that reflect the fall season – such as brown, yellow, and green – are usually normal. But you need to get yourself checked as soon as possible if the color of your poop is deep red, black, or whitish-gray.

  • If your poop is BROWN, you’ve got a healthy gut and digestive system. You’re good!
  • If your poop is GREEN, it means that you’ve been eating a lot of vegetables with high chlorophyll content. It’s also possible you’re taking more food and supplements with green coloring. But sometimes, your feces may turn green even if you haven’t eaten any vegetables. This may mean that your digestive tracts quickly processed the content with little or no bile and bilirubin.
  • If your poop is YELLOW, you may have eaten plenty of carrots or drank yellow-colored liquids. But it may also indicate poor fat absorption in your bile ducts. Yellow bowel movements may sometimes be a sign of cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, or pancreatitis.
  • If your poop is RED, it’s a cause for alarm because that could indicate the presence of blood. Your tissues may be damaged, causing bleeding. In some cases, blood in the poop are symptoms of hemorrhoids, colitis, or cancer.
  • If your poop is BLACK, it’s likely because of the medicine you’re taking, like iron or ibuprofen, or you may have been eating plenty of blueberries and licorice. But it may also be a sign of internal bleeding, so get yourself checked, especially if you feel anything odd or unusual in your stomach.
  • If your poop is WHITE or a shade of gray, it might be a symptom of problems in your liver and gallbladder. You should get tested for gallstone formation, blocked bile ducts, cirrhosis, or Crohn’s disease.

bowel

4.    The shape of your poop also gives doctors hints about your health

Specialists who read the medical tests of your poop rely on the Bristol Stool Scale to figure out if there’s something wrong with your health just by looking at its shape. This scale was developed in 1997 by experts from the University of Bristol.

·         Soft and smooth

A normal and healthy poop resembles a soft, smooth, and evenly-shaped sausage. This shows that you’ve been eating a balanced diet, doing physical activities, and avoiding stress.

·         Many small solid lumps

You’re constipated if your poop resembles peanuts or pellets or looks similar to goat feces. You need to increase your fiber intake if this is the case.

·         Large and bumpy lump

This stool shape also indicates constipation and lack of fiber. It may also mean that you’ve been sitting too long and you’re not doing any physical activities. You have to eat more vegetables and fruits, as well as do exercises regularly.

·         Pencil thin

When you have a narrow poop shaped like a pencil, visit a doctor immediately. This may be a symptom of a type of colon cancer.

·         Small and lumpy, but soft

You suffer from diarrhea if your poop is small, lumpy but soft. Try eating a banana or crackers, as well as low-fiber foods for the meantime.

·         Fluffy, flat, and ragged

You also have diarrhea if your poop is fluffy, flat, and ragged. You should take medications and drink lots of water instead of eating bananas. If this condition persists after two days, visit a doctor.

·         More liquid than solid

A poop that’s more liquid than solid is full-blown diarrhea. Visit your doctor to get tested for food poisoning or lactose intolerance so you can get the proper treatment.

5.    The unusual smell of your poop is also a red flag for a possible health problem

Your feces include a combination of digestive gases like carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane, nitrogen, and sulfur. It ferments in your colon and produces bacteria, so poop generally smells because of these combinations. However, if the stench is stronger and worse than usual, it may indicate problems in your digestive system.

For one thing, you’ll likely be constipated if your fecal odor is strong. The smell is a hint that your poop has stayed inside your digestive tracts far longer than it should be.

But if you’ve been to a foreign country for a trip and have developed foul-smelling poop, consult a doctor as soon as possible. You need to get tested for a bacterial, parasitic, or viral infection.

6.    You may need to change your diet if your poop that floats in the toilet bowl

You might need to change your diet if your poop doesn’t sink in the toilet. According to the Cleveland Clinic, you’re likely more gassy than normal if your fecal matter keeps afloat and stays like this for several days. It’s also possible your body isn’t absorbing the nutrients well or you may develop a gastrointestinal infection.

7.    You don’t need to poop every day

It’s not a huge concern if you ca unable have bowel movements every day, as long as your poop isn’t hard and painful or its color and stench are not unusual. According to a study found in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, people are still in the average range when they poop somewhere between three times a day to three times per week.   If you’re in this range, then there’s no need to see a doctor unless you have other stomach issues.

poop

Final Thoughts On What Your Poop Says About Your Health

Now that you have some ideas on analyzing your poop, consider visiting a professional to talk about this often-avoided subject. If you’ve got a good doctor, he or she will guide you on how to actually look at your stool to improve your health apart from the tips above.

Some people wait too long to seek a consultation, while others don’t consider it until it’s too late and they’ve got an irreversible condition. Apparently, a lot of discomforts about bowel problems go unreported.

For instance, a study from the experts at the Loyola University Health System revealed that fecal incontinence is actually a widespread condition affecting older women in the U.S. But this problem has yet to come to the public’s awareness. Other illnesses related to poop don’t get enough attention as well.

People don’t usually go to their doctor for advice on how to make their poop healthier because it’s odd and embarrassing. But doctors are now telling their patients to never feel awkward about it. There’s a good chance your doctor has heard of worse bowel problems than yours. So, if you do feel something in your gut, don’t hesitate to open up a to a professional.

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