Healthcuring's Blog

Healthcuring is a health blog that is dedicated to providing the best information on health, fitness, weight loss, and beauty tips.

Benefits of Getting Up Early February 26, 2010

Filed under: Fitness, Health — healthcuring @ 4:25 am
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It is said that early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. This is absolutely true in the real practice. If one wakes up early i.e., before sunrise, his body and mind remain fresh all through the day and he feels active. In addition, one gets ample time to think, plan and organize the day.

Early rising does not mean you have to wake up at 3AM, but yes, you need to wake up before sunrise. If we get up early, our blood circulation in mind and body remain fresh and if we get up late in the morning, it turns into negative blood circulation and becomes sluggish.

Benefits of Early Rising:

  • Body and mind remain fresh all through the day
  • No problem of constipation or indigestion
  • Mind remains active and cheerful
  • One gets sufficient time to organize his/her work
  • Mind power and capacity increases
  • Memory becomes sharp
  • Eyesight remains healthy

Dos and Dont’s

  • Go for a morning walk in a green place
  • Breathe deeply
  • Do yoga and meditation
  • Sleep early at 11PM and take 5-6 hours sleep daily
  • Do Suryanamaskar
 

Healthy Party This Winter Season November 3, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Health — healthcuring @ 2:41 pm
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As winter sets in – people enjoy throwing parties, celebrating Christmas and New Year occasions. Everyone’s calendar is fully packed with parties and social gatherings. Everyone is ready to binge on food, sweets and alcohol. Needless to say, people forget their dietary routine and exercises. Well, if you are also following the same trend then don’t forget, “health is wealth.” Stay fit this season by using some healthy tips written below:

Have a healthy drink: Drink herbal teas without using milk. Herbal teas include chamomile, jasmine, etc. Herbal teas help detox the body and also get rid of bloated feeling after a heavy meal. Start your day with a cup of herbal tea and feel fresh all through the day.

Clean the system: Party foods are mostly fried and contain salt and sugar in high quantity. It is also a fact that people binge on party foods more than usual. Parties run whole night and there is no fixed time for dinner in parties. We often eat late night in parties and often feel sluggish in the morning, as toxins accumulate in our body.
To overcome with this problem – take lukewarm water and add some lemon drops into it and drink in the morning. This helps combat constipation problem or acidity.

Stay fit and active: After late night parties, it is difficult to go to the gym or for a walk. However, a brisk walk is important – this can be done at home or office. Don’t use cliff, instead use staircase to reach your office floor. Any physical activity is good than not doing anything.

Balance your calories: If you are going to attend a party tonight, eat light meals during the day. And after you have binged at night, balance your daily calories the next day. Instead of eating regular breakfast, eat fruits or poached egg or green veggies. During meals, have lots of soups and salads.

 

Secrets to tone up your body October 5, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Health, Weight loss — healthcuring @ 12:11 pm
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When you wake up in the morning – pray for a minute and then leave your bed. Drink a glass of lukewarm water and maintain a healthy nutritious diet all through the day. Follow this pattern everyday and feel the difference.

In addition to healthy diet, daily yoga practice could do wonders. Following is a simple an effective yogic practice that you can do on a daily basis:

DRUTUTTANAPADASANA:

Stretch your body, inhale and raise both of your legs up. Put all pressures on both of your hands. Align your leg at 90 degrees to the floor and slowly bring them down, raise both legs back up.

Repeat this yogic procedure at least 8-10 times till you feel tired. Remember, inhale while raising the legs and exhale while bringing them back.

Benefits: This simple and effective yogic practice reduces stomach flab, strengthens stomach muscle, and tones up digestive organs.

Cautions: People who are suffering from problems such as backache, slip disc, high blood pressure and heart diseases should practice this yoga with only one leg at a time.

 

The Role of Exercise September 30, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Health, Weight loss — healthcuring @ 1:58 pm
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Have you ever thought how much will exercise contribute in weight loss program? Well, the bitter truth is that short-term exercise plan will contribute not more than 15% towards immediate weight loss. However, the good news is that long-term exercise plan will help resist your body from the dreaded rebound weight loss phenomenon.

What is the biggest problem for women? Most women tend to exercise on short-term plans (where they expect more results but practically find no significantly motivating results). Therefore, women should require exercising regularly and on a long-term basis.

The best forms of exercise for women are:

1.      Brisk walking with alternate days of yoga.

2.      Pilates with light dance aerobics.

Women can make their exercise plan effective and efficient only if they do enough to boost body circulation and not so much to boost their appetite.

 

What is the biggest misconception about weight loss? September 22, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Health, Weight loss — healthcuring @ 5:35 am
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Well, the biggest misconception is that a diet program will kick off the excess weight. However, the reality lies in one’s attitude and behavior towards eating habits and exercise. Changing old habits is really tough for many.

Q. What are the most common comments women make about weight loss?

    1. Does this dress suit me? (It means, does it make me look slim and appealing?)
    1. Have I put on weight? (It means, I know but does it show to others as well?)
    1. You have lost weight (It means, you are looking slim and good).
    1. You have lost too much weight (It means, I can’t let you get away with looking good for a long time, so why I shouldn’t make a remark?)

Comments on weight are common among women because they manage to hit women where it hurts more. Well, I don’t still understand why people make comments on others about their body size – everyone has got a mirror in which he or she can see oneself.

 

What is the age group of people who are more concerned about weight loss? September 21, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Health, Weight loss — healthcuring @ 9:08 am
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Well, the result is quite astonishing. Children who are about 5 years old are aware of their bodies. However, women above 80 years of age are equally concerned about weight loss and need to knock off a few kilos.

Weight loss reasons for children and old people are quite different. The child wants to look like other children in his group so that he/she is not teased any more. Recently I saw a TV program where a Bollywood Film director said that when he was in school, no one would talk to him because he was so fat. He finally decided to kink off extra fat and he succeeded in doing so. Now he is a slim and smart guy.

Women in their 60s, 70s, and 80s are worried about carrying extra weight that might lead to some serious problems. And everyone knows the current trend of new generation men and women – they don’t want to take pain of helping old aged people whether he/she is his father, mother or anybody. Therefore, self-help is the best way to tackle the hard situation. Overweight is not a curse, but it might pose a serious problem in the long run so why carry it for long time – keep yourself active and do some exercise, yoga and meditation.

 

Headache and weight gain August 28, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Health — healthcuring @ 4:29 am
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Last week I met a good friend of mine after almost a year. But believe me I could not recognize her – she had put on weight. I couldn’t imagine she would ever be so healthy. When I asked her the secret – she said, “there is no secret even I am worried about my weight and want to be slim again.”

During our conversations she told me that for the last 8 months she was taking migraine pills. I knew that these migraine pills have side effects and cause weight gain. Since my friend was taking medicine for such a long time, she put on weight. I told her to see a doctor and discuss about the problem.

After so much discussion, she felt relaxed and ensured me that she would definitely meet a doctor.

 

Body supplements: Pros and Cons August 25, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Health — healthcuring @ 1:29 pm
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Last week I saw an action movie, the Rambo. The main protagonist of the movie was Sylvester Stallone – a dashing macho man. His build up, height and confidence impressed me a lot and I decided to join a gym. I went to the gym and talked to the trainer. He said that 6 months of hard work would definitely fetch results. I took a round and saw all kinds of equipments available there. I also saw some diet supplements categorically placed on the counter. My sudden response was – do I need these diet supplements? The gym trainer first smiled and said – it depends. We paused for a moment and then he explained me everything about diet supplements.

A dietary supplement is basically a preparation that is taken to aid nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, fibers, amino acids and fatty acids, which are not consumed in sufficient quantities in our diet.

Multi-vitamins: Good multivitamins contain Vit-B, Vit-C, and minerals. If your daily diet does not contain those essential nutrients, you can take multivitamins and keep the immune system healthy. Multivitamins are safe and do not cause any side effects.

Protein Shakes: These are good supplements for those who follow intense weight training. Take protein shakes soon after a workout. Whey proteins contain 80% protein. The whey protein intake depends on the body weight i.e. 1 gram for every kilo of body weight. For example, if your body weight is 55 kg, you need 55 gram of whey protein.

Who should take supplements?

If your diet does not provide all balanced nutrients, multivitamins can be taken. However, those who are underweight or into intense weight training, protein supplements could be taken.

However, there are various side effects if supplements are taken indiscriminately without proper monitoring. Overdose of multivitamins cause nausea, headaches, and even kidney failure. Protein supplements on the other hand may cause dry eyes and temporary visual loss. Children below the age of 16 should strictly avoid protein supplements such as Creatine.

 

Mind Your Stress August 25, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Health — healthcuring @ 1:03 pm
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Time and tide wait for none, they say. For students, exams, projects and career are some of the most important aspects that keep them stressed out. However, those who are in the corporate world, time bound projects, pressure from boss and seniors make them tensed and stressed out. But in our daily hectic schedule, we don’t even realize that our bodies are negatively affected by stress.

Now it’s time to beat the stress through nutrition, exercise, pranayam, and alternative therapies.

Nutrition: Eat foods that heal stress. Stress is caused when some raw materials in the body become deficient. The behind is that they are used up in the formation of hormones responsible for stress.

The main constituents of hormones are minerals, amino acids and fats. Several minerals responsible for the formation of hormones include Zinc, Chromium, Phosphorus, and Calcium. Fats include oils from nuts, and seeds such as almonds, flax seeds, etc. The amino acid sources are sprouts, boiled legumes and so on.

However, keeping the stomach light is very important in order to combat stress. Heavy stomach often leads to digestion problems.

Music therapy: Classical music soothes the senses and helps relax our body and mind. Practice listening to music for half an hour daily and feel the difference.

Pranayam: Effective for building inner strength and nervous system.

Exercise: Brisk walking, jogging, and aerobics are some of the most effective means of combating stress. Include physical activities in your daily lifestyle – this will definitely you help get rid of stressed mind.

 

Iron: For a healthy mind and body August 21, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Health — healthcuring @ 2:09 am
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A healthy diet is a combination of proteins, vitamins and a variety of nutrients that could actually improve your mental performance. Iron is one of the most important nutrients essential for a healthy mind.

Deficiency of iron may lead to a variety of ailments including the most common anaemia. A research has revealed that anaemia is most common in women and pre-school children. Many young girls cannot donate blood because they are deficient in haemoglobin. It is therefore imperative to add iron in our daily diet. Consume an ample amount of iron, as it is needed in producing energy from food. Iron is also important for the proper functioning of the body immune system. Decreased level of blood leads to deficiency and causes fatigue, irritability and weakness.

However, iron requirement can be met easily by adding some essential food items in our daily diet. Some of the easily available sources include pulses, corn flakes, green veggies, dried fruits like raisins, prunes, black sesame seeds, etc. For those who are vegetarians, they can also consume vitamin C with meals such as fruit juices, raw vegetables and salads.