Jun 30 2008
Based on equal weight proportions the following fruits and vegetables have the highest amount of antioxidants.
FRUITS HIGH IN ANTIOXIDANTS:
VEGETABLES HIGH IN ANTIOXIDANTS:
Jun 29 2008
Because most people, and especially most Americans, ingest an incredible amount of salty foods there is good reason to look at the health problems associated with such eating habits! While sodium is a electrolyte your body needs, if taken in large or unbalanced quantities, it can and typically will have negative complications such as:
Jun 28 2008
Here are some startling facts about how children’s metabolisms are affected by watching television.
Jun 28 2008
By this point we all know that smoking is horrific for your health. In fact at least 25% of all smokers die prematurely from a smoking-induced illness. Most often people and especially smokers think of lung cancer as what’s going to get ya in the long run! Lung cancer is the most likely cancer a smoker will get but there are many others. This list is staggering and scary. Just more proof smoking is so dangerous to your health.
Jun 27 2008
Many scientists would have you believe that caffeine is good for you. While there are a few benefits there are also many negative aspects of drinking caffeine. Here are a few ways in which caffeine impairs the way your brain functions.
There are other potential health problems with caffeine.
Jun 26 2008
This is a list of the diseases animals can contract that can threaten human health:
Jun 10 2008
Jet lag is rough! I’m sure if you’ve traveled before you’ve felt the effects of jet lag! Sadly, the more time zones you cross during your flight means not only the greater the adventure, but also the more jet lag you’re likely to experience. The negative effects of jet lag will leave travelers with the following effects:
Strangely enough jet lag effects women more than men. Obviously not in all cases but in most cases it’s true. Scientists believe estrogen to be the culprit. According to scientists estrogen is also behind chronic nagging but let’s leave that to another post. Just kidding ladies!
Another strange but true aspect of jet lag is that most people are more affected when traveling from west to east. This may be because flights from west to east are counter to the circadian rhythm. Most people have a circadian period which is a bit longer than 24 hours, making it easier to stay up later than to get up earlier. So how to combat Jet Lag you ask? Well there’s a million “tips” out there and lot’s of good advice but here’s something new you haven’t heard. First though, let’s cover the basics on how to help reduce jet lag.
Now the one thing that’s been recently suggested by scientists is that travelers should abstain from eating! You’re body is at a loss, totally confused as to what time it is, what meal it is, and when it’s time to sleep when you’re crossing time zones. Scientists have found that by “resetting” your body’s clock by not eating you can greatly reduce the effects of jet lag. To “reset” your body’s clock you can avoid food for approximately fifteen hours. By doing so your body will go into a basic “start over” mode. Abstain from eating during your flight! Once you touch down, eat whatever meal is appropriate to the time zone you’re in and proceed from there. You’re body will naturally “reset” once it’s gotten it’s first meal of the day!
Happy Traveling!
Jun 05 2008
Buying a car is a huge decision to make for most people and can be very confusing. In fact, for many people, other than buying a home, buying a car is the biggest purchase they will ever make. I bought my first car at the age of twenty four and I’m pretty sure I got taken. Actually, I KNOW I got taken. I’ve recently been thinking of buying a new car and this time around I decided to do it right! So to make sure I got the best deal possible I spoke to my friend Marc who has been in the vehicle sales industry for more than 8 years. Marc was a car sales consultant at a Lithia motors for two years and has been working ever since as a finance director. He then worked at Mercedes-Benz for another 6 months. He offered me some fantastic advice and I thought I would pass it along to you.
Check the manufacturer’s website for “incentives”. Car manufacturer incentives will give you money towards a down payment and/or will give you the opportunity to take advantage of very low finance rates directly through the car manufacturer. The manufacterer, for the most part, will let you know what rates, based off your credit, that you qualify for.
If the car you’re looking at has no special incentives, you’ll want to make sure that you’re pre-approved for a loan prior to going into any dealership.
A bank or credit union will typically be able to offer you much better interest rates than a dealership. Say for example you get a loan through a dealership at 8.99%. As soon as you walk out the door he’s going to shop your loan around to other banks and try to get a rate at say 6.99%. The 2% difference is called “reserve” and is how the dealership makes money off your loan. Finding out if you qualify for a car loan through a bank or credit union is accomplished very simply. Go down to your bank or credit union or look around online (credit unions typically have slightly cheaper rates than banks) and tell them what type of car you’re looking into buying and they’ll take it from there. Once pre-approved for a car loan, you can use the rate the bank offered you as leverage with the dealership. Take which ever offer is in your best interest.
Don’t EVER let a dealership run your credit until they’ve approved your offer. Otherwise, especially if
you’re shopping around, you’ll have a ton of credit inquiries that will lower your credit score which will affect
the rate of the loan you get. (You can read more on improving your credit score by clicking here.)
Regardless of how intimidated you may feel or what type of car you’re buying, always ask the salesman to see the invoice. The invoice is the true cost the dealership paid to get the car you’re trying to buy. If you ask they shouldn’t say no but if they do, walk away. You don’t want to be doing business with them. Built into the invoice price is money for the dealership. Say the invoice price is 30k, depending on the type of car you’re buying the dealership will get a certain percentage of that. On average, the sticker price you see on the car is a full 12% over what the invoice price is and often times more. This varies from car to car and brand to brand. Starting the bidding at invoice price or a few hundred dollars over invoice price, depending on the type of car, is a fair deal to the dealership and a very good deal to you. Don’t let a salesman tell you differently.
Being the informed buyer that you now are, starting the bidding at “invoice price” is wise. It will depend on the type of car you’re buying, the dealership you’re at, and what type of car you’re buying. If it’s more expensive/luxurious you may want to start the bidding a little bit over “invoice price”. At the time that this post was written, in this economy, you as the buyer have total control over the situation and that fact isn’t something you should forget. This may change slightly over time but regardless you should always keep in mind that you’re the buyer and they’re the seller. That means you’re making the decisions and should never be pushed into ANYTHING! In any event, by asking for the invoice you know what price to START the bidding at despite whatever number they’ve got posted on the car’s window. It’s smart buying to make an initial bid at or close to the invoice price. Don’t ever jump at the price the salesman comes back with. Once you’ve made your first bid, let the salesman come back with an offer and at that point make one final offer allowing the salesman to gain your business. If he won’t meet your second offer, thank him for his time, get up and walk out. One of two things will happen. One: he’ll let you walk, or two: he’ll jump up and stop you. The latter, especially in this market, is very likely. In this case, if the bid he offers is what you’ve offered or is something close…. something you can handle, take the offer. Congrats. You’ve got your new car and saved a bundle.
Marc told me, “As a customer, do yourself a favor. Generally speaking, your gut instinct will bring you to the right dealership and the right car, the first time around! Sometimes while shopping you can look at so many vehicles that you confuse yourself in the process! In turn, you can’t really make an intelligent decision and you may buy the wrong car for your needs simply because you ran into a salesman pushing you in the wrong direction! Get it???? That’s what makes the internet so powerful! Getting your info is much quicker,
and cuts the risk of having a bad experience buying a car!!! Use the internet to help yourself shop around for the cheapest car loan, look into online car websites, and find your perfect car!
Jun 02 2008
First of all, having a first aid kit around in case you ever need it is wise. Having a first aid kit with you while camping is very wise. Now, as far as basic first aid to know while camping remember the acronym R.I.C.E. If you can remember that you’re golden.
I just got back from a two day camping trip in the back country of the high Sierra Nevada mountains. Josh, a friend on the trip and a registered nurse working in the emergency room in nearby Fresno, California told me, “While camping there are a variety of injuries you can sustain. The following acronym R-est, I-ce, C-ompression, E-levate (R.I.C.E.) can drastically help manage injuries until you can get to a hospital.” From a professional in the medical field this simple acronym can seriously help manage a emergency situation until professional help is available.
Keep the victim rested and calm. An injured person can easy become scared and irrational. Movement can exacerbate the injury drastically and make the situation worse.
Sprained joints or broken bones will require immediate icing to limit swelling within the first 24 hours of sustaining the injury. If you don’t have a “cooling pack” in a first aid kit you can always use ice from your cooler. Be sure to remove any restrictive clothing or jewelery around the injured area. You can start with ice directly on the injury and then wrap the ice in a towel to keep the injured person comfortable. This will not only decrease the swelling around the injured area but it will also help minimize the pain.
For cuts you’ll want to apply immediate pressure to the wound that will help limit bleeding. Hopefully you have a first aid kit with clean bandages. Find the cleanest material possible if no sterile bandages are available. Applying direct pressure to the actual cut or wound is necessary but try to avoid applying excessive pressure to the point that you’ve completely stopped circulation to the surrounding areas. Doing so can increase damage to tissue and can inhibit the body’s natural response to help stop the bleeding.
For sprained joints or broken bones immediately immobilizing the injured body part is crucial to prevent further injury and pain.
For bleeding wounds you want to elevate the injury above the heart as high as possible. For sprains and fractured bones, elevating the wound will decrease the pressure on the wound, limiting swelling and pain.
This advice is provided “As is” but coming from an E.R. nurse who’s “Been there, Done that” it can seriously help minimize the problems associated with injuring yourself anytime, but certainly is something to know when far from professional medical assistance.
Jun 02 2008
The following article is written by Linda, a registered nurse working for a dentist / anesthesiologist in central California.
Tooth decay in primary teeth is a frequently seen problem these days. We are so busy and with our fragmented lives we look for quick solutions to everything, including fussy babies. Stick a bottle in their mouths, or a sucker and they settle down causing us less distraction and maybe more sleep at night. Since primary teeth have thinner enamel they break down faster. They are only meant to last 6-10 years. But they are important for many reasons. They help with speech development, they look nice, of course they are for eating and they hold the position for the next set of teeth. For these reasons it is important to repair them and besides it hurts just like an adult tooth when it is diseased.
When a bottle is in the mouth all night, or the breast for that matter, the milk or food puddles around those teeth. It may appear as if they came in rotten but sadly they were decaying before they had the chance to come in. The pattern will continue throughout the mouth if changes are not made. These changes are not just brushing and brushing which becomes burdensome. It is important to start the baby on an eating and drinking schedule early on. That means bottles, cups, whatever it takes to put food or drink in our mouths should be spaced by 3 hours. This magical time frame seems to give the teeth a chance to rest by normalizing the digestive process that starts in the mouth. When we put food in our mouths saliva rushes in to begin the process of breaking down food chemically. Over time what we call decay is also the teeth being digested. They are not meant to withstand constant stress just as our bodies need uninterrupted rest at night our teeth need periods of rest during the day and a clean mouth all night.
There are certain foods that make it harder for your teeth too. Soda and Gatorade have acid in them that seems to practically melt teeth. Even sugarless soda will do this. Next time one of your children loses a tooth put it in a jar with soda in it and observe how long it takes to break down. Worse than your teeth soda also de-mineralizes your bones. That means it takes the calcium out which is what makes them strong. This is particularly hard on females of all ages. Baby girls are storing calcium for reproduction and older women store it for old age. Broken hips and osteoporosis could be friends with soda drinkers. It just doesn’t make sense nutritionally to drink much soda. It has many other bad effects.
One of the best health habits you can pass on to baby is to drink water between meals. This habit keeps the mouth “juices” moving and keeps us hydrated. So often what we interpret as hunger is really thirst. It is best to drink just plain water. Not watered juice, not cool-aide or any other fake drink. Another good habit is to eat the fruit itself instead of drinking the juice. The fiber in the fruit will send a message to your brain that your stomach is full and satisfied. Kids of course would usually only eat maybe 1/2 an apple or orange and yet the juice we pour down them would be the equivalent of 4-6 whole apples or oranges several times a day. Thats not only a lot of sugar for the teeth but also a lot for the waistline. We see many obese children who have now got what used to be adult onset diabetes or type II diabetes. Bad teeth in a child indicate that all is not well with a child’s nutrition. Over time this may evolve into other more serious problems like obesity and diabetes. You can also keep it simple with the other beverages. Drink plain milk, not chocolate or strawberry. Eat the whole grain breads and cereals. Eat some fruit and some vegetables daily. Your baby may not like them at first but just keep offering it. Keep the kitchen closed between meals and eventually baby will learn to eat enough to make it until the next feeding. You may find an improvement in behavior after making new habits. Caffeine is a drug and tea and sodas have them in abundance. Do you really want to chase a faster baby? Let them rest when they are tired instead of letting this drug run through their delicate systems.
Babies are resilient and adaptable beings mostly blessed with perfect health. It is a wonderful thing to give them great eating habits for life. To feel picture perfect health is a blessing that parents can enhance making their lives more wonderful longer. Since tooth decay is a preventable disease even for adults we can benefit from the regime described above. In fact if we model it for our children they are more likely to be successful too. Of course flossing and brushing become more important as the child ages so its a good idea to begin running a wet washcloth over their gums to get them ready for later brushing as the teeth erupt. They need to learn that some things have to be done and you are their teacher and model.
